Spirituality & Love

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Year End Reflections on Critical Conversations

Year End Reflections on Critical Conversations

by | Dec 27, 2022 | , ,

As 2022 comes to an end, I reflect with a grateful heart on this opportunity to connect with you and others through Critical Conversations. In this post, I’d like to share a little about how Critical Conversations came to be what it is, and to thank you – the readers, and the team of guest contributors, editors and technical supporters  – who make this post possible. My life is enriched with love and joy by notes and comments from readers, from the courage and insights of guest contributors, and the generosity and talent of my friends who edit and assist in the weekly writing of Critical Conversations. Many blessings in 2023 to each of you!

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Faith, Holidays and Holy Days

Faith, Holidays and Holy Days

by | Dec 20, 2022 |

Inclusion and freedom mean we all get to decide what we believe. These are important ideas as this time of year is full of many different traditions, beliefs and customs. Today, I’d like to reflect on why faith and my Christian faith are important to me in approaching the year-end holidays and holy days.

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More about Love and Loving

More about Love and Loving

by | Nov 29, 2022 |

The holiday season is a wonderful time to explore how we experience love. Families remind us of the presence of love and where our aspirations to love fall short. This post is a start at sharing some of my ideas and beliefs about love and loving.

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Married for Life: Exploring Love

Married for Life: Exploring Love

by | Nov 15, 2022 |

Kathy died. I knew she was going to.  I had known for almost a week.  She had suffered a series of strokes over her last month. The last was a major brain bleed that killed her brain.  Over the course of that week, she lost all brain function and eventually died. I knew she was going to die, and I surprised myself at how calm I was during that week. It wasn’t until she died that I came apart. Somehow, as long as she was alive I knew I would be as strong as I could.

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Learning to Love

Learning to Love

by | Nov 1, 2022 |

Love is God’s way of sharing God’s self with His creation.  God’s love permeates all that is known and unknown.  When the human element enters, love becomes more complicated.  We are called to love as God loves, yet because of our sinfulness, we fall short.  My journey of learning to love and being loved has been a long and arduous trek.  It is comforting for me to know that the One who created me is also the One who loves me unconditionally.  Other people might want to substitute Higher Power or another name for the divine.

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 Learning from Wise Friends

 Learning from Wise Friends

by | Oct 25, 2022 | ,

A mutual friend, Shelley, frequently refers to Doris as the “sage of Cumberland.” She holds Doris in the highest esteem for the same reason I do. We both met Doris in a Twelve Step meeting and she became a sponsor or guide for each of us in working the Twelve Steps. With Doris, we both felt like we had won the lottery. We couldn’t imagine someone more kind, loving and wise.

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Noticing while Walking – The Way of Pilgrims

Noticing while Walking – The Way of Pilgrims

by | Oct 4, 2022 |

Four friends, Geraldine and I were feeling the muscle pains from four days of walking the spiritual pilgrimage in Spain known as the Camino de Santiago. It was mid-day and we were all getting hungry and were ready for a lunch break. On previous days, we had found small coffee shops or bakeries along the route where we had lunch and a much-needed rest. Today, there was no sign of such a place. Our map reading leader suggested lunch might be delayed until our next destination, three or more hours further along the path. We shared the little bit of fruit and trail mix we had. I began to get a little grumpy with this prospect, making the muscle pains talk louder.

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Noticing While Traveling

Noticing While Traveling

by | Sep 20, 2022 | ,

The last few weeks I have reflected on noticing and its power. Today I’d like to continue that theme in the context of traveling. This past weekend Geraldine and I drove to the mountains of Georgia on the South Carolina border for a family wedding. If you like details, google “Clayton, Georgia,” “Tiger, Georgia,” and “Long Creek, South Carolina.”  It is a beautiful part of the world, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.

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About Tom Adams

Tom AdamsTom Adams writes and speaks on topics vital to the intersection of our personal lives with our community and global lives. He has for decades been engaged in and written about nonprofit leadership and transitions, spirituality and spiritual growth, how we each contribute to a more just and equitable world and recovery from addictions and the Twelve Step recovery movement.