The day my father was buried, an ice storm broke a large branch in a willow in our front yard. Seventeen years later, while home from college for Christmas break, our son cut that tree down. It had been hanging on for its own life the past couple of years. When they were young, our children often climbed that tree to enjoy a different view of the world and soak up the peaceful energy of its swaying branches. Here’s a nested meditation inspired by that tree a few months after

Nearly all marriages, even happy ones, are mistakes: in the sense that almost certainly (in a more perfect world, or even with a little more care in this very imperfect one) both partners might be found more suitable mates. But the real soul-mate is the one you are actually married to. —J. R. R. Tolkien I was talking about the above Tolkien quote recently with a couple in counseling and remembered that I'd included it and some reflections about it in The Inconceivable Surpris

Did you have any interactions at holiday parties recently that left you feeling a bit empty, agitated, or disappointed? As I showed up to my meditation time a few days ago, a couple such encounters hung in my mind like the smell of skunk wafting through the house on a hot summer evening. Whenever my reaction to a person seems stronger than it needs to be, it’s likely what I call a Your i caught my i moment. I find it useful to think of every one of us human beings who refer t