I returned to the big annual conference put on by the Center for Action and Contemplation this year. The main speakers were Sister Ilia Delio and Shane Claiborne. I have referred to both of them in talks I have done in Ordinary Life and you can either search this site for those talks or find these two amazing people on YouTube.

The conference opened with a clip by a rapper whose name is Prince Ea. I had never heard of him but I strongly recommend your watching this video. [Warning, it has the F-bomb in it several times.]

The point of the video is that self understanding, a grasping of one's true identity, is so crucial to the solution of the world's problems. You can watch the video by going to this YouTube link - click here.

I suggest watching it more than once. Watch it with journal in hand and notice your reactions. Come back a few days later and watch it again. Read your reactions and make more.

One of my core teachings, and it is certainly not original with me, is that our identity, who we are, is who we are in relationship with "Sacred Mystery" - no more, no less!

Our culture teachings people to gain identity through power, possessions or prestige. That's not a way to gain but, ultimately, to lose.

I recently had an opportunity to give a homily at St. Paul's where this was the focus. We live values of loving-kindness and compassion not in order to gain our identity or secure security. We live our values because we are aware of an inherent identity that not only we have but so also does everyone else. You can read that homily by clicking here.