Resilience of a Dream Catcher: A Spiritual Memoir

By Paschal Baute

Starting as a “lost boy” who ran away from home three times by the time he was twelve, Paschal began dreaming aided by one singular teacher. His life as a dream-catcher eventually spanned these careers: athlete, U. S. Army private, boxing champion, Benedictine monk, sports coach, Catholic priest, Navy Chaplain, pastoral psychologist, family therapist, human resource consultant, community activist, and Spellbinder storyteller, mostly in that order. He discovered in midlife his most important roles: husband, lover, father, grandfather and most recently great grandfather. He shares his life of facing many odds with brutal honesty, discovering resilience inch by inch. Having served with all four branches of the U. S. Military, Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines, he writes this memoir for his veteran brothers, using each chapter of his life as an introduction to a discussion of surviving and thriving, no matter the challenge met and engaged.
Although written primary as a blind veteran for his retired and active brothers and sisters in uniform, early reviewers believe his story has meaning for the general population. He brings a reflective practice of the meaning of spirituality and wellness into his life and meditations. A discussion guide for developing resilience follows each chapter, intended for both personal reflection and group discussion.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paschal Baute
• Release date: Jan 11, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310159480

Paschal Baute

storyteller, dream-catcher, ancient and wounded therapist, blind veteran helping veterans, resource in total wellness, former Navy Chaplin, psychologist, minister, and lucky in love and life: married 45 years, survivor of stage 4 cancer, father, grandfather, and now great grandfather..

Book preview

Whoever said life was easy has either mastered the impossible or is oblivious to all things happening in the world today. We are all born with innocent and naïve childlike wonder. Sadly, overtime, life stressors and hardships awaken our eyes to the difficult and hostile problems with which we routinely struggle both internally and collectively as a society. Nobody is immune to this phenomenon. When life throws a curveball or problems begin to mount, it is all too easy to become discouraged and adopt a woe is me mentality. The good news is that there are ways in which we can approach life’s problems that promote more constructive outcomes. Although reality can at times be depressing, it is the powerful yet mysterious ingredients of perception that dictate where on the spectrum between negative and positive that we evaluate an experience. Just as those who have never experienced failure could not possibly recognize success, it is the challenges and hardships that we encounter that provide opportunities to strengthen our inner selves.

Our storyteller Paschal is a caring and spiritual man who exudes resilience. He has overcome abusive relationships by those who should have nurtured and mentored him. He is a blind Veteran having served his country under each branch of the United States military over a 24-year span. He is a stage four cancer survivor. His religious beliefs have been repeatedly challenged by circumstances overtime. This has led to his reassessing and reframing of his own faith perspectives in an inclusive way that honors and incorporates all wisdom traditions. Above all, Paschal is a promoter of positive thinking and wellbeing, driven by his calling to help others. The professional contributions he has made to the fields of spirituality and psychology verify his unique ability to offer insight into how faith and science can coexist and be embraced together to enrich one’s life. He is a Dream Catcher who has lived in both camps. Through life lessons he has learned to leverage his inner strengths to overcome challenges and persist onward toward accomplishing his goals and fulfilling his dreams.

At one point or another we all face problems and challenges that seem insurmountable. Through the sharing of his life journey, Paschal is a living testament that we all can gain valuable life lessons from the hardships we encounter, educated risks we take, and the mistakes we make. His stories show that we can all learn to cope better with difficult situations as well as the stressful demands of daily life. The morals of his stories certainly capture the notion of success by doing; however, unlike many self-help or success publications available, Paschal emphasizes the concept of success by overcoming. In doing so, his stories promote the valuable recipe of mindfulness and resilience. Developing these values is a capability we are all born with only not necessarily an ability we all develop, at least not at an optimal level. Certainly the combination of mindfulness and resilience will not eliminate the deepest forms of grief, but they are inner strengths that when sufficiently developed can help one cope with problems and navigate through the grief process. Learning how to successfully leverage these inner strengths can represent the difference between being a circumstantial victim held hostage by emotional pain and an opportunistic survivor who is able to move on and grow.

At the end of each chapter Paschal provides a passage entitled, Resilience in Action. This series of passages is a unique resource integrated in a way never before seen in an autobiographical text. They stimulate insightful contemplation about how the lessons provided in the respective chapter can relate to one’s own life. I have personally found that experimenting with them as training exercises has led to the enhancement of my own understanding and perception of resilience.

Fascinatingly, Paschal’s stories capture the synergy between the roles that freewill and divine influence have played in shaping his life journey. In fact, the concepts of mystery and grace are two universally spiritual concepts that manifest as core themes throughout his memoir. In essence these are less understandable principles than mindfulness and resilience, but that does not mean they offer any less valuable of a contribution. Mystery represents the notion of knowing without knowing. It is being without definitive evidence to point to beyond the question of ‘who or what is this Great Architect that created all the beauty that surrounds us?’ Appreciating the beauty represents the actual gift of grace. Perhaps it is the union of these two spiritual concepts that form the essence of what is commonly referred to as faith.

Authoring a memoir can be a challenging task, especially one such as Paschal’s that integrates multiple perspectives including those from a personal, psychological, faith-based and spiritual lens. The process requires a level of self-reflection and honesty that can be simultaneously both humiliating and humbling. It causes one to awaken dormant memories and feelings that were often times intentionally buried. At the same time it is an opportunity to appreciate and celebrate the happy times and notable accomplishments throughout the course of one’s life.

Although I am not a Veteran myself, I have professionally worked with this population and have several family members who have served and were involved in live combat. I bear witness to the sacrifices they have made and difficulties they have faced with reintegrating back into the civilian world. I consider myself to be forever in debt to such brave men and women. Herein lies the subject matter that brought Paschal and me together; a common desire to support those who have sacrificed so much to ensure our freedoms. In supporting Paschal with this project, it became quickly evident that anyone going through a challenging time or has a pattern of getting stuck in a rut could relate to and benefit from his life stories.

Resilience is the stress management challenge for our times. It is my hope, and I am sure Paschal’s as well, that every reader gains inspiration from his stories; that the lessons presented encourage the reader to persevere and grow from experience no matter how difficult or troublesome. Just as working with Paschal on this project has helped me to grow, may his stories and passages on resilience help you to develop and leverage the inner strengths essential to living a more positive, meaningful and fulfilling life.

Sincerely,

Scott Stubenrauch, Psy. D., HSP

Licensed Clinical Psychologist

Chief Psychologist, Public Safety & Security

Institute for Personality and Ability Testing (IPAT)

Author’s Note. With a keen interest in the connection between personality and wellness, Dr. Stubenrauch undertook an analysis of the Resilience in Action comments at the end of each chapter. Curious about the diversity of facets of resilience to be evoked, he discovered some 40 plus themes and threads of resilience. These are listed by chapter in Appendix 12.

PREFACE

Designated by the VA at age 81 as catastrophically disabled, Paschal Baute paused, laughed, and just kept on going. His energy and creativity seem boundless. One day Paschal is at the county jail leading a psychological/spiritually based program he designed for repeat addictive offenders. The next day he is wearing a blue satin Wizard’s hat telling scary stories to second graders. The day after, he is screening bus drivers for the local public school system. And the following day, he is performing a wedding in the garden chapel in his back yard.

Between these activities, Paschal reads the current brain research, designs workshops for psychologists, and writes in his blog.

Beyond his many doings, more impressive is the man he has become. Reading this memoir, you have the opportunity to understand how a hurt and angry little boy grew to become such a wise, generous, and loving adult.

One cannot talk with Paschal for more than a few minutes without hearing about how grateful he is for this person or that experience. His wife is his favorite topic. He will go on at length about how blessed he is to have found her. Then he says, I asked her the other day how I was doing as a husband on a scale of one to ten. She said ‘negative 6.’ I asked her what I could do to get that up to a negative 4. We burst into laughter.

Paschal understands the joy of living by Rule 6. For those of you who don’t know Rule 6, it is Don’t take yourself so freaking seriously. When Paschal first told me the story of the Abbot telling him he had a problem with authority, Paschal’s tone was dismissive. I said, Of course you had a problem with authority. With the father you had, how could you not have a problem with authority? For a moment he looked hurt and indignant with me. Then he led us both into another stream of laughter. (If you are wondering about the rules other than Rule 6, there are none.)

I encourage you to make the time to read this remarkable man’s courageous and joyous memoir.

Richard F. Reckman, Ph.D.

Author’s Note. Dr. Reckman is a psychologist in private practice in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is the founder and primary mover behind the Union of Psychology and Spirituality, an annual retreat of the Ohio Psychology Association, just completing its tenth year. It has been my privilege to be a participant and workshop leader for nine years. It was this annual experience that helped spur this kind of reflective review of my life journey. A summary report of this decade will soon be published.

***

Introduction

The man who writes about himself

and his own time is the only man

who writes about all people and all time.

--George Bernard Shaw.

The most beautiful thing we can experience

in the universe is the mysterious.

--Albert Einstein

We all have stories. When we tell our stories, they help us understand ourselves. They give substance and explanation to who we are. When we tell pieces of our story that have been buried or hidden, they can cease to haunt us. They no longer control us. We discover that we are connected in ways we did not imagine. Many share their feelings through stories. We find we really are siblings in the flesh. Stories tell us not only where we have been, but where we are going, what we value, what is real for us.

We not only have stories, but each of us IS a story--unique and precious. My sharing here is aimed to help my Veteran brothers find pieces of their own stories in mine, discover the courage to tell them and live better with hope and resilience. In my month at the Hines VA Blind Rehabilitation Center, I found some of my brothers controlled in an unhealthy way by their untold stories. We can be blinded by the stories we tell ourselves and believe. Then, along the way, I realized that anyone struggling with or haunted by the past could also benefit.

I am a visually impaired military Veteran who seeks, by sharing his story, to introduce my brothers coping with vision loss to a model of wellness and resiliency. I am a former Benedictine monk, Roman Catholic priest, now retired psychologist, former Navy chaplain, and storyteller. Since my life has encountered many setbacks and challenges, including surviving stage four cancer, I offer this memoir as a story of surviving against the odds.

Our genetic DNA has given humans the capacity to survive countless threats and challenges. We are programmed to find both courage and hope. Two human qualities help us cope with stress and find meaning.

Mindfulness is an openness to embrace whatever life presents, with awareness of the possibilities of the moment. It is an awakening to full awareness. Resilience is the act of transcending and transforming that moment, threat, challenge or that loss. Much overlap exists. Being mindful is already an act of transcending one’s circumstances. For the purposes of this story, any reference made to being and becoming aware is done so with the goal of being one of transcending and becoming resilient.

I was not a happy camper at home. I grew up with four sisters and experienced hard discipline by my father. By age 12, I had run away three times. I lived mostly in fear of his anger. I was constantly getting in trouble at school and my grades suffered. I made a number of poor choices throughout my early years that resulted in serious injuries. In my love of risk taking, I dug holes for myself that I had to climb out of, stunned at my stupidity. Yet, amazingly, almost incredibly, here I am today. I easily admit that it has taken me a lifetime to get it together.

Along the way I served my country from 1948 during the Berlin Airlift Crisis to 1972 and the Vietnam War, on and off, in all four branches: Army, Air Force, Navy and finally U. S. Marines in that order. My service was enlisted, and commissioned (twice), active and reserve, respectively.

I already had survived three life crises when, at age 20, I stupidly got on the wrong side of my First Sergeant as a private on the island of Guam. That was just the beginning of many adult crises. My evangelical brother in law used to ask me, Paschal, when are you going to be born again of water and the Holy Spirit? Now was I going to reveal to an in-law that I had survived several life crises? After a while, tired of his assumed religious superiority, I replied, George, I have been born again so many times, my soul has stretch marks. He shut up. ‘Tis true! Here I show and tell.

While in the deep pit I dug for myself as Army Private, I encountered three experiences which eventually changed my life. These and other life lessons I discovered helped me later in coaching sports, then as a family therapist, and in other roles. I found stories that could move and heal. Telling my stories in this memoir has surprised me with new understanding of my own life journey. Writing this memoir has had an unexpected benefit. I have awakened to pain long buried and seen patterns I was not aware existed.

Stories introduce us to mystery. They carry within them power, hope, conflict and transformation. My own story seems almost unbelievable to me. There are many reasons I should not be here. I share these with the dream that my Veteran brothers, and any readers for that matter, might find hope and resilience for their own journeys.

Two great cultural rivers, diverse ways of human knowing, are converging today. For the first time in history we stand together at the confluence, where modern science and the wisdom traditions are meeting, encountering one another, informing and influencing. These are different ways of understanding, distinct ways of knowing our reality. Luckily, they are listening and learning from one another. Exciting energy and new perspectives are emerging. Never before have we had this kind of cross-fertilization of such diverse ways of knowing. Several arenas in which they are meeting are in new understandings of wellness and stress management, narrative medicine, narrative psychology and reflective practices. Fortunately, I am both a scientist and a contemplative, and I have lived in both camps. I embrace and learn from both. My career paths and life study span both rivers allowing me to integrate these great traditions. For almost a decade, I have led invited workshops on the ‘Union of Psychology and Spirituality" for the Ohio Psychology Association. My memoir illustrates how these ways of knowing come together, nurture, and enrich one another, for the benefit of all.

Thirty years ago, I started collecting principles of total fitness: body/mind/spirit wellness (See in particular Appendix Three). I also began living and teaching these principles. As my understanding of total wellness grew, I added new insights from technology and eventually new brain science. My story illustrates those views, practices and habits. More recently I realized I have been creating my own model of resilience all along.

I became aware that many retired Veterans do not have access to lifestyle or wellness training or a model of healthy coping with loss. Then I discovered that resilience is being taught in all active service branches of the military. As I read explanations of resiliencies in the latest books, I discovered this bending without breaking is part of the wellness and stress management programs I have been implementing, not only for myself but also in a program for repeat addictive offenders at the local county detention center.

Spending one month at Hines VA Blind Rehabilitation Center in Chicago was a deeply moving experience for me. I felt more connected with these wounded warriors than I dreamed possible. Their friendship and unique stories shadow me. My hope is that in my memoir, they may find some humor, a new awareness of their own spiritual journey, and more resiliency in their coping with vision loss. There are VA programs that many of us do not know about. I have included a list of many of these in Appendix Eight. All active military branches are engaged in resilience training. This is summarized in Appendix Nine. It appears at this writing there is no resilience training available in the VA for our disabled and retired Veterans. This memoir is offered as a humble possible beginning. For this purpose, it is designed to be used as a discussion guide. I hope to inspire my Veteran brothers and others to an understanding and practice of resilience.

Respecting the value of faith, I tell of the thin places where the mystery of grace touched me. The Celtic view defines a thin place as a small corner of the earth where heaven and the natural world meet. In such a place, one glimpses the Eternal in some way, perhaps in the beauty, silent serenity, or whispers of ghostlike voices of the past. Thin describes the transparent veil separating the two, like an ambiance of Something Else being present. Thin places are places where one is surprised with the serendipity of grace or beauty or a deep and profound peaceful silence. It can be occasioned by an awareness of the moment. A frequent response is an intuition of the ultimate force of love, peace, freedom and unheralded possibility. Conversely, a thin dark place is a thunderstorm with sudden stress or pain. However, when the downpour stops and the clouds part, sunlight emerges, bringing brilliance, warmth and an occasional rainbow with fresh vitality. A thin place may also be simply a moment when life teaches us about who we are, who we are meant to be.

As adults, we awake to mystery slowly, if at all, even to the mystery of our own stories. Since Meister Eckhart said, Every creature is a word of God, and a book or story about God, then is the odyssey of our own soul, the best window of God we have? Could it be that the most intriguing and meaningful story of this mystery we call God lies hidden in our own stories? The quest I undertake in this memoir is to uncover where and when this mystery was speaking, whispering to me. If I can find the story of this mystery we call God in the odyssey of my soul, perhaps the reader might find the thin places bespeaking the mystery of his own story within my story. (I unpack this view in a poem written in1991, included in Appendix Six, If I Were God.).

I have found in this project that I am not writing just for my Veteran brothers, I am writing to give voice to many others. I write to give voice to kids who had trouble growing up. I write for the bright boys finding an unwelcome either at school or home. I write for all those boys who had difficulty with their fathers. I write for girls so sisters can better understand their brothers. I write for the countless children whose consciences have been abused by religious authority teaching awareness of sin as the way to God. I write also for millions of married couples whose consciences are abused by religious authority proclaiming how to plan their family and manage their bedroom lives. My story is not just my story. I write for the multitudes abused by the dark power of religious authority over many ages. I write to give voice to many who have had no voice and have not been heard.

However, I find the mysterious around the corner. If we, in our lives and loves, dreams and disappointments, hopes and hurts, losses and surprises, have not found the unexpected and unexplainable, we have not yet lived. I stretch my heart here to tell about these things, things about myself that even my family has never heard: personal secrets, private stumbles, my deepest hurts and self-inflicted wounds.

The disrobing in my story is offered as a physician’s touch to our common humanity, an act of love for our unique brotherhood. May you find the incentive to re-weave the plot lines of your own story into wellness. May my search for my true North reveal the needle of your own compass. May you find some threads of your own spiritual journey in mine.

***

Chapter 1

The rope is not tied to me.

No matter what your childhood circumstances,

Your younger self plays a central and worthy role in your story.

Your spiritual journey takes its first steps in childhood

Long before you have the awareness or name to pursue it.

When you honor those memories,

You honor holiness in its full complexity.

--Elizabeth Andrews, Writing the Sacred Journey

The world cannot be discovered

by a journey of miles,

no matter how long,

but by a spiritual journey,

a journey of one inch

very arduous and humbling and joyful,

by which we arrive

at the ground at our feet

and learn to be at home.

--Wendell Berry. The unforeseen wilderness

My family life started in a small bungalow on North Spalding Avenue near High Street in Lebanon, Kentucky. Lebanon was a small town of about 3,000 people, the center of a farming community in South Central Kentucky, 30 miles south of the better known Danville, home of Centre College. My father, a family physician, had started his practice here in 1929, the year of my birth. State Road 55 ran by our house.

My first eureka moment happened the summer I turned four years of age. My mother was frustrated by my attempts to create some mischief to get her attention while she cared for two or maybe three of my younger sisters. She decided I needed to be outside the house. Since there was a state highway in front of our house and no fence, she searched about for some way to keep me in bounds but let me play outside. She took a rope of clothesline, tied one end to the large tree and the other end to me so that I could have the circumference of the tree to play, but no more. Danger was looming.

I explored the circumference of the tree, finding only old toys left outside. The only other thing to explore was my restraining rope. I discovered the rope had two knots. One end of the rope was firmly tied to the tree. Then came my first discovery experience. The other end, aha, was not tied to me but rather to my sun suit. The excitement of that first discovery experience, delight, promising freedom and new adventure still remains today! Never had the sun shone so brightly as it did that moment.

I just slipped my shoulder strap and simply stepped out of my sun suit--suddenly free to travel. Not even a diaper to hold me back. After the Aha discovery experience came a strong elation of freedom, freedom from constraints, freedom to travel. I felt exhilarated before moving, just suddenly and wonderfully free.

I had no inclination to return to my mother or the house. For me there was nothing in the yard to explore. What enthralled me in the next moment was that I was not only free to travel, but the big, wide wonderful world outside my small yard beckoned. The world beyond offered wonder and excitement, novelty, and something possibly awesome.

Downtown were the railroad tracks where giant steam engines went back and forth. We had waited in the family car for them to pass, sometimes with Mom counting the cars to teach us numbers. I was already fascinated by the big steam engine trains.

Next, came the joy of running free towards those exciting trains. All of those feelings in rapid succession were unforgettable. Never before had I experienced such excitement. No four year old walks anywhere. I began running, running with the excited joy that only a small child can have, running toward downtown--where I knew giant steam engine trains came back and forth. Travel. Adventure. Freedom. Pure exuberance, and all on my own, from my own initiative, the biggest wow of my early life.

Unluckily but safely, my birthday-suit spree was short lived. I got about halfway downtown before being cornered and captured. I used to be occasionally teased about this when I went back to Lebanon as relatives enjoyed retelling the story. Now the old folks have all passed.

I discovered this early recollection years ago after studying Alfred Adler. I began wondering about my earliest memories. Like a kernel of popcorn, this one popped out. All within a few moments, a powerful kaleidoscope of emotions erupted with the discovery that the other end of the rope was NOT tied to me, but to my sun-suit. Then came a new sense of freedom, followed quickly with an enthrallment of new possible adventure. Just as quickly came the exhilaration of running freely with anticipation of new discovery awaiting me.

A striking story of Jesus’ teaching occurs in the gospel of Matthew (18:2-3) He placed a small child in their midst and said, Unless you become as one of these little ones, you cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven. What a stunning statement! What is it about being a child that Jesus is calling to our attention? Perhaps openness? If openness, openness to what?

A child awakens slowly, over and over, first to the world of its senses, then suddenly it awakens to itself, a sense of its own aliveness, with delight, eagerness and power. We awaken slowly to our small place in the world, and then to the larger world. Each moment of awakening is precious and unique. Such awakening is often so momentous that, according to Alfred Adler, out of ten early recollections, at least half or more will represent values or undercurrent themes that continue to operate later in life. Memory can be scary. Most of my other early recollections have to do with the outdoors. Okay, I love the outdoors. No, it is more than that. When I am outdoors, surrounded by nature, trees, wild flowers, bird song, sun shining through the trees, I feel an almost mystical connection with this mystery we call God. It is often more like being in church than actually being in church. Sometimes I go outside just to sit and wonder about everything. Hah! Now how honest is that for a Catholic priest? And guess what? I do not feel guilty about it! It quiets my soul to do so (No restraining ropes out here in God’s Cathedral, where my wife has the same sense of being inside this mystery, out here).

Just as important as the visual recollection were the feelings of delight, joy and excitement—all felt strongly in my very first aha,--light bulb switching on--in my brain. More than the knowledge, it was the sudden exhilaration that on my own, by slipping the shoulder strap, I was suddenly free to move as I chose. Did that buried joy of long ago shape my later willingness to push the envelope? Perhaps it keeps the child part of me alive. I still often feel that awesome is just around the corner. Was this moment of delight and wonder destined to be a singular one -- lost forever -- or one still a deep well or symbolic lighthouse inside me? . . . Even now?

The most ancient metaphor for life is a journey. It is both funny and scary that my first awareness of myself started in this fashion. It took me a long time to discern all the meaning. I am not yet finished discovering. I am still looking forward to new chapters. I am still waking up, amazed to discover again and again that the near end of the rope is not tied to me, it is tied to my clothing, to the perceptions of yesterday. Hah! Every day I can be off for a new adventure. How many times do we need to change our frame to be true to the inner voice?

Several lessons I might have taken from my experience were: Mom will not have the last word, and It is more fun with your clothes off. Neither of these seemed practical, especially after I became a monk.

Discovering that slipping my sun suit opened roads to travel became a metaphor. What I found was that what I thought was holding me back was not really holding me back. It was my thinking (that I was a prisoner of that rope) that was in reality holding me back. It takes a long time to discover that it is our view of things that holds us back, not reality itself. Our mental maps are not the territory but only represent the territory, often poorly. A close look at the territory from another point of view is necessary to change our mental maps and to stumble upon a new outlook. I had no idea how many times I would need to learn this lesson. (See Appendix One, Six Blind Men and an Elephant)

The summer I turned four had other memorable scenes. My third sister, Sister K, was born in July with a twin brother who lived only a few months, I remember my father lying on his back on a bed in our house giving a transfusion. Soon there was a small white coffin in the front parlor. For many years I thought a coffin was just a suitcase covered with pretty white cloth.

I do not write my story with the mystery of my life realized, already revealed or fully known. I am writing my way into the mystery, discovering aspects of myself along the way, with new patterns surprisingly still emerging. I am finding grace in unexpected places, mystery still to be explored, new reasons for gratitude. I am plumbing the mystery of my journey as I write.

Would I always be drawn to what was just over the hill? Would I find pushing the envelope irresistible? Could it be our natural instincts are holy and creative, drawing us into being fully human? Maybe that was Jesus’ meaning? Was that primary experience at four a sacred invitation to embrace a holistic intuiting of coping well, becoming an unforgettable and exquisite model of adaptation? As I share more, I will need to find, somehow, resilience around the corner—much more than when I started.

Resilience in Action: Reminder. In the Resiliencies in Action comment at the end of each chapter is the voice of total wellness: body, mind and spirit. Sources for this voice are positive psychology, wellness teaching, spirituality (wisdom sources and the contemplative traditions), modern neuroscience and my total life experience, illumined also by nature and poetry. Call it the higher self, the Buddha mind, or the observing, spiritual self, it is the voice that nurtures, encourages, sustains and empowers. This voice understands mystery through parable, metaphor, and story. This third voice is the one that teaches us that suffering is inevitable, useful and can be transformative. It is inviting the reader into the inner journey that makes this a spiritual memoir. Our particular focus is how this third voice calls us to mindfulness and teaches us about resilience. We are crossing a kind of threshold in integrated inquiry, aiming to stimulate contemplative reflection and possible interactive discussion.

One reason mindfulness, or the observing self, needs to be developed today is that without it, we are reactive to stress, and we remain ego-driven and living with illusions. Without mindfulness, we shall use insights from scripture of the higher self for ego-driven purposes, not just to comfort self but as reason to judge others. This continues today as sources of violence in our world.

Resilience in Action (1). One of my favorite quotes is from the poet, Mary Oliver, When Death Comes. Here are a few lines:

When it’s over, I want to say: all my life

I was a bride married to amazement.

I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

There are no Seven Rules for resilience. It is an attitude or embodiment, a way of being, a readiness. A sense