Tag: Leonard Cohen
Gratitude for the Gift
“The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy.” —Henri Nouwen I have always been intrigued by the small slice of time humans have inhabited the earth. Most scientists agree that the earth was formed about 4 billion years ago and humans, in our approximate form, have existed a maximum of 400,000 Read More
Questioning Orthodoxy
“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” —Leonard Cohen I just watched three new movies: Little Women, directed by Greta Gerwig, A Hidden Life, directed by Terrence Malick, and Two Popes, directed by Fernando Meirelles. All three spoke to the importance of questioning orthodoxy in different times and different places. Little Women was set in the mid-19th century in New England. It’s a wonderful, big-hearted movie that pays homage to Read More
The Flame
Oh Leonard, how we miss you!! You lightened our days and emboldened our hearts. When I’m feeling dark and depressed after plowing through the New York Times every morning, I often call out to Alexa, “Please play Leonard Cohen.” Last week, when I made my repetitive request, Alexa started the shuffle with “You Want It Darker.” Here are the opening lyrics: If you are the dealer, I’m out of the game If you are the Read More
Pain and Empathy
Pain may not be your friend, but it may be your partner. And pain may be the path to empathy.
Being at Home in the Universe
An Internal Space or an External Refuge At my older daughter’s wedding, she sang the song, “Feels Like Home to Me” to her husband. It struck me that we are all searching for a sense of home in our lives and I was so grateful that she had found a man with whom she felt at home. Her beautiful voice filled the reception hall and my hope for everyone there was that they felt, in Read More