It’s an ancient tradition. Over the last 1500 years or so, Christians have observed a period of prayer and fasting prior to Easter. In time, a forty-day period (Sundays aren’t included because Sundays are a memorial of Easter) emerged within the Christian tradition and came to be called Lent. The… Read More »Lent and the God of Jesus
Springtime is drawing near in the northern hemisphere. Days are becoming longer as sunlight continues into the evening. Snow and ice have begun to melt off in many regions. The first flowers poke out of the ground while tree limbs swell and buds begin to appear. There’s a sense of… Read More »Renewed in Spring
He was sweet and full of energy: a blond-haired, blue-eyed six-year-old boy. He had a smile and laugh that conveyed joy to others. His name was Chris. I met him when on the pediatric unit of the hospital I served as a chaplain in the early 1980s. Over the next… Read More »Faith in the Midst of Tragedy
A profound hopelessness. A feeling of helplessness. The experience of powerlessness. A pessimistic outlook for the future. These are various aspects of despair. Despair is a common human experience. When things are going poorly, really poorly, when it seems like the bottom is falling out of life and we don’t… Read More »The Way Out Is Through
It’s the middle of February. A couple of weeks ago, on February 2, a welcome messenger delivered good news: Punxsutawney Phil, a weather predicting groundhog, emerged from his burrow and didn’t see his shadow. This legendary sign is a prediction that there will be an early spring This past week,… Read More »Faith and Hope that There Will Be Spring
About a dozen of us sat in the classroom. Chairs had been moved around, not as a neat circle but turned so we could see each other. As psychologists-in-training, we were talking about clients — well, not about specific clients but types of clients and their problems. Who did we… Read More »The Soul Wound of Childhood Sexual Abuse
The following is a brief excerpt from my book, The Integrated Self: A Holistic Approach to Spirituality and Mental Health Practice. In this passage, I explain that the commonly used distinction between religion and spirituality is very narrow and prevents us from appreciating that spirituality is a dimension of all… Read More »Spirituality: A Dimension of Human Experience
In a few days, we in the United States will mark a national holiday commemorating the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. As we approach this commemoration, many people will participate in volunteer events to improve their communities through activities ranging from cleaning up neighborhoods, repairing homes for senior neighbors,… Read More »Can We Have a Dream?
