Imagine opening your mailbox one day and finding an unmarked, sealed plain white envelope inside—containing an unsigned note and $250 in cash. Here’s the story of an act of generosity that may surprise you: Good friends of my family live in a rural section of Maryland, where the houses are few and far between and the roads are narrow. On a windy, trash collection day, one friend (Matt) went to bring in the garbage can only to find the lid... Read more
Are you happy? Chances are, if I caught you on a good day, you’d probably say yes. But on other days, you might feel as if something was missing, as if there was a small void in your life that you couldn’t quite put your finger on. A magical missing ingredient. This sense of subdued discontentment is one of the many areas author Benjamin Riggs explores in his new book Finding God in the Body. Its subject matter extends well... Read more
How are you feeling today? Healthy and alert with some pep in your step? Or are you suffering from aches and pains, feeling tired or even mildly depressed? There’s a fellow from a small town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland who may have a cure for what ails you. His name is David Mercier. Mercier’s resume includes a Masters’ degree in acupuncture, two years of study under renowned psychologist Stanislav Grof and a teaching gig as an integrated medicine... Read more
It’s funny how we usually think of heaven as being in a faraway place, one we can’t reach until after our death. But Jesus left a clue that may indicate heaven is a lot closer than we imagine. If you were brought up in a Christian household like me, from a young age you heard that when someone had passed away they had “died and gone to heaven” which we imagined as a place up in the clouds. It’s an... Read more
Do you consider yourself a Christian? Do you hope to get into heaven one day? I’ve been reading a new translation of the Gospel of Mark and one fact really stands out: the doorway into heaven is pretty narrow. You may know the passage from the Gospel of Matthew that states when it comes to entering heaven, “many are called, but few are chosen.” But within the Gospel of Mark, the eligibility requirements are dialed up a few notches. Jesus... Read more
We all want to make a good impression in life, to be the best possible people that we can be. Yet, sometimes we let ourselves down. Despite our best intentions to be shining examples of love, happiness and good vibes, we occasionally get worn down—by the struggles at work, by the demands of the kids, or by the myriad stresses of everyday life, which can leave us feeling tired and cranky (a state I know all too well). Yet if... Read more
Are you familiar with the writer Sam Harris? In 2005, he wrote a bestselling book The End of Faith that, in a nutshell, portrayed religion as little more than a collection of myths and superstitions that could be blamed for much of the world’s ills. It was with some trepidation that I picked up his more recent book Waking Up, A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion—but I knew that Harris was an excellent writer and the title grabbed me. And... Read more
If you’re like me, a lapsed church-goer who still considers themselves spiritual in nature, you may have come to the same conclusion I have: It’s hard to find many insights of real value in the Bible. I’ve written before how many of the lessons Jesus teaches leave me scratching my head, for instance the parable of the fig tree. That’s why I was thrilled when Care of the Soul author Thomas Moore began putting out a series of books on the... Read more
You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. ~Dr. Seuss There’s a fascinating story behind Theodor Geisel, who later became known as Dr. Seuss. (And who hasn’t read the great doctor?) I can recall reading Dr. Seuss books in my youth, rediscovering him when my daughter began reading the same strange and whimsical books I enjoyed in my childhood. While most of us are familiar with classics... Read more
Every few years there’s a spirituality book that captures the imagination of the public and becomes a big bestseller. Think The Secret by Rhonda Byrne or A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, or before that, you may remember The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield from the early-90’s or even Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach from the early-70’s. Well, once upon a time there was a spirituality book that was even bigger than those classics. It came out all the... Read more
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