Nurture

Active nonviolence begins with the truth that all life is sacred, that we are all equal sisters and brothers, all children of the God of peace, already reconciled, all one, all already united, and so we could never hurt or kill another human being, much less remain silent while wars rage, people die in poverty, and nuclear weapons and environmental... See more

Even after a beautiful Mass, ritual, or retreat, we go right back to either/or, dualistic thinking. We go right back to being angry Republicans or Democrats, Protestants or Catholics, Black people or white people. It just never stops. But as we practice, contemplation becomes a way to touch upon reality, a way of penetrating illusion.

You made it this far. Thank you kind stranger for believing in the power of artistry. I am not a fan of marketing, being on our phone, promoting brands of any kind. Please let us throw out phones into the ocean, and return to trusting strangers, and believing that nothing is out to get you.

We all deserve healing. Kindness. Silence. Reflection. And ... See more

I didn’t know how old Martha was. Maybe she was 11. Maybe she was 27. Probably something in between. Before she came to live with me, she lived in Puerto Rico, she had two puppies, she was cared for by someone who house trained her and also made her afraid of newspapers. Martha was loving and enigmatic. Independent. When we lived in Brooklyn, she w... See more

We do not attain anything by our own holiness but by ten thousand surrenders to mercy. A lifetime of received forgiveness allows us to become mercy. Mercy becomes our energy, our meaning. Perhaps we are finally enlightened and free when we can both receive mercy and give it away—without payment or punishment.

Of writing many books there is no end;

And I who have written much in prose and verse

For others’ uses, will write now for mine,—

Will write my story for my better self,

As when you paint your portrait for a friend,

Who keeps it in a drawer and looks at it

Long after he has ceased to love you, just

To hold together what he was and is.

When we make a pact with ourselves to show up for reality just as it is, reality rewards us by revealing its hidden holiness, its ordinary wonder, its fruitful shadows and radiant wounds. Not always, not everywhere, but more and more often and in the places we least expect.… This is what it means to be a mystic. To show up for what is, to be presen... See more