Daily Dose (April 15 – 18)

May 9, 2025
SM Daily
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TUESDAY APRIL 15 — An American traveler planned a long safari to Africa. He was a compulsive man, loaded down with maps, timetables, and agendas. Coolies had been engaged from a local tribe to carry the cumbersome load of supplies, luggage and “essential stuff.”
On the first morning, they all woke very early and traveled very fast and went very far. On the second morning, they all woke very early and traveled very fast and went very far. On the third morning, they all woke very early and traveled very fast and went very far. And the American seemed pleased.
On the fourth morning, the jungle tribesmen refused to move. They simply sat by a tree. The American became incensed. “This is a waste of valuable time. Can someone tell me what is going on here?”
The translator answered, “They are waiting for their souls to catch up with their bodies.”
One of my favorite stories to tell about the necessity of creating space to be replenished and hydrated. To gives ourselves the permission to pause, to be here now.
And yes, I tell the story mostly for my own benefit. Just saying’.
I am frequently asked, “What specifically can we do to keep sane in a world that sometimes feels upside down?”
Here’s my answer. “Let’s give ourselves the permission to let our soul catch up.”
And I’m smiling (because I don’t easily practice what I preach), knowing that this has never been easy for me.
When the daughter of artist Howard Ikemoto turned seven years old, she asked her father, “What do you do at work?”
Ikemoto told her, “I work at a college, where my job is to teach people how to draw.”
She stared back at her father, incredulous, and said, “You mean they forget?”
Yes indeed, we do forget.
Pascal’s reminder, “By means of a diversion, we can avoid our own company 24 hours a day.”

So. This week, the invitation to “be here now”—yes, the sacrament of the present moment. And, if I am present, I see, and if I see, I can choose to make space for connection, honoring the gift that “We are on this journey together”.
And this from L.R. Knost, “Healing a hurting humanity starts with a sacred pause, to listen, to learn, to understand, to accept, to forgive, to respect. That sacred pause transcends the fear-driven brutality of the primitive human survival intinct and makes way for a thoughtful, intentional, peaceful, humane response. Peaceful coexistence on this lovely planet is not impossible. It is imperative. Our future, our humanity, our very survival depends on it.”

WEDNESDAY APRIL 16 —

When Dwight Eisenhower was president, he stood at a meeting of the cabinet and said, “This meeting is adjourned.”
“But Mr. President, there is still much work to be done. We need to extend the meeting.”
“The meeting is adjourned because I promised my grandson, I would play football with him at 3:30. It is 3:30.”
“But Mr. President, some of this business cannot wait.”
“Gentlemen, I can give you reasons why we are adjourning. I could never offer a good reason to my grandson why I would miss my commitment to play football.”

Here’s the deal: To be here now, requires that we say “No”, in order to say “Yes”.
And this I know from personal experience; if I don’t say no, no will be said for me by default, and I will end up saying no to the people I love the most.
Let us learn to honor and to embrace this invitation to “be here now”—yes, the sacrament of the present moment. The gift of being present, the gift of seeing and choosing to make space for connection, celebratory the gift that “We are on this journey together”.

Another train day here in England, from the Lake District to London. A great “be here now” way to travel. Reading, soaking in the scenery, and enjoying a wee nap.
Writing this in London, staying one block from where I lived in 1973-74 when I was in university here. And yes, sitting in the park (Russell Square) where I spent time most every day 50 years ago, made me smile real big.

And let us take this quote from Etty Hillesum to heart, “Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.” (Born in 1914, Etty died in 1943 in the Auschwitz concentration camp.)

THURSDAY APRIL 17 —

During her three-month visit to Jerusalem, Natalie Goldberg writes about her Israeli landlady, a woman in her fifties. The woman called a repairman to fix her broken TV. It took the repairman four visits to fix the screen.
“But you knew even before he came the first time what was wrong,” Natalie told her. “He could have brought the correct tube and fixed it immediately.”
The landlady looked at her in astonishment. “Yes, but then we couldn’t have had a relationship, sat and drunk tea and discussed the progress of the repairs. “
Of course, Goldberg writes, the goal was not to fix the machine but to have a relationship. To make a connection—to touch, to see, to listen, to discover, to drink from the well of the day’s gladness.
How do we measure what matters?
How then do we measure? What is essential? How do we decide (honor) the things that really matter?
I like the idea of rearranging our priorities. Our ducks in a row. And it is easy to resonate with the goal part. It provides needed ballast for that fragment of our psyche that requires closure. So, we’re all in. And if it comes with an easy to follow checklist, all the better. (Which is all well and good until someone changes the list.)
But what if measuring is not even about the list?
Is it possible that we are asking the wrong questions?
And this I know: the question is almost never the question.
More often than not, fixing the broken TV is not the goal.
There are plenty of reasons for uncertainty and the need for both answers and connection or comfort. But I know that when my immune system is compromised, I am susceptible to any number of things that unravel and derail.
This isn’t because I have failed some test. Or am in some way inadequate. Heavens no. It’s because I’m simply not what Meister Eckhart called my “best and truest” self.
So. This week, the invitation to “be here now”—yes, the sacrament of the present moment. And, if I am present, I see, and if I see, I can choose to make space for connection, honoring the gift that “We are on this journey together”.

A blessed Maundy Thursday to all. Maundy, from the Latin, mandatum, or command, which refers to the directives Jesus gave his disciples at the Last Supper. At the Last Supper, Jesus blessed the bread and the wine, sharing them with his disciples. And he washed the feet of his disciples as an act of kindness and grace. And blessing. And to model his command that we love one another, encouraging his disciples to gather, to eat bread and wine together after his death.
Yes, because more than ever, we really do need one another. And to remember that everyone is welcome at the table.

Today, a good day to wander Hyde Park, quite literally a perfect green sanctuary space in the heart of London… good for the heart and the soul.

FRIDAY APRIL 18 — I spent a wee bit of time in St. Martin-in-the-Fields, pondering the lessons of Easter. And the fundamental reality that the “power” of the gospel–the presence of Jesus–is in everyone. Regardless of status, or standing, or sway.
All are welcome and equal.
All are worthy of grace and forgiveness and mercy.

I was reading this from Episcopal priest Adam Bucko, about being caught in the net of love. And it is worth passing on.
“Jesus called his disciples to be fishers of people—to be caught up in love and drawn out of the world’s illusions. Have we been caught? Have we been pulled out of a system that thrives on violence, on stepping over others to climb higher? Or are we still trapped in it, confused and disoriented?
If we have been pulled out, then we must see clearly. We must commit to both inner and outer work. We must say no to violence, no to greed, no to power that exploits and destroys. And we must do it even when it costs us—because that is what it means to live in truth. That is what it means to allow ourselves to be caught in the net of love.
Returning to the gospel and tending to our spiritual lives are essential practices in times of crisis and unknowing:
It may not be in our power to determine how things will unfold, but it is in our power to decide how we respond. It is in our power to hold on to the practices that nourish us, inform us, and give us courage. It is in our power to remain in integrity, to choose nonviolence and noncooperation in the face of all the violence we are already seeing.
Jesus was clear: Love always. Bless those who persecute you. Forgive even the unforgivable. Turn the other cheek, not in surrender but in defiance of violence. Do not repay evil with evil, but overcome evil with good. This may not change the world, but sometimes it is important to do things simply because they are the right things to do. In the end, all we have is our integrity. So let us stand in it, grounded in the One who renews us each moment and calls us to a nonviolent witness of love—one that is big enough to hold both our friends and our oppressors, knowing that love endures beyond violence.”

A blessed Easter and Passover to all. Onward together my friends.

Prayer for our week…
“The Spirit of God is around you
in the air you breathe—
His Glory in the light that you see,
and in the fruitfulness of the earth
and the joy of His creatures,
He has written for you day by day His revelation,
as He has granted you day by day your daily bread.”
John Ruskin, Deucalion, Lecture. Etched in stone,
the John Ruskin Memorial at Friar’s Crag,
Keswick, England, October 6th, 1900