If you’ve been on the spiritual path for any length of time, you’re bound to eventually find yourself asking: “What is my purpose?” You start to wonder just what your calling is and what you’re supposed to accomplish during this lifetime. Some of us know our purpose from young adulthood. Others figure it out along the way. But for a lot of us, our purpose becomes raising and caring for our families and engaging in a decades-long career. (In defining... Read more
For years now, I’ve kept a small notebook by my side. I use it to jot down everything from TV shows I want to watch to keeping track of my honey-do list, from scribbling down ideas for Wake Up Call stories to capturing fleeting spiritual insights. I imagine that Kevin Kelly does much the same. On his 68th birthday, Kelly decided to give his adult children a gift—a collection of bits of wisdom he had learned over the years, 68... Read more
Are you familiar with the “signs of the cross”? As a child and teen, I attended mass at the beautifully ornate St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Bloomfield, New Jersey. Once during each service, we would engage in the signs of the cross, or what Richard Rohr refers to it as the “body prayer.” We would recite the words found in Matthew 28:19, “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” while... Read more
“I believe revolutionary love is the call of our times.” ~Valarie Kaur In See No Stranger, A Memoir and Manifesto of Revolutionary Love, the social activist and faith leader Valarie Kaur wants to introduce us to a new concept of love. It’s a love not based on romance, or the brotherly/sisterly love known as agape, but “love in a time of turmoil.” Kaur is a civil rights lawyer and a member of the Sikh religion who chronicles her own journey... Read more
Have you ever heard of “Thumper’s Rule?” In the Disney film Bambi, there’s a young rabbit named Thumper who remarks that the fawn Bambi is “kinda wobbly” and “doesn’t walk too good.” Well, Thumper’s mother doesn’t go for that kind of talk and gives him a piece of advice we all can use, a sort of verbal golden rule: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothing at all.” Being nice to others. It’s a baseline requirement if you want to... Read more
Rainn Wilson is best known for playing the role of Dwight Schrute on the popular TV show The Office. Yet, if you look beyond his acting resume, you’ll see he’s a very spiritual guy. A member of the Baha’i faith, he hosts a spirituality-themed podcast and was recently featured on Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss, where he traveled the world to find the keys to happiness. In his latest book, Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution,... Read more
If you enjoy this story, you’ll find 112 just like it in my new book Wake Up Call: Daily Insights for the Spiritually Curious, now available from Wildhouse Publishing. Is it springtime yet? It has been an especially frigid January here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and I’m about ready for some warmer temps and mornings where I’m greeted by a brilliant sunrise at 7am and not by a gray-tinged darkness. One positive note about winter: It’s a great... Read more
Have you ever purchased a book from Amazon and, when you received it, thought that maybe you got ripped off? The site is full of self-published books on various subjects and while some are worth your time, there are others that have been dashed off by the author in hopes of making a quick buck, complete with ill-gotten 5-star reviews. Such was the initial case when I purchased Living from the Soul: The 7 Spiritual Principles of Ralph Waldo Emerson... Read more
If you enjoy this story, you’ll find 112 just like it in my new book Wake Up Call: Daily Insights for the Spiritually Curious, now available from Wildhouse Publishing. Is there a secret to happiness—a magic formula that, if you uncover it, can lead to a lifetime of contentment and bliss? In the book Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier, authors Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey attempt to answer this question by answering... Read more
This week I’m taking a break from my regular spiritual fare, to tell you a little about me and the story behind my new book, Wake Up Call: Daily Insights for the Spiritually Curious. The first few paragraphs are adapted from the introduction. I’m what you might call a regular guy. For virtually all my adult life, I’ve worked a nine to five job in an office. My wife and I have been married for 30 years, we have a... Read more
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