We are spiritual beings having a human experience. ~Pierre Teilhard de Chardin Did you used to go to a church, synagogue or mosque, only to find you couldn’t relate to the stale traditions and centuries-old dogma? Do you still consider yourself a spiritual person? If you answer yes to these questions, you probably classify yourself as “spiritual but not religious” (SBNR)—and you may also feel there’s a void in your life. You have a spiritual yearning at your core that often... Read more
Are you spiritual but not religious (SBNR)? Do you ever pray? The fact is the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Just because you classify yourself as SBNR, and are not a member of an organized religion, you can still derive benefits from praying. Prayer represents one more tool in the SBNR toolbox, another way to connect with a higher power, whether you call that power God, the Divine, the Infinite or something else. Like the other tools available... Read more
For many of us in the United States, the self-quarantine continues. While we’ve begun to dip our toes in the water of social interaction, we’re still spending more time at home than ever. Often working harder than ever and spending more waking hours with family members than ever. Even though you’re at home, you still need periods of solitude. Now that our office is our laptop and our family is a near constant presence, we still need to find moments... Read more
Imagine for a moment that Jesus was alive and walking the Earth today. Would he be hanging out with Christian churchgoers, attending Bible study and weekday services? Or would he be on the front lines with those seeking justice, marching arm-in-arm with the masses, demanding fair and equitable treatment for all? Re-reading Sister Joan Chittister’s 2019 book The Time is Now, the 84-year old Benedictine nun and social activist makes it easy to see what Jesus would be doing today: Jesus... Read more
It’s not fun. It’s not comfortable. But these are the times that change us. ~Jewel How are you going to emerge from this pandemic and extended period of social unrest? As the same person who went in? A little more bitter or jaded? Or as a woman or man with a renewed sense of purpose and vigor, a person determined to lead a more giving and rewarding life? Now is the time to start planning, to develop a life plan... Read more
What if you were not really in charge of your life? What if there was a pre-determined path for you and only you, one that was designed with your best interests at heart? What if the key to a fulfilling and contented life was simply to find this path and follow it? These were questions I was pondering as I read Finding Grace, Daily Comfort for Uncertain Times, by Eiman Al Zaabi. It’s a thin book, containing a saying or... Read more
You wait a lifetime to meet someone who understands you, accepts you as you are. At the end, you find that Someone, all along, has been you. What makes a great quote? It stops you in your tracks and causes you to wonder if it doesn’t relate to your own life. It can make you question your past actions—or change the way you view what you’re doing in the present and what you might do differently in future. Donald Shimoda... Read more
You’re at home now. You’ve probably been at home for several weeks, save for the occasional walk around the block or trip to the local supermarket. And while you might have thought all this down time would be akin to floating on a tranquil sea, it has left you feeling a little unsettled. Maybe it’s the way the work day bleeds into the night or your kids are acting up for the 20th time today or maybe the nonstop drumbeat... Read more
Will my family be alright? Will I be all right? When will this end? Will it end? And if it does, will life ever be as it was? This staccato burst of angst, written by Dan Barry in The New York Times, captures how many of us are feeling these days. We want to be optimistic that life will soon return to a state resembling normal, only to realize that (in the US) there are still 2,000 people dying of... Read more
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. ~The Serenity Prayer During our shared pandemic quarantine, there are a lot of things we cannot change. For instance, we cannot change the path of this virus or when it will go away or the safety precautions we need to take. Yet if we dig a little deeper, we can see that there are things that... Read more
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