With a hat tip to Marty Neumeier (now 76), who in 2008 wrote The Designful Company, I recommend yesterday’s “A Foundational Practice” by Richard Rohr (now 81), which included this opening sentence: “I believe that the combination of human action from a contemplative center is the greatest art form.”
Joe Ellmore (now 93), has for 54 years shown me what it means to live an intentionally contemplative life. Yesterday, in Sunday School, the SALT Class (Serving And Learning Together), Joe said, “I read your blog post” (about the debate between Joe Biden, now 81, and Donald Trump, now 78). “Next time, please tell us what you really think.” Okay. I originally wrote that Trump’s disrespect “poisoned” the atmosphere, but I substituted what I really think with a less severe “polluted.”
As we enter the second half of this consequential year, I (now 73) move between action regarding the disaster of a second Trump administration and the desire for a more contemplative life. Rohr helps. Here’s the full paragraph of yesterday’s Daily Meditation from the Center for Action and Contemplation:
I believe that the combination of human action from a contemplative center is the greatest art form. When action and contemplation are united, we have greater beauty, symmetry, and transformation—lives and actions that inherently sparkle and heal, though the shadow is still present.
You (at whatever age) are a designful work of art. Hold that thought.
Among my descriptors for Donald Trump is “a piece of work.” As I oppose him, I acknowledge our kinship, often around the “shadow” that Rohr mentions. Yes, each and every one of us is a work of art. The photo is from “Trump’s Latest Lies About His Lies,” by William Kristol, The Bulwark, June 24, 2024.
ted.today 