Step Two
The question you would seem to have to answer to be religious or spiritual is, “do you believe in God?” Even if you have no formal religious background or affiliation, belief in a God of some sort can seem like the main issue. Read More
Gary Boucher
I was a reader further back than I can now remember; but writing began for me, I think, in fourth grade, when I found a poem called “Where the Wild Geese Are.” I felt for the first time the power of words to shape mood and help us see the world in a new way. I wrote the first of what is now over a thousand poems that year. From there it was Marvel Comics leading me to science fiction and fantasy, to Isaac Asimov and Lord of the Rings, which took me to Shakespeare. All of these influences combined in me, to make the clarity of science, the grace and elegance of poetry, and the boundless imagination of science fiction the target I’m always aiming for in my writing--a goal that’s never perfectly reached, but where the fun lies in trying to come closer and closer.
Eating the Book
I’m about to step on what sometimes seems like the third rail of spirituality in the contemporary world, and talk about prayer. But before you decide to click on something more appealing, let me say at the outset that I understand and sympathize greatly with those who want nothing to do with that word. Read More
Still Is Still Moving To Me
Is the pandemic over, or not? Are we safe in returning to something like our pre-pandemic routine, or do we still have to wait? Read More
Spirituality and The Science of Recovery
In his 1977 film Annie Hall, Woody Allen’s character, Alvy Singer, says to the title character, played by Diane Keaton, “I’ve spent fifteen years in therapy. I’m gonna give him one more year, and then I’m going to Lourdes.” (The famous Roman Catholic healing site in France.) Read More
Alone Together
It used to be that when people heard about meditation, they often pictured someone with long hair and a beard, wearing Eastern-style clothes and a string of beads around their neck, sitting cross-legged in an excruciating posture like a pretzel, eyes closed and chanting some unfamiliar words. Read More
Meditations on Energy
This is the time of year when there’s always a lot of talk about light in the air. Read More
Thinking Mindfully
I remember my first communion. I was thirteen, and it came after three endless years of confirmation class. I was primed for it to be a big event: not only joining the mystical body of Christ as a full, adult member of the church—a sort of Lutheran bar mitzvah—but also my first taste of wine. Maybe the top of my head would be blown off by some great revelation. I didn’t know what to expect. Read More
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Meditation
Do you have any problems? Then meditation may not be the right thing for you. That might seem to be the message that’s emerging from some sources that are pushing back against the increasing popularity of meditation over the last decade or more, especially under the banner of “mindfulness,” which has become a buzzword in spiritual and therapeutic circles. Read More
Be What You Love: Create Your Own Meditations Part 2
Nonetheless, having a few hints and suggestions to try out does no harm. So I want to offer here some ideas that I’ve found useful—not so much to say “do this” as “try something like this,” in your own way. Read More
Be What You Love: Create Your Own Meditations Part 1
For at least 2,500 years, there was general agreement in spiritual circles around the world that some form of meditation was the best, quickest, most powerful way to deepen and transform the mind and gain access to the wiser, more real self within. Read More
ENOUGH! Can We Choose to Break Our Addictions? Part 2
We all have addictions, big or little…. We might, for example, be addicted to our own point of view, causing unnecessary harm through bigotry or hypocrisy. We might be addicted to coming in first, or never trying because it is all too hard. We might be addicted to getting people to say nice things about us, or making them angry with us so we can blame them for our misery…. In the end, we are addicted to our own self-pity. Read More
ENOUGH! Can We Choose to Break Our Addictions? Part 1
One of the main points about Buddhist teachings is that we can change our minds for the better. “Better” … means being in balance…. It means we accept the world for what it is and ourselves for what we are…. It means we give up the blame game…. It means accepting the things we cannot change and doing something about the things we can change, whether…inside our heads or outside in our homes and environment. Read More