The Daily Edify

Today’s episode features a beautiful poem by Hafiz,  “We Have not Come Here to Take Prisoners.”

Hafiz was a Persian lyric poet who was born in Iran in the 14th century. Not much is known about his life, but his poetry is widely viewed as the pinnacle of Persian literature. 

I discovered this poem a couple of years ago through a coach. Every time I read it, I’m re-centered and empowered to lead a life of love.

Feedback? I'd love to hear from you at [email protected]. Thanks for listening, friends. You are loved and never alone!

Today’s episode honors the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. - the preacher, poet, civil rights activist, husband, father and theologian, who was only 39 when he was killed on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis on April 4, 1968. He was there to support the city's striking sanitation workers and had just given the speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” the night before.

In recent years, I've had a practice of re-reading King's "A Letter from a Birmingham Jail" on his federal holiday here in the U.S. (which is today, the third Monday in January). It grounds me and challenges me to  remember that the point of my life, my faith, my existence, is to participate in love, to realize God’s dream of flourishing for all. If my faith is not doing that, not making the actual circumstances of my neighbor's life better, more just, more dignified, then it has missed the mark.

The part that catches my imagination this year is King's response to his fellow clergyman who have called him an "extremist." He pushes back, saying the question is not "will we be an extremist?" but rather "what kind of extremist will we be?" He invites us, following the example of Jesus, to be extremists for love. 

Feedback? I'd love to hear from you at [email protected]. Thanks for listening, friends. You are loved and never alone!

Today's episode is about the meaningful tradition of handing out "Star Words" (not to be confused with Star Wars) each year on Epiphany. It was started by a church in Connecticut back in 2009 and has since spread to hundreds of congregations (including ours here in Wilmette). 

A "star gift” or “star word” is a simple card with a single word on it, words like “marvel,” “play,” “heal,” “generosity,” "intention," and "today." The word is meant to be received as a gift from God for the coming year. It may be an invitation, a challenge, a prayer or a reminder. The list we used at our church this year contained 160 different words. 
 
Each year, I tape the word I receive to the inside of my journal or back door at home and frequently ask myself, "How am I experiencing ______? Where am I seeing God in this? Each year, the meaning of the word changes as the year goes out and I see it from many different angles. We've been doing this for 5-6 yeas now, and I've received different words: focus, adventure, playfulness, joy, healing, trust and (this year) silence. 

If you'd like me to send you a star gift word, just shoot me an email and I'll send you one! I'd love to share this beautiful tradition with you. 

Feedback? I'd love to hear from you at [email protected]. Thanks for listening, friends. You are loved and never alone!

Today's episode is about living the questions. The phrase is drawn from a famous quotation by Rainer Maria Rilke in letter four of his "Letters to a Young Poet," written in 1903. Rilke was exchanging letters with Franz Kappus, a young military cadet who was wrestling with what to do with his life - should he continue with a career in the military, or quit and become a poet instead?

Rilke's sage advice to Kappus is to "live the questions" rather than merely answer them, since questions are more transforming than answers. And we might not be ready to fully live into an answer yet, anyway.

I quote an excerpt from the recent translation of Rilke's letters by Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows, which I first learned about in the delightful interview Krista Tippett did with them in her On Being podcast.

Feedback? I'd love to hear from you at [email protected]. Thanks for listening, friends. You are loved and never alone!

Today's episode is about "holy indifference," a posture for living articulated by Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) in his book, "The Spiritual Exercises." 

For Ignatius, "holy indifference" does not mean not caring. But it's about not being attached - to money, to status, to health - to maintain a stance of being engaged without being enmeshed, connected without being consumed. It's about knowing where we end and another person begins. About discerning what is ours to do and then surrendering the rest.

Feedback? I'd love to hear from you at [email protected]. Thanks for listening, friends. You are loved and never alone!

Today's episode is drawn from the introductory chapter to a recent book by Gareth Higgins, "How Not to Be Afraid: Seven Ways to Live When Everything Seems Terrifying." Higgins is a storyteller and peace activist who was born in Belfast during “the Troubles” and now lives in Asheville, North Carolina. The book’s title makes it sound like a slick how-to manual, but it’s not. It’s a thoughtful and vulnerable account of Celtic spirituality that “points us toward tenderness, empathy and gentle encounter with each other and with our deepest and most relentless fears.”

One of the introductory chapters of the book is titled, “Fear Is a Story.” Fear is of course part of the human condition. We can’t avoid it. Some of it is healthy. But what Higgins is inviting us to notice is that the power of the fear we feel depends on the story we tell about it.

Feedback? I'd love to hear from you at [email protected]. Thanks for listening, friends. You are loved and never alone!

Today's pilot episode is about the practice of self-compassion. (Podcasts coming every weekday beginning on January 10, 2023!)

Dr. Kristin Neff, currently associate professor of educational psychology at the University of Texas at Austin, is the pioneer of  the self-compassion movement. See her TED talk here, her books here and the Center of Mindful Self-Compassion, which she founded with her colleague, Chris Germer.

Feedback? I'd love to hear from you at [email protected]. Thanks for listening, friends. You are loved and never alone!