by Eric Steinhart I have migraines with auras, which basically means that before my migraines, I get various kinds of psychological disturbances. Like many people who have migraine auras, I have visual auras. Most of my visual auras are pretty common: I see the shimmering zigzag shapes, the so-called scintillating scotomas. Sometimes a black hole will open in my visual field, surrounded by a corona of blue or yellow or white radiation. Or I’ll see a blue or yellow spot... Read more
by Jeff Worthy It was January 28, 1986. I was a junior in high school. I was headed off to my Algebra II class when one of my friends passed me in the hallway and said of my Algebra teacher, “He’s really down today. Did you hear what happened?” “Well, he’s never really in a great mood anyway. What is it?” “The space shuttle. It exploded. I guess he had spent the summer working with some of the astronauts that were... Read more
by Leigh Anderson I find it hard to concentrate on anything for more than a few seconds if I’m not focused on what I am doing at that moment. It’s easy to recognize the feeling of being fully focused when you are doing something you enjoy so much that you lose track of time and space. It’s harder to reach that feeling, though, when you are consistently distracted by outside sources in your daily life. With our 24-hour a day... Read more
by Gregory Gronbacher (cc) Wikimedia Commons. A frequently reported benefit of religious and spiritual engagement is community — being engaged with other like-minded people who share much of the same worldview and values. The benefits of meaningful community are many — mutual support, social activity, and often a ready and willing social safety net for challenging times in life. Many studies show that such supports are also linked to better physical and mental health overall. Spirituality is a sense of connection to something... Read more
by Thomas Schenk I’ve been contemplating the picture of deep space recently provided by NASA’s WEBB space telescope. We live in an age of remarkable images, but this might be the most remarkable of all. I’ve heard the number 100 billion given as answer to the question “How many galaxies are there?” The WEBB image provides concreteness to that outrageous number. We can see what it means, even if we still really can’t fathom it.(1) When I was younger, the... Read more
by Thomas Schenk A bumper sticker I saw today read: “Don’t worship the creation, worship the Creator.” That the Creation exists, I know as the most intimate of facts. I am a part of it. As far as I can see (which, admittedly, is not very far), the Creation is my creator. Who or what created the Creation? The driver of the car with the bumper sticker probably would say, “God.” And I’d ask “Who or what created God”? To posit... Read more
by Daniel Shkolnik For four days, I didn’t eat. I lived on a desert mountain peak, sleeping under the stars. On the fourth night, I held a vigil and was overwhelmed with its power. When I came back home, everyone wanted to know how it was. I should have said, “Ask me in a year. I’ll know then.” And in a way, that’s the truth. Because the hardest part still lies ahead of me. I did my vision fast with the School... Read more
by SNS Guest Photo by C. A. Riffee (Today’s article is by guest author Charles Riffee. For a brief bio, see below.) In July of 2022 images from the James Webb Space Telescope first appeared on screens across the world. In one frame it looked as if galaxies warped by gravity were partners in dance. In another, light previously obscured from human experience was brought forward. Upon seeing these images, many individuals expressed conflicting emotions ranging from peaceful connectedness to... Read more
by James Jarrett Meditation builds the energy and opens possibilities. But the reaching out? That is more the domain of prayer. Through prayer, we reach out to what is beyond our control, to what is beyond our sense of self, to the mystery of life itself. — Ken McCleod Over the course of my upbringing and early adulthood in the religion of Christianity—as well my work as a clergyman for nearly thirteen years in that tradition—prayer became a habit and... Read more
by Brock Haussamen Not long ago, every living species of amoebas, humans, roses, zebras and all the species in between traveled on a pilgrimage back in time to meet their original ancestor, the founding living thing. Along the way each species greeted its ‘concestors’ – the common ancestors that they share with other living species. Our species, the humans, had an amazing journey. At each rendezvous with a concestor we joined living cousins – sometimes a few, sometimes thousands. What was... Read more
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