Musings

MARCH NONREQUIRED READING LIST

A sundried memory is revisiting me. The exact date is foggy, but the flashback is ripe. A few things I know for certain, it was pre-pandemic and took place at the Albuquerque Botanical Gardens bandshell. One of my favorite right-handed songwriters was set to play on a serene June evening. My wife was spent and didn’t want to go. Friends were preoccupied or unreachable. I had a grueling day at work and was not sure a crowded space would settle my mood. One song, I said to myself, wrung out as I am, go for one song as the sun dips down. When I arrived the lawn was full; families sprawled out on blankets, teens on awkward dates, old folks looking criminal sipping their wine in lawn chairs, and the occasional loner like myself. Read the rest here.

ANSELM

Last week, I dipped into the local independent cinema and saw Wim Wender’s Anselm. A portrait of Anselm Keifer routes in, around, through the art world. A contemplative kiss on the neck, squeeze of creativity, a poem came to me in the middle of the film. I chicken scratched it out in the dark.

(2/18/24)

A STILL SMALL VOICE

No words necessary.

THREE THEORIES FOR WHY YOU HAVE NO TIME

A quote worth pondering. “Better technology means higher expectations, and higher expectations create more work.” You can read the whole Atlantic article here. It’s behind a paywall, but I think the quote shared is what lingers most. (8/21/23… h/t to Shawn)

A THOUSAND CASTS

I meant to just watch a few minutes of this documentary, ended up spending my lunch hour with this story of Oliver White. (8/16/23)

CAN YOU HEAR ME SMILING?

The music of Scott Ballew hits me right between the front teeth. Winsome turns of phrase and imagery that smartly paints on the inside of your eyelids. The man has walked through some swamps too. This short documentary captures his spirit, much the same way I hope my conversation with him from a few years back does too. Listen to my conversation with Scott here and watch the doc below.

THE FALL

Gregory Alan Isakov is a gift. Looking forward to this whole album.

FIRE AND LIGHT PODCAST WITH TESSA BIELECKI & FR. DAVID DENNY

Tessa Bielecki and Fr. David Denny, are “two old friends who lived in monasteries out in the wilderness for fifty years. Now we’re “urban hermits” in Tucson, Arizona and long to share conversations with you about living sanely and contemplatively in the midst of engaged lives in the world. We wonder how to keep love alive and celebrate everyone in the great Circle of Life. We’re honest about what sometimes keeps us awake at night and offer stories of hope that can bring us light and set our hearts on fire. Join us as we ponder life, love, and soul.” It is an excellent podcast with wise elders, check it out here!

THE ‘WORLD’S HAPPIEST MAN’ SHARES HIS THREE RULES FOR LIFE

Don’t buy the headline too much. I am a fan of Matthieu Ricard ever since I read The Monk and the Philosopher. He shoots straight, trusts the wisdom of practice, and the neuroscience. Compassion is everything.

“Not to reduce 2,500 years of contemplative science to a single sentence, but is there a thought that you can suggest to people that they can carry in their minds that might be helpful to them as they go through life’s challenges? If you can, as much as possible, cultivate that quality of human warmth, wanting genuinely for other people to be happy; that’s the best way to fulfill your own happiness. This is also the most gratifying state of mind. Those guys who believe in selfishness and say, “You do that because you feel good about it” — this is so stupid. Because if you help others but you don’t care a damn, then you won’t feel anything! Wanting to separate doing something for others from feeling good yourself is like trying to make a flame that burns with light but no warmth. If we try humbly, with some happiness, to enhance our benevolence, that will be the best way to have a good life. That’s the best modest advice I could give.” Read the whole interview here. (8/15/23)

WANT TO THRIVE? YOU HAVE TO ‘DIE’

What do you do after the metaphorical reaper comes to your door? This is question that rings my bell. There are over simplistic elements of this brief article that give me a wedgie, but the thrust of the idea I stand behind. Keep death before you, it focuses attention and action. Check out the article here.

HOW HOKUSAI’S ART CRASHED OVER THE MODERN WORLD

Ageless influence is moving in artificial times (NYT article).

COWBOY CARTER

I was late to this party, but am staying to the end. Beyoncé has made a complete album, highlights are aplenty and layered. Tip of the cowboy hat. (updated 4/2)

THE NOBEL PRIZE-WINNING PROFESSOR WHO LIKED TO COLLABORATE WITH HIS ADVERSARIES

Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman called it “adversarial collaboration”. It is when you engage in a project with someone who you are in deep disagreement, based on the data of your study. Working together you might learn something new, and might be of wider service to the world. Man oh man, this is my jam, can we get some more “adversarial collaboration” in politics, religion, and the media? (updated 4/2)

SUGGESTIONS FOR REBOOTING THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE FROM FARMER, ESSAYIST, AND POET WENDELL BERRY

The folks over at McSweeney’s sure know how to make a fella howl.

“When despair for the world grows in me, and I wake in the night at the least sound, I sometimes go down to the local theater and check out the latest Marvel spectacle, preferably in 3D, because it’s more abundant in real pleasure.” It goes on with many a Berry reference upon Marvel buffoonery. Delightful comedy writing. Read the whole thing here. (h/t to Lee, 3/25)

A COUGAR ATTACKED THEM. THEY FOUGHT BACK FOR 45 HARROWING MINUTES

This headline alone will find the readers it needs to find. Tip of the hat to these fierce women. (h/t to Gail, 3/25)

ME & BOBBY MCGEE

This song and that voice are made for each other. (3/10)

LOVE GRIEVES BUT REFUSES DESPAIR: AN INTERVIEW WITH DAVID JAMES DUNCAN

Sun House is a book that continues to read my life. An offering so generous that another page of the 800 page behemoth would have been asking for too much. Friend of Contemplify, Fred Bahnson, interviews David James Duncan on Sun House, an “Eastern Western”, positing possibility and a way to consider a life hidden in the deepest waters. A snippet:

“You can avoid a lot of corniness if you bear in mind that life is loaded not with sweetness, but with bittersweetness, the way nature makes you feel both when you come across a beautiful high meadow in which whitetail fawn carcasses left by predators are also present. Every trout’s rise equals a dead insect of graceful beauty. Every hawk whose majestic soaring elates us is looking to make a kill. Every bald eagle cruising river corridors is watching for Canada goose goslings as easy to spot as chartreuse tennis balls. Keeping all of that plus the sufferings of the observers in play fends off smarmy nature writing.” Read the whole piece here. (h/t to Fred, 3/6/23)

LAUDATO DEUM REFLECTIONS

Brother Coyote, aka Gary Nabhan, is posting daily reflections for Lent on Pope Francis’ Laudato Deum (“Praise God for all his creatures”). Brother Coyote claws, praises, and adores in words only fit for a Canis. Here is an example:

“In a few words, the Bishops assembled for the Synod for Amazonia said the same thing: “Attacks on nature have consequences for people’s lives”.

We all know how it feels to be attacked—the fear,

But also the humiliation and sense of injustice that befalls us.

How do we move past anger and an instinct for self defense,

To be inspired to act with collective, multigenerational defense

Of all the peoples and species with which we are engaged

Socially, nutritionally, economically, and spiritually?

Those who suffered must have always lived on the margins:

The edgy ecotones, the edges of river, oceans, and ponds,

The makeshift barrios, colonias and ghettos at the city limits.

How do we help those who live in landfills, cemeteries,

Railroad yards and beneath bridges. How can we be their bridges?”

Head over to garynabhan.com for more. (updated 2/18/24)

ASH WEDNESDAY

Brian Doyle has poem that should bless the ashes that will return to the earth. Read it here.

(2/15/24)

HOW AFROLATINE IDENTITY CAN EXPAND OUR UNDERSTANDING OF FAITH

“Whiteness has co-opted [contemplative Christianity], where contemplation and meditation became equivalent with a certain ideology and identification of being white. But when we look at the different traditions that we have within the diaspora — including Christianity, Islam, and African-descended traditions like Lukumí or Ifá or Candomblé — there’s a deep contemplative root in all of those traditions that predates Europeanist control. [In a] way, we have had to become contemplatives by default: We’re in spaces where we have to wrestle with certain things inside our mind before we’re able to talk about them or publicly discuss them.”

This quote comes from an interview with Josué Perea who produced the film, Faith in Blackness that explores the question, “How can the creator of the universe be smaller than me?” Black Latine people around the world practice a myriad of faith traditions. This short-form documentary explores dynamic identities of these AfroLatine people and their journey for a home, a faith in Blackness. Josué Perea is a wise engaged contemplative. Read the interview with Josué here.
(2/6/24)

MERTON: AN INVITATION TO UNBIND HIM AND OURSELVES

Lesyle Colvin will weave a tapestry that provides a fresh perspective of Thomas Merton interwoven with glimpses of her journey as a child of the Civil Rights Movement era, and the systems that bind us all. Free to register.

SURPRISING REBIRTH OF THE BELIEF IN GOD

Great tellings by Paul Kingsworth and Martin Shaw of their roads to a belief in God. Listen to it here.
(h/t to Carmen 1/20/24)

HARD TRUTHS ABOUT SUFFERING, FROM A WRITER WHO’S LIVED TO TELL

Christian Wiman broke into my bookshelf with the My Bright Abyss: Meditations of a Modern Believer, then exchanged his poems with some pals, read him in Harper’s and now we have Zero at the Bone: Fifty Entries Against Despair. This quote from NYT review draws the shades and makes me want to crawl in the window, “He admits frustration with religion, “not simply the institutional manifestations, which even a saint could hate, but sometimes, too many times, all of it, the very meat of it, the whole goddamned shebang.” Read the article here.
(1/7/24)

THE GREAT MALFORMATION

A dive into the cultural mess we find ourselves in. The culture we have ingested and are burping onto our children. A gross image, but appropriate. How can we cultivate a more nourishing culture for now and for later? This is a complex, troubling, and sacrificial question. It will not be easy or attractive in the short-term. This quote spotlights the condition we are in. Look and see.

“We would be astonished to discover a human community that did not attempt to pass along to its children a form of life that had won the affirmation of its elders. We would be utterly flabbergasted to discover a community that went to great lengths to pass along a form of life that its elders regarded as seriously deficient or mistaken. Yet we have slipped unawares into precisely this bizarre arrangement. We devote an extraordinary share of our accumulated wealth and creative talent to the task of imprinting the young with an evaluative outlook most of us view with abiding suspicion.” Read the whole thing here. (h/t to Poff / updated 1/2)

THE BELOVED

The Beloved is a poetry and song collaboration with poet Gregory Orr and alt-folk group Parkington Sisters. This just what the day needed. (h/t to Gigi)
(updated 12/22)

ADVENT REMEDY

Contemplfiy friend Peter Traben Haas has some Advent reflections worth bringing to your attention. You can see them over at The Work of the People, a long time hub of contemplative inspiration.
(updated 12/13)

SCULPTOR

Jeffrey Martin has made a complete album. Tip to tail tells the truth in song and melody. The song below is breaking my heart over and over again by its devastating beauty. His latest album, Thank God We Left the Garden is here it is housed. I will listen to this album for the rest of my life. (h/t to Aaron for the introduction Martin’s music)

WHAT WOULD HERZOG DO?

A brilliant reflection on the weird, wild, allure of Werner Herzog. To follow his lead is to chart your own path. To learn from his muse is to dismiss his and find your own. Check it out here.

“Now, a week later, I am thinking about that experience, and how people like Herzog make good and hard work possible for others. If what’s impossible for others is possible for him, it’s possible for you too. You can ask yourself, when you find someone worth emulating, what would they do? You could make a bracelet, and whenever you were about to give up, when things got too hard you could snap it against your wrist and remember who you meant to become, get your gumption going again. What Would Herzog Do?” (updated 11/6/2023)

THE CONTEMPLATIVE POETICS OF FAITH DECONSTRUCTION

If interested, this ol chunk of coal is leading a virtual teaching session on Tuesday, Nov 14th. description below and registration here.

The unfolding path of faith is risky and unpredictable in its evolutions throughout life. At times faith can feel linear, clear, and light, only to lose its shine in the wreckage of unforeseen circumstances. Some outgrow the shell of their consummate sense of faith and feel a drizzle of hope call them onward and into the unknown. The complexity of faith is experienced across discovery, loss, stability, and mystery. In this workshop we will honor the poetic totality of faith experiences through opportunities to engage in contemplative practices, musings, storytelling, and personal reflection.
(updated 11/4/2023)

LIFE AFTER “CALVIN & HOBBES”

My kids have picked up Calvin & Hobbes for the first time. They are drawn to different aspects of the comic strip, but giggles follow both. I have been waiting for this day. Now I have discovered that the creator Bill Patterson has a new book out, The Mysteries. You can read a New Yorker piece about it here. The resonating line for me, “Watterson has written, “Whenever the strip got ponderous, I put Calvin and Hobbes in their wagon and send them over a cliff. It had a nice way of undercutting the serious subjects.” 
(updated 10/24/2023)

WILLOW, PINE, & OAK

Saw Bonnie “Prince” Billy play on Friday, someone captured this tune from the show. What a lyrical performer, captivating with each turn of phrase. I swear you can hear me laughing in this video.

(updated 10/23/2023)

WINNERS OF THE 2023 ASTRONOMY PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

These photos make me feel small. Like I shrink back to child-size while my sense of awe becomes grandiose. Find the biggest screen you can and check out these stunning photos of our planet and universe here.
(updated 10/20/23)

COULD YOU LIVE LIKE A MONK FOR A MONTH? IN THIS UNIVERSITY CLASS, IT’S THE FINAL PROJECT

Have university courses gotten more interesting or is it that we just know more about what is being offered nowadays? From the article:

“Justin McDaniel has taught computer science students who code by pencil, and theatre students who only mime on stage.

Those students took a vow of silence and agreed to disconnect from technology in his University of Pennsylvania class.

McDaniel’s course, Living Deliberately: Monks, Saints, and the Contemplative Life — affectionately known as “Monk class” — pushes students to live an ascetic life and culminates in 30 days of total restrictions.

That means no speaking, no technology, no meat or alcohol (unless they kill or make it themselves) and no touching others. Students aren’t even allowed to make eye contact with others. They are allowed to send handwritten letters.

Unlike wellness approaches that emphasize social connection and group activities that are often promoted by universities, McDaniel encourages students to pull back and do less.”

Link to read or listen at cbc.ca

(updated 10/17/23)

I WON’T BE AFRAID

I like this fella.

(h/t to Kramer, updated 10/10/23)

DOWN WITH EFFICIENCY! (WHEN WE GET AROUND TO IT.)

The insane desire to make life efficient is a gross exaggeration of thoughtfulness. Hustling through and never lingering on. Coffee breaks and silent pauses are becoming things of the past. I applaud this goofy approach to expediency. We are culturally with great expedience rushing to the end of our lives. Read the piece here. Ever wonder why there are so many articles like this and so few examples of people living an un-hijacked life? (updated 10/5/23)

CLIP YOUR WINGS

This tune has been good company for the changing seasons.(updated 10/5/23)

TO FALL IN LOVE WITH THE WORLD

The news of the week has been crushing, loss after loss, insanity upon insanity. This photo-poetry journey is a gift. Watch slowly, drink it in my friends, welcome the pattern of life, death, and resurrection here. (updated 9/13/23)

ALL THAT IS SACRED

A new documentary was premiered this last weekend at the Telluride Film Festival about artists I admire in a knuckle headed season of their lives. Ambition, drugs, and creativity all met in Key West. Read the article and watch the trailer here and read some further thoughts here…apparently you can’t watch it anywhere else. The idea for this doc was spun up by friend of Contemplify, Scott Ballew. Can’t wait to see the whole shebang. An era drifting away in our midst. (updated 9/7/23)