May 18, 2004, EVENTS UNFOLDING

The injury to my ankle is so much better. I am able to get around very well even if I do limp a bit; it serves to remind me to be careful. Every so often I stop and relect on the wonder of being able to stand on my own feet and that my ankle actually supports me. When I lowered myself into the swimming pool at my gym for the first time in two months, I was truly overcome with a sense of gratitude that my injury wasn't much worse. I certainly have my eyes opened more to the suffering of others especially when I see people having difficulty walking around. The second edition of "The Camel Knows the Way" has arrived and is available through this web site. It is essentially the same as the first edition except that it has been revised with additional photographs and an epilogue covering Mother Teresa's beatification last October. The silent retreat at Siena Spirituality Center in Water Mill, NY this past weekend was very special. The glorious weather and setting of Siena, served to support and help us deepen our meditation practice. I am looking forward to the Hudson Link Benefit Dinner this coming Thursday where I will be the emcee. I shall also have an opportunity to speak with this year's recipient of the Bill Webber Award, one of my very special heros: Sr. Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking. I have heard Sr. Helen speak on a number of occasions and it was she, who opened my eyes even more, to the horror of the Death Penalty. Later I'll be travelling to Albany to speak and in early June I depart for England. I am truly excited about speaking in Skipton in Yorkshire. Although I've been in America for 40 years and became a citizen in 1976, I still have a strong attachment to England and especially at this time of year when it stays light in the evenings well past 9pm. What times we're in. What horror and anguish in the world. We do so need to experience sweetness and silence, to bathe our hearts in gentleness. May we all move with gentleness and peace.