Category Archives: Departures

Departures: In Search of Community

I just came from a community gathering that truly amazed me, once I saw it with clear eyes.  Consider what I saw.  Everyone was there.  There were Black and White people. People of various Asian cultures were there as were … Continue reading

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Departures: Memory of a Good-bye

I am very fortunate that, until very recently, I had only lost one person whom I dearly loved.  My grandmother was a very complex woman, who had lived in poverty for most of her life, but still managed, usually, to … Continue reading

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Departures: Water Practice

Water invites us into a very simple practice today. Water is our most basic point of departure.  The human being that we are began in water, the cellular fluids made up of our parents’ bodies.  The microscopic cellular beings that … Continue reading

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Departures: Baggage Claim

As we progress through life’s journey, we pick up things here and there, and we carry them along with us.  Some of what we collect will make us feel lighter, more capable of easy flight; but much of what we … Continue reading

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Departures: Practicing With Reactions

For me, the experience is like the pot of water that has been quietly growing warmer and warmer on the stove before suddenly, with sound and the sight of bubbling water which in fact may come erupting over the sides … Continue reading

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July 4 – Departures: Independence Day

Today, in the United States, we celebrate the birth of our nation.  The Declaration of Independence, drafted, signed, and ratified in July of 1776, was – at that time – the culmination of a departure from the norm of monarch … Continue reading

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Departures: Spiritual Practice

From Latin and Old French, our word “departure” literally means a “dividing away from” something or someone.  In both Old French and in English, as early as the 15th century, it became a euphemism for death.  We refer to the … Continue reading

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