Over the years people have asked me what kind of chaplaincy/ministry I provide.

My answer has been Interfaith/No-faith chaplaincy with a Buddhist foundation, but I’ve come to see that it is really a Chaplaincy of the Heart, a midwifery of Awakening, because Home is Where the Heart is, no matter where our bodies reside, and Awakening is our birthright as a human.

One of my beloved teachers said that the original meaning of the word chaplain is “Keeper of the Temple.” In the training of chaplains, we learn how to keep our own temple, because only then we can help others know how to tend their own.

It is my experience that when one can be fully present to another being, free of judgment, free of expectation, free of the need to fix anything, do anything or even be anything, that is when our heart space vibrates a state of being that is palpable and infectious. Whomever is in one’s energy field can also fully be, to the degree they are able to be unguarded and vulnerable to themselves.

As chaplains, we are taught how to create this space of presence by utilizing a well-rounded tool-kit of discernment. However, those tools would not be sharp without our own willingness to delve deep into the vessel of humanity we embody, and to fully explore our own fears, hurts, shames and prejudices so that our presence can truly light the way.

My goal of going through Interfaith Seminary was to learn how to be with people who had different beliefs and spiritual lifestyles than my own. I hoped that my newly implemented layer of Interfaith language and understanding would serve me in interfacing with people I never thought I’d have anything to do with, and I was right.

What was also true was that I realized that even the term ‘Interfaith’ is exclusive. The populations was able to serve, especially in prison, showed me that truth. Broken faith abounds. People lose their connection with interconnection when they experience a loss of faith.

Even beyond my studies and familiarity with different religious vocabularies, my ability to be present to our greater spiritual interconnectedness is the glue that bonds and opens hearts. When there is no them, all we have is us. Disconnection fosters broken-ness. Connection fosters healing.

Now a decade after my seminary experience, I can look back at all the people and animals my chaplaincy has touched, and can really see that it is our being, not our doing, that bonds us and promotes spiritual healing and evolution.

This website is not so much a site about chaplaincy as much as a place for me to share my stories of how chaplaincy has affected my lives and the lives of others. I hope whomever reads through these posts are moved to walk through the world with a wider sense of being, a more compassionate heart, and with a greater intention to recognize and work towards fostering interconnectedness with all beings.

For more information about the ‘brass tacks’ of chaplaincy, please visit the links at the end of this site.

One of my favorite Buddhist texts, the Bodhicaryavatara by Shantideva (chap. 3, vs 18 Padmakara Translation) has these beautiful lines that for me, sum up my intention as a human and as a chaplain:

May I be a guard for those that are protectorless,

A guide for those who journey on the road.

For those who wish to cross the water.

May I be a boat, a raft, a bridge.