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Eliminating Trans-fatty Chaos
Eliminating Trans-fatty Chaos
Not all chaos is bad, true if you ask the universe, itself in states of chaos. The stars beyond exist in a swirling soup of tumbling energy, opening outward in rhythmic bliss. But some chaos, like some fats, are not...
The Cliché of Balance
The world we are living in is changing at a fast pace. Never before in the history of mankind that change was so enormous and rapid. This roller coaster ride of change is affecting every aspect of our lives. From relationship to work, from the...
The Five Essential Secrets of Managing Your Energy Successfully
Inspirational author Vernon Howard wrote, "Would you be worried over a $300 house payment if you had $3,000,000 in the bank? Spiritually, that is the way it can be for you."
We can use our energy in one of two ways. We can use it to battle...
The Three 'You'
Today if we are asked as to what kind of person we are, we tend to say, we are not a GOOD HUMAN BEING. We say this not out of modesty but out of guilt-stricken sincerity. Though we don’t call ourselves Bad, we don’t consider ourselves Good either....
To Find Balance, Retreat!
When our lives get out of balance we experience stress. The stress may come from work, relationships, health challenges, legal challenges, the environment or any combination of factors. Stress in of itself is not so bad but when experienced...
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Quick! Throw Me A Line!
I was reminiscing with a friend recently about his ‘dark night of the soul’ that he’d just experienced. During his pain, he turned his back on God. Raised in a traditional Catholic family he found himself very angry at God and at the church during an especially ugly divorce and custody battle. As he’s coming back into himself, we’ve been talking and processing together through a lot of what happened and what he’s been through. It took him three years to even begin to let go of the extreme rage he felt when she first left him. I had tried desperately to guide him through his hell with the help of my spiritual beliefs, but he was just too mad at God to hear any of it. His issues had nothing to do with me, but they just about ended our friendship because of his overwhelming anger at the entire world and everyone in it.
Why would God let this happen to him? Hadn’t he been a good person? Hadn’t he given an incredible amount of his time and money to the church? If doing good deeds creates a positive karmic result, then what the heck just happened to turn his world upside down? I’ve seen it happen to a lot of people. Bad things happen so there must not be a god – or – God must not like them anymore. Either way, people feel abandoned by their concepts of religion and by their god. Like so many others, my friend went through hell without believing there was a God to look after him. It took him a long time to even begin the healing process as a result.
It was hard to talk to him about spirituality during that time. It didn’t help that we had such a polarity in our different belief systems. I’m really quite metaphysical and New Age while he was extremely traditional and orthodox in his Catholicism. We didn’t even speak the same language when trying to discuss our religious leanings. One of the major signs that he’s finally beginning to come around and heal is his openness to even discuss the topic of spirituality without going off into a tirade over the injustices that God had forced him to endure.
As we sat there talking about it all the other night, I finally found the words the perfect analogy that I’d been searching for over those three years. I use the term “spirit” as a generic term for God, Buddha, Mohammed, The Force, Guardian Angels, The Light, or whatever else you like to call it. Please replace the word “spirit” with whatever label you use to describe your idea of what that higher something is…. This isn’t the place to debate such things. The analogy fits regardless of your religious beliefs.
“Spirit is like a life preserver. When you find yourself drowning in hot water, it’s not the life preserver’s fault that you somehow landed yourself there. Life preserver’s aren’t put on the boat to keep you from falling over. However, when you find yourself there, struggling, drowning, suffering from life’s problems, you will respond one of three ways. You might panic and struggle
causing you to sink deeper. The harder you fight it, the heavier you seem to get and you begin sinking like a rock. That’s what my friend did. You might try to swim on your own, but the world and it’s ocean is a big place and humans aren’t designed to swim alone forever. You will eventually drown from the sheer exhaustion of trying to go it alone. Your third option is to reach for that life preserver, relax and trust that it will bring you above water so that you can once again breathe freely. The life preserver won’t pull you back up into the boat, but it will keep you from drowning as long as you trust that you will again be above water and you will see the sunlight on your face again.”
To me that’s what spirituality is really all about. We’re supposed to handle our problems and circumstances on our own. That’s the way the game was designed to be played. We are meant to reach out to our fellow man in times of need and to offer a hand to others in need. Some celestial being from above isn’t suppose to bail us out of every problem every time. We’re supposed to learn how to love one another through life’s challenges. If we have a strong connection to Spirit while holding on to that life preserver, and we relax in the knowing that everything will turn out for the best, then eventually our head does pop up above water and we do breathe in the fresh air of life once again. Then we can turn to our companions and request their help in getting back up into the boat. Once again, sailing off into another sunset.
My friend liked my analogy. Why couldn’t I find those words three years ago? Would he have listened if I had? Hard to say. There were times I jumped into the water with him and tried to pull him out, but like any lifeguard knows, you can’t save someone who’s fighting and panicking through the process. I threw that life preserver out to him more times than I can count, but he always swam away from it. There were times I thought to leave him there to drown, but it seemed a bit too cold and cruel to just leave him there. Finally, my own Guardian Angels told me, “Let him alone. He must find his own way.” And so it appears that’s what he’s doing. He seems to have found a life preserver and some peace with his god. Next time, somebody ought to just throw a lasso around him whether he wants it or not and then drag him along behind the boat until he’s ready to stand up like a water-skier!
Copyright 2003, Skye Thomas, Tomorrow’s Edge
Skye Thomas began writing books and articles with an everyday practical approach to spirituality, motivation, and inspiration in 1999 after twenty years of studying spirituality, metaphysics, motivation, and parenting. More of her articles can be found at www.tomorrowsedge.net as well as free previews of her books.
skye@tomorrowsedge.net
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Spirituality.com: from the Christian Science Publishing Society |
Christian Science Publishing Society presents spirituality.com -- practical spirituality and healing prayer explored through feature articles, ... |
www.spirituality.com |
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Spirituality - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit. The spiritual, involving (as it may) perceived eternal verities regarding ... |
en.wikipedia.org |
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SFT - December 2006 - Home Page |
Spirituality for Today is an interactive monthly magazine dedicated to a variety of current themes and questions concerning the Christian faith in this ... |
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Spirituality & Health |
Ideas and advice about practices, products, self-tests, news and essays, and a virtual community dedicated to leading a more spiritually fulfilling and ... |
www.spiritualityhealth.com |
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Indiatimes - Spirituality |
You can consult our panel of experts on spiritual and mental probems. ... Jagjit Singh: Spirituality is a way of life I have faith in a Higher Power, ... |
spirituality.indiatimes.com |
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NATIVE AMERICAN SPIRITUALITY |
A general overview with quotes, essays, and links. |
www.religioustolerance.org |
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NEW AGE SPIRITUALITY |
In-depth article defines the New Age movement and some of the core beliefs, explains the traditions from which it is rooted, describes the confusions caused ... |
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Spirituality - kabbalah inspiration prayer |
Add inspiration to your life by discovering jewish spirituality, kabbalah and prayer on aish.com. Read a daily lift and be inspired. |
www.aish.com |
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All Things Spiritual Directory |
A searchable directory of thousands of spiritual and religious websites. Includes all major topic areas relating to spirituality and religion, ... |
www.allspiritual.com |
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Holistic Spirituality -- Beliefnet.com |
Holistic Spirituality Homepage. ... Holistic Spirituality. The Past Life of Your First Kiss. Interview by Laura Sheahen. With a new book on reincarnation, ... |
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Beliefnet.com |
Features articles on God, faith, prayer, the nature of spirituality, society and ethics, with numerous resources. All religions respected. |
www.beliefnet.com |
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Religion and Spirituality in the Yahoo! Directory |
Yahoo! reviewed these sites and found them related to Religion and Spirituality. |
dir.yahoo.com |
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About - Religion & Spirituality |
Get information and resources on spirituality and world religions from Christianity to Islam to Judaism. Our religious experts offer insight on where ... |
about.com |
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Spirituality |
The Orthodox Church proclaims the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In the Greek language, the word for Gospel is Evangelion which means literally "the good news. |
www.goarch.org |
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reasoned spirituality a logical exploration of life |
A philosophical exploration of spirituality, human behaviour, and the quest for the meaning of life. |
www.reasoned.org |
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Spirituality - AllAboutSpirituality.org |
Spirituality - Learn about the spirit world and why people are fascinated by mystical experiences. Discover a real and personal spirituality. |
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Spirituality |
The three foundational characteristics of spirituality are Faith, ... Join forces with others who have a healthy spirituality in their own lives. ... |
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.:: Jesus : spirituality::. |
This section of rejesus.co.uk focuses on prayer and meditation offering resources for daily prayer, learning about spirituality and a virtual labyrinth to ... |
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Science of Spirituality |
An organization committed to a spiritual way of life based on meditation and service to others. News, events, and resources. |
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Spirituality: See what people are saying right now on Technorati |
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