The Amazing Power of “Listening to Flowers”

July 6, 2023 By Tom Rapsas

“Nature is the ultimate healer.” That’s a telling quote from Dina Saalisi and her book* Listening to Flowers: Positive Affirmations to Invoke the Healing Energy of the 38 Bach Flowers, with illustrations by Audrey Violet. Saalisi, a California-based healer and hypnotherapist, believes that nature can help cure what ails us—especially the fragrances found in various flowers and flowering plants. Part of the title of the book might have you scratching your head: “What are the 38 Bach flowers”? There’s an... Read more

Are You Spiritually Awake?

June 30, 2023 By Tom Rapsas

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I’ve been challenged by Richard Rohr—and so have you. He has asked us to take a deeper look at ourselves and answer a simple question: “Am I awake?” Writing in The Naked Now: Learning to See at the Mystics See, the noted author and Franciscan friar isn’t talking about being awake in the traditional non-sleeping manner. He means “are you awake” in a spiritual sense? Rohr anticipates that from his question, we may have several follow-up questions like: Does being... Read more

Has Naval Ravikant Found the Key to Happiness? (Maybe)

June 22, 2023 By Tom Rapsas

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The search for happiness is often the source of unhappiness. I heard the line above on the Rainn Wilson spirituality show The Geography of Bliss—and it got me thinking. What if there was no search involved? What if happiness was sitting right in front of us, waiting to be grasped—or more accurately, embraced? It’s an idea that Naval Ravikant has also explored and you may already have a question: Who the heck is Naval Ravikant? While not widely known outside... Read more

How to Find Fulfillment–by Embracing Emptiness

June 15, 2023 By Tom Rapsas

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Can emptiness really be fulfilling? It sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it? After all, aren’t we most happy when we are satiated, feeling stuffed after a big dinner, or when our calendars are full, and our lives are brimming with activities? Thomas Moore begs to differ. In his book, The Eloquence of Silence: Surprising Wisdom in Tales of Emptiness, Moore looks at the merits of emptiness from a variety of perspectives. Through a series of short chapters, each beginning with... Read more

People will remember how you made them feel

June 9, 2023 By Tom Rapsas

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At the end of the day people won’t remember what you said or did, but they will remember how you made them feel. There’s a lot of truth in the paraphrased quote above from Maya Angelou. You can probably think back to your childhood and remember neighbors, classmates or teachers who made you feel good—and others who made you feel, well, not so great. But the focus today isn’t on others, it’s on you. How are you making other people... Read more

Freeing God from The Bible

June 3, 2023 By Tom Rapsas

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If you wanted to find the real God, would you look in the Bible? Or does the Bible present a false version of God, a God shaped by myth and folklore, reflecting the thinking of ancient cultures more than two-thousand years removed from our own? These are just a few of the questions pondered by biblical scholar and theologian Peter Enns in Curveball: When Your Faith Takes Turns You Never Saw Coming. The title is a nod to Enns’ former... Read more

The Cure for Loneliness May Surprise You

May 27, 2023 By Tom Rapsas

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Thomas Moore has a superb new book out titled “The Eloquence of Silence” that I’ll be writing about in 2-3 weeks. In the meantime, here’s Moore wisdom from “Ageless Soul.” The story below will appear in Wake Up Call, the book, being released January 1, 2024 by Wildhouse Publishing. You might think the cure for loneliness is a simple one: just get out of the house and spend time with other people. But there’s a contrary point-of-view, and it comes... Read more

What Religion is Matthew McConaughey?

May 22, 2023 By Tom Rapsas

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If you’ve caught any recent interviews with Matthew McConaughey, it’s quite clear he’s a spiritual man. But is he religious? In a recent interview, McConaughey told an anecdote about being in kindergarten where his mother served as the teacher. One day at recess, a friend tapped him on the shoulder and said, “Matt, let’s go out and play!” McConaughey made a dash for the playground only to be horse-collared by his mom. She scolded him, saying: Your name is not... Read more

My 30 Days Living at the Key West Cemetery

May 18, 2023 By Tom Rapsas

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We don’t like to think about death. This can be especially true as we grow older and begin to realize we only have a finite amount of time left on Earth. So when you’re forced to look death in the face every day, it can be a jarring experience. Or depending on your perspective, an invigorating one. I fall into the latter category. The picture at the top of this page is the view I woke up to every morning... Read more

Jesus: On the Importance of Being Present

May 10, 2023 By Tom Rapsas

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There’s a curious story in the Bible that centers around two of Jesus’ closest friends, Mary and Martha. The two sisters had a special relationship with Jesus. As the Gospel of John 11:5 states, “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” They loved Jesus as well, and as you may know, there’s a backstory. Mary and Martha believed that Jesus was responsible for bringing their brother Lazarus back from the dead. Earlier in the Gospel of John, we are told... Read more