Wake Up Call - Page 3 of 28 - Insights & Musings to Stir Your Soul

What Bill Murray Can Teach Us About Life

June 27, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

A few years ago, there was an article in Rolling Stone titled “Being Bill Murray.” It told the story of how the now 67-year old actor has a habit of engaging in sometimes mischievous, often beguiling public acts. For instance, there’s the time he stopped to read poetry to a group of construction workers in New York City. Or the tale of how, while in a cab in San Francisco, he engaged the driver in conversation and found out he… Read more

Do you believe in the “God of the Bible”—or another God?

June 21, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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There’s a Pew Research Center study that came out earlier this year that showed an increasing number of Americans no longer believe in God. That may come as no surprise—but what might surprise you is just how many do still believe, if not in God, in some other spiritual force or supreme being. The numbers look like this: 56% of Americans said they believe in God “as described in the Bible” 34% of Americans say they DON’T believe in the God… Read more

The “Five Dings a Day” Spiritual Practice

June 13, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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In Meaningful Work, A Quest to do Great Business, Find Your Calling and Feed Your Soul, entrepreneur Shawn Askinosie tells us how he left a soul-killing job as a lawyer and found his true calling, starting Askinosie Chocolate. No ordinary chocolatier, the company sources 100% of its cocoa beans directly from farmers around the globe. (I sampled a bar of chocolate sourced from Tanzania and it was heavenly.) While Shawn offers valuable lessons in starting a Fair Trade business, and… Read more

My wise 86-year old friend passed away. Here are his final words

June 7, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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This month marks the two-year anniversary of the passing of my friend John Gray, and two years since this story was first published. I am rerunning this column again because I believe his wise words, and his unique take on life, are worth repeating. I first met John Gray in early-2014. He was a reader of this column and we began a regular exchange of ideas via e-mail. I soon found myself collecting some of his choicest sayings and, to his… Read more

Where are You in the 7 Stages of Life?

May 31, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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When we look at our lives, we often tend to view them as broken into 3 distinct phases: School, Work and Retirement. But these days, when our jobs have become more fluid, when the delineation line between work and retirement is often hazy, these terms seem to come up short. That’s why when I saw the following list in Thomas Moore’s recent book Ageless Soul, I thought, finally—here’s a guide that more accurately describes the phases of life as it… Read more

A 4-step guide to the prayer that’s “better than meditation”

May 24, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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It’s called centering prayer and it’s a method of prayer that comes out of an ancient Christian contemplative tradition. It dates all the way back to a 14th century text titled The Prayer of Unknowing. And for over 500 years, it fell out of favor with the Roman Catholic church, until it resurfaced thanks to one Father Thomas Keating. In the 1970s, Keating (still alive and praying at age 95) saw that the church was losing vast amounts of young members… Read more

The Royal Wedding Sermon: The Power of Love (Abridged)

May 20, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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Whether or not you watched the Royal Wedding, you may have heard about the powerful sermon delivered by the Reverend Michael Bruce Curry, the African-American head of the Episcopal Church. In an impassioned homily, Curry reminded us that there is no more powerful force than love—because, put simply, God is love. While Curry’s sermon received wide praise, a few naysayers complained it went on for too long. I would beg to differ, but if you’re of that ilk, or if… Read more

People will remember how you made them feel

May 16, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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At the end of the day people won’t remember what you said or did, they will remember how you made them feel. ~Maya Angelou I start most mornings with some spirituality-based reading and over the past several years this has included the works of the late-John Templeton. Better known for the investment fund that bears his name, after his retirement Templeton wrote several philosophy and religion books overflowing with spiritual wisdom. What’s compelling about Templeton’s work is that his spiritual… Read more

The Case Against Gurus

May 9, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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Why do you need a guru? If you fall down, then pick yourself up and continue to walk. ~Krishnamurti I first published a version of this story titled “Guru? You Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Guru.” in early-2013 while writing for Elephant Journal. Recently, a reader at that publication stumbled upon the original piece and wrote a long opposition piece that he shared with me, as he has a guru who has done wonders for him. It was well written—but it… Read more

The cure for loneliness. (It’s not what you think)

May 1, 2018 By Tom Rapsas

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You might think the cure for loneliness is a simple one: just get out of the house and spend time with other people. But there’s a contrary point-of-view, and it comes from the man who may know more about our collective inner world than anyone around today: Thomas Moore. Moore has made his name by writing over a dozen books that deal with the deepest, most complex part of our selves, the soul. In his most recent book, Ageless Soul,… Read more