Have you ever had the feeling that God was missing in action? You feel the presence of God one moment, buoying your spirits, lightening your load. But the next day, or even a few moments later, the Divine has seemingly abandoned you, leaving you to deal with the challenges of life by yourself. This feeling of abandonment isn’t unusual. It even struck the saintly Mother Teresa. For years, Teresa claimed she did not feel the presence of God in her... Read more
The early Christian church was not the church you and I know today. It was a great deal stranger. After the death of Jesus, Christianity went underground for the first 300-plus years of its existence. Its adherents began meeting in secret gatherings in “house churches” and underground chambers. There was no church leader, few knew of St. Paul. There was no holy book, the New Testament did not yet exist. But there were sacraments, one that included the promise of... Read more
It’s customary in many homes to say a prayer before Thanksgiving dinner. Yet, if you fall into the Spiritual but not Religious (SBNR) group like me, you may want to move beyond the traditional “Bless us O Lord” prayer into something that’s, well, more meaningful to you and your spiritual inclinations. I’ve written before about “The Prayer of Gratitude” and it’s worth mentioning again. It’s a simple, participatory prayer of thanks, directed to God, the Universe, or whatever higher power you... Read more
You’ve probably heard the old dictum from Socrates that “an unexamined life is not worth living.” It always struck me as a little harsh. But there’s something to be said about occasionally taking a time-out from our busy lives to look inward and contemplate where we stand. Among the questions we might ask ourselves: Am I living my fullest possible life, making the best use of my God-given attributes and talents? Am I living a life filled with trivial pursuits... Read more
Have you seen the TV show Ted Lasso? It’s the story of an American college football coach, played by Jason Sudeikis, who is hired to coach a British professional soccer team. It’s a “fish out of water” story in that Ted has never been to England and never coached soccer—and on top of that, has come to lead a team with a myriad of problems, both on the field and off. I delayed watching this show for months as the... Read more
A few nights ago, I had a dream that I was at work. Only instead of the office building where I was normally located during pre-pandemic times, I was in an ornately decorated, sprawling space. It was more akin to the Rose Main Reading Room at the New York Public Library. Walking through the room, I stopped by the desk of a guy I used to work for, Shelly. He asked me what I was up to and when I... Read more
The currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Is it possible for mere mortals, like you and I, to “become like God”? After all, if we are made up of the particles of God, as Emerson states above, is God not the very essence of our being? Are we not part and parcel of God? The idea that we can become God incarnate is the premise of the book Becoming... Read more
When you think of meditation, what image comes to mind? You might picture a person sitting cross-legged on the floor or nestled in a comfortable chair, eyes closed, oblivious to their surroundings. But there’s a technique that takes a very different approach to meditation—because it involves movement and keeping your eyes wide open. I’m talking about walking meditation. On the Waking Up app, host Sam Harris discusses the two different types of walking practices. One is the super-slow walk, where... Read more
The next time you’re feeling sorry for yourself—maybe you’ve had a bad day at work or an argument with your spouse or you’re feeling the aches and pains of aging—you might want to remember this story. It’s about 2 men facing the kind of adversity you and I can only imagine and how they not only overcome it but thrive in spite of it. Steve Gleason and Tim Green are former NFL players who by football standards had long careers,... Read more
As we grow older, we also grow more spiritual. At least that has been my personal experience. Now that I can count the time to retirement in months rather than years, I find myself yearning to deepen my spiritual practice. I look forward to having more time for contemplation, centering prayer, spiritual reading. And apparently, I am not alone. In a recent story that appeared in Canada’s Globe and Mail, Kathy Kerr writes that “retirement offers time to tend to... Read more
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