To find our calling is to find the intersection
between our own deep gladness and the world's deep hunger.
— Frederick Buechner

The Philosopher's Corner

A much-loved teacher at Elon University in North Carolina, Second Journey's "philosopher in residence" John G. Sullivan was named Elon's first Distinguished University Professor in 2002. He is the author of Living Large: Transformative Work at the Intersection of Ethics and Spirituality andTo Come to Life More Fully: An East West Journey. John Sullivan is a member of the Second Journey Board of Directors.

Click here for a fuller biography.

 

 Spring’s Stirrings: The Art of Being a Beginner


 ...there is a touch of spring in every stage of life. A unique vitality for each task. If so, we can reclaim the words about youth, without having to cancel the gift of years and without having to pretend we are what we are not...

Spring 2009 Issue

  Open full article

 

Winter's Gifts

What sort of trust lies at the depth? Not the trust that comes with sight — neither foresight nor hindsight. Rather it is a trust that lives in the darkness, that learns to navigate without sight. Relinquishing sight, we rely on hearing...

Winter 2009 Issue

  Open full article

 

Awakening to Community:
Beyond the Veil of Separateness

The people were rapidly approaching starvation in the midst of plenty. Then, as if prompted by a collective dream, they started to feed one another. The lesson was clear. If one only tended the circle of oneself, emptiness grew. If each fed a neighbor, then – in this expanded circle – all would be well...
 

Fall 2008 Issue

  Open full article

 

Living Mindfully
Through All the Hours of Our Days .

So in the end what we are seeking is always with us, before us everywhere we go. As close to us as a pearl embedded in our forehead. Present before us in the here and in the now, seen deeply and loved ever so tenderly. ...
 

Summer 2008 Issue

  Open full article

 

Elders and the Earth: Return to the Future

Sufficiency rests on the declaration that we have all we need in ourselves and those who companion us — all we need to live a life of quality right here and right now. This loosens the grip of “more” in the sense of accumulation. We shift to living more fully, coming to life more fully. We shift from quantity of consumption to quality of living...

Spring 2008 Issue

  Open full article

 

Work in the Third Age of Life

“Me?” smiled the elder. “Doing?” The elder roared with laughter. “This ego dissolved into God many years ago. There is no ‘I’ left to ‘do’ anything. God works through this body to help and awaken all people and draw them to Him.”...

Winter 2008 Issue

  Open full article

 

A Deeper Work:
Spirituality and Service in the Third Age

The role of the Elders is strikingly similar to the mythic role assigned to the King or Queen, namely, to keep first things first, to encourage creativity, and to bless the young... the welcome news is that we as elders-in-training can learn to inhabit more consistently this level of living, and we can learn to act from this level more skillfully...
 

Fall 2007 Issue

  Open full article