With this offering, appearing every month, the Board tries to convey to the whole Fellowship what issues the Board is thinking about and what all that thinking and discussing adds up to so far. blip blip blip • blip • blip! • Unlike the radar in an airport control tower, the Board’s radar is … Continue reading Blips On the Board’s Radar, Volume 1, Number 11, June, 2023
Our June Touchstones theme is “Ritual.” Ritual preserves and renews tradition, conveys values, makes meaning, draws on deep springs, evokes feelings, goes beyond words, connects past and future in the present, and gives cause for hope. It can both contribute to and symbolize regeneration. Walter Miller writes, “Generation, regeneration, again, again, as in a ritual….” … Continue reading June 2023 Touchstones: Ritual
With this offering, appearing every month, the Board tries to convey to the whole Fellowship what issues the Board is thinking about and what all that thinking and discussing adds up to so far. blip blip blip • blip • blip! • Unlike the radar in an airport control tower, the Board’s radar … Continue reading Blips On the Board’s Radar, Volume 1, Number 10, May, 2023
I’ve recently been reading that psychologists and social scientists believe people who hold rigid and fundamentalist beliefs, whatever they are, do so because they feel a lack of control in their lives and, by extension, the larger world. The world is scary; sometimes, as a way of protecting ourselves, it’s tempting to try to control … Continue reading Reconciliation to the World
With this offering, appearing every month, the Board tries to convey to the whole Fellowship what issues the Board is thinking about and what all that thinking and discussing adds up to so far. blip blip blip • blip • blip! • Unlike the radar in an airport control tower, the Board’s radar … Continue reading Blips On the Board’s Radar, Volume 1, Number 9, April, 2023
Our May Touchstones theme is “Reconciliation.” Conciliation is a word that is rarely used. Its Latin root refers to “a connection, union, or bond.” It is an act of overcoming jealousy or suspicion to gain favor or goodwill. By contrast, the word reconciliation is common. The difference is the prefix “re,” which has the sense … Continue reading May 2023 Touchstones: Reconciliation
The sadness felt palpable, hitting me when I didn’t expect it. I had never really experienced the death of a close loved one before my mother so I’m not sure I really knew what to expect. Ironically, I had shepherded others through the pain of loss but that was the first time I truly knew … Continue reading Grief as Teacher
Our April Touchstones theme is “Grief.” While many do not want to explore grief, people may experience grief with few resources and little wisdom. Myths about grief and messages that discount the experience of grief can be harmful. These include: “You should be over this by now,” “No sense in dwelling in the past,” “I … Continue reading April 2023 Touchstones: Grief
With this offering, appearing every month, the Board tries to convey to the whole Fellowship what issues the Board is thinking about and what all that thinking and discussing adds up to so far. blip blip blip • blip • blip! • Unlike the radar in an airport control tower, the Board’s radar is … Continue reading Blips On the Board’s Radar, Volume 1, Number 8, March, 2023
Our March Touchstones theme is “Trust.” As Martin Buber wrote, human beings are promise-making, promise-keeping, promise-breaking, and promise-renewing creatures. We evoke trust, fulfill it, betray it, and then seek to make amends. The making of amends is regeneration. It encourages us to take the risk of trust again, which is always risky business. Still, we … Continue reading March 2023 Touchstones: Trust
