For me and many others I have asked, the fortune cookie is one of the outstanding features of a meal at an Asian restaurant. Even when I am full of delectables and have no room whatsoever for dessert, there is somehow always room for the fortune cookie.

Today, I reflect while in a sacred holding environment—the beach where I spent every summer of my childhood. These sands hold countless memories: surf fishing, swimming beyond the sandbar, tumbling in waves far stronger than I was, and building magnificent sandcastles destined to disappear with the tide.

When something we are searching for seems impossible to find, it is often because it is hidden in plain sight. It may be camouflaged or appear tiny amid the vastness of its surroundings but it is there as plain as day. These are the reasons a needle disappears in a haystack.

Life has taught me that those who can find a four-leaf clover seem to have an inborn gift. In the middle of thousands of ordinary clovers, their eyes somehow settle upon the rare one. What does this mean? 

“Looking for a needle in a haystack” also applies to the spiritual life. Sometimes we desperately seek something essential—guidance, clarity, purpose—yet what we need is hidden from plain sight.

You have probably heard many times the phrase, “It is like finding a needle in a haystack.” That old image—first recorded by Sir Thomas More in 1532 as “to look for a needle in a meadow”—captures a truth: some things hide in plain sight, perfectly camouflaged by the world around them. Some things can't be seen because the context is too large. But why do they seem to completely vanish? Because we are not fully present.

In May 2009, just eight months after the heartbreaking loss of our son Ben, Lark and I found ourselves in a profound spiritual desert. Eight years of battling his illness had left us overwhelmed and emotionally exhausted. Deep grief overwhelmed us. As people of faith, we believed that God cared for us, but in our pain, we could not feel God like we had hoped and prayed for. It was as if our prayers were echoing off the ceiling, and in our darkest moments, we questioned if God even knew where we were.

Simply put, presence to the moment is like dropping water on a Chia Pet—a “toy” pet with actual grass on its back. When the flat grass is watered, it perks right up and stands on end, to resemble the pet’s fur.  

I am writing this reflection in New Mexico, a state I have never before explored. Out in the country from Santa Fe, which is translated as Holy Faith, I’m journaling in the New Mexican sun.

I am writing this reflection in New Mexico, a state I have never before explored. Out in the country from Santa Fe, which is translated as Holy Faith, I’m journaling in the New Mexican sun.

It was 1:00 am and we had just arrived at the hotel after a long and tiring drive. The lone night clerk took care of our very late registration. There were lots of details we needed to know, such as how and where to park, if the parking ticket stayed in the car or not, and of course how to get to our room.

Yesterday, I moved my patronage to a new pharmacy because my old one had become too crowded and busy. Refreshingly, this new drugstore was as quiet as a library, just as I was told it would be. There was only one customer at the prescription counter, so I waited my turn to address the lady behind the counter whose eyes never left the computer screen in front of her. Without looking at me, she said "May I help you?" I said to her, “May I speak with you for a moment, please?” With her eyes still on the screen, she said, "Yes." Then I thought to myself, "Am I going to have to talk to the back of a computer screen if I use this drugstore?”

Once, several years ago, at an International Enneagram Association conference in San Francisco, I attended one of its many informative workshops. Like so many workshops, in the one I chose, after the lecture, there were breakout discussion groups. The discussion group in which I was placed had three people. One of the people in my group—a nice young woman, was concentrating very hard on what I and the other group members were saying. She leaned forward when we spoke and she spoke with great intensity. I observed that her eyes were intently looking into the group members' eyes. But there was one other thing that I noticed about this dear soul. She appeared to be exhausted.

In making the pivotal shift from ego to soul, all nine of the Enneagram energies require us to live in the now. The now is also called the present moment.

September 7, 2025

When something upsets us, the first step toward spiritual wisdom is to step back from its emotional grip. Life inevitably brings circumstances that overwhelm us. Emotions rise like a tidal storm, tossing around our faith and flooding our minds with the problem. Emotions become the context for our mood, our body, and our spirit. In such moments, it can feel impossible to turn toward our spiritual practice, for the storm within us is too strong.

January 18, 2025

Viking Cruises Chairman Torstein Hagen believes that time is the only thing you don't have enough of. He says," When you philosophize about life, you realize that time is the most precious commodity anyone can possess, so spending that time wisely is important." Torstein's answer to spending time wisely is to explore the world. 

April 10, 2024

A young woman, I will call Carley, waited for the right fellow to come along, and he did. But before he asked her parents for her hand in marriage, her mother suddenly died. Bereft, she could not accept the engagement ring from her fiancé Russ (I will call him). Though she had her father's blessing, she did not have the blessing of her Mother.