The atrocity at Wal-Mart this weekend left most of us stunned and somehow defensive.  'I wouldn't have pushed by the man...or his co-workers who were trying to help.....' It reminds me how upon hearing the story of St. Peter betraying Jesus with a kiss in the Garden of Gethsemane as a child I thought, 'I would never deny Jesus like Peter ...

300 plus page white paper outlining a transition plan for sustainability.

If you're looking for a project to invest in as part of your family holiday giving, please take a moment to look over this simple, profound way to help change the world...one girl at a time.   The Girl Effect Check out the YouTube video.   Besides the main video, there are 4 vignettes well worth watching, of young ...

'What could be worse than being born without sight? Being born with sight but no vision.'' --Helen Keller This the final in the series about re-thinking giving.  Part 1 was about the need to have better ways for both for-profit/donors and non-profits to help each other.  Part 2 was about  who is it that we're giving to, ...

''Our destiny is found on the path we take to avoid it.''--none other than that ancestral mentor to many, Carl Jung Hallowed E'en, All Saints Day and All Souls Day, October 31 - November 2, are Christian holy days devoted to our relationship with ancestors.  During this time of the year the veil between worlds is thin and we can seek to ...

First, the definition of psychopomp, from wikipedia: Many religious belief systems have a particular spirit, angel or deity whose responsibility is to escort newly-deceased souls to the afterlife. These creatures are called psychopomps, from the Greek word ψυχοπομπός (psychopompos), literally meaning the ''guide of souls''. Their role is not to ...

“Come to the edge, he said. They said: We are afraid. Come to the edge, he said. They came. He pushed them and they flew.”  Guillaume Apollinaire (French poet and critic who helped to direct poetry into unexplored channels, 1880-1918) The Hindu Goddess of Death and Destruction, Kali I've been reluctant to bring politics into the Virtual ...

Chris' sleeping porch Here's a post you may enjoy on Chris Corrigan's blog about the practice of sleeping outside.  The post is about the absolute joys of connecting to the 'real' world by sleeping outside every chance we get. Quote: ''My house faces southeast, so I know which planets are up, when the dawn is and what kinds of ...

There are more books written about the life and teachings of St. Francis than of any human, second only to the man known as Jesus.  Far more than the garden ornament he has been cast as, Francis stands as symbol of humility, transformation and grace.  Father Richard Rohr is one of the sanest voices in Catholicism, and ...

This is this week's submission for One Single Impression (prompt # 31): Fleeting One Single Impression is a community of poets writing and sharing haiku and other poetic forms. Each week a new prompt is offered for inspiration. So much of the poetry on One Single Impression is beautiful and/or elegant.  This submission is not that or ...

Review by Eric D. Lehman, Professor of English at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut.  Review is linked to Umbrella: a journal of poetry and kindred prose  Note: While this book was published in 2003, it is a classic that VTH readers will want to make the acquaintance of, if they haven't already!  When ...

This post is part of a synchroblog hosted on the site Square No More. The topic for this month's synchroblog is maturity in the light of our faith. Please visit these blogs for excellent posts related to this topic: Phil Wyman asks Is Maturity Really What I Want?Lainie Petersen at Headspace with ''Watching Daddy Die''Kathy Escobar at ...

James Fowler's groundbreaking and well-respected work on the stages of faith is here ably critiqued. Worth the read.

This is this week's submission for One Single Impression (prompt # 29): Seeds  Please visit that site for lots of other original submissions on this same topic...or, better yet, write and  post your own on your blog and link to the OSI  site!    One Single Impression is a community of poets writing and sharing haiku ...

Days with my Father http://www.dayswithmyfather.com/ Someone just sent me this link--it's an amazing photo-journal of the on-going journey of Phillip Toledano with his 98 year old father through the end of his days.   There is some remarkable vulnerability from the author--about himself, as well as his father's life. The ...

In times of profound change, the learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists. --- attributed to either Al Rogers or Eric Hoffer [quoted from How to Save the World] This post is a SynchroBlog on The Politics of God hosted through the site Square No More.  See ...

5th Journal Entry in my 'Where's Home?' series for the writing contest.  Sunday, June 15, 2008 the Central Oregon Fire Circle Community held the second Sunday Morning Fire Circle, sitting with 'Father's Day'.  The first Sunday Morning Fire Circle was on Mother's Day in May.  As we munched on some delicious breakfast brought by ...

This is my 4th posting in the 'Hi Honey I'm Home' series for the 'Where's Home?' contest here on the VTH.   Just found a wonderful site--because Kudzu Fire commented on On a wing and the Whatever Prayer!  The site is ''Written on the Wind''.   Thanks, ''Kudzu Fire'' for stopping by--and thanks for bringing ...

This is the next post in the series, ''Hi Honey, I'm Home'', as we work with the contest, ''Where's Home?'' It's been raining here in Central Oregon for a week.  Many of you may say, 'isn't that what it does in Oregon--rain?' and you would be correct...except that here in the high desert, east of the Cascade Range, it doesn't!  We get ...

As we prepare for Memorial Day here in the US, it is sweet to post about a story and a prayer for never being remembered!  This story is a recent post from Paulo Coelho's blog, one that I keep track of on Netvibes. At the Sceta monastery, the abbot Lucas gathered the monks for the sermon. ''May you never ...