It is always good to question. Of course, that isn’t a statement a lot of people embrace. Questioning to some seems like you are doubting, cynical, and trying to leave a person hopeless with answers that they need. Of course, that is an aspect, but it only one aspect of it. Questioning can have a beautiful meaning especially when thinking about life. If you question to dismantle that is one thing, but if you question in order to build up because you are curious, inquiring, and filled with that great source of wisdom called wonder, the questioning becomes the most captivating thing you can do. By design or choice, we are used to quick answers from screens of phones, computers, or talking heads on screens who speak a lot louder than our thoughts can’t even keep up with. But when life hits us with the most heart-rendering situations, then all of the sounds and noises coming from screens give little to no help. It is then that we must go back into ourselves and question what our life is all about. That is when the questioning becomes essential and life-giving. And that is the type of questioning that we talk about in today’s dialogue. Today we talk about this questioning from the vantage point when facing life at its personally altering points. That type of questioning may not bring every answer, but it can give us direction in the way that we should live. Regarding and answering how we should live we does two things: it makes those who love us proud, and it makes us proud of ourselves, or gives us a confidence that we have a glimpse of what we are doing with our lives. Wherever this finds you in all of your questioning about what takes place in your life, know that that questioning will bring you to great things as it always has to every person that has ever considered life and how we should live it. Come into the dialogue as we talk about how that questioning itself can take a person to the deepest questions of life and inspire to become a great example of how life should be lived.

Today's dialogue is about the philosophical life. That sort of life sounds odd, but it isn't in the least. It asks a fundamental question: 'What kind of person do I want to be?' It involves several important aspects of what it means to be human, and whatever aspects those are, we seek to be guided by 'Wisdom'. That life is the prize of the philosophical, whoever they are. As lovers of wisdom, we want Wisdom to manifest in ways of life, decisions, relationships, and anything and everything else we long to be in the lives we lead.

Great thinkers and spiritual leaders have seen in The Wild and in Nature that which is profoundly spiritual.  For some, the Divine is experienced while gazing at a sky of stars, sitting  beneath an oak tree,  watching a hawk fly,  or hearing the music of the wind.  Countless and stalwart thinkers, artists, philosophers, theologians see a power in Nature that reminds us that we are part of this beautiful aspect I call 'The Wild' and should seek to honor that relationship.  There is so much that needs to be said here, but the hope is that this ignites you to a greater awareness of being alive, filled with compassion for all that lives, and that you will be filled with Wonder that is the beginning of Wisdom.  

Pathos, Logos, and Ethos are three concepts important for life. All three comprise Aristotle’s triumvirate that every individual needs, especially in speaking, leading, and living, and all three have their respective emphases. Pathos, is passion, which represents the fire within us, or what we are moved by. Logos, reason, is the notion that whatever is stated makes sense or has a reasonability. Ethos, ethics and habits of life, represents the way life is lived out and the decisions are made. However, moving beyond simple concepts or ideas involves moving into a practical way of living, and that is what we are about in the 'Dialogues'. We discuss the role of pathos, ethos, and logos in terms of their meaning in every day life, especially for those who would lead lives of difference. We touch upon the connection of these three with what we stand for in, 'Wonder, Wisdom, and the Wild' and connect with these three great ideals. Of course, we need all three in our lives, but their application is beyond what we might see in just an individual life, for they are even sources of strength in making a difference through our lives in our giving, and standing against those who would take the power of wonder, wisdom, and the wild away from us. At those times it takes courage but it is at those times that we find our way to live truly. 

The struggle is the thing. Nothing good, beautiful, true, or courageous was ever done without the fight. It's the struggle that teaches us, many times, how we should not be, which is just as valuable as knowing how we should. Through grace we learn. And with all of these stories, we will write our own.