Tom Adams
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Two of my recent posts highlighted the power of faith. In his poem, Tim Leadem explored the joys and challenges of pilgrimages and the faith required to keep going. This past week, Don Humbertson shared reflections on his faith journey. Today’s post honors the national holiday celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and examines Dr. King’s life of faith.
My friend Tom has asked me several times to write on what I consider to be challenging and illusive topics – love and faith among them. After his latest invitation, I spent some time writing to discover what faith means to me and how it impacts my life. . I began with three reflections that emerged as a summary of my more detailed musings. I offer both to you in hopes it might inform your own reflections on why and how faith is important to the life we each live.
Editor’s Note: Guest contributor Tim Leadem begins 2023 with reflections on the lessons he has found as a practitioner and student of pilgrimages around the world. Spiritual writers often refer to life as a journey or pilgrimage. Tim’s writing has evolved from prose to poetry. Enjoy the compact power of each word in his reflections and their application as we begin another year of individual and community pilgrimage.
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!
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.
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.
For me, gratitude is an acquired taste. For many years, my negative thinking blocked my feelings of gratitude; it actually took me years to pay attention to gratitude and its benefits. Thanksgiving is a good time to reflect on the journey to the benefits that can result from greater gratitude.
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.
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.
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.
Tom 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.