Do you notice how some people can make the simplest things into a hot mess? You’re thinking of someone aren’t you? Perhaps it’s the woman in line in front of you at the store who looks shocked when the clerk asks for her credit card. This simple request is then followed by a few minutes of searching through a bag the size of Rhode Island that hasn’t been cleaned out since the Carter administration. Or, maybe you’re thinking of the... Read more
Do you have a “Cardinal Rule?” I do and I broke mine today. How? I went to the mall. You see, it’s the week before Thanksgiving. That means it’s after October 15, my “drop-dead-last-day-in-a-mall-before-Christmas” Cardinal Rule. I don’t do last-minute Christmas shopping. I shop a great deal online, which means much of my shopping is done before fall begins. We also frequent craft shows, antique stores and festivals, all of which are in abundance in south central Pennsylvania. Plus, we... Read more
Do you like it when people pigeon-hole you into category assigned you a label? I sure don’t. Human beings are multi-faceted creatures. To make situations easier for ourselves we frequently place each other into convenient categories. All too often these labels fall far short of describing who we are as individuals. Psychologist Dr. Dan Gottlieb reported working with a young woman who told him: “I feel like my soul is a prism, but everybody just sees one color. Nobody sees... Read more
THE TRUTH ABOUT SPARE THE ROD AND SPOIL THE CHILD By NIRVANA REGINALD GAYLE This morning I was watching First Take on ESPN with Skip Bayless, Stephen A. Smith & Cari Champion. They were talking about the recent plight of the football player Adrianne Peterson and his plea deal for the child abuse of beating his son. He got a simple slap on the wrist of a misdemeanor and 80 hours of community service. There we no additional requirement for... Read more
There WILL be a spiritual component to this writing … I promise … but you need a little “set-up” for it. So … I’m off to my “day job” as a flight attendant, going through the “Known Crew Member (KCM)” security check at BWI last Monday morning at 4:35am for my 5:00am sign-in. I hand my passport to the TSA agent, scan my KCM badge, then hold my airline ID badge for her to compare my ID, passport and the... Read more
Years ago Jack Nicholson starred as a devilish character in the adaptation of John Updike’s book The Witches of Eastwick. As with many of his movies, it was a bit quirky and it showcased the talents of some of the best and most popular actresses of the day, including Cher in the role of a sculptress. Nicholson befriends the women and went about teaching them what they needed to know about creation, and the way things worked. The image that... Read more
Do you ever create a “To Do” list, or what I like to call my “Accomplishment List,” only to find it screaming at you later in the day? I am often asked how I keep all the different parts of my life organized. Granted, using Evernote on my mobile devices and desktop has become an indispensable tool. But there is another reason. I see my life and all that I do, both what others call my ministry and what I... Read more
“The Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself ” Franklin D Roosevelt The spread of the Ebola virus is something to pay attention to, without fear, but with diligence and compassion. We must bring the best of our faculties, personal and collective, to bear so that human suffering is relieved. We must also understand that escalating fear will inhibit our ability to bring those faculties fully to bear on this situation, at home and around the globe. Fear divides,... Read more
When I was a small child growing up in a prairie village in Saskatchewan, I was a curious and empathic child. I was three years old, my older sister was in school, and my brothers were not yet in the picture. I had a great imagination and I liked playing by myself. I liked to twirl and make my skirts float up. I liked to look up at the clouds and imagine that they were goddesses, and animals, and ships.... Read more
Have you ever noticed just how quickly our moods can change? For example, what happens to your outlook when you think of a tragic event in your life or in the life of someone else? Immediately our minds focus on the details, perhaps imagining the experience worse than it was. I had a lucid dream at some point last night. If you’re not familiar with the term “lucid dream” it means that you realize in your dream that you are... Read more
The Principles of Spiritual Living
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