Coach Kenji

Faith: the source wellspring

"Faith is the courageous confidence that trusts in the Source of all gifts." - David Steindl-Rast

Ego: easing god out

"Enlightenment is ego’s ultimate disappointment." - Chögyam Trungpa

Perverse: part 3

"Go with your love to the fields. Lie down in the shade. Rest your head in her lap. Swear allegiance to what is nighest your thoughts. As soon as the generals and the politicos can predict the motions of your mind, lose it. Leave it as a sign to mark the false trail, the way you didn't go. Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong direction. Practice resurrection." - An excerpt from Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” from The Country of Marriage, copyright © 1973 by Wendell Berry

Perverse: part 2

"Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes." - from Song of Myself by Walt Whitman

Perverse: turning around/turning towards

A new friend and I were discussing our personalities and the word 'perverse' arose. In Latin it means to "turn around." It's a word I've loved, from a playful, creative, place that seems aligned to 'the spirit' for me. We live in a world overflowing with substantial realities, instant communication, overwhelming worries, and sense-dulling practicalities; to the point of drowning out beauty ... something that art, poetry, and spirituality, at least for me, keep alive.

"Ask the questions that have no answers. Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias. Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant, that you will not live to harvest. Say that the leaves are harvested when they have rotted into the mold. Call that profit. Prophesy such returns." - An excerpt from Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front" from The Country of Marriage, copyright © 1973 by Wendell Berry

Gazing at the moon

I once heard a pastor say something about a bible story that conveyed the story of Jesus and his followers climbing a mountain, only to discover that the path they'd taken was more difficult then another; the teaching was that we each have our own mountain to climb, our own path. When I find myself comparing my woes to another, I quietly say to myself, "This is my mountain."

"Many paths lead from the foot of the mountain, but at the peak we all gaze at the single bright moon." - Ikkyu - Zen-monk poet, 1394-1481

I did it all for love

"Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smaller right and doing it all for love." - St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Lesbian Christian Charity

“My lesbianism is an act of Christian charity. All those women out there praying for a man, and I'm giving them my share.” - Rita Mae Brown

Guns or Hands?

"Why is it that, as a culture, we are more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?"  ~Ernest Gaines

Heterosexual/Homosexual Admonishments

"The Bible contains six admonishments to homosexuals and 362 admonishments to heterosexuals.  That doesn't mean that God doesn't love heterosexuals.  It's just that they need more supervision." ~ Lynn Lavner