As I had mentioned in a previous post about This too shall pass , I had gone through some trials at work for much of last summer (2008). It had gotten somewhat better when I realized that others were basically treated as I am, I perhaps worse as I was new and had struggled a …
When one area of my life is out of whack I have found it important to have something useful to serve as a kind of counterweight to it. Having a life outside one’s job (for example) provides a sense of balance. When we work full-time we have a sense of displacement in our lives. Work …
We all go through trials. Suffering is a natural part of life. Every one of us endures this or that situation that seems to be neverending. And most times it seems that our suffering is worse that anyone else’s. Even news reports of natural disasters fail to change our perspective. Despite our experience in the …
The title of this post is in reference to a line in page 164 of AA’s “Big Book”, (a/k/a Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th edition, New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 2001). It reads: Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and to your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of …
“We admitted we were powerless over alcohol – that our lives had become unmanageable.” And thus is the First Step of 12 Step alcohol recovery groups. (Other addictions are appropriately substituted for alcohol in other 12 Step movements). In essence it reflects a corruption of the will, with the references to powerlessness and unmanageability. Our …
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Today, January 20th, would have been my Mom’s birthday. She would have been 93. She died a few years ago, just shy of her 90th. The fact that she led and lived a full life doesn’t minimize her death. (“Well, Paul, she did live a long time.”) I miss her. I have the hope of …
According to the Oxford American Dictionary that is installed on my Mac, the word compassion means: compassion |kəmˈpa sh ən| nounsympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others : the victims should be treated with compassion. ORIGIN Middle English : via Old French from ecclesiastical Latin compassio(n-), from compati ‘suffer with.’ Take …