All posts tagged: Honesty

On Intellectual Unwillingness, Part 3

March 17, 2018
by Michael
comments 20
Course Ideas / Dialogues / Science

Genuine, transformative conversation hinges upon the willingness to understand and value the experiences and perspectives of another. An effort is made to take on board another’s ideas and listen for all the places where they intersect, both comfortably and uncomfortably, with our own. Where they don’t fit very well we have an opportunity for exploration, and for new understanding perhaps, but to explore this territory together we must resist the temptation to be rigid in […]

Reflections on Authenticity

May 29, 2016
by Michael
comments 36
Reflections

Authenticity is not unveiled in a swoop of the cape.  That only goes to show the last few days or hours or minutes– whatever the length of time has been since the previous flourish of unveiling– have been inauthentic.  What the flourish reveals is the port of entry to our truth’s harbor.  You enter by submarine.  Your instruments have failed.  The ballast is leaking and the batteries are dead.  The hull is creaking and popping in […]

This Little Game We Play

March 26, 2016
by Michael
comments 38
Course Ideas / Creative

I take the pack of index cards out of my shirt pocket, slide the rubber band off, and lay them on the table.  Hafiz has prepared a few placards and set them up at credible intervals.  They read, “No Way, José,” “I Sure Hope Not,” “Why, Of Course!” “Prepare Yourself For Tears,” and “Jesus Christ!” I take a breath and shuffle the cards.  Place them in a neat pile on the table. The first card […]

The Gift of Silence

July 10, 2014
by Michael
comments 10
Poetry

We can’t be happy, Hafiz says, until we discover we’re not who we think we are. Then he leans near, whispers… So… how are we going to pull that off? I think he’s going somewhere with this. I can’t help myself: I’m grinning like the operator of a prison search light who’s secretly pulling for the inmates to escape and run riot, waiting for my Friend’s next words to bust through the cell block wall and stride […]