Faith

The British during imperial times built golf courses in India, only to encounter an unexpected problem: monkeys delighted in joining the game by picking up golf balls and dropping them in other places, sometimes nowhere near where the shot had landed or the intended hole. Fences were useless in keeping monkeys off the course. Following the Darwinian principle of adapt or perish, the golfers finally accepted reality and changed the rules of the game. Should a monkey move one's golf ball, one had to play it from the spot where the monkey dropped it. Given that monkeys were indifferent to whether they improved the golfer's lie by their mischief or not, roughly as many strokes were gained as lost through this expedient.

Thirst, hunger and fatigue shadow Muslims as they fast through the holy month of Ramadan. Ramadan is the ninth lunar month in the Islamic calendar and is recognized as the fasting month for Muslims. From sunrise to sunset, Muslims refrain from food and water, among other things, for an entire month. Muslims in Southern California will fast for nearly 16 hours each day. For Muslims, the fast is recognized as one of the greatest acts of worship. For a fasting person, the objective of the fast entails a variety of spiritual, ethical and moral refinement, and physical consciousness.

Each year during August I give sermons about the musical icons of our culture who reflect or inform our understanding of things like life, love, ambition and desire. This August I will give sermons about the Eagles, the Spinners, James Ingram, Natalie Cole, and k.d. lang. Being that I just turned 65, I'm going through a tunnel of nostalgia, and while there is no light at the end of this tunnel, there is an ongoing display of memories and emotions that help me understand my beliefs about love, forgiveness, fear and enthusiasm.

If you could, what would you do to get people to examine their life in a way that would lead to a better world? That question crossed my mind when I was offered the opportunity to place a 48-by-14-foot atheist billboard close to the town I grew up in. The billboard I'm referring to is off the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway and Edinger Avenue. The billboard says, "Atheism is philanthropy without mythology, peace without superstition. " Now that the billboard is up, it won't be too long before I receive the multitudes of opinions in my inbox.

Turning 60 provides a special opportunity for spiritual growth. The milestone birthdays — whether sweet 16, of-age 21, over-the-hill 30 or a centenarian at 100 — naturally invite age-specific reflections about life, a summing up of what has been learned so far and a fine-tuning of aspirations for the future. Each age of life brings its own challenges and satisfactions. In the Hindu tradition, a child's first eating of solid food is ritualized, as is the first hair cutting and the other amazingly rapid developmental steps occurring in the first year of life.

I have felt a growing sense of despair as I consider the many issues that face our community today, let alone our nation. It feels as though our society continues to become more and more polarized. We witness an inept Congress incapable of addressing the real needs of Americans today frozen by standoffs that ultimately hurt our nation. We Costa Mesans are no strangers to the polar pull. The decision last February to deliver pink slips to city employees has caused distrust and upheaval in our community.

COSTA MESA — The girls sat in silence on the floor and in chairs, scrutinizing nine different dresses made in 30 minutes using only tissue paper and pushpins. Lined along one of the room's glass walls, the group of nine, ranging in age from 8 to 12, cast their anonymous ballots for the best dress. Though they weren't exactly secret ballots. "How do you spell your name?" whispered Chloe Parsel, 8, to the girl sitting next to her, Kiley Grier, 12. Tuesday morning's competition, which was more fun than contest, was just one activity at a weeklong session of Fashion Camp OC in the OC Mart Mix. The summer camp hosts different sessions for kids, teens and college-age students interested in learning about the fashion industry — from draping and design, to fashion shows and photo shoots.

For many years I've been playing tennis at Orange Coast College and learning important life lessons: •The players are a diverse group — a wide range of ages and ethnicities, both genders, many walks of life. •The sportsmanship and civility is stellar — no arguments, thrown racquets or walk-offs. (Okay, there's been one minor dust-up in my 15 years there.) •The level of mutual respect and support is inspiring. In my 70s, I don't move as well as once did, but the only comments I get from my doubles partners are, "Nice shot, Ben!"

I believe that a good deal of our suffering stems from unforgiveness. It can be difficult to forgive someone who has gravely wronged us, and even more so when that same person refuses to ask for pardon or believes that he or she did nothing wrong to begin with. If you find yourself sometimes struggling in this area, you might be interested in knowing more about St. Maria Goretti. Born in Italy in 1890, Maria lived with her parents and five siblings on a farm very near a widower and his teenaged son. The families shared a common kitchen and would often run into one another in the close quarters.

I'm all in favor of people believing anything they want — except when their behavior affects others in a negative way. To believe in any of the "big three" Abrahamic religions, you have to accept several tenets. You have to believe in supernatural miracles; that God can't make any mistakes; that God is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent; and that God gave us a "soul" to name a few. Exactly when the soul enters the body — if it exists at all — is up for grabs. And if you ask any of the 36,000 Christian sects in America, you'll find different ideas on not only what a soul is, but when believers think it enters their body.