…stories of growth and stages of belief…
One concept I feel our society needs more awareness of is the distinction between two different levels of religion. In very general terms religion can be split into two categories. For simplicity, let’s just call them Stage Two and Stage Four.
Before I learned about this distinction I remember being very confused. I saw some Read the rest of this entry »
By Judith Beckman - author of “What Price Priesthood?”
Don’t get me wrong! I’m very thankful that God chose me to be born to a Catholic father who adhered to strict Catholic doctrine and made sure that all his children were baptized and raised in the Catholic church. It was not an issue of whether or not we would go to church, just like it was not an issue of whether or not we would eat three meals a day. Going to church was an essential part of living. Thanks to my father’s religious values I started learning Read the rest of this entry »
My women’s group, The Daughters of EOS, was on it’s annual getaway, this one at Sea Ranch. We were six that weekend, settling into an afternoon stroll along the high path above the rocks, curving toward the shore. My partner Read the rest of this entry »
Upward through the lush green hills we drove to the Tilden Ball on a late April evening. We watched the temperature gauge in the car begin to fall as we rose into the mountains: 52, 49, 46 degrees. We drove passed the steam train sign and a green meadow, into the dark Read the rest of this entry »
Nobody in my family believed in God. My grandmother came from a family of freethinkers, radicals who threw over the old religion way back in the mid 19th century. My grandfather walked out Read the rest of this entry »
“Do unto others as you would have done unto you.” Throughout my thirty plus years searching for a spiritual practice that felt comfortable, this was the one phrase that consistently revealed itself to me. In my non-academic study of world creeds, I discovered that every major religion Read the rest of this entry »
Another Abresch poem:
The Circus
I struggled out of my bed
the day the circus passed through town Read the rest of this entry »
I was raised a Christian – a more liberal variety (Disciples of Christ). I was taught the basic belief of Christ and God and rules of being a Christian. However, when I was 15 my older sister (16 years old) died from a cancer that had never been seen before. My sister was brilliant and it seemed that she had so much to offer this world. My family had a difficult time dealing with this, and my mother began to Read the rest of this entry »
I just watched this video today….and decided to share it on the blog: http://www.holons-news.com/node/58. (You have to scroll way down on the page after clicking on the link- then start the video.) This is Ken Wilber expounding on some of his theories - along with Father Thomas Keating, who is unfortunately shown not saying a word - about spirituality. If you haven’t read his work before Read the rest of this entry »
About ten years ago I served for a number of years as a Eucharistic Minister for my Catholic parish in New Jersey. This is a lay person who is allowed to distribute communion alongside the priest during mass and who can bring communion to someone who is ill at home or in the hospital. I felt proud and considered it an honor and privilege but there was Read the rest of this entry »