Jim Taylor's Columns - 'Soft Edges' and 'Sharp Edges'

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25

Nov

2022

Doing what’s right is always worth it

Author: Jim Taylor

Thursday November 17, 2022

 

IMy email friend and fellow blogger Jim Henderschedt listed a number of things going wrong: “The seemingly daily news of war, lies, assault weapons, muck raking, genocide, racial enmity, mass shootings, homelessness -- the list goes on and on...”

            What do you do when your world seems to be coming apart at the seams? When your dreams turn into nightmares? When old friends topple like bowling pins, and your investments sink like autumn leaves?

            It’s tempting to go back to bed and pull the covers up over your head. Or perhaps to curl up on the floor in a fetal position.


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20

May

2022

The wasp who lives with me

Author: Jim Taylor

Thursday May 19, 2022

 

I don’t live alone anymore. For the past few days, I have shared my home with a wasp. A black-and-yellow wasp, that is, not a White-Anglo-Saxon-Protestant WASP. 

            I don’t know how this particular insect got into the house. I keep my doors closed. I have screens on all my windows. Nevertheless, the other day, a wasp came buzzing into my office. It circled around me a few times, settled on my screen, watched the cursor go by, circled me again, peered at my face, and flew off. 

            It did a similar routine that evening, when I was cooking supper.

            Almost as if it was looking for company.

            I wonder if it’s lonely.


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Categories: Soft Edges

Tags: prayer, lonely, Wasp

7

Feb

2021

Simple gestures show our faith

Author: Jim Taylor

“God in a stranger’s hello, God in a raised hand of greeting…” So begins a short daily prayer recently published by the Corrymeela Community in Northern Ireland.  

            The prayer recognizes that COVID-19 restricts many interactions we used to take for granted. 

            It goes on, “Those simple gestures, be it a glance toward a passer–by who looks back with a nod, or a friendly question about what breed of dog you’ve got there, give us moments of connection.”

            As a dog walker, I relate to that prayer. That’s how I too experience life these days. 

            Corrymeela anticipates a return to normal, whatever that is: “When instead of passing by or getting only as far as small talk, we will be able to draw close and learn more from each other.”

            I don’t see that happening. Not anytime soon. COVID-19 will not go away.


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15

Mar

2020

Serenity in short supply these days

Author: Jim Taylor

           As Scott Gilmore editorialized in Maclean’s, “It’s not the end of the world, it just feels that way.”

            Gilmore recalled his childhood days, reading a framed poem on a church wall. He assumed it must be “a piece of ancient wisdom, a psalm from the Old Testament.”

            It was neither. It was a prayer written by American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, in the 1930s:

“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.”

            It’s commonly called the “Serenity Prayer.” Alcoholics Anonymous popularized it. Other self-help programs have picked it up.

            Are prayers the answer to today’s chaos?

 


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29

Aug

2018

Hello. Hello? Anyone there?

Author: Jim Taylor

I tried to pray about a controversy over sex education in our schools -- what should be taught, and how. 

            A heavenly voice answered: “Thank you for your prayer. All our angels are presently busy dealing with other customers. Please stay on line and an angel will be with you shortly.”

            Some harps played mood music. 

            “Your continued devotion is very important to us. Please note that your prayer may be recorded for training and/or monitoring purposes.”

            I prepared my church membership papers, my baptismal certificate, my password (“Jesus,” of course) and my Personal Identification Number (666, of course) just in case they asked for authentication. 

            “For service in English, press 1. For service in Latin, press 2. For service in any other language, press 3 and wait for a Google translator to assist you.”

            I chose English.

            “King James thanks thee for thine loyalty. To speak to a confessor about sins thou mayest have committed by thought, word, and deed against thy Father Almighty’s divine majesty, press 1. To confess sins committed against another human, press 2. To confess sins of omission, press 3." 


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