Original Faith

Global Warming and Spirituality

2009-07-11T09:39:00.002-04:00

In comments to the last couple posts, many of you stressed how important contact with the natural world has been to your spiritual lives. This brought the environment to mind, particularly the...

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Spirituality and Play

2009-07-07T09:35:00.005-04:00

Did you engage in forms of play as a child that you feel influenced you spiritually? Recently I caught a radio promo for a program about the role of play in spirituality. It reminded me of two...

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Fireworks

2009-07-03T19:53:00.003-04:00

Catching how the restlessness of light makes all things glimmer… From "The Days to Praise: Anticipation” (preceding post) Several years ago, I was still able to walk far enough to leave the house....

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The Days to Praise: Anticipation

2009-06-29T12:03:00.009-04:00

“These are the good old days,” sang Carly. I wish I’d known myself. I would have chimed in Rhyming, harmonizing every minute With everything we call Nothing and not much: Maybe just the feeling of my...

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The Joy of Things Usually Taken for Granted

2009-06-28T00:43:00.001-04:00

Jan Lundy at Awake is Good recently asked her readers what sort of “The Joy of…” book they’d write based on their interests and experiences – e.g., The Joy of Cooking, The Joy of Sex etc. I...

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Spiritual Influences in Childhood and Youth

2009-06-24T11:39:00.003-04:00

Some people find childhood a time of life when they’re especially responsive to nature. This was the case for me. To look up at the stars was to experience awe and wonder. The sound of wind surging...

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Animal Planet: What’s Your Totem?

2009-06-20T20:35:00.003-04:00

Is there any species of animal for which you feel a special sense of connection? For about seventeen years I jogged either most of the year or year-round in small-town New Hampshire, and I got to...

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Strangeness Spirituality

2009-06-17T12:28:00.002-04:00

Several posts back I’d started to look at altered states of consciousness but I guess my train of thought got derailed. Returning to the theme… Here’s one particular type of ASC that was meaningful...

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Gray-Sky Faith

2009-06-14T00:01:00.004-04:00

Somewhere over the rainbow Bluebirds fly. Birds fly over the rainbow; Why then, oh why can’t I? I am six years old. My mother, a beautiful woman of thirty-five who looks ten years younger, sings...

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Faithless: Is Anyone, Really?

2009-06-10T10:10:00.002-04:00

Many people identify their faith with a religious belief system. Not everyone though. I’ll always remember my father’s response to reading the short paper I’d written right after having the...

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Spiritual Experience vs. Realization: Broadening the Question

2009-06-07T19:55:00.002-04:00

Lisa E. at MommyMystic has sometimes posted about what she calls the distinction between “spiritual experience” and “spiritual realization.” The distinction seems to have occurred to her (me too)...

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Tips for a Better Mid Term Memory and a sort of Post Within a Post - or at least Notes for Another Post - on Coping with Pain

2009-06-06T22:23:00.006-04:00

Short term memory is when you have to hold onto things for no more than a few minutes – for example, someone tells you a phone number and you have to rummage around before you can find a pen and...

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Creative Memorization: You Can Try This at Home

2009-06-04T15:02:00.002-04:00

Going by comments to the previous thread, there’s general agreement that activities that leave the conscious mind open and relaxed help the creative process. It lets the subconscious operate freely....

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Creativity, the Unconscious and Showering with Lisa

2009-06-02T11:58:00.003-04:00

“I think it's the water, but also the sense that I am done, that allows my mind to relax enough that new insight gets in.” - Lisa at Mommy Mystic – on my previous post's thread, discussing how...

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How Your Words Can Kill Your Creative Writing

2009-05-31T12:29:00.003-04:00

Did you know that your words can kill your creative writing? Odd sounding, but true. I made this discovery while jogging. But what I’m going to say here applies just as much to other activities that...

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Love and Ego

2009-05-29T10:49:00.003-04:00

Jan, thanks for having me back… It seems to me that most human beings are aware of having a greater nature and a lesser; a more expansive, generous self, and a self full of agitated emotions. The...

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Spiritual and Religious Difficulties

2009-05-27T12:25:00.006-04:00

Martin Luther struggled with a terrible sense of sinfulness. He tried all the tools at the disposal of a monk of his time time to overcome it: not just a great deal of time and effort spent in...

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Veteran Warriors: America’s Most Unknown Soldiers

2009-05-25T09:31:00.003-04:00

It struck me as odd this morning that while Civil War soldiers are counted among American veterans, I’ve never heard the original American-on-American war referenced on Memorial Day. That struggle...

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Enlightened Ducks

2009-05-21T22:32:00.002-04:00

An article on Urban Monk.net begins with an interesting metaphor. I started to leave a comment and decided to turn it into a post. From UM.net: "Two ducks float peacefully along in their pond;...

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Altered States of Consciousness: Can Your Brain Do This?

2009-05-21T12:06:00.004-04:00

I thought I’d do a couple or a few or maybe a series of posts on ASCs. I guess pain could count as an altered state of consciousness, so that last post got me started. Here’s one of the most unusual...

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Meditation on Pain, Especially Toenails

2009-05-18T20:48:00.003-04:00

(Thank you to Lisa at Mommy Mystic for inviting me to guest post. I like Lisa's writing. She's a good thinker and she expresses herself clearly in a subject area where this isn't always...

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Guest Post, plus: School Phobia

2009-05-15T19:18:00.005-04:00

Thanks to Lisa at Mommy Mystic for inviting me to guest post. I like Lisa's writing. She's a good thinker and she expresses herself clearly in a subject area where this isn't always easy. And thanks...

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What I Mean by “Spiritual” and “Psychological”

2009-05-13T23:21:00.002-04:00

I use the words “spiritual” and “psychological” as follows: “Spiritual” refers to the most powerfully experienced, powerfully motivating and therefore the most productive and creative aspects of our...

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The Spiritual and the Psychological

2009-05-10T23:33:00.002-04:00

What do you think the relationship between them is? Some related questions: Does “spiritual” presume belief in the supernatural? What kinds of experiences belong in the spiritual category? If the...

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Spiritual Streamlining Elaborated

2009-05-07T17:50:00.002-04:00

From last time . . . Streamline the process. Get over it -- whatever it is – in no more time than it has to take. No lingering. Learn how to get to, “What’s done is done” – or you will be finished...

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