Barbara’s Reflections

Woman balancing on the rail of railroad tracks with golden autumn leaves on the trees and the ground — Balance and the Autumn Equinox
Where Is the Balance? The equinox is a time of balance, when night and day are equal. In […]

21 Sep, 2019 in Spiritual and Emotional Themes tagged Autumn Equinox / Balance / God / Love / relationships / Right Relationship by Barbara Stevens

See, hear, and speak no evil - monkeys that refuse to look at the truth — Opinion, Fact, and Truth
Truth from Out of the Void At a Recovery Church circle a few months ago, someone asked, “What […]

14 Sep, 2019 in Political Events and Recovery tagged Beloved Community / Democracy / Facts / Opinion / Truth by Barbara Stevens

A father and son laughing together, learning to laugh at ourselves — The Benefits of Laughing at Ourselves
Of Storms and Presidents Farce in the White House is nothing new these days, but we may have […]

7 Sep, 2019 in Recovery Skills tagged Happiness / Laughter / Oppression / Power / Powers that Be by Barbara Stevens

At the site of an abandoned and crumbling hotel, someone posts a sign about finding love; even when in the pigpen, we can wake up — Waking Up and Creating Beloved Community
Out of the Pigpen In my work as a chaplain, I have met many people who could not […]

31 Aug, 2019 in Scripture Study tagged Addiction / Beloved Community / Love / Prodigal Son / Waking Up by Barbara Stevens

Claiming a Voice: Prodigal Son’s Mother
Voiceless and Invisible Throughout the world, women lack a voice. Even in the United States, where women have […]

24 Aug, 2019 in Scripture Study tagged Courage / Joy / Mothers / Prodigal Son / Voice by Barbara Stevens

Woman crying in despair and shame — Shame, Shamelessness, and the Power of Love
The Evil of Shame The inquisitive engineer in our group asked, “Are love and shame opposites?” After a […]

17 Aug, 2019 in Political Events and Recovery tagged Love / Shame / Shamelessness by Barbara Stevens

An elderly man sitting on a sidewalk, cradling a dog in his lap, a cup in front of him for coins, eeling compassion, not pity, for a homeless man and his dog, and reaching out to help — Compassion, Pity, and Helpfulness
Why Help? As social creatures, we humans help one another. For their book, How Can I Help?, Ram […]

10 Aug, 2019 in Spiritual and Emotional Themes tagged Compassion / Good Samaritan / Helping / Pity / Tonglen by Barbara Stevens

A man knees on the sand by the ocean - we fall to our knees and submit to the holy; this builds our faith — Falling and Faithfulness
The Pain of Falling It hurts to fall. Sometimes, when the pain of falling is intense, we lose […]

3 Aug, 2019 in Scripture Study tagged Buddhism / Faith / Falling / Flying / Pilgrimage / Prostration / Salvation by Barbara Stevens

Land Iguana staring at a prickly-pear, as if to control its ripening — Land Iguanas and the Illusion of Control
Land Iguanas and the Prickly-Pear Land iguanas on the Galapagos Islands eat centipedes and carrion, but they prefer […]

27 Jul, 2019 in Spiritual and Emotional Themes tagged Control / Happiness / Illusion / Illusion of Control / letting go / Meaning and Purpose / Serenity by Barbara Stevens

Finding Significance
Four Human Needs There are many ways to understand a human life. Theories abound about how we navigate […]

20 Jul, 2019 in Recovery Skills tagged significance / Stephen Covey by Barbara Stevens

sea bird flying toward the sun - seeing God in everything makes us light and joyful — Seeing God in Everything
God in Everything Bede Griffiths, the monk and Hindu spiritualist, wrote, “I was no longer the centre of […]

13 Jul, 2019 in Spiritual and Emotional Themes tagged Bede Griffiths / Ego / Enlightenment / Real Self by Barbara Stevens

A girl altruistically helps a boy get up from a log — Our Natural State of Altruism
Is Altruism Real? Some people claim that altruism is a myth, that we humans do nothing except that […]

6 Jul, 2019 in Spiritual and Emotional Themes tagged Altruism / Compassion / Evolution / Love by Barbara Stevens