Category Archives: Conscience

May God Bless Us All . . . with Discomfort, Anger, Tears, and Foolishness

Posted on December 5, 2013 by John

. . . This is not by any means what we normally think of when asking God to bless us.  Maybe when asking God to “bless” our enemies or oppressors, but not when asking him to bless our family and … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Conscience, Courage, Critical Thinking, Mother Teresa, Personal Growth, Ruth Fox, Saint Teresa of Avila, Spiritual Growth, The Examined Life, Truth, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

May Your Choices Reflect What’s Best in You….

Posted on October 17, 2013 by John

When our choices reflect what’s best in us, when our choices reflect the better angels of our nature, when our choices reflect our deepest values and highest hopes, our virtues–courage, patience, wisdom, discernment, perspective–and principles such as a reverence for … Continue reading →

Posted in Conscience, Critical Thinking, Emotional Maturity, Love is a Choice, Nelson Mandela, Personal Growth, Perspective, The Examined Life, Truth, What is Love? | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

C.S. Lewis on Why to Be Moral

Posted on September 4, 2013 by John

  . . The sort of idea that the word Morality raises in a good many people’s minds is that it’s something that interferes—Morality is something that stops you from having a good time. In reality, moral rules are directions … Continue reading →

Posted in C.S. Lewis, Conscience, Critical Thinking, Love, Morality, Perspective, The Examined Life, Truth, Waking Up | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

C.S. Lewis & Ken Wilber on My Truth, Your Truth, and Morality

Posted on September 3, 2013 by John

. “The moment you say that one set of moral ideas can be better, you are in fact, measuring them both by a standard, saying that one of them conforms to that standard more nearly than the other.  But the … Continue reading →

Posted in C.S. Lewis, Conscience, Critical Thinking, Ken Wilber, The Examined Life, Truth, Waking Up | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Serenity Prayer, Self-Acceptance & Self-Care, and Discernment

Posted on July 2, 2013 by John

. DISCERNMENT.  (Noun.)  A core component of wisdom.  The ability to make fine yet profound/crucial distinctions; the ability to see (comprehend) more clearly what is unclear and obscure. The Serenity Prayer (as it applies to ourselves) God, grant me the … Continue reading →

Posted in Conscience, Courage, Critical Thinking, Czeslaw Milosz, Denial, Differentiation, Difficulty, Goethe, John Kenneth Galbraith, Love, Mental Health, Mindfulness, Personal Growth, Perspective, Self-Love, Spiritual Growth, The Examined Life, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

There Are *No* Ordinary People!

Posted on February 6, 2013 by John

“It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, … Continue reading →

Posted in C.S. Lewis, Conscience, Mature Love, Real Love, Spiritual Growth, The Examined Life, Truth, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Only Proactive People Can Genuinely Love Others, Reactive People Can’t (updated)

Posted on January 17, 2013 by John

(The following is abridged and adapted and modified from Stephen R. Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change”) Between stimulus and response, human beings have the freedom to choose—but only *if* we develop and … Continue reading →

Posted in "Man's Search for Meaning", "Siddhartha", Conscience, Conscious Love, Courage, Critical Thinking, Differentiation, Emotional Maturity, Hermann Hesse, Immature Love, Intimate Relationships, Love is a Choice, Love is a Decision, Love is Not a Feeling, Luke 6:32-35, M. Scott Peck, Mature Love, Mental Health, Perspective, Proactivity, Reactive, Real Love, Responsibility, Spiritual Growth, Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, The Examined Life, The Road Less Traveled, Truth, Viktor Frankl, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Love, the Feeling, versus Love, the Capacity (Immature Love versus Mature Love, part 2)

Posted on January 8, 2013 by John

. A properly (or fully) developed human being is a Loving human being. Love, ultimately, is a capacity. A capacity that develops as the result of developing many other capacities and virtues and behavioral predispositions. Some of these are of … Continue reading →

Posted in chapter 13, Conscience, Conscious Love, Courage, Differentiation, Emotional Maturity, Friendship, Generosity, Gratitude, Honesty, Immature Love, Love is Not a Feeling, Mature Love, Perspective, Real Love, Self-Love, Spiritual Growth, Thích Nhất Hạnh, Truth, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Why Real Love Is So Difficult & Rare (updated 12-26-2012)

Posted on December 26, 2012 by John

. (This is an updated version of a post I first publish on Feb 28, 2012 — “Why Real Love Is So Difficult & Rare“) . . “We have lost our sense of values: when your fence falls, you mend … Continue reading →

Posted in Conscience, Conscious Love, Courage, Czeslaw Milosz, Differentiation, Emotional Maturity, Generosity, Honesty, Immature Love, Intimate Relationships, Love, Love is Not a Feeling, Mature Love, Mental Health, Real Love, Self-Extension, Spiritual Growth, Thích Nhất Hạnh, Thomas Merton, Truth, Waking Up, What is Love? | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Feeding Your FOOL versus Feeding Your CONSCIENCE

Posted on December 14, 2012 by John

. This post is in response to a post on another blog I read and follow–http://momastery.com/blog/2012/12/12/to-all-the-confounders/ . “I must learn to love the fool in me–the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes … Continue reading →

Posted in Conscience, Gandhi, Glennon Melton, Martin Luther King Jr., Matthew 7:12, Momastery, Real Love, Self-Love, Spiritual Growth, Truth, Waking Up | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments