100 Steps To Eternity - Spirituality

Overcoming Burn Out
Burn out, it can happen to anyone. Some of the common signs of burn out can be (although not an all inclusive list) depression, mental, emotional and spiritual fatigue, overreacting to little things, negativity, lack of concern over the work / tasks that need to be done, frustration, anger, feelings of powerlessness, weight loss or gain, insomnia.

5 Shortcuts to a Life of Charity
Charity isn't the easiest virtue to master. And with St. Paul's warning that our good works mean nothing without charity, we see how important it is to practice. Here's a few practical ways to install charity into every day life.

The Power of Simplicity in Holistic Living
What does it take to live life holistically?

Bone Box of the Rich and Famous
The contrast between the two men could not have been more striking. Caiaphas, the high priest, was among the rich and famous, arguably the most powerful Jew alive in A.D. 30. He had married into the high priest's family and now was himself high priest for a year by Roman appointment. With a PhD-level rabbinic education, Caiaphas was urbane and sophisticated.

A Walk With A King
I seemed to have lost my heart. Now this is not just another love story gone awry. This is not another failed relationship or break- up that I usually dwell on. This is one of my spiritual stories, and I am starting it this way because I want to apologize. I want to apologize to God, my Father, my Creator, and to Jesus, my Lord and Savior. I feel the need to express myself because I think I have given them a back seat into my heart as of late and I feel I may have put up a barrier and am distancing myself somewhat from everyone including them, and yes maybe sometimes I need to distance myself from my fellow sisters and brothers but I never have a right to distance myself from the One who created me and the one who Saved me. I do want to say I am sorry. You know my true heart and know whether I mean that or not.

The Power of One
Yes, we are living in a world where we are constantly shown, by the media, man's inhumanity toward each other through violence, terrorism, and war. Never has there been a time that our light is more needed than now. During this powerful time in history we, as a group of conscious beings, actually can shift the awareness of the planet. The soul work we are doing has prepared us perfectly for this precise moment. Our voices, actions and intentions will inspire and heal so many. No longer can we just pray and visualize our government making conscious choices; it is essential that we combine our spiritual practices with uplifting words and positive action.

Love vs. Fear - Volume 18
Breaking with tradition, today's article comes from the 9-23-04 edition of Sojomail. Sojomail is produced by Sojourners; an evangelical journal, and calls itself a 'weekly email-zine of spirituality, politics and culture.' I personally object to their use of the term spirituality, because they are decidedly Christian oriented. For them to replace the word 'spirituality' with the word 'Christianity' would be a lot more accurate. I do feel that the good people at Sojourners do have very wonderful intentions. I just wish they didn't feel the need to route all their efforts through Christianity, to the exclusion of billions of the earth's inhabitants.

Will the World Really End on December 12, 2012?
I was recently asked how I interpreted the Mayan and Hopi predictions that the world, as we know it, will end on the 21st of December 2012. Would there be global war - possibly triggering a nuclear holocaust? Would the planet's life forms finally succumb to the ecological quagmire that's been building in our soils, oceans and atmosphere? Would the current steady increase of previously unknown diseases overcome our ability to defend against them? Or will we suddenly move into a new Golden Age in which the lion lies down with the lamb and struggle, pain, and suffering are gone forever?

People Fail in Life Because They Do Not Plan
Life is growth. For many people life is like a merry go round. They feel life is going to work, paying bills, spend time with family that is it. You must always ask this question. Is this all I want in my life? Are you utilizing your God given potential? You must make a choice of how you want to live your life.

Animal Spirits: Power Animals and Guides
We shamans are a strange breed.....often we tend to isolate ourselves from those around us. However, this does not mean we don't have relationships..........in fact we often have too many to handle at any one time. You see, we are connecting to many levels of reality and inter-relating with all of them at the very same time. So while we are in a group of people....we are also talking to the spirit world and often the animal guides all at once. It's a difficult balancing act..to say the least. Often we must decide which is the most important communication at that point in time. Sometimes the animal spirit guides are giving us very critical data, so we choose to stay focused on that for the moment.

Beware of the Lobby Lizards
Our church is infested with lobby lizards. They crawl around the lobby of the church while other activities are going on as if they already have mastered the topic the pastor is discussing. Maybe they have memorized the Bible so studying it in a small group isn't necessary. Whatever the case, the lobby lizards are multiplying!

The Springtime of Peace
The deeper beauty of spring is its process. In winter's last days, as the sun warms the earth, each root and branch awakens to the patterned memory of who it is and what it can be. Life stirs and nature's growth in turn awakens all of us to the glories of being fully alive.

The Recipe for Love - Christmas Special
"This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:12-13) KJV

Letting Go of Judgment - Finding Good (God) In Others
"I resolve to speak ill of no man?and proper occasions speak all the good I know of everybody." -Benjamin Franklin

Strangers In This World
Christians all over the world will all be tempted in different ways. One problem we all will face is being tempted to conform to the world. Everyday we face the demands of jobs, raising children, and days with too much to do in too little time. Stress starts building up and it gets more difficult to make the right decisions. John 15:19 says 'If you belonged to the world, the world would treat you with affection and would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world (no longer one with it), but I have chosen (selected) you out of the world, the world hates (detests) you.'

A Meaningful Relationship That is Not Yukky
Good morning Roy, good morning Joseth

Psychotherapy and Spiritual Growth
The teacher of the future.... will be a master of integrating both of these pillars that normally operate independently of each other. The poor ego gets a bad rap. Historically, the psychotherapist has worked on helping an individual develop a healthy ego while the spiritual teacher assists in transcending the ego. It is important to understand that ego is nothing more than a Latin word for "I" -- so the therapist is assisting the individual in developing a healthy identity that is absolutely necessary. Think about it...how can you transcend something you don't even

Giving From the Heart
I thought for sometime that I was hard done bye with having to produce this newsletter and manage my web site with old computer equipment that was so slow that I could have cat naps between the time one program would close and another opened. This had a mixed blessing in that I could work for hours without having to stop and rest so there were some advantages to having archaic equipment. What good does it do to be able to type 70 wpm and the computer processes only 30 wpm.

The Purpose of Life, Told by an Agnostic
Talked to an interesting person today at a coffee shop, after about 10 minutes or so told me he was an atheist. Which is interesting and lends it self as to why we were having this particular conversation about "THE MEANING OF LIFE".

Pebbles of Wisdom
Coming face to face with yourself in the space between the beginning and end of the transitions in your life is a scary place to be. Going backward in not an option. Going forward is just as unimagineable without a road map. It's where your soul meets the devil. It's where hope and hopelessness are synonomous. You come face to face with your demons as your self protective ego runs scampering into the darkness realizing she no longer fools you with her grandiose schemes and plans. And without the protection from your ego your old self defeating habits take over your life and side rail your best intentions to be that productive person you long ago ceased to be.