This past Sunday I finally had enough time to plant some tulip bulbs so I can have a really showy front yard next spring.

Yes, I’ve planted a few bulbs in the past, one or two at a time.  And they’ve come through with minimal showy effects.  But this year I couldn’t ignore the screamin’ deal Costco had for 100 promises of color and bought them.

Why am I telling you this?  What’s it got to do with Spiritual Practices?

Well, in the  [read more →]

Shift happens, right?

I’m thinking about the winds of change. It’s been a year of change for me, and I’ve had reason to reflect on the metaphor of being as a seed upon the wind, and the idea of comfort on the edge of uncertainty, what I read someone recently describe as “learning to dance on a moving carpet.” I like that idea very much.

Shift happens, and what we do with it is our choice, our decision.
I’ve been rereading Howard Thurman,  [read more →]

I’ve been mulling all the big concepts of late: God and how God works, what it means to be reborn and what transcendence is … I’ll work my way up to rebirth and transcendence.

But for whatever reason I’ve been thinking about that movie, “Limitless,” about a struggling writer (and the writers are always struggling in these block-busters, have you noticed that?  Whose false belief is that, exactly?) who takes an experimental drug that allows him to use 100 percent of  [read more →]

I’ve been thinking a lot about grace and gratitude of late.

Divine grace has been defined as “the sovereign favor of God for humankind, irrespective of actions, earned worth or proven goodness.” Thank God for that!

More broadly, divine grace refers to God’s gifts to humankind, including life, the means by which individual souls evolve. Makes sense, but that’s really profound when you think about it. Without God-given life, you wouldn’t evolve.
The idea of grace is represented in the Hebrew  [read more →]

In Science of Mind, we cut out the middleman. This is the really exciting stuff. “Direct revelation of truth.” That is huge. That means you don’t need layers of a religious institution to broker God for you. It also means that while we understand God to be present in the world’s faith traditions, we view interpretations differently.

So, for example, we know Jesus to be an example, not an exception, and to be followed, to serve as a model for  [read more →]

Luke: There’s something not right here… I feel cold. Death.
Yoda: That place… is strong with the dark side of the Force. A domain of evil it is….    In you must go.
Luke: What’s in there?
Yoda: Only what you take with you.

I love how Wisdom expresses itself.  The above quote is a small part of the Star Wars franchise.  There are many more obvious lines and ideas that express Spiritual concepts in this series, but this one stands out to me.  Maybe  [read more →]

Some of the most spiritual people I know are very religious. Many have their own congregation and certainly base their life, their teachings and their spirituality off of an established spiritual tradition. I have the utmost respect for those who find and walk their spiritual path as part of a religion.

So why the name “Spiritual Not Religious”? Simply put, it is what people are searching for. And I mean that in the literal “Google” search sense. And if there is  [read more →]

“Show and Prove” is a phrase we used a lot when I was younger. Usually it was when someone on the basketball court would talk about how great their jump shot was and how there was no way to stop them. Show and Prove. Let’s get this game going and see if your actions match those words.

I have been observing in my own life where I need to Show and Prove. At first that was with the simple example of  [read more →]

Do you know what you want? Do you know what would make you happy? If someone told you to follow your bliss, would you have any idea what that is?

A practice many of us engage in is the practice of asking ourselves, “What is my Good?” This isn’t meant as a superficial question. It’s meant to be a deep inquiry into the desires of our heart. When I’m with someone during this inquiring process I notice that the body always  [read more →]

I’m not sure where I heard the above statement, but it made sense and stayed with me. Besides, I love statements that come packaged in sound bites.

“Hurt people, hurt people” reminds me that when a person has been hurt deeply in the past or is hurting now, it’s common for them to lash out at others. A hurtful person has been hurt by something or someone in their past. This doesn’t excuse bad behavior, but it helps us understand others  [read more →]