In The Believer, Encounters with the Beginning, The End, and Our Place in the Middle, Sara Krasnostein looks at the core beliefs of several people and groups across our society. This includes evangelicals who run the Noah’s Ark and Creation museums in Kentucky, a group of believers in the paranormal and UFOs, and a death doula. Have you ever heard of a death doula? Like me, you may have heard of a birth doula, “a trained professional who provides emotional,... Read more
Wouldn’t it be great if, during times we were stressed or in need of spiritual guidance, we could simply snap our fingers and summon God for assistance? Well, that may not be possible, but in the book Finding God in the Body, Benjamin Riggs offers us the next best thing. It’s an ancient spiritual technique that any of us can master and can put us in direct touch with the divine. It’s known as centering prayer. Centering prayer is a... Read more
Are you familiar with Unity, also known as Unity church? Founded in 1889 by Charles Fillmore and his wife Myrtle, it started as a small church within the New Thought* movement. Classified today as “a spiritual nonprofit,” there are currently almost 1,000 Unity “churches” across the US. I was recently reminded of Unity, a group I vaguely knew, by Jim Blake. A former CEO of Unity, Blake has just published a book title The Zen Executive, Gems of Wisdom for... Read more
We all want to make a good impression in life, to be the best possible person we can be. Yet, despite our best intentions to be shining examples of love, kindness and compassion, sometimes the stresses of everyday life can wear us down. The job, the kids, the bills, you name it. It’s at these moments, the times when we’re not at our best version, that we need to stop for a beat. Take a deep breath. Center ourselves. And... Read more
It was recently reported there are now more than 200 Christian denominations in the United States. Which sounds like a lot, until you discover there are an astounding 45,000-plus denominations around the world. Yet reading the new book by Matthew Fox, Essential Writings on Creation Spirituality, you could come away with a different opinion: there are really only two. Have you heard of the firebrand priest Matthew Fox? An outspoken former Roman Catholic (now Episcopalian) priest, activist and academician, Fox’s... Read more
Do you believe in a place called heaven? If you were raised in a Christian household like me, from a young age you heard that when someone passed away, they had “died and gone to heaven.” But where is heaven? And how does one get there? If you read the gospels of the Bible, you might come away with two very different interpretations of the nature of heaven and how one gains admittance. In a nutshell, one heaven is tough... Read more
If you’ve passed the half-century mark, I probably don’t have to tell you there can be a downside to getting older. It’s a little tougher to get out of bed in the morning and get moving. Aches and pains begin announcing themselves more frequently. You might occasionally have trouble recalling a name or place or thing you once knew. Yet, with the negatives of growing older, there also comes an upside. We begin to realize that there’s some truth in... Read more
Every few years, a spirituality bestseller comes out that captures the imagination of the public. In recent times, there’s been The Secret by Rhonda Byrne and A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. Before that, you might remember The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield or Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. Once upon a time, there was a spirituality book even bigger than those classics. It was first published back in 1897 and since it is now 125 years old, there’s... Read more
Have you been in a spiritual rut lately? 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 just like we can get stuck in a rut at our job or in our home life, we can also get stuck in our spiritual practice. The problem may be our routine, doing the same things over and over again. We read books by the same handful... Read more
I’m starting a semi-regular series that begins with this column. It’s called “10 Points of Wisdom” and my intent is to feature a valuable source of spiritual insights that our society too often overlooks: our elders. I will then highlight up to 10 of each elder’s most compelling musings, starting today with John Templeton. You may recognize the name John Templeton as a legendary Wall Street figure. But you may not know about the deeply spiritual side of his life.... Read more
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