Posts Tagged ‘Add new tag’
To Be Human is to Be Spiritual
Yesterday in Parade Magazine, there was a report of a lengthy survey on religion and spirituality written by Christine Wicker. The long and short of the article is that we, as a nation, are considering ourselves as more spiritual than ever before. I go a step further, although I don’t have statistics to prove it. That is, we have always been spiritual. That’s why I started to write my book Zen Master Next Door nearly five years ago.In our huge world, we are all connected. Everything and everybody’s actions impact everyone else. Just think about it. We cannot survive without others, or without what grows on the earth, or the water that refreshes us, or the warmth of the sun–or a fire. If we made more time to listen to others, no matter who they are, and listen to ourselves, we might learn something. If we made time to see how this world works and how it is aligned with our Creator, we might make better decisions. Religion is good, but spirituality takes us further.
The short stories in Zen Master Next Door are about you and me in our everyday life trying to make the best decisions we know how. Slowing our pace, putting the blackberry down and listening to what a child has to say, could really be enlightening. Just think if we could see God in different ways–hearing Him in voices of those we meet and in the breeze wafting through the boughs of a tree.
But, today, the frenetic pace we seem to have accepted creates our largest barrier in our spiritual life. Our material “needs” are a giant step backward in our quest to learn about ourselves, our fellow man and our God.
To be human is to be spiritual, and I’m joyful more of us are recognizing what we already possess.
Check out Zen Master Next Door at http://www.edwardgkardos.com/
Posted on Monday, October 5th, 2009 | No Comments »
The “New” Fifty
You’ve heard people say that fifty is the new forty. Wrong. Fifty is the new fifty.
I celebrated my fiftieth birthday in August and nothing happened. Nothing at all. I was the same guy the day before as I was on my birthday, and finding out that things are going well six weeks later. I got to thinking about it, and it dawned on me that I felt, and still feel, the same as I did twenty years earlier — so is fifty, for me, the new thirty? Not really. As a matter of fact I feel and think “better” than I did way back when. Heck, I was too skinny and my nose looked even bigger then.
One thing is now very different for me. It is very liberating to say that I’m fifty. What gives me this sense of freedom? I’ve been around the block, as they say, but feel pretty relevant. I’m healthy and in good shape. I’m physically and mentally more active today then I was a few years back. I think I am beginning to understand that with my gray hair, I’m getting something that is known as “wisdom”. I’m not a soothsayer, but when I think about it, I’m a lot smarter–and kinder. We don’t use the word “wisdom” very much anymore, but I think I’m getting it and look forward to being the recipient of more.
I’ve experienced some wonderful goings-on in my life–some really beautiful happening. Events and activities I will honor and cherish forever. On the flip side, I’ve been humiliated and degraded by some, but haven’t we all? The wisdom comes when you can sort it all out, make sense of it, and see yourself for what you truly are. Taking time to put it all in perspective and being committed to what you think is most important is a step to wisdom. I’m looking forward to seeing where I’m headed with all this.
When you can look inside and you like what you see, that is all part of the journey.
Hey, I think fifty is the NEW fifty.
Posted on Sunday, October 4th, 2009 | No Comments »
I Miss My Cub Scout
It was one of those rare times when I was home alone on a Saturday. It was quiet, and I was busy with the mundane when I heard the door bell ring. There standing in front of me, all four feet and one inch, was a cub scout with collar flipped up and cap cocked to one side. His mom was at the curb. With great verve and ten year old inflection, he mustered his sales pitch with some long distance coaching from the curb.
I looked into his eyes, and I listened to what he said, and I responded, “sure” as I bought some “original caramel corn ” for this pack fund-raiser.
His sale had nothing to do with the great taste of caramel corn, but all to do with this little fella. See, I have a twenty year old son in college. Ten years ago, it was my son who had to gather his nerve and ring the doorbell while I stood, with fingers crossed, at the curb.
How ten years goes so fast.
I, then, told this young scout to tie his shoe lace and to watch his step down our steep front steps and closed the front door. An immediate rush of emotion enveloped me. I had lonely and distant feeling and I didn’t like it. I missed my son. So, at onec, I called his cell phone as he was nearly two hundred miles away at school only to hear his recoreded message. Although I wanted to talk with him, I liked hearing his voice.
I miss my son. I miss my cub scout.
Posted on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 | No Comments »