Recently CNN.com posted a piece entitled, “Are there dangers in being ‘spiritual but not religious’? As they define it, SBNR is “a trendy phrase people often use to describe their belief that they don’t need organized religion to live a life of faith.”

If by ‘trendy’ they mean ‘popular,’ I agree. If, however, they mean ‘trendy’ as in a passing fad – something here today and gone tomorrow – I’m not so certain that’s the case.

I know in my own life-setting the acronym SBNR serves me well. While I embrace the Jesus story as my primal narrative, I don’t call myself (for a gazillion reasons and counting) a ‘Christian.’ For me, the ‘Christian’ moniker has become too stereotypical of people I’d prefer not to hang out with and a theology that I largely no longer embrace. Continue reading…

Hello all — hope you’re having a great summer! Mine’s off to a very busy start with family in from out of town, a board meeting and as if all of that is not enough, I’ve been working day and night to get The David Group International into their new offices.

Thus, not much activity on my blog.

C.G. Jung once wrote, “People will do anything, no matter how absurd, in order to avoid facing their own souls.”

We posted this week on Narcissism and the difficulty of coming to see through our self-constructed image(s) of ourselves in order to get to the reality that lay within. This is not an easy task to undertake and actually demands an admirable degree of bravery. But it’s worth it! It’s worth it personally as well as being worth it on behalf of those within our closest circles of fellowship and family.

To love, truly love, means to be open to deep interior exploration of the self. But as Jung observes, we tend to be willing to do just about anything other than launch off into such a soul-searching exercise. Why? Why is it so painful to contemplate what we might find? Why is the thought of being wrong and in need of travelling another direction so threatening? Continue reading…

I’ve not been overly active lately on my postings… hope ya’ll will forgive me.

Actually I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the issues of poverty and a utopian society. I know, I know, what a crazy idea, eh? However, I just came across the following link today and you all could do me a great favor by reading it and then leaving any comments you have below.

While this may seem like a naïve venture on the part of Panera Bread, the fact is it could also be a ‘significant’ development in a worthwhile way of re-envisioning a more compassionate society that gives voice and opportunity to the ‘have’s’ in finding a tangible way to love and embrace the ‘have not’s.’

Here’s the story.

What western psychologists call ‘narcissism’ Buddhists refer to as ‘self-cherishing.’ In each instance, this concept evolves out of incorrect views of the self. The harm of narcissistic tendencies arises when we view ourselves as permanent entities, the loss of which we fight at all costs. In doing so, often we overlook that we are not independent of those (and the reality) that surrounds us.

So what ends up happening? Our self-cherishing ends up being at the expense of others, and the wake of our relationships closely resembles a tornado. The destruction is everywhere… but hey, we’re happy. Continue reading…