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The Way of the Sacred
The concept of the sacred is fuzzy in this profane world in which we live. Most people think of priests in robes intoning lengthy Latin phrases or perhaps a cathedral comes to mind. The sacred demands a solemn mindset, a long face, and soft voices. None of this is true, of course, being just an imitation of the sacred. The priests and the massive stone churches with their intricate stained glass windows may or may not participate in the sacred. The definition of sacred is ‘connected to God’. Rituals seem connected to God, but often, they are meaningless repetitions of something that mentions God at regular intervals. But the Christian,…
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How to Make Meaning out of Suffering
Suffering without meaning is the hardest kind of agony to bear. Humans will put themselves through all sorts of torture, endure any kind of hell if only some meaning is attached to it. Parents whose children are killed by random gunmen or drunk drivers begin awareness campaigns. The thought that their children’s brief lives and sudden deaths held no meaning is the cross that is too hard to bear. Others of us begin to tell our stories, justifying the horrors faced by the hopeful thought that perhaps we can prevent even just one from going down the dead end we did. Or we frame our errors with inspirational quotes about…
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Six Signs You Experience an Abundant Life
I suppose each person has their own idea of what an abundant life looks like, but I am pretty sure people agree on what it feels like to lack one. The promise of an abundant life is perhaps one of the most abused promises precisely because of our individual interpretations. And when those interpretations are mostly external, expectations are likely to be disappointed. The one sure place to look for signs of an abundant life is the only one who really understood what one was. And I suppose even Jesus, like the rest of us, suffered interruptions of that life, particularly in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross.…
Healing Through Art & Words
