By Theodore Tilten
Once in Persia reigned a king,
Who upon a signet ring
Carved a maxim strange and wise,
When held before his eyes,
Gave him counsel at a glance,
Fit for every change and chance:
Solemn words, and these were they:
‘EVEN THIS WILL PASS AWAY."
Trains, of camel through the sand
Brought him gems from Samarcand;
Fleets of galleys over the seas
Brought him pearls to rival these,
But he counted little gain,
Treasures of the mine or main;
‘What is
By Shae Hadden | Bio
I’ve been looking for a way to be free all my life. My entire search has, unfortunately, been focused on the practical aspect of ‘holding on’ to whatever I thought would give me freedom: a belief in some system or way of thinking, money, possessions, favorite books that contained ideas that were ‘liberating’, any activity that loosened up my body and mind, people I loved. But now almost nothing is certain in my life, and a deep desire to let go of my attachments to everything and everyone propels me forward.This sensation is visceral. It’s like a snake wriggling out of its skin, a baby bird struggling to climb out of the nest. What to do when my whole being wants to do something I thought impossible: drop everything I’ve gathered around me (including my clothes and possessions), take one step to the side, and then begin again…buff naked and unencumbered?
A friend was reminding me this is the time of Lent, a time of letting go of what no longer serves us. For some, the focus
By Jim Selman | Bio
In “A Course in Miracles”, there is an aphorism at the beginning of the book that says “Nothing real can be threatened and nothing unreal exists.” Although I have never formally studied the program, I have read the book and it is a beautiful and compelling insight in the realm of spiritual wisdom. For millions, the Course has given access to a higher power or transformation of their relationship to the world. What I found for myself was a clarity and simplicity that
By Kevin Brown | Bio
Today is ‘Family Day’, a public holiday in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and Saskatchewan. It is also celebrated in South Africa, in the Australian Capital Territory, in the state of Arizona in the U.S., and in the Republic of Vanuatu in the South Pacific.
In Alberta where I live, ‘Family Day’ was declared to recognize the values held by the pioneers who built the province and the values of home and family. It is celebrated on the third
By Jim Selman | Bio
There is a phenomenon I point to in my work called “already listening”. This is akin to the ‘little voice’ in our heads that goes on and on about everything. It is our internal and automatic ‘judgment muscle’. It is called already listening because it is what we bring to a conversation before anyone speaks. It is the “pre” filter that is always organizing what we think. It is not the same as hearing. We can all hear the same thing, but not ‘listen’ the same
By Jim Selman | Bio
What is it about us that generates such endless fascination with conflict and suffering around the world? As I am watching Israel’s war with Hamas and the occupation of Gaza, I become resigned that the situation there will never be resolved and I fall into a kind of ‘funk’ about the Middle East mess in general. Now I don’t know all that much—just what I get from television, magazines and conversations with friends who don’t know much more than I do. I have become
By Jim Selman | Bio
I came across an article on Becoming Wiser Together by an old acquaintance of mine, George Por, in Kosmos Journal in which he was talking about the idea ‘that the future is already here’ but that we have different sensibilities and awareness of what it is and the possibilities it brings. George has been working for decades on the idea of what some of us might
By Juanita Brown, David Isaacs and Samantha Tan | World Cafe website
Reprinted with kind permission from "Changing the World Together", Spring/Summer 2008 Kosmos Journal
PO Box 2102
Lenox, MA 01240. Subscriptions
Juanita Brown and David Isaacs are co-founders of the World Café, an innovative approach to large group dialogue being used across sectors on six continents. Their award-winning book, The World Café: Shaping our Futures Through Conversations that Matter,
By Jim Selman | Bio
I read a nice piece called Welcoming the Approach of the Golden Years by Gary Westover talking about his growing awareness that he has a choice about how he grows older. He can follow the path of his parents and others and deteriorate each year until finally succumbing to dementia or worse. Or he realizes he can see that it is his attitudes and expectations that create the future he is living into and he can look forward to a continually expanding and rewarding experience of living. How we age is a choice and a commitment, it is not a given. He is realizing the difference between being an elder and becoming elderly.We have added a third distinction called ‘eldering’. Some people love the term and others say it reminds them of the fact that they are getting ‘old’ and with that thought comes the fear of being elderly. This is why there is so much resistance to growing old and people trying to hang onto their youth just a little longer. Eldering is our term for the question of ‘how to’ live to the fullest after retirement and as we enter the last third of life. Eldering is wisdom
By Jim Selman | Bio
Think about the positive attributes of growing older, and ‘wisdom’ will always appear near the top of the list. Until recently, I had assumed ‘wisdom’ was a kind of ‘right knowledge’. Every time someone says the Serenity Prayer, I am reminded of this attribute again.“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things that I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
I wonder if I do know the difference.
On one level, I have learned a degree of serenity and think I am more or less accepting of most things in life. Yet I still fret about our political leadership, the drift toward corporate oligarchy, the environment, TV programming, traffic and a hundred other things that I think should be