Disobedience? We've all done it, sooner or later we don't conform or even outright flout a rule. Sometimes though, disobedience can be a spiritual attribute which brings us new energy and new ideas. Read more
Disobedience? We've all done it, sooner or later we don't conform or even outright flout a rule. Sometimes though, disobedience can be a spiritual attribute which brings us new energy and new ideas. Read more
A couple of nights ago, my partner, Leo, and I watched a video online about a gardener in Aleppo, a man who stayed in the city even when bombs were dropping daily and the population had dwindled by 75%. The camera shows the man, surrounded by abandoned buildings and rubble, handing out handfuls of brightly colored flowers, a shockingly beautiful sight for an image of war. In the video, we see people who say that the flowers remind them of... Read more
Thrust into an emotionally daunting parental landscape filled with unprecedented unknowns, Roy and his estranged wife, Sarah, have a major challenge on their hands. Their son, Alton Meyer, is clearly destined for something as his capacities defy all earthly capabilities. Alton is not like them. In fact, he’s not like any of us. Presented with Alton’s phenomenal capabilities “to wreak destruction or mesmerize people into a state of indescribable euphoria” with the light that emanates from his eyes, Roy and... Read more
Religious Market Dynamics While many would assert that religion concerns ultimate—often supernatural—truth claims, sociologically speaking, religion also has social and practical functions. The practice of religion represents a complex exchange of set of rights and services facilitated by religious communities. Religious communities respond to human needs by offering meaning/purpose, belonging, and community. They each offer their own conception of the world and how it works, which allows each group to create a particular niche for a distinct constituency. Successful religious... Read more
I know, I know. You’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover. However, the first time I saw the book cover for The Art of Surrender: A Practical Guide to Enlightened Happiness and Well-Being, by Eiman Al Zaabi, something resonated within me. Quite often, when I take walks, I find bird feathers on my path. In fact, I have found and brought home so many feathers that my son has felt the need to tell me it’s illegal to collect... Read more
Recognizing love as the source of our core identity helps us remember at the same time that we are souls on an eternal journey. One very vivid illustration of what this all-pervasive love can look like for us, and how it can change our perception of ourselves, was given by Patricia Locke, a Lakota educator and MacArthur Fellow, when she introduced herself at a talk she gave as a Libra Visiting Professor at the University of Southern Maine. She stood... Read more
Jews and Christians often look to Scripture for some insight for the how to change our society, but the Bible tells us nothing about many of the issues that confront us today—whether we should talk to or negotiate with terrorists, what our energy policies should be, what kind of health care or educational system we should have. But there is one area in which the entire Bible is absolutely clear—we are to help the poor, the needy, widows and orphans, the broken-hearted, and the oppressed. Read more
Raising nonviolent boys in a violent world takes on new dimensions when a mother realizes that her son uses nonviolent defense several times a week just passing between classes. Read more
Of course, I didn’t think keeping her money had caused her suicide. Still I grieved to think that where a small act of mercy or kindness could have been balm to a struggling soul, I had acted for my own interests and looked the other way. Read more
How will you look back when you reach the end of your days? How will you consider the life you have lived? Will you come to the revelation of how much you have grown, and how you have overcome fears? Will you see your life as a school where you learned of the healing and inspiring influence of unconditional love? There is in fact nothing more certain than the inescapable certainty of death. Knowing this we do sometimes turn... Read more
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