And the winner is . . . . A little satire on a big subject!

JUST FOR FUN, let’s look at the world today through a lens marked “Freud.”  I know, you may not usually employ this particular lens, flawed and old-school as it may be, but Freud can be quite illuminating.  In particular, his theory of the unconscious with its model of Id, Ego, and Superego can help us see things more clearly.  Especially when it comes to politics.

Politics, you say?.  . . . Click here to read the rest of the post

I’m not Catholic, but Pope Francis (or “Papa Francisco”) is my pope–and a model for Fat Soul Philosophy.  In honor of his South American tour, I give you the Pope’s favorite verb . . . .

Words have personality; they come and go out of fashion.  Take the word “mercy.” A bit old-fashioned, a little shop-worn, a tad dusty.  Now, what if “mercy,” a word many spiritual folk have politely shelved, could be resurrected?  Is there any hope for “mercy”?  Alas, if only it didn’t just sit there looking archaic.  If only it weren’t a boring noun, but lively and vigorous as a verb.  But wait, it is a verb!  Pope Francis (Jorge Mario Bergoglio) has made it so.  According to Austen Ivereigh, author of the Pope’s biography The Great Reformer, “Bergoglio liked the way Latin had ‘mercy’ as a verb, miserando, and so created the Spanish misericordiando—an activity of the divine, something God does to you.  ‘Dejáte misericordiar,’ he would tell the guilt-ridden and the scrupulous, “let yourself be ‘mercy’d.’”    Read the entire blog post . . .

Having a new book published is like bringing a new child into the world.  It’s been a long labor, too!  But a labor of love for both me and my co-editor, Jay McDaniel—along with artist Vivian Dong.  We are thrilled that Process Century Press has not only published our book, but included it in an important series called Toward Ecological Civilization.  This series will be highlighted at the 10th Annual International Whitehead Conference, “Seizing an Alternative,” next week in Claremont California.

These essays on beauty, ecology, and spirituality are not academic papers by any means! We intentionally chose the path of brevity, readability, and fun—and hopefully a path which you will find to be “beautiful and pleasant and joyful and familiar” (Meister Eckhart).

We are writers from around the world from many different religious traditions.  Our Chinese writers give us an especially rich, multicultural look at China’s vision of “ecological civilization.”

Yes, a good number of my own essays are included in this volume, but the exciting part for me is sharing the pages with luminaries like John B. Cobb Jr., to whom the book is dedicated, and host of wonderful writers and thinkers, some of whom I have admired for years, including my co-editor, Professor Jay McDaniel.

About the Book:

“We live in an extraordinary moment in history—an oddly beautiful time—painted with the starkly contrasting colors of undeniable loss and rich possibility. The Universe is rife with freshness, and we are part of the adventure: part of the urgent call to return to the wisdom of the Earth and replant ourselves in Beauty.” So write the editors in their introduction to this rich collection of essays by scholars, writers, artists, activists, educators, and clergy who have been influenced by the thinking of Alfred North Whitehead. Coming from a variety of cultural and religious traditions, the essays are all  about the Beauty that flourishes in the fertile soil of sustainable community, relational thinking, imagination, creativity, the arts, stories of everyday people, as well as in our creative action toward the healing of our planet.

“This is a book bathed in beauty and compassion; a book spanning continents and cultures, a book combining deepest intellectual rigor with passionate care for the Earth: a book whose ardent plea is to save the planet. Each brief essay is complete in itself, but also lures us to read the next, and the next, drawing us into increased commitment for actions that can make a difference to the fate of this earth and all its creatures.” ~Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki, Professor Emerita, Claremont School of Theology

“Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars.  Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed. . . “  Epictetus

What’s it like to be a caregiver to a loved one?  How do we deal with the fear, frustration, and anger?    How can wise and wildly diverse teachers from the past such as Epictetus, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Alfred North Whitehead be of help?  Here’s my experience:  “Inhabit Your Situation:  Epictetus, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Whitehead”

Blessings!

Patricia

The art of progress is to preserve order amid change,
and to preserve change amid order.  Life refuses to be embalmed alive.
–Alfred North Whitehead

A Syncopated Sort of Life (and Death)

You don’t have to love hardcore jazz to love Dave Brubeck.  One of the few jazz geniuses to cross over to the mainstream without compromising his musical integrity, he enchanted—and continues to enchant—a wide swath of music lovers.  As a young saxophonist in a high school jazz band in the early Seventies, I was one of the beguiled, finding special inspiration in Brubeck’s cool-as-a cucumber sax player, Paul Desmond.  Today, I don’t play the saxophone very often, but I do play Brubeck, for his music helps me imagine a truly creative approach to life, one that constantly challenges the status quo without forsaking it altogether—revolution, yes, but not bloody revolution.  Change amid order.  Zest amid harmony.  It speaks of a Whiteheadian view of the world, a process-relational world, a daringly beautiful world of “creative transformation.”

Click here to read the entire essay–with a little Take Five music as you read . . .

Peace,

Patricia