About the Author: James Burklo
The practice of creating Stations of the Cross for meditative reflection on the final hours of Jesus' life is a very old one. To this day, many Catholic and other churches have gardens or sanctuaries in which the stations are situated.
Replace "slavery" with "global warming" and Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address in 1865 hits home not just in the ears but in the gut. Lincoln's rhetoric still reaches into the soul of America and swells it with emotion and conviction. And integral to its impact is its use of Judeo-Christian language.
I’m here to give a version of this State of the Union that gives at least a hint of how things are going with this movement globally. And I do it to offer you spiritual encouragement and enrichment. Because understanding our religious identity feeds our spirituality. Knowing who we are in the realm of faith and spirituality helps us to express our religious experiences. And being able to express our spirituality helps us to experience it in our hearts. Language follows experience, but it also induces and inspires experience as well. It’s a feedback loop that helps us keep the faith and feel the presence of God.
Eggs won't stick on my magic frying pans Spots won't grow on my wonder-creamed hands
The word "God" in the English version of the Christian Bible is rendered in the Arabic version as "Allah". But Allah and
We can hope that the standoff in Oregon ends with cool heads prevailing and no bloodshed. But the threat that Christian jihadism poses to America is very real. Our country is in danger at least as much from home-grown anti-government terrorism as is from the foreign sort.
What wisdom I have Awakens me to my blindness. I cannot see light itself: What I know of light Is only an alluring shadow Of what it is and does.
Since American Muslims are being pressured to root out extremists in their midst, and to publicly denounce terrorism done in the name of
On Jesus' fifth birthday, living in Egypt, his parents announced that they were going on an outing. "We've got something to show you," said Mary to Jesus.
At our Wednesday mindfulness meditation practice group here at USC, which is part of our Mindful.USC.edu initiative, I start our sessions with a very short introduction to the practice, and end the 30 minutes of silence with a time for the students and staff who attend to share about how their practice is going. At a recent session, I shared an observation that came to me while I was meditating. "It seems to me that mindfulness practice is a lot like National Public Radio.
Written January 2002
Worship is a 'receipt' given to God in return for the divine gifts of life which we receive.... It is an artful response to our awe and wonderment at the miracle of creation which surrounds us.....
MICROAFFECTION: a subtle but endearing or comforting comment or action directed at others that is often unintentional or unconsciously affirms their worth and dignity, without any hint of condescension
O dear God, I love you! I ache for you, my heart burns for you and only you can quench this fire
Jealously is holy if it moves us to be better people. Jealousy is holy if it inspires one religious community to mimic the good things that other faith communities do.
Last week I attended the Parliament of the World's Religions, a gathering at Salt Lake City of 10,000 people from around the
At its best, Christianity is a vessel for carrying the most potent moments of our lives. At its best, the faith does not impose on us a dogma to recite or a doctrine to which we must give assent. Rather, at its best, it gives us a sanctuary in which we can contemplate the turning-points in our lives, become mindful of our emotions, and reflect on the meanings we find in our stories. Our religion gives us a language to use to express the significance of the events of our lives. Our religion is not prescriptive, but rather is a means for us to be descriptive about what matters to us, and why.
Re: the Oregon mass shooting: "Harper-Mercer's mother, Laurel Harper, shared her son's passion for guns... I was so appalled by the Roseburg incident that I needed to deal with my despair by flying my fingers across my computer keyboard. This is the result – a spoof on the absurdity of owning guns for self-defense:
With heavy threads of green And red, and white and blue, I will embroider the border Of Mexico and the United States.
(My office hosted a group of Tibetan monks, who made a mandala in our Fishbowl Room at the USC Office of Religious Life. I watched them create it over the course of a week, and then watched as they ritually destroyed it in an elaborate ceremony. As I watched them sweep their creation away, I wept for mother, who had died the week before. After 88 years of creating her life, it was swept away like the sand of the mandala.)
This book is an academic and exegetical critique that the ancient myths of Satan and Hell are no longer valid from a biblical review or from current science. The manuscript begins by looking at the nature of myths and concepts of evil gods and punishment in ancient Mesopotamian. It works systematically through early Hebrew myths of evil, life, death, and through Hebrew canon texts of hassatan (Satan) as one of God’s council and concept of death in Sheol
O Dear One, we strain forward to meet you now in the silence of prayer; we press ahead, reaching for you, and as we do we notice those things that create the tension we feel between us and you.
This week I tessered again, through a novel that left a deep impression on me when I was eleven or twelve years old: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (1962). More than recalling the plot, I have always remembered the feeling I had while reading it: a sense of wonder, fascination, and warmth. All that came flooding back through me as I read it for the second time a few days ago.
earthsized waves ring gospel truth in measures long as swells of surf wide as air among redwood trees a word or tune will catch the beat
