Renewal and Loss – The Grief before the Glory

by Stephen Cocconi By now, most of us have heard the phrase “getting back to normal.” For some, the reality hasn’t quite sunk-in that after a year of COVID changes, “normal” will have a new set of parameters. From designer masks, to disinfectant, to “physical distancing”, and realizing that the only social distancing most of…

The Time The World Stood Still

by Stephen J Cocconi© 2020 I happened to be lucky enough to have almost in my backyard, one of the greatest and most beautiful natural cathedrals on earth, Yosemite national park, particularly with you somebody Valley, it’s half dome, cathedral rock and of course the massive and majestic El Capitan. The fact that Earth Day…

A Team of Rivals: A United Democratic Ticket

by Stephen J. Cocconi In an Op-Ed article for the New York Times, famed columnist Thomas Friedman borrowed the title from the prize-winning book by historian Doris Kearns-Goodwin’s “A Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln”. His assertion is one that I agree with. I actually had begun this article over 2 months…

Of Gratitude and Appreciation

“Expressing gratitude to another, whether it be an acquaintance, a loved one, a stranger, or the Universe itself, acknowledges a cycle of energy exchanged. Like a circuit that completes a transaction, it returns to an open position and awaits a new transmission. Indeed, being open is a state of attraction in itself. But receiving energy…

God and Permission

For along time now, my observation about people invoking God was a means of granting themselves permission to carry out whatever act they themselves might deem questionable and do it with perfect impunity.

Hate vs. Water

Religious wars are always heresy’s.  Is there any doctrine out there that actually says “I am God, go kill in my name?” Yeah, if you read the Old Testament God was quite into smoting and smiting. Be that as it may, the 3 religions of Abraham: Judism, Christianity, Muslim. (J,C,M) all claim the 10 Commandments…

Being God is all about Power and Love.

Love is that indefinable sense of rightness that underscores the strength of any relationship. If God is Love, as so many religions and spiritual traditions tell us, and to seek love is the highest aspiration that a human being can achieve, then it must be that love is a power in itself. For those who…