The Rio Chama Blog

Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of relativity—one of the two pillars of modern physics. He lived from 1879 to 1955. In 1921, he received the Nobel Prize in physics. While Einstein was visiting the United States in 1933, Adolph Hitler came into power. Because he was a Jew, Einstein did not return to Germany, and subsequently, in 1940, he became a US citizen. 

According to Wikipedia, creativity is a phenomenon in which something new and somehow valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object such as an invention, a literary work, or a painting.

A Pennsylvania grand jury recently delivered its account of rampant abuse that involved 1,000 children, 300 priests, and 70 years of silence or denial from the Catholic Church. According to an Associated Press article on August 16, 2018, Pope Francis expressed shame and sorrow and stated he wanted to eradicate this “tragic horror.” 

A number of times in my life I have taken a few days, or even a week, to pray and reflect on my life. Before the birth of one of my children, I spent a weekend in a Catholic monastery. This revitalizing experience prepared me for tending to a new baby. After my divorce many years later, I heard of a sanctuary in another state, where Catholic nuns lived on the land. In the quiet and beauty of nature, people gathered to pray and meditate. I spent a week there in the solitude of a small cabin – taking walks to a nearby creek and enjoying Mother Nature surrounding me. It was an important time, and I returned to New Mexico energized with a number of ideas of how to make my life more internal and prayerful.

Mahatma Gandhi was born in India in 1869. He studied law in England and returned to practice in India, where he was subjected to discrimination. Among other things, this experience resulted in a decision to devote himself to selfless service for the welfare of all, through nonviolent means that can be—and have been—applied across the world.