The Lenten Fast

I found this on Facebook and simply must share. It captures how I feel about Lent and how we might respond to Lent not by taking away something but by adding holy practices to our lives and thus giving more time to God.

If you are a Christian, what are your thoughts on and practices for Lent? If you're not a Christian, do you have any questions about Lent (the time leading up to Easter)? 

Good Words to Ponder #2

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What strikes me most about these good words to ponder? How few people we can talk to for this purpose. First, the person must be trustworthy and not a gossip. Second, he or she has to know how to listen simply, without judging or troubleshooting to fix the problem or turning the talk back to themselves.

Who listens simply for you when you need it? Do you listen simply for others when they need it? How could you be a better listener?

Words to ponder.

Book Wisdom: Mudita

This post is the first in an ongoing series of nuggets of knowledge and wisdom I mine in books. These little nuggets will focus on kindness, peace, joy, mercy, love, compassion, mindfulness, and personal growth. No doubt this wisdom from books will be quite eclectic (as is my reading list!), but each post will, I hope, give you food for thought...and perhaps ideas for your own reading list.  


About five years ago, I read The Universe in a Single Atom by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and was fascinated by the depth and breadth of the openness this man promotes both through his actions and his words.

Openness.

We need more of that.

So when I saw The Book of Joy at my local Barnes & Noble, with its face-to-face picture of the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, I bought it and immediately dove in to page after page of wisdom and inspiration from two big hearts and open minds. The book documents a week-long meeting of these two Nobel Peace Prize Laureates and faith leaders as they discuss the subject of joy in a harsh and difficult world.

As you can see, I had to start marking passages to go back to, to reflect on, to remember, but now, a year later, I'm simply re-reading the whole thing.

The nugget of inspiration I want to explore from The Book of Joy today is the word mudita. Buddhists define mudita as the joy that comes from someone else's joy. It's the opposite of schadenfreude, which is German for the pleasure that comes from someone else's suffering.

Reading the definition of mudita in The Book of Joy made me think of Ann Voskamp's book One Thousand Gifts. (Don't you love it when books cross-pollinate in your mind?) Back in 2011, I came across Voskamp's book about gratitude and immediately began my own gratitude journal. I read blogs and other books on gratitude, wrote numerous posts about gratitude, and cultivated gratitude as a habit of mind.

This intentional study stuck and is one of the most transformative habits I've ever instilled in myself.

Mudita gave a name to a powerful side-effect of practicing gratitude. I would frequently find myself, in the midst of stress or worry or conflict, smiling. At first, I was a bit confused that my joy couldn't be suppressed by whatever was bothering me, but I quickly realized that practicing gratitude had rewired my thoughts.

Often, when negative thoughts about my own situation seemed to grow big, random thoughts of gratitude welled up and pushed the negative thoughts into a more realistic perspective...and these moments of gratitude in my own pain were almost always thoughts of someone else's blessing.

Mudita. Mudita for my friend whose leadership has turned around a faltering adult literacy program and has caused ripples of joy for so many people. Mudita for a first-time grandmother who is beaming with joy. Mudita for a friend with a new job. Mudita for my son and my niece who got into their first choices for college. Mudita for another niece who is getting married. Mudita for travel photos of other people's fabulous vacations on Facebook.

You can find mudita everywhere.

But you have to be open to it, cultivate it, let it well up inside of you, and overflow in celebration with another human being. 

The result: joy.



Questions for Thought
What do you think of the idea of mudita? Have you experienced mudita recently? If so, please share your experience in the comments. How might you cultivate mudita in yourself and encourage it in others?

Good Words to Ponder #1

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It's easy to be seduced into being someone other than yourself. Family, friends, bosses, teachers...all the people we encounter may want you to be someone that's convenient for them, and some of them, with either good or bad intent, may be very good at manipulating you into being that person.

This week, ponder how you are you. What can only you do? Are you doing it? Why or why not? Pick one thing you love about you and let it flow!

Responding to the Crazy

Oh, my.

In the past year, we've seen and heard so much crazy that I've pretty much shut down writing and retreated to the creative world of Simplicity. How does one respond to a nation seemingly overrun with debauchery, discord, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, hatred, anger, fear, gossip, lies, posturing, back-stabbing, oppression, discrimination, harassment, arrogance?

How?

I'm not sure what to do, but I've become increasingly convinced that silence isn't the answer, which is why I'm writing again.

On this morning celebrating the work and life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a friend living in Virginia received a KKK propaganda packet at the end of her driveway. So did all her neighbors. Hate is trying to spread.

"Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." 

That long list of misery in my second paragraph follows pretty closely Paul's list of fruits of the flesh in his letter to the Galatians. When people behave in these ways, they feed others this terrible fruit that poisons and pollutes and tears down relationships, families, communities, cities, states, nations.

We can't destroy those terrible things by adding more terrible things to the world.

Dr. King was ever so right about that.

When we respond to the crazy fruits of the flesh, we need to respond with fruits of the spirit. We need to grow love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. When others eat of this fruit, they are nourished and built up and grow good fruit of their own to feed others. The good fruit spreads.

I have admired these fruits in the words of an immigration lawyer being interviewed on NPR.

I have admired these fruits in the voices of my bishop and pastor in the United Methodist Church.

I have admired these fruits in the hard work and leadership savvy of my friend who has miraculously revitalized our county's adult literacy program.

I have admired these fruits in the actions of my friend the CASA volunteer.

I have admired these fruits in the steady stand of peaceful counter-protesters at white-supremacist rallies.

I have admired these fruits at every Stephen Ministry meeting I attend.

These fruits are EVERYWHERE. Don't let the media fool you into believing that only fruits of the flesh are out there. Good is being done all over the place. Look for it. Listen for it. Encourage it. Be a part of it.

Dr. King asked a very important question: What are you doing for others?

This is the answer to the crazy. We don't grow the fruit to eat it ourselves but to feed others. Are you giving good fruit to those around you? Are you actively promoting kindness, gentleness, peace, goodness, love, faithfulness, and joy in all places in your life (personal, professional, public, and private)? Are you exercising patience and self-control when others around you aren't?

Or are you sitting back crossing your fingers, hoping these good things win against the hate and bigotry and belittling and division and arrogance and anger and other assorted ugliness?

Or, worse, are you trying to fight the hate with hate...and adding to the crazy?

Use your gifts, whatever they may be, to grow good fruit for others. Ask yourself how you can actively protect and help those who have less, those from other countries, those suffering addictions, those whose identities and orientations may not be the same as yours...anyone who needs a hand.

Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Respond to the crazy by growing love, speaking love, doing love as only you can.

I'm going to write love. 

What are you going to do?