Category Archives: nature

EARTH DAY 2016: BREAKING THE GREAT CHAIN OF BEING (starting with anthropocentrism)

Posted on April 21, 2012 by nancyjfinleysd

(For the last few years, I’ve published most of the blog below on Earth Day.  I’m newly inspired after seeing “The Jungle Book” a few days ago.  It touched me and  it was lots of fun!  So I’m posting it … Continue reading →

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CAN THERE BE EASTER WITHOUT GOOD FRIDAY?

Posted on April 6, 2012 by nancyjfinleysd

A wise Rabbi (thanks Zari Weiss) once asked: “Can you reach the promised land without slavery?  Can there be Easter without Good Friday?”  Can there? “The impossibility of religious faith has been a theme in the work of Edward Hirsch … Continue reading →

Posted in belief, Easter, faith, Good Friday, hope, MYSTICISM, nature, paradox, Passover, Religion, Spirituality, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

ASH WEDNESDAY AND THE THIRD EYE

Posted on February 21, 2012 by nancyjfinleysd

On Ash Wednesday many of us will have ashes put on our forehead, on our “third eye,” if you will.  Why do we engage in this pagan-like behavior?  (Yes, this ceremony, like others practiced by many Christians, has pagan roots.)  Why … Continue reading →

Posted in Ash Wednesday, body, intellience, mind, MYSTICISM, nature, pagan, paradox, Religion, Spirituality, Taoism, Third eye chakra, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A POEM THAT BEGS TO BE SHARED

Posted on October 18, 2011 by nancyjfinleysd

Monet Refuses The Operation by Lisel Mueller Doctor, you say there are no haloes around the streetlights in Paris and what I see is an aberration caused by old age, an affliction. I tell you it has taken me all … Continue reading →

Posted in aging, Art, Monet, MYSTICISM, nature, Spirituality, Uncategorized, vision | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

HAVE FUN IN THE BELOVED’S DIVINE GAME

Posted on August 17, 2011 by nancyjfinleysd

It’s summer!  So let’s follow the advice of Hafiz below to live worshipfully and have fun! A Suspended Blue Ocean The sky Is a suspended blue ocean. The stars are the fish That swim. The planets are the white whales … Continue reading →

Posted in body, Hafiz, nature, play, Spirituality, worship | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A NEW MYTHOLOGY?

Posted on August 16, 2011 by nancyjfinleysd

Here’s a quote from Joseph Campbell that some might find interesting: “One cannot predict the next mythology any more than one can predict tonight’s dream; for a mythology is not an ideology. It is not something projected from the brain, … Continue reading →

Posted in Joseph Campbell, Love, nature, Religion, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

WORSHIP AS A WAY OF LIFE (but do I have to get down on my knees?)

Posted on August 6, 2011 by nancyjfinleysd

I know some folks resist the idea of “worshipping” a “higher power” because it suggests subservience or a hierarchical view of the cosmos – God is “above” and we are but mere mindless minions “below.”  But “worship” in its simplest … Continue reading →

Posted in faith, MYSTICISM, nature, Religion, Science, spirit, Spirituality, Uncategorized, worship | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

BRILLIANCE AND HUMILITY

Posted on August 5, 2011 by nancyjfinleysd

I believe that brilliance comes from a source larger than what one individual can produce.  So the truly brilliant are also truly humble.  They are aware that their radiance is a mere refection of the Light that comes out of darkness. … Continue reading →

Posted in belief, faith, individualism, nature, Science, Spirituality | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

RELIGION FOR THE RELUCTANT, CH. 6: WHEN RELIGIOSITY BECOMES IDOLATRY

Posted on May 6, 2011 by nancyjfinleysd

Let me begin with a quote from one of my favorite poems by W.B. Yeats: “Turning and turning in the widening gyre; the falcon cannot hear the falconer; things fall apart; the center cannot hold.” So many of us can’t … Continue reading →

Posted in idolatry, MYSTICISM, nature, Religion, spirit, Spirituality, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 2 Comments

EARTH DAY AND BREAKING THE GREAT CHAIN OF BEING

Posted on April 22, 2011 by nancyjfinleysd

Today is Earth Day as well as Good Friday so I find myself exploring the intersection between sacred stories and earth consciousness.   Biblical stories contain great wisdom, but as they percolated up through time and various cultures, they accumulated some … Continue reading →

Posted in nature, Religion, Uncategorized | 2 Comments