The word advent comes from the Latin prefix ‘ad-‘ meaning ‘to’ and the root ‘venire’ meaning ‘come’. The English word is derived from the Latin ‘adventus’ meaning ‘arrival’. Advent in the Christian tradition is preparation for the arrival of Christmas and includes the 4 Sundays and weeks leading up to the celebration of the birth
In a recent conversation, my friend, Kumud Ajmani, host and moderator of #SpiritChat on Twitter, invited me to write a blog post on Gratia Plena (full of grace). That came near the end of a brief exchange that Kumud initiated with an email that began with these words: “I went researching ‘Gratia Plena’ and found
Most of us know first-hand about glitches that disrupt the smooth running of anything from a computer to a giant insurance company, to a corporate blunder in production (think recalls), to our own lives in matters of relationships, work, health or travel. My point in writing about this experience is not so much to describe
Several conversations this past week have centered around the notion of our better selves, how we see ourselves and whether or not we are interested in evolving to a better version of who we are. What I believe about that is probably for me the most important piece as it will determine how I choose
There are many covert as well overt practices that contribute to racism today in the United States. There are some white people who seem not to be able, or willing, to acknowledge the bias of white privilege. It may be easier for them to blame others rather than accept any responsibility for many of the
Those of us limited to the English language have this word, love, which gets used for loving everything from ourselves to another person, to our families, to our dogs and cats and horses, to our cars and other material things, to the essence of nature itself. And then there’s the religious dimension expressed in various
