Life's challenges

Life’s most profound challenges do not call on us to take a step of faith but a leap. For the truly significant journey will take us to chasms which cannot be crossed by those who walk – only by those who jump.

The stories we tell

As human beings we are storytelling creatures. But we have a problem with this in-built hunger for meaning. We're too quick to come up with explanations for things we don't really understand – preferring the sensational to the relevant. We think we spot the caricature in a few brush strokes and the apparent cause in a few effects. We weave full and intricate stories from random threads - fashioning a simple order out of complexity. In the face of uncertainty we lack the humility to express ignorance or doubt. Understanding how to act in the presence of incomplete information is an urgent challenge for humanity. If only we could tell our stories without the need to write our arrogance into every chapter.

Thoughts on Conflict

One of the greatest tragedies of our time, of all time perhaps, is our inability to outgrow conflict. From the legalised brutality of nations to the frozen spaces between individuals, this fatal flaw has survived impervious to all other aspects of our advancement. Without exception, at the heart of every conflict are arrogance and ego – often disguised as more virtuous twins but still a fatal combination. Conflict emerges with the expectation of a single narrative – the easy grasp of oversimplification or the deceptive appeal of a superficial ideology. The world’s subtle complexities often harden to naive ideology in the presence of arrogance - and ego will always take sides in the face of ambiguity. Whatever dilemmas the world presents to us, it is only with humility that we can see rightly. Every conflict drives us towards oversimplification and every true resolution opens us to truly hear the voices of others. If a new consciousness is ever to emerge amongst the divisions of humanity its first breath will be drawn in the presence of humility and its first cry will be peace.

Under Foot

We are always closer to the divine and the source of our true power than we think. As Joseph Campbell put it, "where you stumble; there is your treasure." Life is constantly reminding us to look under foot. The deceptive lure of the horizon can take us away from the opportunities which are right here, right now. Every place is under the heavens, every place is the center of the universe. Let us never despise the place and the hour which we inhabit - it is the only time and place from which any greatness can emerge.

Wisdom from Rumi

This being human is a guest-house –
Every morning a new arrival:
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
Say I Am You.