What are you doing for Earth Day on April 22nd? My church here in Portland, Oregon is celebrating Earth Sunday on April 24th with a special service. Here are the earth-centered lyrics we'll be singing to the tune of Amazing Grace. The River Rolls Sung to tune of Amazing Grace Lyrics by Alison Wiley Verse 1 The river rolls, ...
Top Ten Lessons Learned From Dad, Part II of II
In my last post I described the first five of the top ten lessons I learned from my dad, John R. Wiley, whose physical body died at 91 this past April. This is Part II of the talk I gave at his memorial service. Dad taught me -- by example -- to be rich in what matters: community, ...
Top Ten Lessons Learned From Dad, Part I of II
In January of this year I wrote that I'm taking a break from blogging, and would be checking back in within the spring. It's late spring! I'm checking in! I feel wonderful about the break. It let me be fully present to my Dad, whose physical body died on April 18th, at age 91, as my brother Mick ...
Leaving The Space Open: I’m Taking A Break
Open space makes us richer in what matters. Last week I wrote about how we can make 2015 better than 2014 by setting clear intentions. That's because intentions can be supple like evergreen branches, while New Year's resolutions tend to be brittle, like kindling. My intention for 2015 was/is to be of service to two family members ...
How To Make 2015 Better Than 2014
Happy new year! We'll exclaim this wish to each other, and hear it from each other, over and over this week. It’s a great sentiment. But what does it take? What will actually make 2015 a year that’s good and rich in what matters for us? New year's resolutions were invented for this type of thing. "I’ll lose 15 pounds”. ...
Gifts That Sustain, And Gifts That Deplete
Are the gifts we're giving sustaining us, or depleting us? Merry Christmas! -- if you celebrate Christmas. Whether or not you do, keep reading, because this post is for you. We humans have craved winter holidays (like Christmas) ever since we figured out how to make fire. They're about surviving the long darkness. What sustains us in the cold, ...
Eight Tips For Radical Hospitality
Mainstream culture encourages a tight focus on self. That focus can feed separation from others, and isolation. Both those are tied to depression, very common in the U.S., especially during the holidays. But hospitality -- both the giving and receiving of it -- is a potent antidote to isolation and depression. It makes us rich in what ...
Announcing New Threads For . . . .
"Be A Giver" t-shirt. However, this is not James. I actually haven't met this man. James, a new subscriber to Diamond-Cut Life, has won a 541 Threads t-shirt, made in the U.S. James found my blog by listening to me being interviewed on Sprocket Podcast. It's great fun for me to talk with co-hosts Brock Dittus and Aaron Flores ...
What Shall We Pledge Allegiance To?
Normally at this time of year I write about celebrating the holidays in ways that make us rich in what matters. You may be familiar. Best low-cost and no-cost holiday gifts. How to break the rules at Christmas. Christmas as community, not stuff. But today -- this week -- something is looming larger than the holidays, for ...
Recommended: “Glimpsing Heaven”
People who are rich in what matters usually have a spiritual side. I do. It’s a sense, joyful or at least satisfying, of being connected to something greater than ourselves. Taken a step further, this connectedness doesn't end with the death of our physical bodies. It's lodged in our souls, our consciousness that doesn't just survive after physical ...
