High in the mountains of Eritrea lives a Coptic priest who journeys every day to the edge of the mountain to pray for the village below. How do we make ordinary places sacred?  I call this the practice of sacred placemaking. My teachers for learning about sacred placemaking include this Coptic (Orthodox Christian) priest who lives on the mountain that nestles the village of Matera, Eritrea. On top of the mountain is a giant cross, a tribute to...

It is time to put religion back in the closet where it belongs.  With fewer bully pulpits and more closet prayers, we may yet find our way back to the sacred. Deconstructing bully pulpits is an arduous task. Bully pulpits are occupied and guarded by the power brokers of this world. The bully pulpit of the Office of the President in the U.S. is sometimes used to coalesce public opinion around actions for the public good.  But, it is too often...

“Banks will fail! Store your gold in your home.” “Largest financial meltdown in history, warn government insiders.” I receive these e-mail messages—as do tens of thousands of others—because of a subscription to a news feed I follow. A small disclaimer indicates that the messages are from an ‘advertiser’ for the Washington Times. What is being advertised is fear. Fear mongering is rampant in our culture. Fear mongering is blatant and it is...

The truth about #IS is that it isn’t.  There is no such thing as the Islamic State (IS).  The truth about the War on Terror is that there isn’t one.  Both #IS (ISIS) and the War on Terror are well crafted constructs of those who recruit people and resources for global conflicts. Put them both in the category of the Queen who shouts “off with their heads” in Alice’s Wonderland.  We might well regard the Queen as a projection of the fears and...

I do not write much about religion. In the name of religion tens of thousands have been tortured and murdered. I do not speak much about God in my writing. I fear that word might be a stumbling block to someone who is searching for Divine Presence in their life.  Our use of the word ‘God’, like any other word, is defined by our cultural, social and linguistic traditions and our co-constructed belief systems. It is not a word to be...

My entire life journey has been in the company of elders.  At the age of four, I remember holding hands with my Grandpa.  He was a wise and gentle man.  He had huge hands—at least so they seemed to a four year old.  About all I remember of him is his hands. Those were hands that built a house for his family, comforted the sick and dying and folded in prayer for those who needed encouragement.  By any measure, James Preston Cross was a giant of...