Daily Compass

We breathe in.  And we breathe out.
With our breaths, we focus our minds.
With our breaths, we renew our intentions toward all of creation.
With our breaths, we give life to our bodies.
With our breaths, we spark our thoughts, we make possible our songs, we share substance with those around us, we connect with all beings, and we move with the wind.
With our breaths, we inspire and are inspired.  Spirit moves into us.  Spirit moves out of us.  Spirit moves through us.

Focus on your breathing today in a way that makes you feel inspired and connected.

Science, by its very nature, includes mystery and wonder.  I know this—I have experienced it myself.  Many times as a graduate student, I holed myself up in a small, dark room with a very large microscope for hours as I experimented on immune cells taken from lungs.  My experiments centered on the movement of those cells, and on testing whether the proteins I studied stimulated those cells to move. It was amazing and humbling to understand that the things I did on the large scale made those cells move on the microscopic one.  There, in that small, dark room, looking at those very tiny cells, I could not help but be overwhelmed by my connection to a vast and unfathomable universe.  I could not help but be filled with a sense of mystery, wonder and awe.
-Rev. Dr. Michael Tino (CLF)

Think about a scientific discovery that is awesome to you.

Sometimes, in the face of immense natural beauty, we feel awe. Perhaps at the base of a great waterfall, overwhelmed by the power of the rushing water, or at the top of a mountain overlooking a vast valley.

When have you felt awe in the presence of great natural splendor?

The notion of awe combines reverence, respect, fear, and wonder. It can be inspiring, or overwhelming. It can be uplifting or frightening.

When have you felt awe?

Hippocrates, a Greek physician from 400 BC, was one of the first to use music to help heal his patients.  It has been said that Hippocrates prescribed a session of harp playing to relieve depression.  Feeling anxious?  Try a drumming session!
-Beth Murray (CLF)

When has music made a powerful impact on you?