This story appears in my book Wake Up Call, which one reader called “the best spirituality book of 2024.” At some point in time, have you wondered if God really exists? You may have asked God to show you a sign, any sign, that he or she is real. You want to know your prayers aren’t going out into an empty void, that your faith isn’t a sign of some deeply ingrained ignorance, that there truly is someone or something looking... Read more
I’ve written a lot about finding your purpose or calling. In fact, my book Wake Up Call includes seven different stories related to the topic. I’ve even written a more recent story for those 60-plus here. And while this is another column about purpose, this one has a twist. If you were to read all the stories I’ve written on the topic, you’d come away thinking everyone has a unique purpose (or calling) that they’re meant to fulfill and it’s... Read more
As a child, my cousin Linda and I were close. But after her family moved to Florida, we lost touch for decades, until we reconnected a few years ago. Linda recently contacted me with some bad news. She’s dealing with Stage 4 cancer. And while all of our lives have an expiration date, hers may be approaching faster than anticipated. Like me, Linda’s religious beliefs have strayed from the Catholicism we both grew up with. She now identifies as a... Read more
What will you be doing this Thanksgiving? In my home, we’ll have a glorious turkey dinner with all the fixings, a football game on the TV, and the beer and wine will flow. My wife and I will be with our small extended family, the first time we’ve all been together this year. We’ll kick-off dinner with a short prayer. It’s a family tradition that was first introduced to me by my father who would say grace, or a short... Read more
How do you measure the passage of time? For most of us, the primary way is through the annual observance of birthdays. But birthdays aren’t always the best measuring sticks of how little or how far we’ve progressed in our lives. Age doesn’t measure our level of maturity or our growth as human beings. Some of us bloom late; I didn’t graduate from college until I was twenty-five. My first management position came at the age of thirty-nine. Others find... Read more
This is a version of a story I first published on Patheos several years ago. The 2024 election results have left many people and communities in a deep funk, so it seemed appropriate to repost it now. Now that we’re past the election, how do you feel? I must admit that on the morning of Wednesday, November 6th, I awoke with a case of the blues. (Ironic word, isn’t it?) I’m slowly getting past it, and preparing how to cope... Read more
Last week I wrote about witches. This week, I’m going to take a look at their second cousins, shamans. Witches and shamans share some similarities, like a belief in the power of nature and the ability to communicate with spirits. But there are also differences. In the book Shamans Through Time: 500 Years on the Path of Knowledge, editor Jeremy Narby features the first-hand accounts of over sixty anthropologists who have studied and lived with shamans from around the world.... Read more
Witches get a bad rap. Sure, everyone loves witches around Halloween but by Thanksgiving they’ve worn out their welcome—and are again seen by many as inherently evil. They are people (or more specifically, women) to be feared. It’s a stereotype that’s rooted in centuries of misinformation, superstition, and just plain stupidity. The truth: For centuries, “witches” were often viewed as healers within their communities. As Google Gemini explains, “Witches were often women who possessed knowledge of herbal remedies, midwifery, and... Read more
Do you ever find yourself disconnected from life, more concerned with your to-do list or personal issues than the people and environment around you? Or perhaps you find yourself mindlessly scrolling through your smartphone just a little too often, tuning out the real world in the process. There’s a spiritual practice for that or make that six. Think of them as ways to wake up your consciousness and stay better connected to the world around you. I stumbled upon them while reading... Read more
Willie Nelson turned 91 years of age earlier this year. And you might not be surprised to learn he’s on the road again, with three shows scheduled in Texas later this month. Willie was a member of one of my late father-in-law’s all-time favorite groups, The Highwaymen. With other group members Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and now Kris Kristofferson no longer with us, Willie is literally the last (Highway)man standing. Almost 20 years ago, when he was a young man... Read more
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