Consider This Archive: 2021-2022

So, this is written completely extemporaneously and with, as ever, a whole mess of convoluted thoughts and feelings at this particular…

We are coming to the end of what has felt like a nearly impossible year of teaching and learning and yet, you, we, did it! We are finishing. Maybe…

I find myself again at a loss for words, which honestly isn’t a frequent occurrence—there’s nothing like penning a Consider This to make one’s mind…

This is week and the month of April in general is abundant with religious holy days of many traditions. We are in the midst of Ramadan and…

Do you have someone you can depend on?

I recently joined a book club and we are reading How We Show Up by Mia Birdsong. In one of the chapters…

The Muslim lunar month of Ramadan begins this weekend, April 2nd.  For over 1.5 billion Muslims around the world, Ramadan is the most sacred month…

I was trying to tie a special necktie the other day in an unusual knot that I rarely use, and I had to think hard to remember how to do it…

I usually jump at the opportunity, such as when penning a Consider This reflection, to pop off about the current object of my ruminations…

These words originally shared by Chaplain Kugler at the Vigil for Peace on Sunday, 2/27/22.

My Beloved Yale Family…

An Image for What Healing Looks Like

Sumi Loundon Kim, Buddhist Chaplain

When we think of physical healing, we might think of the way in which…

In the final months of my senior year of college, a mentor gave me a piece of advice that shifted my relationship to my future…

This past weekend many Hindus around the world celebrated Vasant Panchami, a holy day honoring a feminine aspect of the Divine, Goddess Saraswati…

Metaphors are useful, no?

I’ve been hung up on the idea of “activation energy.” Unfortunately, I can’t take credit for this concept…

Over the break I discovered the work of the poet Andrea Gibson (they/them). Andrea writes of heartache, of anger, of loneliness, of depression…

This past weekend had me thinking quite a bit about love, loss and true beauty. I was wrapping Christmas gifts for friends and family…

Ready for more of my trademark longwinded thoughts? If so, read on…

Is it true that “you can’t love others until you love yourself”?—Sumi Loundon Kim, Buddhist chaplain

This aphorism that “you can’t love others…

I was talking with students about how it seemed to me that folks at Yale were adapting to the shocking reality of being back in person…

“It’s your road, and yours alone.  Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.”  -Rumi

This quote by 13th-century Muslim poet, Rumi…

Live your life,

Live your life because each moment is filled with something new

Life is beautiful…

As the world is trying to return to normal, how do you feel? Does it make you feel anxious, scared, happy, sad? I’m sure all these things…

In sitting down to reflect for this entry, I realized in a moment that I’m not so sure I’ve truly had an original thought in about a year…

With the beginning of the academic year we are also entering a new Jewish year, 5782, and are now in the holiest part of the Jewish year…

As we start this new academic year, many of us are experiencing a fragile state of being.  We are returning to classes…