Spiritual Zest

Spiritual Zest

Welcome to Spiritual Zest - a regular monthly memo from me. This little note of sharing is offered as a connection with you to inspire extra spiritual zest for living your life the best you can.

2008
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

2007
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec

2006
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
You may scroll down to read each month's Spiritual Zest or click on the link to go to a particular month.

Spiritual Zest
January 2006

Welcome to the first of what will be a regular monthly memo from me. This little note of sharing is offered as a connection with you to inspire extra spiritual zest for living your life the best you can.

My reflection for this month arises from my having recently read an intriguing book: Between Two Souls: Conversations with Ryōkan. Mary Lou Kownacki, a member of a Benedictine monastery, shares her reflections on the poems of Ryōkan, a Zen Buddhist monk. One side of the page has a Ryōkan poem and the other side contains Kownacki’s poem. What captured my heart most was not only the beauty and message of each author, but how each approached life from radically different places and found a comparable truth. Amazing. Different lives but similar wisdom. Ryōkan, a monk sequestered in solitude, and Kownacki, living among the poor in a bustling, busy city, express parallel wisdom from their own lived experience.

This book reaffirmed my belief that it is not where we live or our particular work that draws us to the Divine but, rather, how we enter our world and view it, how attentive and open we are to the daily events in which subtle spiritual messages are hidden. Each of us carries the Divine Light along the day’s way, whether in the silence of our personal reflection or in the midst of our external, active life. We can be drawn more deeply within and given both courage and inspiration to live life well when we are watchful and reflective.

As we move through January, I invite you to join with me in being more conscious and alert to where we are and how we are. As we do so, both the Ryōkan and the Kownacki part of us will discover greater clarity and hope for our journey of life.

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Spiritual Zest
February 2006

February has captured my heart’s attention for quite a few years. I look forward to this month because it reawakens me to the beauty and joy of love. During this month we celebrate Valentine’s Day, which I often refer to as the Feast of Friendship. It really is a month of “the heart” – a time for us to remember who we love and how we love. In our fast paced culture it’s easy to slip into forgetfulness. We can take for granted the gift of heart-felt goodness that others give us day by day, year after year. We can blithely ignore the treasure we have in those who constantly offer us their kindness. We can miss numerous opportunities to return that love: to go the extra mile, to forgive the careless comment, to speak a word of gratitude, to love when love’s the last thing we want to do.

Recently I gave a retreat in Jamaica where my awareness of how God surprises us with love was rekindled. There I met a 78 year old widowed pediatrician who was soon to marry an Anglican minister, a single woman in her sixties. They were in awe of how their joy-filled companionship had developed into a deep love. Their story reminded me to always stay open to the Holy One’s grace-filled movement of love. We never know when Love might come to us in a surprising form such as spiritual kinship,supportive care, understanding kindness or generous acceptance.

Valentine’s Day is about much more than roses and sentimental verses (although these are lovely things). This day is an occasion to rejoice in the ways we both give and receive love. J. Philip Newell closes one of his prayers in Celtic Benediction with these two beautiful lines: “…that I may awaken to the morning enlivened by love.” May each of us, this February, be enlivened by love.

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Spiritual Zest
March 2006

Most people, including myself, think of the six weeks of Lent as a time for self-improvement to shape up their less-than-perfect selves. They take on certain practices to do so. Lentenites (my new word for people who take Lent seriously) often focus on food and try to lose some weight. Others strive to overcome their intolerable behaviors or work to become better pray-ers. Some give alms or focus on helping the poor.

But is this what Lent is truly about? Do we really change because of those practices or do they just make us temporarily feel good? I wonder. Might Lent not be of greater value if we acknowledged the difficulties and struggles that trouble our lives, instead of taking on some short-term affliction that will end in six weeks? I rarely meet a person whose life is free from suffering. Sometimes the greatest pain comes from trying to live with our self. Many have chronic illnesses, irritating relationships, obnoxious or boring jobs, painful aging issues, or challenging parental responsibilities. Wouldn’t Lent be the ideal time to be with that pain, to focus on carrying the cross in such a way that it deepens the grooves in our compassion while lessening our impatience and discontent? What if we spent Lent befriending what we hate in our life, instead of fighting, denying, or allowing those things to slowly destroy our peace and harmony?

What if we focused on Christ and his path of suffering? What if we let him teach us how to carry our own cross: to forgive those who cause us pain, to have immense empathy for others who hurt, to lean on the strength of the Holy One? We could learn that suffering can soften a heart, not harden it. We might even learn that love is stronger than death.

Just a thought. Now, get back to that fasting, praying, and almsgiving….

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Spiritual Zest
April 2006

Any doubts I had about spring’s arrival disappeared when I discovered the first radiant daffodils in early April. Spring renews the earth’s zest and also reawakens our spiritual zest, especially in the celebration of Easter. Last year I discovered a book with marvelous suggestions on how to enter into the Easter stories: Stations of the Light: renewing the ancient Christian practice of the Via Lucis as a spiritual tool for today. The author, Mary Ford-Grabowsky, gives numerous spiritual exercises centered around the fourteen sacred events in the post-Easter stories. Besides her creative and energizing approach, what I like about this book is how it provides a balance to Christianity’s Lenten journey which emphasizes the suffering and death of Christ. I have yet to find any Christian church that truly prays and celebrates the Easter season as fully as they do the Lenten journey. Most people still spend far too much time with the cross and not nearly enough time with the resurrection. The darkness of the cross has little meaning for our faith without the balancing light of Christ’s resurrection.

Here is an encouraging text from Stations of the Light:

The Spirit works through surprises in everyone’s life. Every minute of the day brings the possibility of a surprise, the possibility of a breakthrough of love, of newness and change and joy. A split second can turn a day inside out. Even the seemingly smallest event, like a chance remark that we happen to hear or a butterfly that suddenly comes and goes, can open a gateway to an unknown field of blessings and abundance. And when the surprise is difficult and challenging, people of resurrection faith know that the Spirit is in this, too. And that makes all the difference.

Happy Springtime! Happy Easter!

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Spiritual Zest
May 2006

This greening and growing time of year elates my heart. One of my joyous experiences is being able to open the bedroom windows once again and hear early morning bird songs. Their warbling melodies are much easier on my ears and my spirit than an intrusive alarm clock. The lively bird songs of spring reenergize my inner zest and invite me to listen to the whole of my life in a fuller way. I was reconnected to the practice of listening fully when I recently read a beautiful poem by one of my favorite writers, Mary Oliver. In this poem she stands in a green field listening to mockingbirds. As with many of Oliver’s poems, the poet allows her intent listening to the mockingbirds, and her consequent deeper awareness, to lead her back to her own heart. The poem ends with these beautiful lines:

I was hurrying
through my own soul,
opening its dark doors –
I was leaning out,
I was listening.*

Listening intently has the same effect on me. It continually draws me to open my soul’s dark doors (the entrance to inner mystery) where much I have yet to recognize is stored and waiting for my discovery. Unfortunately, this type of listening does not happen nearly often enough because I allow myself to get overly absorbed in my work and hurried endeavors. I consistently need to be deliberate about standing still in my life and paying close attention to each part of it. The door to my soul is always ready for my entrance. I just need to lean into it enough to glimpse what is there.

Wherever and however you are, I encourage you to join with me in listening more attentively to the birdsongs in your world. Let these winged resonances lead you to the door of your soul where greater meaning and the richness of fuller love resides.

* (The poem is from “Mockingbirds” - New and Selected Poems, Vol II, Mary Oliver)

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Spiritual Zest
June 2006

In early May I was rendered speechless. Literally. A week before I was scheduled to speak all day, I could not utter a word. A sinus infection led to a severe case of laryngitis. My physician warned me, “Don’t use your voice at all. Save it for the conference. Do not even whisper.” All week long I kept still. I never realized how much I valued my voice until I did not have it. On each day of my body’s imposed silence I thought about how much I’d taken my ability to speak for granted. Once again, I came to see that it is when I lose someone or something, that I truly realize and value what is mine. It is not until the gift is gone that sometimes the fullness of the treasure is appreciated. This is true about loved ones, as well as the blessedness of personal giftedness and bodily functions.

In her book, In Lieu of Flowers, Nancy Cobb notes: “Emerson once suggested that if there were but one starlit night a year everyone on the planet would stop to herald the annual pageant of light.” How true this is. Awareness is one of the best ways to become more appreciative of what we have. Regular alertness to the most common of things can keep us in tune with gratitude and joy.

June is a happy, active month with lots of outdoor activities and many things to do. In the midst of the numerous goings-on that require our time and presence, I encourage all of us to pause each day and focus on one treasure of our life that we might too easily assume will always be there. Let us each take a clearer look at such things as a friend, a family member, the taste of food, the ability to walk and talk, and the steady beat of our heart that keeps us alive.

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Spiritual Zest
July 2006

Recently I gave a retreat in Montana. I have only spoken in that beautiful state three times but each time I’ve been in awe of the people I’ve met. The word that always comes to me is sturdy. Montanans seem to have an incredible inner strength and endurance. This big sky country is sparsely populated and the residents think nothing of driving amazingly long distances for both social and spiritual events. The people endure the harshness of the winters there but also thrive on the marvelous natural beauty of the land.

All through the retreat as I listened to their personal experiences, I kept noticing how resilient the participants were. It started the first night with a woman telling me her only child had died a month earlier. She told me how her inner strength had been affirmed when she discovered my poem on the resiliency of the evergreen tree. (You can find it on this website) From then on it seemed that the inner strength in those who were present leapt out at me everywhere. Perhaps the dearest of all was a tall, pencil-thin woman named Peggy who has struggled with cancer for some time. Her arms were badly bruised from treatments and she wore a jaunty blue hat to cover her just-beginning-to-grow-out hair. Peggy was radiant with joy throughout the days, seemingly undaunted by her lack of physical stamina.

How easy it is to forget that we have within us a mighty reservoir of strength. And how good it is to be among those who are witnesses to us of the human spirit’s ability to endure all sorts of hardship and distress. I doubt they realize the gift they give to the rest of us when they stand strong in their struggles and pain. I felt the power of their resiliency. I received the beauty of their spirit. They did not know it but they blessed me with hope.

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Spiritual Zest
August 2006

Not long ago the Sisters of Earth Conference took place in St. Paul, MN. Among the many fine aspects to the gathering, one of the best was getting to know the music of a marvelous folk singer named Sara Thomsen. Sara led the group with song and ritual during the days we were together. One of her songs, “By Breath”, became a thread of hope throughout the Conference. We often sang the refrain, “By breath, by blood, by body, by spirit, we are all one.”

The reality of our oneness with others has been a firm belief of mine for quite some time and I welcomed the refreshing reminder of this conviction. I was also grateful for Sara’s song because of our current world situation. How dismal things seem with the current news. Hope flees easily when endless stories of violence and injustice fill the daily newspaper. What a difference it would make to the wounded and struggling ones of our planet if people really took to heart the deep kinship we have with each other.

Another woman who encouraged music to sing in my soul during the conference was Earth Mama, (Joyce Rouse), who gave us a stirring sing-a-long the last evening with her amazing tunes. She is a woman of incredible spirit and energy. Her contagious liveliness got us dancing to the vibrant and meaningful messages in her songs. You may, perhaps, be familiar with Earth Mama’s beautiful song “Standing on the Shoulders.” We closed the evening by joining her in singing this stirring tune which honors the strong and courageous women ancestors who did so much to help all of us claim the freedoms we have today.

As summer goes sailing along this month of August, I encourage you to join me in a renewed appreciation of the spiritual zest that music brings to us.

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Spiritual Zest
September 2006

Less than a month ago I was present with a woman in hospice. Jennifer was a beloved friend and spiritual guide who loved life and found joy and goodness in large and small ways. She approached life much like Maya Angelou describes: “The best part of life is not just surviving, but thriving – with passion and compassion, and humor and style, and generosity and kindness.”

Three weeks after being diagnosed with lung cancer, Jennifer died. What I remember most vividly about my last visit with her is how she turned her face toward death and did so with gracious surrender. Because of Jennifer’s difficulty with breathing, she sat almost upright in bed. As she slipped into a coma, her hands rested silently on her prayer cushion which was placed on her lap. One could not help but feel peace in the room amid her awesome task of waiting for death to come. I did not know at that time the poem Jennifer had selected for her memorial card. Rabindranath Tagore’s words speak to her faith filled life and the fruition of her thirty years of prayer in the Forest of Peace:

When death comes to your door
at the end of the day,
what treasures will you hand over to him?
I’ll bring my full soul before him.
I’ll not send him away empty-handed
the day he comes to my door.
Into my life-vessel pours the nectar
of countless evenings and dawns,
of numberless autumn and spring nights.
My heart gets filled with the sight
of endless fruits and flowers,
with the touch of joy and sorrow’s light and shade.
All the treasures I’ve gathered
during my lifelong preparation
I’m now arranging for the last day
to give it all to death –
the day death comes to my door.
(Show Yourself to My Soul)

I suggest to all of us entering into the busy days and demands of September that we walk with eyes wide open to joy, living with verve and vitality, never taking anyone or anything for granted. Then, we will also be able to graciously surrender the day death comes to our door.

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Spiritual Zest
October 2006

Being alert to what takes place both inside and outside of myself is valuable for my peace and well-being. When I am attentive to daily occurrences and take time to reflect on them, I consistently find teachings that influence my life. Most recently I was reminded of how quickly I can blame others for what causes me trouble and woe, even if these persons are not the cause of my difficulties. A few weeks ago I was in the Toronto airport waiting to board a plane after a lengthy flight from Newfoundland. As our large group of passengers prepared to board, the pilots returned from the plane and announced the flight was cancelled and no flights were opening until the next day. Immediately angry, hostile, frustrated voices practically flattened the gate agents with loud, insistent demands for explanations and action. Later that evening, I was at another counter trying to rebook for the next day when an exhausted young mother with two toddlers hysterically screamed obscenities at the ticket agent when she learned of her flight cancellation.
In both situations, the agents were not the cause of the problem.

Since then I’ve noticed other situations of “false blame” – a shopper speaking abusively to a clerk when the shopper discovered she was waiting in the wrong line for “returns” - an impatient driver giving nasty gestures to the person ahead who was caught in a line of traffic. All of which led me back to my own heart, to ask the question: How do I respond when I am frustrated and irritated with circumstances that fail me or disappoint me? These recent incidents caution me to be careful about blaming others. They also remind me to look for the source of my strong emotions and tend to them, rather than blame the innocent, when life does not proceed according to my hopes and expectations. Like the serenity prayer suggests: change the things I can and accept what I cannot. When I do this, I breathe easier.

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Spiritual Zest
November 2006

November is a passageway month. The deepening darkness of each day, along with the gradual movement from the glowing colors of autumn to the white silence of winter, beckons to a secret part of my soul. This quieting movement definitely pulls me inward. The liturgical celebration of All Saints Day on November 1st also draws me into a passageway of silent mystery. As I grow older, I feel increasingly in touch with my spiritual ancestors. I believe the bond we have had with our loved ones remains strong even though they are no longer physically with us. When I celebrate All Saints Day, I honor not only the officially canonized saints of the church but all dear persons whose lives reflected goodness (God-ness).

A few months ago I received a letter from a friend who is mourning the loss of a beloved one in her life. Dorothy wrote: “Everyday I ask Honor to gift me with the best of her.” I understood immediately what Dorothy meant. After a close friend of mine died, I thought a lot about how kind he was. It occurred to me after his death that I had rarely ever heard him speak negatively about anyone. Since his death, I’ve tried to follow that example and withhold my unkind comments. I think this is what Dorothy meant by having “the best” of someone deceased continue on in our life. Doing so is not only a wonderful way to honor these good people by remembering their “best” but it is also a source of encouragement for us to try to live in the most gracious way possible.

By asking our loved ones to gift us with their positive qualities, our lives, too, can have God-ness shining through them. This November, let’s cast our glance back to those dear ones who left us the essence of their goodness. As we ponder their qualities and pray to have these traits come alive more fully in us, “the best” of our loved ones will continually call us to be the finest of who we can be.

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Spiritual Zest
December 2006

At the time of this writing, we have just moved beyond “Black Friday” in the United States. It’s the day when marketing people and shoppers go crazy. The crowds in stores are enormous. The lines of people waiting in pre-dawn darkness, ready to rush in and find good deals, grows longer every year. Ravenous-for-a-bargain customers push, shove, and even gun each other down as they try to grab a much-wanted item. I must admit this obvious show of greed by my fellow Americans both embarrasses and discourages me. I wonder if they have any idea how this comes across to our international brothers and sisters. Black Friday seems to be proof of what many already think of us: self-interested, materialistic people. While I know that many Americans are generous and kind-hearted, still I cringe with the message that goes forth to those beyond our borders at this time of year: all we care about is ourselves and how much we can possess.

So what will I do for this Advent? Instead of wasting my energy criticizing others for their consumerist activities, I’m going to focus on how I can act with integrity. Most of my gifts for family and friends will be simple ones with a note tucked inside telling them that in lieu of giving gifts no one really needs, I am giving to food pantries and to organizations that support justice for the oppressed. I’ll also keep my eyes and heart on individuals and groups whose central work is that of acting on behalf of those who have much less than I do. This way I’ll stay hopeful. Discouragement about greed does little. Acting on behalf of those in need does much. This Advent I hope you will join with me in the spirit of Christ and reach out with love to those whose lives long for a touch of goodness and care.

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Spiritual Zest
January 2007

As we embark on a new year, we do so in the midst of a world with an enormous amount of pain. The daily news tells us this as do our own lives and those of others we know. A new year’s entrance will not automatically change painful, unwanted situations or cause an instant departure from life’s troubles, no matter how genuine our resolutions might be. The new year, however, does allow us to ponder how we can keep a positive attitude.

World situations can stifle our joy by their immensity. Likewise, people around us knowingly or unknowingly can shred our peace and enthusiasm. I recall a saying I heard sometime ago that has held me steady in troubled times: “Don’t let them steal your joy.” Keeping our joy alive does not mean we let go of compassion or stop tending to our own or others’ woundedness. Joy is not a denial of life’s tough things but, rather, it helps maintain hope in the midst of them. A Florida man at a retreat commented “Life is like a symphony. You need all the high and low notes to create a piece of beautiful music.” So true.

The quality of joy keeps our inner strength and resiliency alive. In her book, The Second Half of Life, Angeles Arrien offers a suggestion that might be a new year’s resolution for those of us whose joy is easily stolen: “Each week do something that is fun and brings the spirit of laughter and play into your life. Joy fuels creativity and nourishes the soul.”

    The Buddha taught that “thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” Joy moves us to be kind to others while sustaining its blessing in us. So, as we move into 2007, I encourage all of us to deepen our compassion, share our love, and never let go of the joy that longs to be sung in our lives. Here are a few lines from Mary Oliver’s “Honey Locust” to carry in our hearts this January:

                                      If the heart has devoted itself to love,
                                         there is not a single inch of emptiness.
                                      Gladness gleams all the way to the grave.

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Spiritual Zest
February 2007

There is something to delight my heart in every month of the year. February is no exception. It has long brought me pleasure because Valentine’s Day is situated smack-dab in the middle. There are those who thumb their noses and consider this day to be nothing more than a marketing venture of sentimentalism. Undoubtedly, the celebration could be that if one chooses to live only on the surface of life. But I think Valentine’s Day is a golden opportunity to revisit not only the “who” we love, but the “way” we love (or do not love). Lately, I’ve been thinking how sadly ironic it is that so much applause is given to “random acts of kindness.” Not that I want to belittle these beautiful, generous acts of love that strangers do for one another. Rather, I find it strange and disappointing that our culture rah-rahs these individual actions while forgetting or ignoring that our entire life, every single day, could and can be filled with ordinary acts of loving kindness. Deeds and attitudes of love are meant to permeate our existence and be as natural as breathing. But we all know this is not the case. At least, it certainly is not so for me.

Valentine’s Day beckons me each year to celebrate the gift of love. It calls me to gratitude for those who have a special place in my heart. This celebrative day alerts me to remember the tremendous kindnesses that known and unknown people have bestowed upon me. I am continually touched by their goodness. Valentine’s Day also challenges me to look at my potential for love, to see how much wider the door of my kindness is yet to be opened, especially to the larger world beyond my own small space of living and loving.

I was delighted to recently find Sharon Salzberg’s “The Force of Kindness” in the Half Price Book store. Her other book, “Loving Kindness” holds many treasures and this one does, too. I leave you with this thought from the introduction: “(Kindness) is not a cushy, undemanding path. It is easy to overlook the power of kindness, or misunderstand it. The embodiment of kindness is often made difficult by our long ingrained patterns of fear and jealousy. Those around us may devalue our dedication to kindness. We may devalue it ourselves. There are many challenges, many subtleties, many intricacies. But if we can commit to the open-hearted exploration of kindness, it will reveal itself as a force that can change our lives.” (p.2)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Spiritual Zest
March 2007

Last autumn I was in the lovely mountains of North Carolina at a large Methodist conference. One day I walked over to the building where I was scheduled to speak and noticed a maintenance person swishing a large broom in the air near the entry way. As I greeted him, he turned around and explained, “These pesky spider webs. I can’t get rid of them. One day I sweep them down and the next day they’re back again.” The rest of the day I thought about those spiders, about their persistence to keep weaving their webs in the face of what seemed like endless defeat.

Persistence as enduring as those spiders calls to me during this Lenten season. I ponder the mystery of suffering, beginning with the journey Jesus took and then, extend my view to include the suffering on our planet today. I ask myself: Can I have that kind of persistence in my own small efforts to lessen the suffering of those near to me and those far away? The daily news accounts of the continual destruction of lives in Iraq disturbs me. The grief of a good friend due to her husband’s sudden death saddens me. The thought of homeless people on our streets during bitter cold nights and blizzard conditions troubles me. It seems as though everywhere I turn I meet suffering of one sort or another.

My own compassionate care and actions can help heal our world. I believe this, but I need to be as persistent as the spiders, to not give up when my tiny efforts seem ineffective or when the vastness of the world’s pain appears too huge to touch. My Christian faith helps me persevere, to trust and have hope that compassionate care and loving actions can make a difference. Jesus taught that new life follows death. Earth also speaks of this hope. Here, in the central part of Iowa, winter still clenches us in the strong grips of ice and snow but a month from now green grass and flowers will be the norm.

The Indian writer, Arundhati Roy, has this to say about hope and persistence: “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. Maybe many of us won’t be here to greet her, but on a quiet day, if I listen very carefully, I can hear her breathing.” I take these words to heart as I try to “listen very carefully” this month of March.

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Spiritual Zest
April 2007

Not long ago I sat in the airport on an early morning, restless and more than a little grumpy at the thought of a long trip ahead of me. Seated next to me in the gate area were two small girls. Everything was quiet until the youngest one let out a shriek: “Mommy, mommy, look, it’s in the air!” She was watching a plane soaring upward into the sky. Everyone’s head turned toward the little girl and there were many smiles. Her piercing exclamation lifted us out of our morning dullness and awakened the sense of wonder that sleeps in adults. At least she did this for me.

The spirit of children thrives on life’s amazing components. Children come into this world with clearness of heart and an unsullied authenticity. Their spirit flies free, unmarked by heavy adult responsibilities and the push for financial success. Since that morning I’ve thought a great deal about my sense of wonder and how easily I can squander my enthrallment of life’s surprising grandeur.

There is a lot of talk these days about global warming, protecting our environment, healing the damage we humans have done to our exquisite planet. I question whether this compassionate attention will actually happen unless we regain our sense of wonder. Until we are in tune with the mystery, awe, and loveliness of each piece of life, we will go on our busy, preoccupied ways and miss being a source of healing for our planet.

Earth Day is April 22nd. Wouldn’t it be grand if we looked at each piece of life that day through the eyes of a three year old? Couldn’t it be immensely beneficial if each of us recognized the countless ways we are blessed to be citizens of this astounding blue orb that circles through the heavens, nourishing us and providing for our well-being?

I salute the gift of “wonder” and leave you with these wise words of Christian de Quincy:
“In my experience, the sacred is all around us in nature… The most direct way to God, I believe, is through touching and feeling the Earth and its inhabitants – being open to the expression of spirit in the most ordinary, as well as in the most awesome, events of daily life. The way to meaning in our lives is by reconnecting to the world of nature… Nature literally carries the wisdom of the world, a symphony of relationships between all its forms.“ (“Stories Matter, Matter Stories” IONS June-August 2002

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Spiritual Zest
May 2007

Yesterday I held three tiny beefsteak tomato seeds in my hand. Mary, our prayer facilitator for the day, led us in a meditation on what is waiting to germinate and grow in our life. Mary read the reflection, “Seed Song,” which is in the May chapter of my book, Fresh Bread. I rarely return to my books once they’re published, so her inspiring reading of the seed’s story stirred my heart. It awakened me anew to the amazing journey that a seed takes once it is placed in the soil.

Today I drove through the Iowa countryside and drank in the wonder of farmers busily planting fields and fields of corn. Again, the story of the seed sang inside of me. I thought of how each little kernel of corn is going to wait in darkness until the moisture of rain and the sun’s warmth urges it to let go of its strong husk. Then the tiny green shoot will stretch toward the light while newly birthed roots will push their way downward, deeper and deeper into the earth. Incredible, how this growth occurs!

In the past week, I facilitated two retreats where I observed participants connecting with their own “seedness.” The mysterious journey of spiritual growth is equally challenging and marvelous. Like the seed, it requires a belief in our potential for growth. Then we take up the task of waiting in the darkness, trusting that the surrender is worth it. We open our whole being, ready to be drawn toward the Light. Finally, we allow our roots of love to grow deeper so they’ll be sturdy and strong in our passageway of unending growth.

Take a seed in your hand this month of May. Ask yourself: “What seed in my life needs to be planted? How will I wait in the darkness for its germination? Can I allow this part of myself to let go and be drawn toward the Light? What will help me root this seed deeply so my growth will have a strong foundation of love?”

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Spiritual Zest
June 2007

Several days ago my printer died. Of course, it happened on a day when I felt “everything” needed printing. I went into a tizzy for a while. Then I remembered there are much bigger things in life. So having a dead printer soon became less of an irritation. But the lesson I really learned in the next day or so while I searched for and installed a new printer was how much I take for granted. Not having the use of the printer made me realize my reliance on it. (Absence does make the heart grow fonder!) When the printer works fine, I don’t even notice it.

Last week I attended a funeral of a man who was a spouse, father, grandfather, brother, father-in-law, nephew, colleague and friend. I did not know this man personally but I wonder now how many there who held him dear had taken his presence in their life for granted. Did they have regrets? Was there more they wished they had been or done for and with him? Taking for granted people we cherish is easy to do, especially in this busyness-obsessed world we live in. Only when these dear ones are gone from us does the full impact and treasure of their life become fully apparent.

Thanks to my old printer, I am asking myself some valuable questions this week. Most of them center around my awareness, or lack of it. Am I observant of my ability to breathe? Am I aware of how great it is to read, to drive a car, to see the lush, deep green of Iowa farmland? When is the last time I gasped in amazement at being able to hear, to think, to laugh? The questions also pertain to my work and whether or not I am letting it consume me. Am I tending to the precious people who are family and friends? Within the work itself, am I valuing my abilities and appreciating the possibilities each day’s work offers? Good questions to help set me on the right track again. Quite amazing, how a defunct printer can teach me - when I’m ready to listen.

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Spiritual Zest
July 2007

A few days before the summer solstice here in the northern hemisphere I walked through the living room in early evening. I had planned to move on to the kitchen but I did not get there. I was stopped abruptly by sunlight on the honeysuckle bush outside the window. It was truly a kind of burning bush moment. Because the slant of our planet leans so strongly this time of year, the strength and angle of sunlight hits the leaves with stunning brilliance.

The sunlight allowed me to see the intricate detail of veins and the “innerness” of the leaves. Each dark green leaf on the bush appeared translucent. The shadows around the leaves enhanced their beauty. I was mesmerized and filled with awe. I sat there in utter stillness for quite sometime. When I did reluctantly rise and finally continue with my household tasks, I did so with profound gratitude and a sense of clearance inside of me.

Later that same evening I remembered a powerful quote of Thomas Merton’s in A Book of Hours (a lovely book edited by Kathleen Deignan). I think this quote is taken from Merton’s memory of standing on the busy street corner of 4th and Walnut in Louisville. There he had the mystical experience of seeing God present in every person around him. Here is what Merton wrote:

There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun. It was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes. if only they could all see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time. There would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed. I suppose the big problem would be that we would fall down and worship each other.

“What if,” Merton queries, “what if…” Those two little words hold big possibilities. What if I saw divine light shining from those whose philosophy, political stance, theology, and way of living is radically opposed to mine? What if I trusted that each person who comes into my life has “secret beauty” in his or her heart? What if, what if…? I don’t think I’d be tempted to bow down to these people as Merton suggests, but I do know my heart would be much softer and my mind less cluttered with harsh judgments.

This month of July I am going to stop often and observe the beauty of summer sunlight dancing through the green leaves. I am also going to make an effort to see the Light dancing deep inside each person whose presence intertwines with mine. I hope you’ll consider doing the same.

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Spiritual Zest
August 2007

Not long ago I spent a weekend with my sister and her husband. The condition of his health steadily deteriorates. My heart hurt for both of them. I longed for life to be different than it now is. In the midst of my sadness, something else also stirred within my heart. I did not fully understand what this inner movement was until today. The word “dedication” comes to mind, and “faithfulness.” What I witnessed was the deep love between two persons, a love nurtured over forty five years of marriage, years of being steadily committed to one another. When I saw how devoted, caring and tender my sister is with my ill brother-in-law, my hope in the power of love renewed itself. When I observed my brother-in-law, I saw his gratitude, kindness and respect for my sister shining through his eyes and smile. In their current situation, both of them have good reason to be impatient, complaining and disgruntled. Neither of them gives in to these emotional responses.

Devotion and commitment live deep in the human heart but only those whose love is large enough, strong enough, and generous enough, ever fully live these essential gifts of an enduring relationship. This kind of love is learned and earned over a life-time. Faithfulness is purified in the fire of suffering. In her book, The House of the Soul, Evelyn Underhill, early twentieth century mystic, challenges her readers with these two questions:

            “ Was everything that was done, done for love’s sake?
            Were all the doors opened, that the warmth of Charity
            might fill the whole house; the windows cleaned, that they
            might more and more radiate from within its mysterious divine light?”

Love is meant to radiate from all the doors and windows of our soul. This month of August I am taking Underhill’s questions into my prayer and into my life. As I do so, I give thanks for the hope I gain from dedicated and faithful people like my sister and brother-in-law.

The witness of those around us has the ability to change hearts and influence lives in the most unsuspected ways once we are aware of it. Look for persons like this in your life. May their love encourage you as you continue to let “the warmth of Charity” fill your soul.

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Spiritual Zest
September 2007

Not long ago I was reading an article in which George Washington Carver is quoted as saying, “Anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough.” Those words keep resounding in my mind and heart. I find them both encouraging and intriguing. I’ve begun thinking more specifically of how true Carver’s insight is. How do we love anything enough? Well, I think it means that we continually give it our kind hearted presence as fully as possible. We try to be there in a nurturing, compassionate way, believe in the hidden worth, and are willing to pay the cost to uncover the treasure-laden mystery that lies beyond what we presently know.

What might some of the secrets be that we could find? Certainly secrets that lead to our well-being and the well-being of our world. Hidden treasures that deepen and strengthen our relationships. Secrets that surprise us with their power to transform our lives. Concealed truths that heighten our purpose and direction in life. Yes, secrets lie hidden in most everyone and everything that exists. It just depends on where we want to search, what we desire to find, and how much we want to love.

What do we want to yield up its secrets? It might be something as serene as a garden that we plant and tend with care. As we do so, it yields up secrets of how a tiny seed grows and matures into a splendid harvest. It might be something as challenging as wanting to know how to balance our life of action and contemplation. Can we love each of these aspects of our life well enough that they yield their secrets about balance? It might be something as deep as our soul. Do we believe in its worth and give enough love to our own soul so it will yield its secrets of truth and goodness to us? It might be our relationship with the Holy One? Do we spend enough time and give enough of our daily focus to this mysterious and grand presence so the secrets of divine love are revealed to us? Perhaps we long for our world to yield its secrets of peace to us. Do we love the world, its peoples and creation fully enough for us to be given the secret of peace?

Hidden secrets will be revealed if we take George Washington Carver’s words to heart and love whomever and whatever fully enough. What a challenge. This month let’s reflect on what we care about enough that we hope to have it yield up its secrets. Then, let’s love it enough and wait for the revelation to happen!

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Spiritual Zest
October 2007

As I write this, I am sitting by Long Island Sound, listening to the gentle lapping of the tide as it goes out. I am spending a few days at Mercy Center in Madison, CT, a beautiful spot that easily draws one into reflection. Today I have been thinking about the content of an excellent book I recently read: The Sacred Art of LovingKindness by Rabbi Rami Shapiro. I chose to read this book because I wanted a Jewish perspective on compassion, along with the Christian and Buddhist sources I already have. Each approach has helped greatly to deepen and expand my desire to live this central component of the spiritual life.

The part of Shapiro’s book I most appreciate is the section on forgiveness. He wisely insists there can be no true lovingkindness (compassion) without forgiveness. Here are some insights from his book:

    “Forgiveness is not forgetting, excusing, accepting, denying, or numbing yourself to pain. If someone hurts you, it is unreasonable to think that you can just forget it and move on. Forgetting is not a matter of will. You cannot forget on command. Neither can you will yourself not to feel hurt when a hurtful act is recalled. Nor would it be wise to do so.”

    “When it comes to forgiveness, memory is not your enemy, though obsessing over memories may be.”

    “Spacious mind feels everything; it simply clings to nothing….allows all feelings to arise, notes and learns from these feelings, and then allows them to fade….Forgiveness is letting go. Letting go means you do not cling to memories and feelings.”

Shapiro has more to say, of course, but I hope these few tidbits provide some food for thought, especially when you find yourself struggling with the need to forgive self or others.

I also hope this month of October brings you renewed inner zest and an ever fuller harmony with your deepest self and with the Holy One.

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Spiritual Zest
November 2007

Not long ago, I gave a seminar for chaplains of a large health care system. I enjoyed both their ethnic and religious diversity. Among the group were men and women from Kenya, Colombia, Poland, Ireland, Ukraine, India, Canada, Mexico, and Central America. The staff decided to have a fun time after lunch to encourage the chaplains to relax. They invited the group to play charades. I was happy about that decision because it’s difficult to speak after lunch and keep the group awake!

The decision to play charades turned out to be an awakening event for me, as well. I learned a lot by observing the group. A number of the chaplains had never heard of the game but they eagerly entered into it. Every table was given seventeen slips of paper, one for each of the titles to my books. The room that previously contained sedate chaplains suddenly came alive. What a hilarious time they had. I looked to see a rabbi dancing around the room with his hands held high in the air, trying to act out “The Cosmic Dance.” Another person was attempting to get people to recognize “May I Walk You Home?” by walking arm in arm with someone. Laughter erupted everywhere and easy delight spread across the chaplains’ faces. Later that evening I reflected on the day and thought about what a gift laughter is for us human beings. When we laugh, our spirits seem to grow wings and take the burdens of the day away from us for awhile.

Laughing at ourselves is a healthy experience, too. I had an opportunity to do this a few weeks before the chaplains’ seminar. When I was with a group of UCC ministers, I spoke with them about our “persona” and how difficult it is to discover and claim more than who we now think we are. At the break, a minister told me he had a story about “personas” and proceeded to tell me about a time in the airport when another minister pointed out two nuns to him. He was surprised she recognized the women as nuns because they wore nothing resembling a habit and he asked her how she knew. The minister replied, “Oh, that’s easy: “Hair too short, skirt too long, shoes too flat!” I laughed heartily as I looked at what I was wearing and admitted that his comment was, ah, yes, very true.

November is a month of Thanksgiving here in the USA. Perhaps this year we can be especially grateful that we have laughter in our world to ease our woes and to keep the dance of hope alive in us.

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Spiritual Zest
December 2007

In her Advent book, Night Visions, Jan Richardson refers to a story Kathleen Norris narrates in Dakota. An old monk, who was trained to welcome every guest as another Christ, tells a younger monk: “I have finally learned to accept people as they are. Whatever they are in the world, a prostitute, a prime minister, it is all the same to me. But sometimes I see a stranger coming up the road and I say, “Oh, Jesus Christ, is it you again?”

Richardson goes on to write, “Those who welcomed Jesus – the angels, the shepherds, the Magi – readily recognized him and knew the import of his arrival. They greeted him joyfully with their songs, their presence, their gifts. The rest of us sometimes have a more difficult time welcoming Christ into our midst, particularly when he arrives in the guise of one who seems radically different from us or who gets under our skin or who angers us or who confronts us with parts of ourselves we don’t want to see.”

This major theme of Advent, hospitality, is my focus for this December. Spiritual hospitality is about welcoming with kindness, allowing gracious openness for another to enter the room of one’s heart. I think of the welcome of Mary’s womb where she nourished Love into human form. I remember how Advent today is not about preparing for the coming of the infant Jesus. This human Child came long ago. Rather, Advent extends an invitation to reawaken to the mystical Christ (the Spirit of the Risen One) living on in us.

What this means for me is a daily renewal and intention to be a welcoming presence. This resolve challenges my judgments of others, loosens my grip on my grudges, and requires me to soften my hardened heart toward certain individuals and groups. Because of this intention of mine, I have placed one word on my prayer altar this Advent: ACCEPT. It’s a small word with big potential. If I truly live this word formed of six simple letters, it could change significantly how I experience both Advent and Christmas this year.

    To close these ponderings, I share with you a part of Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem from 19 Varieties of Gazelle.

                        The Arabs used to say,
                        When a stranger appears at your door,
                        feed him for three days
                        before asking who he is,
                        where he’s come from,
                        where he’s headed.
                        That way, he’ll have strength
                        enough to answer.
                        Or, by then you’ll be
                        such good friends
                        you don’t care

This Advent, I hope we will all “feed some strangers” until they become “good friends!”

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Spiritual Zest
January 2008

No matter how my life is unfolding, I always look forward to greeting a new year. Its open space and fresh prospects instill renewed hope in my soul. A new year provides an opportunity to re-establish and reclaim what keeps me balanced and growing. One of my friends reminded me she doesn’t “do resolutions” because she tends to never keep them. She’s not alone. I read recently that studies show almost 80% of new year’s resolutions will be broken before the month is over. I don’t do resolutions either but I do make affirmations each January. These are simple statements in the present tense about what I believe and hope for the coming year. I find affirmations extremely helpful. Why? A few lines from Awakening Into Oneness best explain their value:

            …a life without a vision is like a journey without a destination.
            It is the vision that we have for our life that gives meaning to our existence.
            The greater the vision, the greater the human being you become.

Usually I make four or five affirmations regarding my vision for the year. Unlike resolutions, it’s not so much about “keeping them” as it is about believing in their possibilities, holding the vision near to heart each day. That’s the key. Affirmations require attention to them every day. Mine are on an index card in my morning prayer book, as well as on the front page in my journal. That way I have two good reminders to help me repeat the affirmations regularly.

You are probably wondering “what are her affirmations?” I’m still not sure about all of them but I do know that the first and most central will be: “I am in union with Sophia (Holy Wisdom). She sustains me.” This affirmation continues year after year as most essential and vital to my existence. I’m thinking another affirmation will be: “I am going toward that which repels me.” That’s a toughie. But my vision of growing as a person of unconditional love has to include greater welcome of people and situations I’d rather avoid, such as irritable postal clerks and thoughtless neighbors. So, gulp, this will probably be my second affirmation.

What about you? How will your vision of life direct you in this new year? Whatever you decide, may your journey of 2008 be one of revitalizing transformation.

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Spiritual Zest
February 2008

It’s February - time to greet those dear to our hearts with affection and gratitude on Valentine’s Day. Lent also begins this year in February. I see a strong link between these two events. Each calls us to reflect on who we love and how we love. In my new book, Open the Door: a journey to the true self, (due out next Sept.) I wrote a section on selfless love. This month I decided to share some thoughts from that part of the book with you in hopes that you might be encouraged in your efforts to love well. The following comes from Open the Door.

    On April 16, 2007, the Virginia Tech massacre occurred in which a distraught student went on a shooting rampage, coldly killing fellow students. As many as fifteen were saved from death by an instinctively protective and caring English professor. Liviu Librescu pressed his body against the door to his classroom while he urged his students to jump out a window to safety. This professor, a Romanian Jew who survived the Nazis in his homeland years earlier, died in his classroom after the killer shot through the door that Librescu was holding shut.

    Self-less love is real. In spite of the horrors of war and other brutal ways that humans treat one another, love is possible. Unselfish people reside everywhere. They love unconditionally, dedicate themselves to alleviating suffering, are willing to give their all for another, intent on being life-givers and spirit-transformers. These are not “do good, holier than thou,” people. No, this kind of love is seared by trials, purified by personal growth, shaped by persistent re-dedication and self-giving that goes beyond required duty. Each day people on this planet open the door of their hearts and love pours forth. No matter how discouraged we might get about the world’s violence and hatred, let us remember that generous love thrives in kind souls and expresses itself daily.

    Selfless love does not come about overnight. For most, it takes a lifetime of effort. Yet, nothing is more central to Christian life than other-centered love. “This is the first and last vocation of every Christian, to love, and all other vocations are only a shell in which this vocation, to love, is protected….,” writes Caryll Houselander. “Love, and love alone, can make life welcome to us; we can help one another by love, as never before; nothing else can comfort, encourage, be patient and heal, as love can do now.”

    Our deeds of love might not be as enormous as Liviu Librescu’s but they still contain great value. The unselfish giving and support we offer occurs within our homes and workplaces, in local supermarkets and on freeways, in hospitals, restaurants and other common places of personal encounter. Dorothy Day, founder of the Catholic Worker movement, personified selfless love. She was convinced that each act of love had a far reaching effect: “If we all carry a little of the burden, it will be lightened. If we share in the suffering of the world, then some will not have to endure so heavy an affliction... You may think you are alone. But we are all members of one another. We are children of God together.”

Let’s join with one another this February and bring as much love as possible into our pained and wounded world. I believe our selfless caring and kindness can make a significant difference.

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Spiritual Zest
March 2008

Going from this place to another place
is like the bird in winter
who remembers the beauty of her Springtime nest
just to keep herself from freezing.
- Nancy Wood

On a recent February morning, I groused about the nasty winter weather as I walked into our 7:00 a.m. prayer group. We already had almost 50 inches of snow since November and the air was again filled with the white stuff. I struggled to drive across town on streets still icy from the freezing rain a few days before. As far as I was concerned, winter had become a royal pain in the you-know-what. To my surprise, Kathi (our leader that day) invited us to look out the window at the beauty of the softly falling snow. She commented on the splendor of the large, intricately designed snowflakes that landed on her car’s cold
windshield that morning.

“Wow,” I thought. “Guess it’s time for a little attitude change.” Then, Kathi encouraged us to spend our time of silent prayer by reflecting on a positive memory of winter. Amazingly, as soon as I went deeper into the silence, I entered into a lovely, sensual scene of my childhood winters on the farm. I could visualize and smell the delicious fried dough bread
covered with sugar that my mother made on snowy days. I saw her giving me some to take to my father out in his shop. There I found the fragrance of wood burning in the old pot-bellied stove that kept Dad warm while he worked. As I beheld this lovely memory, my disgust of winter fell away, replaced by a. soft gratitude. I was able to re-focus on winter’s wonder rather than on its inconvenience.

That’s the power of memory. Not all memories are such pleasant ones, though. Sometimes our recollections bring forth hurtful experiences from the past. The memories of a friend of mine stir up anger and resentment about harmful behavior of a family member.
But these memories also bring her a continued opportunity to heal. Each returning memory allows her to re-choose the forgiveness she initially extended, rather than hanging on to the soreness of the past.

As I reflect on the gift that memory brings us, here is something I wrote some time ago:

Our ability to remember is a precious gift. It is in remembering our blessings that our hearts are filled with gratitude. Without memory we would be unable to savor the good things that have happened to us and for us. Without memory we would be unable to be healed from past painful situations. Memory can bless us or haunt us, depending on what stirs inside our mind, and how we receive it and live with it. …be the gatekeeper of these memories. Catch the ones that draw forth and enhance your core goodness. Savor them.
Let these blessed memories fill you with hope. (The Cup of Our Life)

When we keep good memories alive, they nourish our hope. March is a season of fresh life in this part of the world. Like Nancy Wood’s bird in winter, we recall spring’s promise of green vitality, budding flowers, increased warmth, rain’ fragrance, and the freedom to walk without falling on icy sidewalks or getting stuck on snowy streets. This promise doesn’t hurry winter away but it helps us continue to enter into “what is” and to find the beauty within it.

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Spiritual Zest
April 2008

Recently I offered a seminar at the Spiritual Directors International Conference in Maryland. I had the good fortune of being able to hear the keynote speaker. At the end of the talk we were asked to gather at our tables for dialogue. As this was announced, about 50 persons got up and walked out. My first thought was “Well, what does this say about spiritual guides if they are not even open to dialoguing with others?” Within a minute I checked my mind’s harsh judgment and thought of other options for why they might have left: needed a bathroom break, had a phone call to make, have a bad back that needs tending, have a talk to prepare, etc.

That afternoon at my seminar I spoke on the topic of “compassion.” One of the key aspects of this beautiful quality is non-judgment. I told the group of how my mind had immediately started judging those who left the dialogue time in the morning. During the break at my seminar, a lovely, dark haired woman came up to me smiling and said, “I was one of those fifty. I hated to leave and tried to do so quietly. I had to make an international phone call.” Then, I was the one to smile and said “Yes, so much for the old mind doing that instant judging of others.”

Elizabeth Gilbert has a great section in Eat, Pray, Love in which she writes about the false and unhealthy judgments the mind easily makes. Gilbert is learning to meditate and has become aware of how many things she harbors in her mind. She writes: “So I’ve started being vigilant about watching my thoughts all day, and monitoring them. I repeat this vow about 700 times a day: “I will not harbor unhealthy thoughts anymore.” I am trying to follow suit and not harbor unkind judgments anymore. Like Gilbert, this takes a lot of practice and constant alertness.

I also read a superb story of how crazy our mind operates in judgment-making in Rabbi Rami Shapiro’s The Sacred Art of Loving Kindness. He writes about a friend who was deeply hurt by a drawing his kindergarten son had made of him. He described his son’s drawing as “all bloated and green.” The friend was overweight and often used the phrase “green with envy” in talking about people who didn’t have to worry about their weight. His wife put the drawing on the refrigerator and the man figured she was trying to keep him from “foraging for food” in the fridge. The friend gets angrier as he talks to Shapiro about the drawing and adds that the man in his son’s drawing is wearing a big purple suit. At this point, Shapiro starts to laugh and says, “That drawing’s not about you. It’s the Hulk.” Sure enough, when his friend asks the son about the drawing, it is the Hulk, not him at all. His judgments were totally wrong.

Our minds are amazing gifts. They offer us marvelous insights but they can also lead us astray and keep us from being loving human beings. Like Elizabeth Gilbert, I’m not going to let a day go by with out being attentive to the “stuff” that stirs in my mind. It’s the only way I’ll grow in compassion for self and others.

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Spiritual Zest
May 2008

In March of 2007, I was in San Antonio attending WomenSpeak, a stimulating conference in which 1,000 women from all over the world participated. Soon after arriving at my hotel, I paused to read USA Today. My heart leapt when I read an article about a new bicycle route - not because I’m a bicyclist but rather, because I have been searching for a path in America that could become like that of the soul-touching Spanish Camino that I walked four years earlier. The route I read about in USA Today traces paths of the Underground Railroad and has been mapped from Mobile Alabama (a busy port for slavery) to Lake Huron Bay in Ontario where many slaves found freedom. This route has been established to “honor the bravery of those that fled from bondage and those that provided shelter.” (Adventure Cycling Association)

Upon reading about this new bike route, I thought, “Maybe this is the American camino.” That evening at the opening of the Conference, I was stunned. The first part of the program was that of a one woman drama by Valerie Tutson, a poignant and heart-rending account of a slave woman and her fear-filled, courageous flight to freedom. “That’s it!” a voice inside of me exclaimed. Ever since, I have been convinced that I need to pursue walking on this path that holds the painful memory and brave spirit of those who traveled the perilous roads.

So, here I am, leaving May 6th to walk the route for two weeks in Alabama with dear friend and writing colleague, Paula D’Arcy. This walk promises to be challenging. Unlike Spain, there are no designated places for lodging nor easily obtainable water. Because it is a bike route, the distances between services are too far for walkers to find food and lodging each day. Paula and I will carry our tents and enough food for several days at a time. Both of us waver between “Are we crazy to do this?” to feeling a strong pull and a deep sureness about our making this journey. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we move along a path that cries out for healing and peace in a world still saturated with racism and division.