Uphill idealist

Every now and again, I experience a phenomenon of words chasing me. In this case, its a scripture from the book of Matthew in the Bible. Here below is the text that I find myself being drawn to again and again. Matthew 18 The Greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven 1At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" 2He called a little child and had him stand among them. 3And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. Why on earth would Jesus ask his followers to become like little children? I remember reading in the book "Speaking of Faith" by writer, Krista Tippet and her comment on this scripture. She said something like, 'I laugh every time I think of Jes...

So far I have stumbled, read, and been found by the word "ubuntu" four times in the last couple of months. If you've been following my blog lately, you'll remember the other references, but for the sake of keeping count here's the full list. 1. Ubuntu is referenced in Krista Tippet's book, 'Speaking of faith' as the true definition of humanity. It's a wonderful long short book that the book club I attend picked up in September and are just about to finish now. As you can guess, the long-six-chapters-in-240-pages are full of wonderful ideas discussing "Why religion matters - and how to think about it.". 2. When reading 'I'm proud of you' , by Tim Madigan, I was taken aback in the very first chapter as Mr. Fred Rogers describing Ubuntu as the existence of true humanity as me with you. In his point of view, we can only be made complete in our interaction and working along side of others. 3. While walking out of my office last we...

Image found @ Rantings of a Creole Princess I've completed to excellent and very different books in the last week. One is 'Speaking of Faith' by Krista Tippett and the other (which I started and finished on Sunday) is 'I'm proud of you' by Tim Madigan. I first came across the word: ubuntu in Tippet's book where she explains it from South African friends perspective as suggesting " HUMANITY : Ubuntu says - I am through you and you are through me. To the extent that I'm estranged from another person, I am less than human." ( Tippet pg 182). In Madigan's book, he defines Ubuntu as: "I am because we are... my identity is such that it includes you. I would be a very different person without you." (Madigan, pg 7) There is the idea of "No man or woman is an island.", in the philosophy of ubuntu - but there is more going on with the word than saying we are not solitary. Ubuntu reflects the balance of relationships within...

There are ways in the last week that I've felt re-rooted and uprooted and I suppose that is just the way life can be. A few weeks ago, I was bothered by a dream that left me upon waking with an overwhelming sense of failure. I was not feeling or sensing this emotion in my waking existence, but somewhere in my subconscious it was lurking the way this kind of feeling lurks in dark corners of the psyche only to find release in REM moments of dreamland. It was a bad dream. I don't remember much of the details, just an oppressive feeling of.. "I really messed up and it can't be fixed." For the most part, I shrugged off this seemingly random dream and went about my life. I was at the NYWC in Pittsburgh, so I had lots of things to keep me busy and occupied. I resumed the pace of life when returning home to my family and my work and planned out the remaining months of the year of youth activities and gatherings without so much as missing a beat. That is until tripping ove...