On the next to last day of the year, I read for the third time, His Dark Material, by Philip Pullman, a young person's fantasy novel, that to me is a sophisticated thesis on the theology of Dust, the symbol in my mind of love energy.  Pullman's trilogy adds new meaning to the Biblical phrase: "From dust we came and to dust we will return."   Methinks the reference is to star dust?  And over Christmas watched yet again one of my favorite Yuletide movies, The Family Man, starring Nicolas Cage.  For me the movie explores the interplay between the world we find ourselves in and the reality that we imagine.  I'm always struck by how the energy of the imagined flows into our lives and if we let the whole process unfold it changes us beyond what we ever thought possible.  And you?
Any books or movies struck you??

Advent for Nones
Deep in the cold and busyness of this time of year, can we really dare, we who have schooled ourselves in reality and take an adult pride in our rational world, we who take pride in our cynicism and worldly knowledge of what is, do we dare. I double dare you. 
 Can you entertain a time of longing and yearning, even one that you know is a hopeless, an impossible dream. Nickos Kazantzakis told of an old Greek who lived high in the mountains. Each morning before sunrise he would go out and call up the sun.  That kind of wisdom declared Kazantzakis is what is needed today. 
And that is the daring that I see is required to enter Advent.  The doorway which is the opening to the longing and the yearning that lies within the human heart is the threshold.   And it within the mystery of the longing and the yearning that the happening, not perhaps what one had hoped for but the deeper miracle occurs.
Advent for the Christian is a preparing for the birth of the Christ Child, for the rest of us perhaps the hope for the birth of new live, for the realist it is simply the returning of the sun.
But who among us sophisticates  has the courage to hope for what is beyond our reach.  And yet without the longing for something more in our lives, and remaining true to what we know is the real world, how can we call down the miracle of rebirth?
Let's just say that today I have stepped through the threshold, but have not the courage to tell you more. It for me is precious and I fear the belittlement of making it known to others.  Also I need so say that tomorrow I will possibly find myself sitting in the darkness. This is my Advent.  And you, my friend? 

I have often wondered what dogs think about being in close relationship with humans.  Do they sense that they are in the presence of a higher consciousness that puzzles and intrigues them, that maybe stirs them into being more than they are?  Yes, I actually do think about such things. I have often been curious about this interspecies interaction.  And I wonder if that might reflect something about us also who aspire to or imagine that we can have a relationship with a higher consciousness, a spiritual entity.  Odd ponderings perhaps and maybe I just have too much time on my hands.
       However, last week "Fifteen Dogs" won the Giller prize worth $100,000.  It's a novel about 15 dogs who are given human intelligence. One of the dogs ends up in the company of a human and deals with much of my curiosity about such a relationship. It also deals with another thing I ask myself: what would make a good death.  Although in this case the author, André Alexis, deals with a canine's good death, he does answer the question of a good death.
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What about you? What are the things that you wonder about?

If you are reading this, chances are you are a friend of one of My Breakfast Club members (read more here) - a group of us who get together, one-on-one, every 4 to 6 weeks to connect and talk about the stuff of our lives. Or, perhaps you have come upon this blog serendipitously. In either case, this is an invitation to be part of a conversation that you might enjoy.

Each Monday, I will put up some of my thoughts to get us started; something about me or what is relevant at this moment in my life. And then I'll ask you to share some of thoughts about yourself and life. I'll then close with a question that hopefully you will be willing to answer. Or you might want to change the conversation, or ask your own question.

My hope is that we can build an ongoing conversation that is engaging and satisfying to us both. Hope you are willing to give it a try. See below...

A friend of mine asked me one of those put-you-on-the-spot questions: ""What are you right now?"  Huh! I backed up at bit  and pondered my reply, I guess you could say I'm am a retired pilgrim." Then I added, "I'm currently working on being a lover (of all whom I meet), but today I think who I am can best be captured in a poem by Emily Dickinson at http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-m-nobody-who-are-you/"
How would you answer such a question?

Commment here