Comfort & Joy

Last week, when I was presenting my book, Comfort and Joy: Simple Ways to Care for Ourselves and Others, at a spirituality gathering, a woman said to me: ‘I like the way you describe comfort as an opening. We often think of comfort as only turning inward.’ I was struck…

These days I am wondering about how the divine meets the ordinary. During the week, I park my car on a residential street, and walk a few blocks to the school building where I work. On one shoulder I am carrying a bag of books, and on the other shoulder…

It’s a marvelous thing to be part of creation. I walk through the arboretum in Golden Gate park, and delight in the variety of plants, trees, and flowers. I stop and closely look at the red rhododendron bush in full bloom. It’s charged with energy, from the soil, the water,…

I need the shelter of comfort these days, as I feel the loss of my father sinking deeper and deeper into me. Comfort is a shelter, a warm blanket, a refuge. Fortunately, we do not need to do anything extraordinary to produce comfort, because it is something that already exists…

I have been awake since early morning. Of course, I would have liked to sleep more, but right now that’s not happening. Can I give myself the comfort of my patience? Can I accept myself right now? I return to something I wrote in my book, Comfort & Joy: Simple…

I just lost my father two weeks ago. I was with him while he made the passage. His memorial service turned out to be a peaceful family gathering. Now, I am back in my daily life, and the feelings are so deep that sometimes I don’t even know what I…