On Monday 4/20 I checked in for my first day of kitchen duty at Shepard’s House. Shepard’s House is a homeless shelter in Redmond Oregon. They serve meals daily, provide shelter and other homeless services. These are good people.
I prepped 20L of broccoli, 20L of cauliflower, 20L of zucchini, and 20L of yellow squash. It took about 2-1/2 hours… and I only cut myself once! Don’t worry, no one noticed. I put on a fresh pair of black neoprene gloves after I cut myself to hide my embarrassment. Don’t worry, it’s all cool, I have my State of Oregon Food Handlers License, so no lives were endangered by my incompetence.
I plan to work in the kitchen every Monday. I met some nice people and I’m looking forward to next week.
If something appears new to you, rest assured, someone has seen it before. This moment has come before and will come again. This understanding is not meant to be discouraging, this is meant to inspire us to action.
When we respect destiny and fate, we give ourselves the grace we need to receive acceptance.
These thoughts would make an excellent focus for meditation. Repeat each of these slowly and ask yourself how aligned are you with each of these.
Our job is to make ourselves better, it is not to make others better. Everyone is on their own journey. As much as you may want to someone else make a change, those efforts will never bring about lasting results.
Both hope and fear are nothing more than projections into the future. Both are the enemy of the present.
We only get upset with things when we view their state as permanent.
What you should you trust? Your reputation? Your money? Your position? None of these.
You should trust your judgement. Cultivate solid judgement in all things. What requires sound judgement, the need to conquer the world or conquering the need to conquer the world.
Those that are too proud are eventually brought low. When the gods send evil, no one escapes. Life can change in an instant.
The notion that we reside in the center of the universe and the universe revolves around us is toxic to our souls.
We tend to view change as bad, just as we tend to desire stableness. Neither of these is good or bad in themselves.
What if the fate that we endure was prescribed for us like a doctor prescribes medicine. What then does that say about fate and how we should approach it?
Always display character. It may not serve you in the short term but it will always serve you in the long term.
We need each other. We must be there for each other and allow others to be there for us. This is the natural state of man. To deny this or worse, betray this truth, is a betrayal of our humanity.
Undesirable things will be visited on you at some point, of this you can be assured. As we have heard many times, what goes around comes around. Rest assured that those visiting harm on you are only hurting themselves. You can not be hurt unless you allow it.
Live a good life ruled by reason. Live in the now, not in the future.
Keep in mind your two highest priorities in life. Be a good person. Pursue an occupation that you love.
Ask yourself, “what is the best use of my limited time.” The answer to that will make you better at all things you do, in all your responsibilities.
Goodness can come to you, that is true. It is even better to find it within yourself.
No matter what you perceive your shortcomings to be, you have qualities that are beneficial to you and to others. Find them. Cultivate them.
Yesterday I became a paid subscriber to a Substack feed that I thought was good. In many ways it is a good one. But this morning I realized that it was probably a bit short on fact. (All Substacks are long on opinion.)
Opinion is fine. We all look for voices that agree with us, There is nothing wrong with that as long as we do two things: Listen for alternative voices to keep ourselves well balanced, and insist that what we do read is factual.
I found myself unsubscribing to this feed this morning, not because I didn’t like the opinion, but because it was not factual. Here is my post to the author
Do you know someone whose sole focus is making people recognize him? Tearing things down and remaking them in his own image. Starting wars simply because he can. Putting his name on currency, landmarks and public edifices. These things are of no importance. When that person is gone, he will not have any use for what people think of him. Instead of wasting time thinking about the opinions of other people, he should be focused on being the best he can be. If you are a bricklayer, be the best bricklayer you can be. If you are trusted with the leadership of your people, be the best leader you can be and focus on what is best for those who have entrusted you with that responsibility.
After my trip to India in late 2025, I started thinking about Buddhist Wisdom. It didn’t take long to realize that starting each day with a quiet period and writing would be beneficial. It has fulfilled my expectations. I see myself doing this for the rest of my life. Perhaps it will even make me a better writer at some point. Be that as it may, the quiet period which is really a time of reflection and meditation accompanied by writing, has become an important activity. What is even more satisfying is that it is slowly changing me. It is making me more patient and thoughtful. (I still have a bad habit of interrupting people when we are talking — I’m working on that too.)
I start each morning with a morning “prayer.” I hesitate to call this praying because everyone has a different idea what that means and what that should look like. Let me just say this is how I “introduce” my mind to the activity I am about to undertake.
If someone offends you, don’t wish them to be better, take action. Talk to them, they may not be aware of their insult.
If you can’t find it in yourself to speak up, you have no reason to be offended.