Atheist Turned Believer

Have you ever heard of a koan ?  It's a riddle used by Zen Buddhist priests to help their students tease truths out of their own psyches.  When discussing koans with Westerners, the most popular example given is "what is the sound of one hand clapping?"  There is another koan with which I have been struggling for the last year or so: "what was your face before you were born?"  Today, I think I may have found the answer, and it was in the most unlikely of places. A few weeks ago, my elderly mother fell and broke some bones.  As I type, she is in rehab and recovering well, but she was in extreme pain for several weeks before her true recovery began.  During those first weeks, as I maintained a bedside vigil, she would frequently ask me to read to her.  Several of the women with whom I am intimate (my wife, my elderly charges, my daughter) like for me to read to them.  I don't really know why; perhaps my Cosellian monotone lulls them to sleep! ☺ The ...

 I believe I've mentioned previously in this blog that the recent journey chronicled herein began a few years ago when my lovely bride sat me down for a "come to Jesus" meeting over my anger issues.  I was taken aback by this.  I was unaware that I had any anger issues.  As she talked, I began to realize that a number of the specific episodes in which she thought I was angry, I was actually, in my own mind, either indignant or just keenly focused.  Of course, this was my bride speaking, and she wasn't holding the matter up for discussion, so I decided that I'd better listen.  Thus the genesis of this blog. Someone told me today about an episode they'd had at work that sounded all too familiar.  When they finished explaining  about being reprimanded for being "angry with customers" when, in fact, they were only trying to stay focused during a busy moment, I shared the following piece of advice from my own recent learning: when someone accuses you o...