While I’m an elder, I hadn’t given a lot of thought to dying, that is until my brother, who’s 20 months younger, announced in...
Spiritual Practices
Everyday Rituals
GUEST POST by JACOB WATSON While the events of our everyday lives are often repetitious, to see them as rituals brings the energy of the sacred to daily life. Years ago, walking in an urban park I sat on a bench to rest. I watched a fly buzz around my head and then disappear into the bushes. Suddenly, sitting down to rest was completely unique. [...]
Pat Taub
Soulful Spring Cleaning
Spring is typically the time when we tidy up our living spaces by washing windows, sorting kitchen cupboards, and getting rid of clothes we no longer wear. What if we applied this same thinking to our interior lives? What if we engaged in spring-cleaning for the soul? What would that look like? It might involve reworking the formula in [...]
Pat Taub
My Search for Meaning
Aging has brought a renewed interest in the spiritual questions I grappled with during my late-night college bull sessions. Is there a God? Can prayer make a difference? What is my spiritual path? In my middle years I was too busy raising children and building a career to grapple with meaning of life questions with the intensity of my [...]
Pat Taub
Moving from Darkness into the Light
The other night I woke up at 3:30 am, my fears in over-drive. I worried that it will be months before I can see family and friends, that I’m massively wasting time every day, and on a lighter note, bemoaned cutting my hibernated hair. As I was tossing and turning I had a small epiphany: I’ve been neglecting my spiritual practices, which [...]
Pat Taub
What Gives My life Meaning
GUEST POST by SALLY BOWDEN-SCHAIBLE I look into the bright slate-blue eyes of Olivia and the dark brown eyes of Ruby, my little granddaughters, and I see looking back at me the eyes of Mervet, Kinda and Alma (our friend Yasser’s family) and the little children running up and down the wide stone stairs of Yasser’s apartment building [...]
Pat Taub
Finding My Bliss
GUEST POST by EMMA MACAILLEN I am unsure that I ever find my bliss. I think it finds me. I do sense that there are preconditions in order for it to present itself. Perhaps I need to get out of my own way in order for that to happen, or at least “out of my mind.” I think bliss is a state of the awakened heart. I have glimpses [...]
Pat Taub
The Journey Home to Self: Spirituality Late in Life
Aging has brought a renewed interest in the spiritual questions I grappled with during my late night college bull sessions. Is there a God? Can prayer make a difference in one’s life? What is my spiritual path? In my middle years I was too busy raising children and building a career to grapple with meaning of life questions with the [...]
Pat Taub
Are You Neglecting Your Soul?
This is a tricky question because the soul is intangible, mysterious and hard to grasp, yet we recognize when our soul is awakened. Our world lights up, transporting us to another dimension. My soul is stirred when I listen to Aretha Franklin sing, cuddle a newborn baby, watch a sun rise, purchase fresh flowers, or find myself crying [...]
Pat Taub
What Will You Do With the Rest of Your Life?
This question has been staring me in the face as my seventies flash by. When I was young it felt like I had all the time in the world to plot my future. Now my future has shrunk. I go to more funerals than weddings. I catch my children whispering behind my back, comparing notes on how I’ve slowed down. Fundamentally I have two choices: [...]
Pat Taub
The Language of Kindness
The Language of Kindness by Christie Watson is one of those rare books that make your heart come alive. After I finished it, I felt a surging love for close friends and family, even a deeper connection to strangers I passed on the street. Watson’s book is an account of her 20 years as a nurse in London hospitals. As a student nurse Watson [...]
Pat Taub