We all want to make a good impression in life, to be the best possible people that we can be. Yet, sometimes we let ourselves down. Despite our best intentions to be shining examples of love, happiness and good vibes, we occasionally get worn down—by the struggles at work, by the demands of the kids, or by the myriad stresses of everyday life, which can leave us feeling tired and cranky (a state I know all too well). Yet if… Read more
An 8-Step Guide to Meditation—and Deep Inner Peace.
April 26, 2017 By Tom Rapsas 0 Comments
Are you familiar with the writer Sam Harris? In 2005, he wrote a bestselling book The End of Faith that, in a nutshell, portrayed religion as little more than a collection of myths and superstitions that could be blamed for much of the world’s ills. It was with some trepidation that I picked up his more recent book Waking Up, A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion—but I knew that Harris was an excellent writer and the title grabbed me. And… Read more
Marriage Advice from an Unlikely Source: Jesus.
April 20, 2017 By Tom Rapsas 0 Comments
If you’re like me, a lapsed church-goer who still considers themselves spiritual in nature, you may have come to the same conclusion I have: It’s hard to find many insights of real value in the Bible. I’ve written before how many of the lessons Jesus teaches leave me scratching my head, for instance the parable of the fig tree. That’s why I was thrilled when Care of the Soul author Thomas Moore began putting out a series of books on the… Read more
The Fantastical Story of Dr. Seuss & Fate.
April 13, 2017 By Tom Rapsas 0 Comments
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. ~Dr. Seuss There’s a fascinating story behind Theodor Geisel, who later became known as Dr. Seuss. (And who hasn’t read the great doctor?) I can recall reading Dr. Seuss books in my youth, rediscovering him when my daughter began reading the same strange and whimsical books I enjoyed in my childhood. While most of us are familiar with classics… Read more
Was the Best Spirituality Book of All Time Written 120 Years Ago?
April 6, 2017 By Tom Rapsas 0 Comments
Every few years there’s a spirituality book that captures the imagination of the public and becomes a big bestseller. Think The Secret by Rhonda Byrne or A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, or before that, you may remember The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield from the early-90’s or even Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach from the early-70’s. Well, once upon a time there was a spirituality book that was even bigger than those classics. It came out all the… Read more
Get Out of Your Rut and Make Life New Again.
April 1, 2017 By Tom Rapsas 0 Comments
Are you in a rut? Are you going through life limiting your contacts to the same narrow group of people each day? Are you restricting your activities to the same routine you followed yesterday and all the yesterdays before that? Maybe it’s time to try a different approach. The definition of being in a rut is getting stuck in “a habit or a pattern of behavior that has become dull and unproductive.” And while changing that habit or behavior can… Read more
60-Second Inspiration: The Hidden Meaning of Zen.
March 27, 2017 By Tom Rapsas 0 Comments
During his storied life, the religious scholar Huston Smith studied and then practiced virtually all of the world’s religions. But in a tale he tells in his autobiography Tales of Wonder, Zen may have been the most difficult to grasp. Smith studied for a grueling week at a Zen Buddhist monastery in Japan, where during day-and-night meditation sessions, he had to try and decipher koans like “Does a dog have Buddha-nature.” Koans are meant to demonstrate how our normal ways… Read more
5 Spiritual Practices that can Help You Live Longer.
March 21, 2017 By Tom Rapsas 0 Comments
In the March, 2017, edition of the AARP Bulletin (yes, I’m a proud card-carrying member of the AARP), there’s an article titled “50 Great Ways to Live Longer”. The list includes obvious activities like getting 6 to 8 hours of sleep a night, staying hydrated and eating your veggies, as well as more surprising actions like taking vitamin D regularly and drinking three to five cups of coffee a day. What interested me most though were 5 activities that… Read more
Is Richard Simmons our Mother Teresa?
March 15, 2017 By Tom Rapsas 0 Comments
Have you heard the new podcast “Missing Richard Simmons”? It’s the most popular podcast in the U.S. and my family and I are hooked. It tells the story of how the legendary fitness guru mysteriously dropped out of sight three years ago and investigates what might have happened to him. The podcast also tells the story of Simmons’ life—and when you hear it, you can’t help but admire him. For over 40 years, Simmons was single-handedly responsible for bringing fitness… Read more
The Wall: Getting past the obstacles that hold us back.
March 9, 2017 By Tom Rapsas 0 Comments
Why struggle to open a door between us when the whole wall is an illusion. – Rumi I recently published Thaddeus Squirrel, a Spiritual Fable, and within the book is a story within the story. It’s about a wall. Walls are powerful symbols, sometimes in a literal sense. Years ago, U.S. President Ronald Reagan famously asked that the wall that separated two countries be torn down. Our current president wants to build a big wall to separate us from our… Read more
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