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Only The Artist Sees The Tall Ships

Do Our Brains Manage Away Our Ability To See G-d Or To Be Creative?

Somebody once told me that they read someplace that somebody said that way back when Europeans were first invading the Americas, it’s likely that natives might not have even seen the ships out on the sea as they approached and anchored. If they had to mental construct for the idea of a big ship on the water, their minds might have simply failed to process the images coming in to them.

Sounds like a crazy notion to me. And since it was something somebody might have read about something somebody might have said, I’ve always considered it to be mostly a made-up thing.

But a fun idea.

I suspect there might be a grain of possibility in the idea as well. So I’ll talk about it here as-if it’s real fact. It makes a point I want to make after all. And really, if I do this well enough, it might be that some Faux News Network might make me a job offer…

So, the ships were there. That’s a fact. And folks on the shore had eyeballs that worked, and they were looking out across the horizon, and their functional eyeballs picked up the information, and sent the information along the optic nerve and into the brain for processing.

So far, it’s all fact, it’s all science, and it actually probably happened just like that.

But we’ve all worked hard to “manage” our brain so it doesn’t interfere with the way we want to see the world. We all process incoming information in similar ways, but with little twists and turns, filters, brushes, and enhancing tools.

We all know what we want the world to look like, and we have fine-tuned our senses to pick out the pieces of information that surrounds us that reinforces the picture of what we want the world to look like.

My Faux News comment is a perfect example. What is your source of news? While some people work hard to get a wide variety of opinions and input, most folks simply find the news or opinion source that tells them about a world that’s built the way they want to believe it’s built. In my opinion, that’s explains the growth in popularity of particular networks or sources that are biased to the point of absurdity – people aren’t looking for Truth, they’re looking for reinforcement of the views they want to hold.

Just like the husband or wife who’s blindsided by the unfaithful spouse, even though everyone around the couple could see the signs for years. From the inside, the husband or wife had a picture of what they wanted their spouse to be, and the only information they accepted into their brain was the information that reinforced that view.

I understand this tendency. It makes sense. I can only imagine how overwhelming the world is to an infant – information bombarding the brain with no context or ability to put the pieces together. As we mature and grow, one of the ways we unleash the power in our brain is to learn how to filter and “manage” the information that we’re swimming through.

We can become extremely efficient at filtering and managing information, so that our lives run smoothly, and we’re not troubled with dilemmas. We’re not forced to confront and adjust our filters, brushes, enhancers, and other “information management” devices that make us comfortable.

I recently ran across a post by a gal (Katinka Hessilink) who suggests that creativity is tied up in this whole equation. In her article, Katinka is talking about the existence of a soul, but I’m co-opting her argument here to help me suggest that creativity in a person might really be little more than a higher tolerance to leave the filters turned down.

It might be that what we call creativity is really just a tolerance to accept, hear, and see input that doesn’t necessarily fit with the shapes we’ve already constructed within our mind – the shapes that we think the world is supposed to fit into. The “creative mind” really might just see more.

There’s always been this assumed connection between creativity and, shall we say, a looser grip on sanity? I have no idea of this is actually true, but it’s a pervasive stereotype.

If there were a linear representation of “sanity”, it could be that the further one moves to the right on the scale, the more constricted is their view of the world, and the less they are actually able to experience the world they’re moving through. They have a very tightly managed shape into which they fit all of the incoming information, and whatever doesn’t fit, is ignored or changed in some way.

What’s on the other end of that scale? Off the edge of either end would seem like insanity to me.

Way back in the time of Columbus, a dreamer sat on the beach of some island in the Caribbean. On the horizon he saw something he’d never seen before – he saw ships with tall masts and large sails. He ran and told the others of the tribe, who looked and saw nothing that fit into the shape of the world they knew, so they saw nothing at all.

I can believe that. You?

Here’s a Wayne Dyer quote, that I probably have a little wrong:

“When you change the way you look at things, the things you’re looking at change”.


The Male Ego, Bicycles, and Snow

The sub-zero temps recently in Colorado have me thinking back to the days when manly man-ness spent way more time in the driver’s seat of my life. I remember a winter, (Kansas in ’78 as I recall), when I rode my bicycle the 10 miles to work every day of the winter. The snowy and slushy days were wet, cold, and dangerous but somehow I avoided disaster.

I’ve been seeing several postings by cyclists this winter talking about their rides in the cold and snow. Each time I read one, I reach down deep into my psyche, and wonder whether that manly man-ness agent wants more time in the driver’s seat than he’s been getting as I’ve moved into the back half of my 50’s.

He ignores me. He seems to think I’ve got a screw loose or something. He reminds me of the fingers that have been frostbitten, and how heavily I need to glove them to keep them from severe pain when cycling in really cold weather. He wonders if there’s something I think he wants to prove, assuring me that he doesn’t.

It’s an interesting evolution to look back on – the evolution of a male ego through the first half (or at least the first 56 years) of it’s life. That ME (Male Ego) has helped me to do some amazingly stupid things through its history and evolution. I have no doubt at all that it will continue to cause me fits of both stupidity and insanity in the years yet to come, but it has certainly become more collaborative as I’ve gotten older.

And that collaboration has led to some refreshing wisdom in some cases.

We’ve all got those bits and pieces of us that can become our self-destruction if we allow it. We’re amazingly complex and multi-faceted beings. Finding a way to bring all the different “voices and drivers” to sit at the table and collaborate is important to our individual health, and it’s a critical prerequisite to our ability to nurture wisdom in our life.

Each voice is given to us as a gift that can help guide us into greater wisdom, and can open doors to growth of mind, body, and spirit. Collaboration within ourself is critical for health.

Think of it like a business enterprise. If the CEO is an insecure individual, he’ll make sure to fire or silence any voice that doesn’t agree with him. His staff will be filled with people who are good at saying yes, and stroking his fragile ego. Decisions are easy, since he makes them all with input only from people just like himself. The enterprise isn’t likely to grow and prosper in the long run, but the guy at the top gets lots of fuel for his starving ego.

A healthy enterprise, in comparison, will have a CEO who is secure. He’ll seek out voices on his staff that disagree with him. He’ll reward behavior that challenges him. Decisions will sometimes involve wailing and gnashing of teeth, because all facets of the decision will be explored. The enterprise will become stronger and more vibrant as it grows.

So it is within each of us as complex individuals. The healthiest among us will nurture diverse internal perspectives. Rather than deny something as absurd and destructive as a ME, we’ll incorporate it into the many voices that make us complete. Just like the bullies that sit at the table of the wise CEO, powerful need to be managed – they can’t be allowed to make decisions on their own.

But with wise collaboration, the powerful voices like the ME can help to fill a life with adventure and challenge and growth. Moderated with the wisdom of time, experience, and many scars, voices like the ME are essential to the whole and complete person.

So, I’ll continue to hear and read about the exploits of the young lions as they strut their feathers and pound their fists against their chests on the cold winter rides. I’ll send words of encouragement, and admire the degree to which the ME will push us into discomfort. I’ll admire their spirit, and look forward to the wonderful wisdom their spirit will someday be a component of.

And my fingers will stay warm as I spend my winter hours on an incredibly boring (but warm) trainer indoors, trying to keep the strength up for a few days of riding in February if I’m lucky, and maybe a few more in March. By the time May rolls around with the glorious weather, I’ll be trying hard to keep up with those young lions, but only a tiny little part of me will regret the loss of riding time in the cold weather.

Photo From Original by Johan Samsom

And yet, maybe a chilly ride now and again, just to give that ol’ ME a little of the attention it craves?

Somebody tell me I’m not alone in this struggle…

Sponge Full of Faith

I’ve been reading through a really neat book that Aldous Huxley wrote. There was a saying in there that came to me the other day, and I had to go back to it.

The essence is this: Our relationship with G-d defines the shape of our life in the form of a sponge. The particular traditions and teachings that we pick up along the way are what fills the sponge, but if you squeeze all that tradition out, you’re still left with the underlying sponge – the relationship with G-d.

Image from SeaPics.com

Tradition and intellectual teaching is just the fill that we use to let the sponge take shape. Like a living sponge, filling it lets it grow, the more it grows, the more it’s able to absorb.

In a life made full by a robust and deep relationship with G-d, the sponge grows. The more the sponge grows, the less it’s about the tradition and intellectual teaching, and the more it’s about the relationship with G-d.

When ripe, we should be able to squeeze the tradition and dogma out of the sponge completely, and yet the relationship with G-d remains full and complete and strong.

Here’s the quote that got me thinking about this:

Why should what Abbot John Chapman calls ‘the problem of reconciling (not merely uniting) Mysticism and Christianity’ be so extremely difficult? Simply because so much Roman and Protestant thinking was done by those very lawyers whom Christ regarded as being peculiarly incapable of understanding the true

Nature of Things.

“The Abbot (Chapman apparently is referring to Abbot Marmion) says St. John of the Cross is like a sponge full of Christianity. You can squeeze it all out, and the full mystical theory (in other words, the pure Perennial Philosophy) remains. Consequently for fifteen years or so I hated St. John of the Cross and called him a Buddhist. I loved St. Teresa and read her over and over again. She is first a Christian, only secondarily a mystic. Then I found I had wasted fifteen years, so far as prayer was concerned.”

from Aldous Huxley in The Perennial Philosophy

Image from outdoors.webshots.com

Folks I know who have a problem with religion should resonate with some part of this. After all, the most common complaint that the “non-religious” have about religion is that it’s so shallow – that it focuses too much on human traditions and interpreted teaching, rather than searching for real meaning in the world we live in.

I think they’re right in many ways. Too often, our religions fail to encourage us to grow and mature in our faith. Too often, our religions want us to grow in our relationship with the church, rather than in our relationship with G-d. The best pastor or rabbi should be looking for ways to help parishioners become so strong in relationship with G-d that they no longer need the pastor or rabbi.

Image from TrekEarth.com

A wise boss used to pound the idea into my head that my job as a leader was to be wise enough to work my way out of a job – to help people around me grow so that some of them would go past me, or at the very least be ready for my job. It’s a hard leadership style to truly live, though I always strived toward it.

This wisdom and teaching has a place in the seminaries of the world, as pastors and rabbis would be well served to try and achieve the same thing. In my experience, most pastors work to keep their flock contained, and dependent, and tied to what’s taught in that church. Instead, pastors should be trying to help people become the most absorbent sponge possible, ready to move past that pastor and on to ponds where even more can be absorbed.

A faith sponge can only grow when it’s constantly given just a little more to absorb than it’s ready to absorb.

Go see how much you can absorb this week.

Paradox of Unknowing – Part 2

Or, Creationists, Flat Earthers, and Unknowers…

From Hubblesite.org

Not long ago, a religious debate engulfed the center of western civilization. Science seemed more and more insistent as time went along on a “theory” that had developed about the very foundations of the way that life on earth – and the universe itself – was put together. Seems innocent enough, right?

The problem is that this “theory” was in direct conflict with Orthodox translations and interpretations of the Bible.

I should insert here a definition of “Orthodoxy”. It means, in essence, “right thinking”, or “the right way to think”. Conversely, “heresy” is simply thinking that is not orthodox. Any non-orthodox way of thinking is, in essence, heresy. It all has a very fascist feel to it, doesn’t it?

Regarding the debate in question, Orthodox Christianity insisted that you must interpret our best translations of early teachings (ie The Bible) in a particular way, and that this ruled out this new theory. Debate raged both ways, with the fundamentalists feeling threatened that the very “Word of G-d” was being challenged by science.

At this point, a reader might think that I’m referring to a debate that’s going on right now in the halls of Orthodoxy – the debate over the notion of evolution. And in fact, the debate I’m referring to is still going on in some circles, but it’s not the debate over evolution.

The debate I’m referring to was rampant a few hundred years ago. In the 15th century, Fundamentalist Christian Orthodoxy was torturing and killing people for the heresy of believing the earth was round. Many who were considered great scientific minds of the day were willing to line up on the side of Christian Orthodoxy, and find evidence to support the notion of a flat earth.

Today, the Flat Earth Society is alive and well, evidence of the extreme power that Orthodoxy has in keeping our minds locked tight against learning and growing. It’s probably hard for a reasonable person today to imagine how a person could actually think that the earth is flat, but to the folks who believe it today, they’re absolutely convinced that there is ample evidence to support their notion that the earth is, indeed, flat.

From Hubblesite.org

There are lots of folks today who are absolutely convinced that the notion of natural selection and the adaptation of a species – which is the essence of the theory of evolution – conflicts with what Orthodoxy has taught them. In my opinion, these folks have mistaken the “teachings of Orthodoxy” with the “Truth of G-d” – two very different things.

Orthodoxy changes throughout history. As it changes, it adapts history – and adapts what Orthodoxy itself has taught in the past – to try and make it appear as though it is unchanging. “Unchangeability” is something that orthodoxies are addicted to. An orthodoxy must cling to the notion that it knows the answer, and that the answer never changes. As our minds understand more and more about this wonderful Creation, the answers orthodoxies cling to begin to crumble, and orthodoxy fights back.

Enter the beauty of unknowing. Again.

If I can simply accept that Creation is, then I’m open to understanding more about it. That was G-d’s answer to Moses, wasn’t it? When Moses asked G-d to explain Himself, and who He was, G-d simply answered that Moses didn’t have the ability to understand. He said simply, “I Am”.

That’s just no enough for us, and we insist on creating orthodoxy. We have a tough time accepting that “G-d” is something beyond our ability to understand well.

From Hubblesite.org

Back to our Flat Earth debate. While we like to trumpet the greatness of Western Civilization, and our advancements, and the “great thinking” that’s come from us, we forget that when we “discovered” the fact that the earth was round back in the 15th century, we were pretty late in the game. Many civilizations already had that understanding firmly institutionalized.

We were, in fact, great thinkers coming from a great Greek tradition, yet we’d been held back by an ancient mythology about a flat earth. How? The power of orthodoxy to insist that it “knows”. 500 years later, in our world today, the Flat Earth Society is alive and well. Orthodoxy and the addiction to knowing are amazingly powerful, aren’t they?

The first step is always the hardest – that first step of being OK with “unknowing”. Accepting an inability to deeply “know the essence of G-d” opens us to the ability to understand ourselves, the world around us, and the framework of the universe. Accepting “unknowing” is exactly what’s required to be able to “know the knowable”.

Paradoxically, according to great teachers and sages from Moses to Jesus to Mohammed to Lau Tzu – even to many of the Saints of Orthodoxy from St Theresa to Rumi – it is in the humility of “unknowing” that we’ll find ourselves able to find closeness with The Divine.

Unknowing seems to be the key to many sides of the coin, doesn’t it?

From Hubblesite.org

Review – Bicycle Dreams

The context of this film is the Race Across America (RAAM) that happens every year, where cyclists race their bikes from the west coast to the east coast. Unlike the big and well-publicized grand tours of cycling, this race doesn’t have daily stops and starts, stages, and all that. It’s really simple – everyone starts in San Diego, and the first one to get to the appointed spot on the east coast wins.

How many of the 24 hours in a day can you stay in the saddle and pedal? How fast can you keep going? These guys usually sleep an hour or two a day, and pedal the rest of the day – at least the ones that finish first do. The winner generally makes it in about 9 days or so. Read it again – 9 days to ride a bicycle from the west coast to the east coast.

With this in mind, it’s easy to see that while this film uses the RAAM as the context, the story is really a story about the ability of the human being to push himself to the absolute limit and survive. The riders are hallucinating in extreme states of sleep deprivation. Their support crews are fashioning devices out of duct tape to help them hold their head up as they ride. They’re pushing their minds and their bodies to the absolute edge of survival.

The bar is high to qualify for this race. You need to prove through previous events that you have the physical ability to excel at ultra-endurance cycling, with strong finishes in other races that require hundreds of miles of nonstop cycling in brutal conditions.

Even with this high bar to enter, only about half the folks who begin in San Diego will finish the race. For the rest, they find that limit to the suffering their body and mind can endure.

This film was compiled from footage of the 2005 RAAM. The race has been occurring since 1982, when Ron Haldeman and 3 others decided to race from the Santa Monica Pier to the Empire State Building. They called their race “The Great American Bike Race”, and Haldeman won it in 9 days and 20 hours. It’s grown since then, to become the premier ultra-endurance cycling event in the world today. For cyclists like me who feel good about a long day in the saddle when we can average 15 or 16 miles an hour over a hard day, then go home and relax, think on the fact that the record speed over the 3000 mile event is 15+ mph – that’s AGGREGATE, meaning you start the clock on the west coast, stop it on the east coast, and figure the average. Includes sleeping, eating, hallucinating, arguing with mailboxes, taking punches at your crew when they push you, all that stuff. Kind of humbling, isn’t it?

While not intended for mass-marketing, this is a film that will be loved by cyclists in general, and especially by long-distance cyclists, endurance cyclists, and ultra-endurance cyclists. I highly recommend it to all my cycling friends. But I also recommend this film to anyone who’s interested in learning more about the madness that many people succumb to – this madness of finding the limits to our sanity and our survival.

Bargains are Killing Us

We’re a culture addicted to the idea of bargains. Most of what we buy into as a bargain isn’t a bargain at all in the long run, but we’ve brainwashed ourselves to believe that a short-term bargain is some sort of victory that we can’t pass up.

Watch behavior at the fast-food counter. People opt for the “supersize deal”, because it seems like such a bargain. In reality, they’re generally not saving much off the menu price, but more to the point, all the extra calories they’re forcing on themselves is a gigantic health risk to themselves, and a long-term healthcare cost to the nation. But it seems like such a bargain, we just can’t pass it up.

Big-box stores? Let’s just give them the generic name of Big-Mart, since I’m not aware of any chain really named that. It’s a good generic name. Study after study has shown that the prices we pay at Big-Mart are no lower than shopping at the local grocery store or sporting goods store. In fact, many studies have shown that we pay more on average. Worse yet, produce wholesalers find that these Big-Marts are the place where they can unload their lowest quality products. Pay more, get less. No bargain there. The highest cost is that these stores come into a town, drive the local businesses out of business, and many of them refuse to abide by generally accepted fair-labor practices. This means that local businesspeople lose everything, and local workers make less. The community as a whole pays more, gets less, and suffers a big price to both small businesses and the local workforce.

Yet, when the Big-Mart opens up, the shoppers flock there, believing they’re getting “a bargain”, when in fact they’re paying more, getting less, and damaging their local economy. Hardly a bargain…

How about dining choices? In my little city we’ve got the typical national chains, generally with a waiting line on the weekends. Yet, we have several locally owned restaurants that struggle to stay afloat. Why don’t the local folks support their neighbor rather than supporting the big corporate chains? Do they feel like they’re getting a bargain? This one baffles me. I go way out of my way to avoid a chain and support a local business whenever I can, and I find that I get better food and generally pay about the same or less than I would at a chain. I certainly feel better about myself when I’m done.

It might be because I’m a small businessman, and I understand clearly the value of the relationship between local merchant and local customer. But it’s not rocket science. A chain of any sort comes into a community to pull money out of it – that’s its job. They have a corporate structure somewhere else that must be fed, and the local outlet is nothing more than a way to suck as much money from the community as possible. Of course they provide a service – that’s why we give them money. But the local merchant provides the service as well, and he reinvests the money you give him back into the community. He buys locally, and sends his kids to the local schools, and pays property taxes on the home he owns locally.

This is happening all over America, as we let the big boxes and the big corporate chains siphon money from our local communities, draining them of their vitality. Even worse, this is our behavior at a more macro level as a nation. We have no problem with the fact that our economy is now a consumer economy rather than a producer economy. We’ve allowed the big box stores to ship all the jobs overseas, so that we can save a couple bucks on a pair of shoes.

Throughout history, this step of becoming a finance based consumer economy is the final step before the demise of an empire. We still have the power to thwart this fate, but it will take a concerted effort on all our parts in every single buying decision that we make.

Refuse to walk into a big box discount store, and shop instead at your local grocery store, hardware store, or sporting goods store. When you go out to eat, patronize only locally owned eateries. Next time you buy a vehicle, see if you can find one that’s truly made in America, and buy that one. The beauty of a free market in a democracy like ours is that you get to vote not just every couple years, but every single day.

Every time you let money leave your hand, you’re voting for a lifestyle, or a way of “being”.

Let’s stop looking for the bargain, and start looking for the good investment.

The Sparrow and the Hawk

The cold weather this weekend has the birds spending lots of time at my feeders. They’re equal-opportunity feeders, meaning that while seed-eating birds flock to the feeders, the occasional falcon takes advantage of the congregated birds to take a songbird as a snack of his own.

Photo by Will Elder

I watch a Kestrel (a type of falcon also known as a Sparrow Hawk) sitting on a branch above the feeders. While a Kestrel will sometimes take a bird, their primary diet is usually little creatures like mice. This one has apparently figured out that mice glean the seed that falls beneath the feeders, and he watches the ground intently.

Photo by Terry Sohl

The songbirds seem to know a falcon is sitting in the tree, as they stay away from the feeders while he’s there. I see them gathered not far away, clearly wanting to feed on this frigid day, but nervous about the falcon.

In most cases, hunger will eventually trump risk, as it does with the sparrows and finches. The flock might lose one individual, but the flock as a whole needs to eat.

The first to approach the feeders is a group of Titmice that stumble into the area. Their rapid flitting from branch to branch attracts the attention of the Sparrow Hawk, and as they notice his presence they decide to move along.

Just as the Titmice move along, the Sparrows and Finches move into the top of the tree. They seem to know the Sparrow Hawk is still in the tree, staying above his perch as they chatter and move about from branch to branch. The Sparrow Hawk is clearly on high alert – looking for a chance to take a little bird who lets his guard down for just an instant. Eventually, a group of half a dozen or so Goldfinches drop down to the feeders, and the Sparrow Hawk makes his move.

Fortunately for the Goldfinches, they’re agile on the wing, and the Sparrow Hawk doesn’t have enough space to gain any reasonable attack speed. The hawk flies off empty-taloned, and the Goldfinches resume their feeding after a couple minutes.

Photo by Peter LaTourrette

I’m always torn about who to “root for” when the falcons are around the feeder. It is a bird feeder, after all, and falcons are birds too, right? My immediate reaction is always to root for the underdog – the songbird. But common sense usually takes over and I figure it’s out of my hands – it’s just nature happening around me, and I’m blessed to be able to observe. No need to “root for” anybody.

Why’s that so hard for us – to just observe without rooting for somebody? Why do we always feel like we need to be on one side or the other of something?

After all, G-d isn’t rooting for one or the other, right? It’s just a balance thing, and it’s happening and balancing as we watch. And there’s beauty in balance, regardless of the outcome of this little confrontation or that little close-call.

We often mold G-d into our own image, and this is one of those areas where I think it’s most apparent. Our human nature (for whatever reason) pushes us to always take sides on things, rather than simply understanding things and solving problems. This is a human characteristic, not a Divine one, yet we can’t resist pushing G-d into this little mold.

I coached and refereed competitive soccer for years, and watched as many teams would have a “prayer” prior to the beginning of the match. While I have no doubt that the basic underlying intention of coaches was good when they did this, I also have little doubt that most of the time it was unconsciously a show – putting the “religiosity” of the coach on display in front of an audience. This aspect of the practice amused me.

But another aspect of the prayer disturbed me. The likely collateral effect these “prayers” had on young minds bothered me – implying that G-d might just provide the most help to whichever team prayed the best, or the most, or with the right words. As-if to imply that “G-d is on my team, not on the other team.”

While this might not by the explicit intent of the coach, I believe it’s one of the implied lessons beneath the practice. While I love the practice of prayer, I can only imagine how much more valuable the practice would be if both teams came together before the match, and prayed together. What a powerful lesson that would be for the players and the spectators. It would imply clearly the reality that G-d doesn’t “choose up sides” in this sort of thing, and that our need for prayer is our need to keep ourselves close to G-d.

It’s an unfortunate reality we face in the world, with so many all across the globe believing that their perspective of G-d is the one and only right version – that G-d rejects all the other people who happen to have been brought up with a different perspective or different traditions. It’s quite selfish behavior really, and the sort of self-righteousness that’s led to more war and misery than anything else in our history.

In my Christian tradition, we’ve got a really nice hymn that’s based on words Jesus spoke. The words from the refrain that are most memorable to like this:

“His eye is on the Sparrow,

and I know G-d watches over me.”

Image from BirdsArt.com

Maybe He watched the dance at my feeders. If so, His eye probably was on the Sparrow, and on the falcon as well. The falcon missed this time, but the odds may have worked in his favor later in the day, and he probably found a mouse, or a finch. And G-d probably smiled at the beauty of the balance that continued to be maintained.

Shovel Therapy

Scrape, throw; scrape, throw; scrape, throw. My heart thumps heavily in my chest and my lungs find a steady rhythm – pulling the cold, fresh air deeply into my chest and sending the steamy exhale back out. These rhythms come into a sweet harmony with the strokes of my arms as they dispatch one shovel-full of snow after the other from the cold concrete of the driveway.

In short order, the heat is building nicely inside my jacket, and the steam rises from my head. Though the temperature hovers around zero, both my body and soul are saturated in a zone of warm satisfaction as the concrete is steadily stripped of the layer of snow that covers it.

Shoveling anything is satisfying to me, but snow is a particular pleasure. Especially when it’s fresh snow with a consistent weight and consistency – before it’s been walked in or driven on. It lends itself to the mindless rhythm of shoulders, back, legs, lungs and heart as the shovel sweeps in a steady motion. The cold air is a bonus, as it allows high work output without overheating.

Like bicycling, shoveling snow has a sweet combination of qualities that allows the body to fall into a holistic rhythm of work. It’s almost like a drug to me, and I suppose there’s something to be said for the endorphins that are probably released during high work output. Perhaps there’s some physiological reason for the magic, but it’s magic nonetheless.

This morning, there’s less snow than was forecast. The dry ground of the high prairie needs the snow this year. Beyond the joy of shoveling, it feels good to see the moisture coming down. I enjoy the peace of the quiet blanket of white in the early light.

Simple joy. Deep joy.

We’ve built a complex world of broadband, fiber, blogging and email. We keep ourselves wrapped tightly in our cocoon of warm isolation from the world around us, while sharing a high level of intimate information with all the friends, family, and complete strangers who happen to read our Facebook page updates.

We shop a lot – our entire economy now revolves not around making and building things of value, but instead around filling shopping carts full of “stuff” – most of which we have no real need for. Buying “stuff” is not only the center of our economy, but seems also to be the place we’re searching for some sense of satisfaction. Doesn’t it seem, sometimes, that filling our shopping carts is our misguided attempt to fill the gaps of joy and meaning in our life?

But we still feel that gaps. We’re still searching for the meaning. We still long for the joy.

Simple joy. Deep joy.

These gaps aren’t always foremost in our minds, but I think they drive our behavior more than we’d like to admit.

When for most of us, many gaps are easily filled by pretty simple things in our life. They’re usually things we don’t have to reach very far to find, and they’re often things we spend a great deal of time hiding from.

Like hard work. Simple hard work with a steady, mindless rhythm to it. Work that keeps the heart pounding and the sweat pouring. Work that makes the muscles burn now and again. Work that lets the mind wander in peace.

Later in the morning, I sit in my office, and I feel good. The warm satisfaction from a little shovel work is still wrapped around me, and the sunlight is occasionally exploding across the snow-covered landscape outside. I watch as some folks struggle with their snowblower, finally getting it started, turning their head away from the exhaust blowing in their face, putting in earplugs to mute the scream of the motor.

I shift my gaze back to my front porch. There – leaning up against a rail – is my trusty snow shovel. I’m pretty sure the machine doesn’t save the neighbor any time, and I’m absolutely positive it deprives him of the joy to be found on the end of a shovel.

I don’t think I need to go shopping for anything today.

I hope is snows again tonight.

Standing Still For The Light

Since she was born in the middle of December, we always worried that our daughter’s birthday would be overwhelmed by the Christmas holiday. Consequently, we never decorated the house, or let the “Christmas Season” begin, until after her birthday was complete.

That tradition remained, and even today as an adult, she’ll have no part of anyone in the family starting “Christmas” until after her birthday.

Which is great with me. Traditionally – back in the olden days before we were an economy and a society addicted to consumerism – Christmas actually didn’t “start” until Christmas Eve. Back then, folks would come together as a family on that eve, and decorate the home, and share good cheer, in anticipation of the beginning of the season of Christmas. Starting on Christmas Day, the season lasts 12 days – hence the song, “The Twelve Days Of Christmas”.

Acting like it’s Christmas too early in the year gives us all too much time to squabble over whether or not this group or that group celebrates the holiday correctly, or whether it’s OK to use this decoration or that decoration in front of this building or that building. It gives us too much time to wallow in the “stuff” that we want, and the “stuff” that people around us want. It’s a sad but true commentary on the degree to which we all submit to the consumerism that’s become our master in these modern days.

Build a new way to celebrate Christmas this year and in coming years. Come together as a family on the eve of Christmas. Decorate the house for the holiday if you haven’t already, and share in good cheer and joy. Seek and find the religious significance in the holiday that’s important to you. Let the joy and significance linger for the entire holiday season – all 12 days of it.

Photo From ScienceBlogs.com - Winter Solstice of Fairbanks, AK

The winter solstice brings the shortest day of the year – the day when the sun stops its retreat toward darkness, and begins to move back toward light. The Latin root of the word “solstice” translates to something like “the standing still of the sun”. The sun stands still for a moment, then turns away from darkness and begins the journey toward longer days and greater light.

This year, the winter solstice brought a bonus of a beautiful red lunar eclipse to my part of the world. The moon turned dark red as the earth shaded it from the bright sun. Then, emerging on the other side of the shadow, it sparkled again in the bright winter night sky.

Photo By AP - Lunar Eclipse

Each year, the solstice is the opening act for the Christmas Holiday, (though I suppose my daughter would argue that her birthday is the opening act for the solstice…) As we bask in the joy of lengthening days and growing light in the world around us, it’s the perfect time to stand still in our heart and soul for a moment, and seek the Light that waits for us. This year, a moon emerging from a shadow is an extra bonus.

Stand still for just a moment, and feel the warmth of Light shining into your heart. Open yourself and let the Light from within your Soul shine into the world around you, and into the lives of those you love. Emerge from any shadow that life or the season might have brought into your life, and find again the bright Light shining into your heart and reflecting on your face.

The “true meaning of Christmas” – find it for yourself.

Searching For Fiscal Responsibility

I’m a fiscal conservative – one who really believes in the principles. One of the things that I’ve found really troubling in recent decades is the theft of that word – conservative – from the very foundations of the real meaning of the word. While I try and stay mostly a-political in this blog, I do like to post links to articles I write for others that do dig into political issues.

You can find the article at Tikkun – follow this link.

Thanks, as always, for reading!