Rev. Sam Trumbore's virtual home

  • On Being Wisely Compassionate

    On Being Wisely Compassionate

    Last Saturday, my wife Philomena, our son Andrew and my sister Sue were in the theater district of Manhattan. We were squeezed and jostled by the large crowds on a chilly, late December Saturday afternoon. With the sun, low on the horizon and shining in our eyes, we walked up to Central Park and then…

  • Encountering Disconnection

    The December holidays feel like a self-examination.  It takes till December, however, for me to discover the status of my holiday spirit. I can’t predict how I’m going to feel. Sometimes I’m really excited and full of anticipation. That was especially true when our son was little. Christmas experienced through a child’s eyes is so…

  • Managing Connectivity

    I’m old enough to remember what life was like before email and FAX. When I moved to California in 1977, the only way I could communicate with my family and friends was using the telephone and by sitting down and writing a letter. People felt very, very far away back in Delaware. In those days,…

  • Acts of Gratitude

    Acts of Gratitude

    If you follow the positive psychology movement, you’ll see that gratitude gets a lot of positive press. The researchers have developed measurements to separate people into grateful and ungrateful types. (You can reflect for a moment as to where you think you might fall) Here are a few characteristics of grateful people. Grateful people: Researchers…

  • Shramadana

    Shramadana

    We build the road and the road builds us. Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement Slogan I’m dedicated to Buddhist mindfulness meditation and social justice work to address the ills of society. I’d like to be happy and peaceful and I want others to be happy and peaceful too. Sometimes people think of Buddhists, however, as navel gazers…

  • Taking a Stand

    Call to Celebration What does it mean to be courageous and what are the challenges? Theodore Roosevelt (not Franklin) spoke some wise words on the subject in a speech he gave at the Sorbonne in Paris over a hundred years ago. It is sometimes referred to as “The Man in the Arena” speech. This passage…

  • Celebrating the Wheel of Life

    Celebrating the Wheel of Life

    Wheels and circles are very helpful. They give us a picture of what a cycle looks like. You start at one point. You follow the outline of the circle so that it continues to get further and further away and then it starts getting closer again until you get back to the beginning. Out and…

  • The Courage … To Be Wrong

    I didn’t discover the courage to be wrong until I was married. Oh, I’m sure I was wrong lots of times before that. My parents corrected me many times. My sister pointed out my wrongness without timidity. But I fought off being wrong rather aggressively. After all, I had my father as a model. He…

  • Higher Purpose

    Readings No fear Shakespeare version of Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy. The question is: is it better to be alive or dead? Is it nobler to put up with all the nastiness that luck throws your way, or to fight against all those troubles by simply putting an end to them once…