“Change is the essence of life. Be willing to surrender what you are for what you could become.”Anonymous.
11.12.08
14 - 21 Dec 2008
4.12.08
7 - 14 Dec 2008
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”Siddhārtha Gautama or The Buddha (about 563-483 BCE, founder of Buddhism and known as the Enlightened One).
What do you think the Buddha means by seeing the miracle of a flower? How would our life change?
27.11.08
30 Nov - 7 Dec 2008
“Tradition can be the midwife of change. Abandon everything of the past and we can become like flotsam on the tide of modernity”BBC Radio 4 talk on 16/2/1998 called ‘Re-inventing God’ by Charles Handy (b1932, Irish author/philosopher specialising in organisational behaviour and management).
Does tradition bind us to the past so that we are unable to change? Or can we build on our traditions, learning from them so that we can change in more positive ways? Think about the traditions in our culture or in various religions.
20.11.08
23 - 30 Nov 2008
"God grant meAttributed to Reinhold Niebuhr (1982-1971, theologian, pastor)
the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference."
14.11.08
16 - 24 Nov 2008
"The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn – and change"Carl Rogers (1902–1987, psychologist)
7.11.08
9 - 16 Nov 2008
"When we are no longer able to change a situation,Victor Frankl (1905-1997, Austrian psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor).
we are challenged to change ourselves."
30.10.08
2 - 9 Nov 2008
“To live is to change; to be perfect is to have changed often.”John Henry Newman (1801-1890, theologian, Anglican priest and leader of the Oxford Movement who later became a Roman Catholic Cardinal)
23.10.08
26 Oct - 2 Nov 2008
"The greatest danger facing the human race is the world-view that sees human life in terms of a power struggle. We are convinced that in order to survive we must compete rather than co-operate. This is like a lethal virus infecting the human race."The writer, Gerard Hughes, sees this virus affecting every organisation, even church organisations. The quotation continues:
"When the Church forgets the real meaning of holiness, that virus is just as likely to flourish within the Church as outside of it."Gerard W Hughes God in All Things (Hodder & Stoughton, 2003).
17.10.08
19 - 26 Oct 2008
"In our era, the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action"Dag Hammarskjöld (1905-1961; Secretary-General of the United Nations 1953-61 who died in a plane crash while trying to bring peace to the Congo. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1961).
21.6.08
Summer 2008
30.5.08
1 - 8 Jun 2008
“To me, every hour of the day and night is an unspeakably perfect miracle”.
“I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars”.Walt Whitman (1819-1892; poet, essayist).
22.5.08
25 May - 1 Jun 2008
"If you were to ask what provides some meaning in life nowadays for a great many people, especially men, you could do worse than reply 'Football'… Sport, and in Britain football in particular, stands in for all those noble causes – religious faith, national sovereignty, personal honour, ethnic identity – for which over the centuries, people have been prepared to go to their deaths. Sport involves tribal loyalties and rivalries, symbolic rituals, fabulous legends, iconic heroes, epic battles, aesthetic beauty, physical fulfilment, intellectual satisfaction, sublime spectaculars, and a profound sense of belonging… It is sport, not religion, which is now the opium of the people."Terry Eagleton (John Edward Taylor Professor of Cultural Theory at the University of Manchester; from 'The Meaning of Life: A Very Short Introduction', OUP, 2007)
16.5.08
18 - 25 May 2008
Last week was Christian Aid Week which helps the poorest of the poor. Some facts from their web site:
- Rigged trade rules cost the developing world $700 billion a year, according to the UN.
- The three richest people in the world control more wealth than all 600 million people living in the world's poorest countries.
- International trade is worth $10 million a minute. But poor countries only account for 0.4% of this trade. Indeed, their share is actually half what it was in 1980.
- Nearly half the world's population (2.8 billion people) live on less than $2 per day. And more than 800 million go hungry every day.
- Income per person in the poorest countries in Africa has fallen by a quarter in the past 20 years.
8.5.08
11-18 May 2008
"I am thankful for small mercies. I compared notes with one of my friends who expects everything of the universe, and is disappointed when anything is less than best, and I found that I begin at the other extreme, expecting nothing, and am always full of thanks for moderate goods."Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882, essayist, philosopher, poet and leader of the American Transcendentalist movement; from ‘Experience’).
1.5.08
4 - 11 May 2008
"Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together."Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924, twenty-eighth President of the United States).
Additional Thoughts
"Don't walk in front of me; I may not follow. Don't walk behind me; I may not lead. Just walk beside me and be my friend."Albert Camus (1913-1960, novelist, essayist and playwright, Nobel Prize for Literature, 1957 ).
"Be a friend to thy self, and others will be so too."Thomas Fuller (1654 - 1734, physician; from Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs, Stearne Brock, 1733).
24.4.08
27 Apr - 4 May 2008
The theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein once said
“It would be possible to describe everything scientifically, but it would make no sense; it would be without meaning, as if you described a Beethoven symphony [insert your own favourite music] as a variation of wave pressure.”Albert Einstein (1879-1955, theoretical physicist; awarded the Nobel Prize for physics in 1921).
There is no Additional Thought this week. Instead, look at the summary of Richard Dawkins’ book ‘The God Delusion’ together and the critical responses. You can find these at http://www.bolton.ac.uk/chaplaincy and click on the Related Link on the right The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins. You will also find other information related to Dawkins and the science-religion debate. Comment on Dawkins' book or the responses to Dawkins.
10.4.08
13 - 27 Apr 2008
Most of us want some things in our life to be different and we can change some with a bit of perseverance. However, there are some situations which we cannot change and which drain us of energy. For our own health we need to look at these situations in a different way.
As the Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus wrote:
"People are not disturbed by things but by the view which they take of them".Epictetus (c55-135, Greek Stoic philosopher; from 'Enchiridion' or 'Handbook' 5, 135 CE).
More recently, Albert Schweitzer wrote:
"The greatest discovery of any generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind."Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965, theologian, philosopher, organist & mission doctor).
Additional Thoughts
On a similar theme, we read in the Jewish Talmud:
"We do not see things as they are, but as we are."The psychiatrist Victor Frankl put it this way:
"When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves".Victor Frankl (1905-1997 Austrian psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor).
If you are affected by the Thought for the Week, you can contact me - see my profile in About Me.
4.4.08
6 - 13 Apr 2008
"Then a woman said, Speak to us of Joy and Sorrow.
And he answered:
Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which as been your delight."
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931; from 'The Prophet', 1926).
If you are affected by the Thought for the Week, you can contact me - see my profile in About Me.
Further Thought
On a similar theme, Kahlil Gibran wrote:
"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls;
the most massive characters are seared with scars".
27.3.08
30 Mar - 6 Apr 2008
"There are two things you should never delegate;Dr Peter Honey (Chartered psychologist and founder of Peter Honey Publications Ltd. He helped to develop the Learning Styles model widely used in education and training).
your own learning and saying thank you."
Additional Quotations from Peter Honey
"Learning has a beginning, middle and no end."
"It isn't what you know, it's what you do that counts."
16.3.08
16 - 30 Mar 2008
"In much of your talking, thinking is half murdered.Khalil Gibran (1883-1931; Lebanese-American writer; from "The Prophet", 1926).
For thought is a bird of space,
that in a cage of words may indeed unfold its wings
but cannot fly."
6.3.08
9 - 16 Mar 2008
"The 10% richest folk own 85% of global wealth. If affluent consumption patterns persist, between now and 2040 natural resource consumption will exceed all that was consumed during the past 10,000 years. It was Mahatma Gandhi who so wisely observed: 'Our Planet's resources are sufficient to satisfy everyone's need but not everyone's greed.' "Joseph Hulse (specialist in biotechnologies and international development; from a lecture given at The University of Bolton on 4 March 2008).
Further Quotations from Prof Hulse's lecture:
"Actions to alleviate poverty depend upon political will. For many years affluent nations have been urged to allocate at least 0.7% of the Gross National Income to alleviate poverty. Yet only Scandinavian nations and the Netherlands meet this standard. Even if every OECD nation raised its foreign aid budget to 0.7% of GNI, the total sum given to foreign aid woud be less than 0.1% of annual global expenditures on armaments."
"If the human race is to survive to the end of the century, the world has urgent need of wise, prudent and informed rulers, rulers who will legislate that the Planet's scarce resources be managed and utilised more conservatively; politicialns and administrators of exceptional systematic and versatile vision. For as the Book of Proverbs so wisely reminds us: Without imaginative vision, the human race will most surely perish."
28.2.08
2 - 9 Mar 2008
"Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you'. Mature love says 'I need you because I love you'."Erich Fromm (1900-1980, psychologist; from 'The Art of Loving', originally published 1957).
Further Thoughts
Eric Fromm's book 'The Art of Loving' is about all our relationships between people, not just sexual relationships. He also states:
"Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence".and the following quotation points to an aspect of teaching which goes beyond techniques and also defies being measured:
"Whilst we teach knowledge, we are losing that teaching which is the most important one for human development: the teaching which can only be given by the simple presence of a mature, loving person."
24.2.08
24 Feb - 2 Mar 2008
"Miracles start to happen when you give as much energy to your dreams as you do to your fears."Richard Wilkins (writer, further information not found).
Further Thoughts
The American psychologist Abraham Maslow thinks that it is the way we look at life which makes a miracle or not:
"Any sunset or oak tree or baby or pretty girl is a fantastic and unbelievable, unassimilable miracle if seen for the first time, or if seen as if for the first time (or as if for the last time), as a good artist sees or as any good experiencer sees. This fresh and defamiliarized experiencing becomes easy for any person as soon as he has sense enough to realize that it is more fun to live in a world of miracles than in a world of filing cabinets and that a familiar miracle is still a miracle."Abraham Maslow (1908-1970, psychologist).
We may think that the 'proper' definition of miracle is "a violation of the laws of nature" but this was put forward by the 18th century atheist philosopher David Hume. This definition has caused huge problems for religious people because it cast doubt on the Biblical stories of signs and wonders. It also took away an essential part of human life: of seeing a miracle - what is special and extraordinary - in life.
14.2.08
17 - 24 Feb 2008
"Understanding a person does not mean condoning; it only means that one does not accuse him as if one were God or a judge placed above him."Eric Fromm (1900-1980, social psychologist, psychoanalyst and philosopher; from 'Man for Himself' Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1975, p237).
Further Thoughts
"The real thing is to understand, and love that you may understand"J B Yeats (1839-1922, Irish artist; from 'Letters to his son, W B Yeats and others', Faber & Faber Ltd, 1944, p136).
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view...until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."(Nelle) Harper Lee (1926- , novelist; from 'To Kill a Mockingbird', Pan Books Ltd, 1981, p35).
7.2.08
10 - 17 Feb 2008
"The one absolutely impossible conception of God, in the present day, is that which represents him as an occasional visitor… At the moment when it seemed as if he would be thrust out all together Darwinism appeared, and, under the disguise of a foe, did the work of a friend. … Either God is everywhere present in nature, or He is nowhere."
Aubrey Moore (1848-1890, theologian & philosopher; from 'The Christian Doctrine of God' in 'Lux Mundi', 12th edition, ed C Gore, Paris: Murray, 1891, p73).
Further Thoughts
Charles Kingsley (1819-1875, novelist and Anglican Evangelical) also praised Darwin's ideas about evolution and wrote in "The Water Babies" that:
John Habgood, Archbishop of York from 1983-95, wrote:"God makes things make themselves"
"The mechanism of evolution, in particular the element of chance, has always caused difficulties for those who believe that the universe is the work of a loving creator. It is important, therefore to distinguish between a random process and a process which contains a random element. ... A process containing a random element ... in which random possiblities are selected and developed in the light of previous developments and under the pressure of particular circumstances, may be highly purposive. In fact there is good reason to suppose that much creative activity takes place in precisely this way. Creativity entails the exploration of hitherto undreamt of possibilites, and randomization is one of the ways of generating these. In evolutionary terms, chance may this be an expression of God's super-abundance."
John Habgood (1927-; from 'A New Dictionary of Christian Theology', ed Richardson & Bowden, London: SCM, 1983, p196).
31.1.08
3 - 10 Feb 2008
"We know the truth not only by reasoning, but also by means of the heart, and it is in the latter way that we know first principles … the heart has its reasons of which reason does not know."Blaise Pascal (1623-1662, mathematician and philosopher; from 'Pensée', Paris: Garnier-Flammarion, 1973, p90, 92).
Further Thoughts
Another more recent mathematician and philosopher, C S Pierce, argued that, scientific truths can rarely be discovered simply by logic and reasoning:
"When a man desires ardently to know the truth, his first effort will be to imagine what that truth can be [but]...imagination unbridled is sure to carry him off the track. Yet nevertheless, it remains true that there is, after all, nothing but imagination that can ever supply him an inkling of the truth. He can stare stupidly at phenomena; but in the absence of imagination they will not connect themselves together in any rational way."
C S Peirce (1839-1914, mathematician, philosopher and chemist; from "The Scientific Imagination", The Collected Papers Vol. I: Principles of Philosophy).
Unless our beliefs in what we hold to be true, whether scientific, social, religious or personal, are open to criticism and contradiction, we may continue to delude ourselves. Another philosopher, Karl Popper, famously showed that we can never prove anything to be true; all we know is when a theory or idea fails. He also wrote:
"Whenever a theory appears to you as the only possible one, take this as a sign that you have neither understood the theory nor the problem which it was intended to solve."
Karl Popper (1902-1994, philosopher; from 'Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach').
C S Peirce and Karl Popper were writing about scientific knowledge. How much can we apply what they say to other areas of knowedge, such as beliefs in a world-veiw or religion?
17.1.08
20 - 27 Jan 2008
"Our time in this world is so short,John O'Donohue (1954-2008).
it's so brief and it's running through our fingers like the finest sand; ...
now is the time to live."
More Writings from John O'Donohue
From 'Benedictus – A Book of Blessings' (2007, Bantam):
"May the nourishment of the earth be yours;
may the clarity of light be yours;
may the fluency of the ocean be yours;
may the protection of the ancestors be yours;
and so may a slow wind work these words of love around you;
an invisible cloak to mind your life."
A Blessing For Equilibrium
"Like the joy of the sea coming home to shore,
May the music of laughter break through your soul.
As the wind wants to make everything dance,
May your gravity be lightened by grace.
Like the freedom of the monastery bell,
May clarity of mind make your eyes smile.
As water takes whatever shape it is in,
So free may you be about who you become.
As silence smiles on the other side of what's said,
May a sense of irony give you perspective.
As time remains free of all that it frames,
May fear or worry never put you in chains.
May your prayer of listening deepen enough
To hear in the distance the laughter of God."
10.1.08
13 - 20 Jan 2008
"There is an art to living happily and like every art it depends on learning, practising and if possible mastering certain skills … skills of what I will call the inner life, the inner world of thought, emotion, belief, feeling, desire, perception, and so on. The inner life … is just your own conscious experience."
"If your inner life is lived happily , you will live happily, it is as simple as that."Tony Wilkinson (from "The Lost Art of Being Happy: Spirituality for Sceptics", Findhorn Press, 2007).
I would love to know if you think we can have a non-religious spirituality which is more than just having a good feeling when listening to a favourite piece of music or looking at some beautiful countryside. And how valuable is such a spirituality today?