Playing with the kids. Laughing with my wife. Waxing philosophical with buddies. Encouraging and witnessing growth in others (individuals and churches). Storytelling. My work.Nature. Large bodies of water (Atlantic Ocean). Mountains (Adirondacks). Rugged countryside (Utah).My wife's singing.Mysticism, canoeing, music, art, forgiveness, health, personal and spiritual growth.
(Shouldn't that be "Whom"?) Mystics, artists (writers, painters, sculptors, musicians, dancers, actors, songwriters, and poets), theologians, activists, people in recovery, community organizers, honest folks working to build a more beautiful world with integrity...
The Beatles, John Lennon, Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, The Clash, Joe Strummer, Al Green, Bob Dylan, Prince, Wilco, The Replacements, Nirvana, Macy Gray, Graham Parker, Nick Lowe, Big Star, Patti Smith.Sam Cooke, Wilson Pickett, Ray Charles, Sam and Dave, Sam Moore, Rufus and Carla Thomas, Otis Redding, The Temptations, The Isley Brothers, Stax/Volt records, Curtis Mayfield, Billy Preston, The Meters.David Bowie, Roxy Music, Mott the Hoople (oh, that U.K. Glam sound!), Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, King Crimson, Laurie Anderson, Kurt Weill, Leon Russell, Dr. John.Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Toots and the Maytals, Black Uhuru, Sly and Robbie.King Sunny Ade.The Roches, Lucinda Williams, Aimee Mann, Sufjan Stevens, Adrian Belew, Lou Reed, Tom Waits, Warren Zevon, James Brown, Black Eyed Peas, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Carrie Newcomer, The Staple Singers, Jorma K., Randy Newman, The White Stripes, Leonard Cohen, The Band, k.d. lang, Camper van Beethovan/Cracker, Bob Mould/Husker Du.David Byrne, The Rolling Stones, The Faces, The Feelies, Fishbone, Living Colour, Television, Robyn Hitchcock, The Soft Boys, Beck, Sleater-Kinney, The Pretenders, Talking Heads.Buffalo Springfield, The Velvet Underground, The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Procol Harum, The Byrds.Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Chet Baker, Art Farmer, John Coltrane, Billie Holliday, St. Germain, Lounge Lizards (John Lurie).
Wayne's World. Wag the Dog, High Fidelity, Grosse Pointe Blank, Requiem for a Dream, What Dreams May Come, Velvet Goldmine, John Sayles, John Carpenter, Tim Burton, Frank Capra, Preston Sturges, Bloodhounds of Broadway, Blood Simple, Henry V, To Live and Die in L.A., The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, This Is Spinal Tap.
FireFly, BattleStar Gallactica (new one), Simpsons, The West Wing, Monty Python's Flying Circus, Saturday Night Live (in the '70s), Carol Burnett, Bob Newhart (any incarnation), Taxi, The Cosby Show, Star Trek (versions 1-4), The Prisoner, The Twilight Zone, The Vicar of Dibley, The News Hour, PBS
Murray Bowen, Dostoyevski, Thomas Mann, Joseph Conrad, John Gardner (the American), Somerset Maugham, Nathaniel Hawthorne, R.D. Laing, N.T. Wright, Jim Wallis, Alexander Schmemann, Marcus Borg, Bonhoeffer, Merton, Buechner, Jeremy Taylor, Barbara Brown Taylor, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, H. R. McAdoo, Kennon Callahan, Alban Institute, Max DePree, William Temple, Rowan Williams
Desmond Tutu, MLK Jr., H.H. the Dalai Lama, my parents, my family and friends and mentors (too many to name)