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Posts Tagged ‘FaithMatters’

A Brief Meditation on Time on a Cold Day at the Start of a New Year…

February 2nd, 2018 by Stephen Bauman

Do you highly value your time? Planning Consultant and Director of the Center for Complex Systems and Enterprises at Stevens Institute of Technology writes that “It never ceases to amaze how much time people say they spend doing things they claim not to value. At the same time, they emphasize how little time they spend… Read More

Breaktime

January 26th, 2018 by Stephen Bauman

I need a break. You likely do too. A break from the news/info maelstrom frothed up for us every morning and evening, well, all time in between too. It comes at us relentlessly, crashing in on consciousness, devouring valuable real estate in our attention library. It’s hard to shake. Periodically I recognize addictive patterns have… Read More

Self-Disclosure

January 19th, 2018 by Stephen Bauman

When I’m socializing in secular settings and the circumstance allows for a bit of sincere conversation, I might be asked how I came to be an ordained minister. Generally, I sense this question is motivated differently than a question directed to, say, a finance guy about his work. Especially in New York, broker, lawyer, teacher,… Read More

Witness

January 12th, 2018 by Stephen Bauman

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. So said Martin Luther King, Jr. Ironic timing, isn’t it? that on the eve of our MLK commemoration weekend our president should so debase himself and the office he holds by his disparagement of, well,… Read More

Parable for a New Year

January 5th, 2018 by Stephen Bauman

I heard a story about a man from Philadelphia. He murdered a driver who had slipped in front of his car on a congested expressway. Evidently, the delay was caused by several lanes merging into one, and he had been waiting, stewing in frustration for a long time. Just as his turn came to move… Read More

Hope for a Xanax Nation

December 29th, 2017 by Stephen Bauman

As the year whimpers to a close many feel it can’t happen soon enough. Good riddance 2017! But, oh my, here comes 2018… It’s not as though we’re starting off with a clean slate. The dissolving political landscape won’t resolve by midnight Sunday. Come Monday morning we’ll still be a bitterly divided nation with a… Read More

Immaculate Reconception

December 15th, 2017 by Stephen Bauman

As a bit of Advent distraction, entertainment and, ironically, contemplation, I offer you an old chestnut of the Beat Generation of poets (1950’s-60’s) by Lawrence Ferlinghetti. (Born in 1919, Wikipedia informs us that now at the age of 98 he’s our neighbor residing in Yonkers.) In mid-20th century, Christians weren’t certain what to make of… Read More

A Voice in the Wilderness

December 8th, 2017 by Stephen Bauman

Something has been nagging at me for a long while: Where has the aspiration for growing in character run off to? Why is there no public conversation about virtue or qualities of spiritual maturity defined by things like honor, integrity, loyalty, fidelity, truth, compassionate regard, courage, wisdom and humility? Why do these things sound so… Read More

Gratitude Abounds

November 17th, 2017 by Stephen Bauman

Over the years I have heard many persons say that as far as holidays are concerned, Thanksgiving is their favorite. They cite the general lack of obligation overload. They say it evokes memory, a longing for community and a chance even for cynics and curmudgeons to acknowledge their various dependencies for the sustaining of their… Read More

Where Do We Go from Here, Redux

October 27th, 2017 by Stephen Bauman

I’ve been thinking about the opioid crisis. It’s awful. The statistics are overwhelming: opioids are the leading cause of death for Americans under 50 years old, killing roughly 64,000 people last year, more than guns or car accidents, and doing so at a pace faster than the H.I.V. epidemic did at its peak. It’s an… Read More