Hands Like These

Celebrating heritage and giving thanks for the familial connections, for the love, life and inspiration that passes down through generations, this post at A Mindful Life echoes like a prayer in my soul. These hands have kneaded dough, stirred soup, opened jars with stuck lids, chopped onions, basted roasts, shucked corn, grated cheese, sliced melon. […]

Our Inner Ape

more bonobo images The New York Times points to a fascinating book, Our Inner Ape by Frans De Waal. This book compares human social behavior with two species of apes: chimpanzees and bonobos. Here are some excerpts from the review: Bonobos live in a relatively peaceful matriarchy; when conflicts do arise, instead of fighting they […]

At black water pondthe tossed waters have settledafter a night of rain.I dip my cupped hands. I drinka long time. It tasteslike stone, leaves, fire. It falls coldinto my body, waking the bones. I hear themdeep inside me, whisperingOh what is that beautiful thingthat just happened? Mary Oliver (thank you graceful presence)

THE PARADOX OF OUR AGE

We have bigger houses but smaller families;more conveniences, but less time;We have more degrees, but less sense;more knowledge, but less judgement;more experts, but more problems;more medicines, but less healthiness;We’ve been all the way to the moon and back,but have trouble crossing the street to meetthe new neighbor.We build more computers to hold moreinformation to produce […]