Wordless Prayer

I can't get away from the thought that contemplative prayer holds something important for me. In one sense it is completely foreign to my frenetic imagination and non-existent attention span. In another sense, though, prayer without words might provide a lens, if not a "vocabulary", for navigating my disorientation of the last several years. That for which the current categories and frameworks have consistently failed me.

One on One

Those who know me, know I'm a one-on-one kind of guy. Nothing is more energizing than sitting face to face with a friend, a business associate, or—as I recently enjoyed for ten days—my daughter.
We took a ten-day tour of colleges on the East Coast and had a great time together. In a family of five, the possibilities for one-on-one time with any given individual are rare to non-existent.
There's nothing like discovering, even while coming to terms with the fact that your "child" is moving away in a year's time, that you are in the company of an adult. And a delightful adult at that. It was a highlight experience for me.

School Routines

A new school year means a new morning routine. Megan is in middle school this year, which means a second trip out to Santa Monica in the mornings. No car pool this year, which means two trips out to Santa Monica five days a week. Right now it feels like a big chunk of time. 6:45 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. is filled with driving.
I enjoy the task, but I'm not so sure about its impact on my work. If I'm meeting anyone, then more driving is involved, and my day can't get started until 10:00 a.m. at the earliest. (So much for ever taking a regular 8 to 5 job again.)
I'll probably need to look at my nights differently. I often get a late night second wind. That might be a good time to focus on writing, proposals, product generation, etc.
Always in flux. No two days ever the same. Everything changes all the time. Life is adjusting.

Weekend Event

Yesterday I attended Politics and Spirituality Conference: Outer Witness, Inner Faith put on by Sojourners and the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC). Not being very familiar with either organization, I went in response to the intriguing suggestion that there were alternatives for believers in the public realm besides the religious right and the secular left.
I come away with mixed feelings, though extremely glad I attended. Much of it was various assertions that Sojourners understands God and the Bible better than the religious right does. Now this may be completely true—I certainly have my extensive critique of the Christian right. But it came across as just more of the same, except this time from the preachy, prophetic clear-sighted righteous on the left.
Refreshingly distinct, though, was Richard Rohr of the CAC. He gets a "Wow". He spoke about prayer and contemplation being paths to maturity that wherein we don't see things better or more spiritually than everyone else, but we end up reframing (one of my favorite practices) reality so that it no longer falls so neatly into the categories of "right" or "left". This not merely resonates with my own experience, but helps provide vocabulary for much of the disorientation that has characterized so much of my recent journey.
Changing the subject back to me (oh, I guess I have already), it is interesting to have one of the life/workplace skills I teach (reframing reality) described in terms of one of the spiritual disciplines (prayer/contemplation.) No conclusions to draw. Just interesting. I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while!

My Keys to Making Progress

Health and structure. Two areas of personal development that keep coming back to haunt me. I say "haunt" because I am not reminding myself of their importance, but am being reminded by the way they keep popping up in my story as significant keys to my future progress.
Significant roadblocks in the mean time as well. And hence the importance—even urgency—of decoding the cryptogram of my mysterious resistence to concerted action.

Home on the Blog

Well August was a wash for blogging. Family reunion and college touring filled most of the month. Normally, I would find pockets of time to squeeze in at least a daily reflection. But instead found myself wiped out by all the fun and interaction and travel and work. Cie la vie. (I probably shouldn't use a language in which I can't spell.)
I'm back (for the second time this summer), and looking forward to work, words and the work of words.