just enough light

For me, being genuinely grateful means learning to begin with gratitude, regardless of the moment. If I begin with an assessment of the moment, “Is this good or bad, frightening or enjoyable?” I won’t get to genuine gratitude. Instead, my gratitude gets determined by my assessment of how the moment may affect my comfort. Pema […]

A dear friend of mine, now deceased, used to lead his family in an interesting moment of thanksgiving before some of their meals. Rather than a rote prayer of thanks or a spontaneous one, he invited everyone at the table to mention someone who had been responsible for the meal set before them. Thanksgiving began […]

Most of my gratitude is conditional. I feel and express gratitude for those things that make my life easier, safer, more comfortable, less lonely. I am thankful for my family, my friends, my warm house, my safe neighborhood, my stable income and savings portfolio, the fact that while I don’t have lots of money, I […]

I took a few minutes Sunday morning to be still and to consider what I might focus on with my time and my writing this week. I asked myself, “What is Lent about for me?” An answer came quickly, gratitude and grief. The answer was so natural and spontaneous, it seemed it was simply waiting […]

Jesus told the crowd on the hill, “First, seek the kingdom of God and all that God requires of you, and all the other things you most need will be provided.” I grew up thinking that seeking the kingdom of God was behavioral. Do good things for others, be a good boy, avoid bad things. […]

I did some high level research into the topic of frustration over the past few days. You know, the same kind of research most of us do these days, I Googled it. I did more than that, but that was part of my research. What I found under the heading of “coping with frustration” was […]

“Frustration is a cover-up for something we have yet to face in ourselves.” -Joan Chittister. I’m still uncovering my cover-up. Frustration has a long, illustrious history with me that continues to play out every day. I learned frustration from my culture. I was taught to strive. We strive to do better, to get smarter, to […]

It seems trivial to be writing about frustration when so many in Ukraine are in real crisis. Crisis calls for action or for intentional non-action. Fight or flight or freeze are the responses to crisis. Frustration, on the other hand, prompts me toward hand wringing, brow furrowing, pacing, nervous inaction. I am not frustrated in […]

Frustration, that systemic discontent with my life, is a vague thing. Rarely can I identify the source of my frustration, and when I can, it’s trivial: it’s too noisy to get anything done, I don’t have enough time to get started on that, I have too many things on today’s to-do list, I don’t think […]

“Nothing is quite right, though, if we were forced to admit it, nothing is really wrong either.” Well, that little statement by Joan Chittister pretty much sums up most of my waking hours. Chittister is writing about frustration. I don’t know if frustration is a uniquely human experience, but even if other animals share this […]