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Afghan Reflections by Terry Douglas

You are invited to visit My New Afghan Reflections Page
for my thoughts on my time spent there.

The Question

Posted on Sunday, December 24th, 2006

Have you ever been asked by a child – what if when you die there is nothing? I have, most recently last night when my eleven year came tumbling up the stairs to my bedroom [...]

What if the Godfather was not trying to hold together and prosper a criminal syndicate, but rather share the wisdom gained sometimes at great price during a lifetime of turmoil. I encountered one such individual [...]

Praying Fingertips

Posted on Saturday, December 16th, 2006

Between my sophomore and junior year of high school, my mother suggested that I take a typing course during the summer at the local public high school in the Bronx, NY. I did, and thank [...]

The Seven Storey Mountain

Posted on Wednesday, December 13th, 2006

Aside from the significance of the opening lines of Dante’s Divine Comedy to me, as cited in Rule #4, Thomas Merton’s Seven Storey Mountain — imagery also taken from Dante’s work — served in my [...]

On Marriage and Trekking in the Himalayas

Posted on Tuesday, December 12th, 2006

As the holidays approach and we savor the company of family, I want to share an essay I wrote about marriage and presented to one of my daughters on the eve of her marriage. I say [...]

Letters From Kabul

Posted on Sunday, December 10th, 2006

The following is taken from a letter I wrote from Kabul in 2005 where I served for several months.
At lunch today I shared with my Sufi friend this quote from Tao Te Ching –
One [...]

Bird Hunting On The Bay

Posted on Saturday, December 9th, 2006

For those of us who grieve, it is sometimes surprising how that emotion of loss sneaks up on us when we least expect it. So it is that emotion I have tried to capture in [...]

No Choice

Posted on Friday, December 8th, 2006

When I accept what is — even in loss – puzzling, if not distracting, alternatives are reduced and life becomes more simple — more manageable. Many years ago I trekked with a friend in western Nepal at the [...]

Will You Tell Me?

Posted on Thursday, December 7th, 2006

In stillness we discover an ageless, youthful quality that I have tried to capture in the following poem:
Will You Tell Me?
Will you tell me
How old I am –
I mean in years?
You see I get confused
When I [...]

Insurmountable Chasms

Posted on Wednesday, December 6th, 2006

In Rule #4 I mention David Whyte. Today, I would like to provide lengthy quote taken from The Heart Aroused. He is on a trek alone in the Himalayas.
On the afternoon of the second day, [...]