Another new year. So how are you feeling? Yay or nay? Another new year and I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. Although, as Dolly Parton says so eloquently in the movie “Steel Magnolias” after Shelby’s funeral, “Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion.” I think that sums up my strategy this past year. [...]
Charles Fillmore, cofounder of Unity, said that prayer is “communion between God and man ... it is the language of spirituality.” Just as our physical senses give us language and experience for our human world, prayer awakens our “spiritual senses,” giving us language for the ever-deepening felt presence and expression of the living Christ energy. [...]
A prayer without desire in it, a prayer without sincerity in it, a prayer without soul in it, a prayer without Spirit in it is a fruitless prayer. - Charles and Cora Fillmore, Teach Us to Pray I was raised with prayer. Prayer before meals, prayers in church, and prayers to give thanks. Prayers were [...]
About 600 years before the writers of the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke penned Jesus’ Parable of the Mustard Seed, Buddha told a parable of a mustard seed. It revolves around a woman, Kisa Gotami, who lived during the time of Buddha. Kisa’s only child had died, and unwilling to accept his death, she [...]
I recently spent a month in South Carolina helping my mom with her recovery from knee replacement surgery. When it came time for me to return home, I had mixed feelings. I knew I couldn't stay there, eventually everyone needs to return home, but I didn’t know what I was coming home to. I wasn’t [...]
Christmas holds a special place in my heart because it was my dad’s favorite holiday, and because it’s a time of year for many family traditions and rituals to be played out. Every family has their own sacred, quirky, idiosyncratic rituals that frustrate and delight. Traditions that only need to make sense to the family [...]
My own spiritual discipline has been to challenge myself each year with an expanded understanding of the traditionalholidays, while maintaining a sense of reverence, even sentimentality to a small degree. One of the great paradoxes of navigating the landscape of religious holidays, ceremonies and traditions is dancing with reverence AND relevance at the same time. [...]
Jesus Speaks to the 12 is a 4-part series written for Holy Thursday. In each part, 3 disciples present at the Last Supper are highlighted. It is partially inspired by the Unity teaching of the Twelve Powers. Part 1 sets the context and Jesus speaks to Peter, Andrew and James. Part 2 is John, Phillip [...]
Jesus Speaks to the 12 is a 4-part series written for Holy Thursday. In each part, 3 disciples present at the Last Supper are highlighted. It is partially inspired by the Unity teaching of the Twelve Powers. Part 1 sets the context and Jesus speaks to Peter, Andrew and James. Part 2 is John, Phillip [...]
Jesus Speaks to the 12 is a 4-part series written for Holy Thursday. In each part, 3 disciples present at the Last Supper are highlighted. It is partially inspired by the Unity teaching of the Twelve Powers. Part 1 sets the context and Jesus speaks to Peter, Andrew and James. Part 2 is John, Phillip [...]
Jesus Speaks to the 12 is a 4-part series written for Holy Thursday. In each part, 3 disciples present at the Last Supper are highlighted. It is partially inspired by the Unity teaching of the Twelve Powers. Part 1 sets the context and Jesus speaks to Peter, Andrew and James. Part 2 is John, Phillip [...]
One of the treasures in my life is the ability to lose myself in a song. Closing my eyes and allowing the words and music to play through me – to stop listening with my ears and listen with my heart. As the music washes over me, my mind relaxes, my breathing slows and I [...]
It might sound strange, but Muppets are necessary for me at this time in my life, because they remind me there is hope. You see, there are places in my mind and heart - doorways really - full of such sorrow that I do not want to enter. Yet these doors get blown open over [...]
As an anthropologist and minister, I am always intrigued by animal and human behavior. I think it must be in my DNA because I am unconsciously and eternally fascinated, drawn in and left wondering what is next to unfold as I watch creatures go about their day. I just can’t seem to get enough. [...]
Finally, here are Lessons 4 and 5. If you've read the other two articles which house Lessons 1, 2 and 3, just scroll down to #4. If you haven't read the first two installments of this little series, you may want to read the intro and first lesson. Lessons 2 and 3 can be found here. I'm [...]
