General Christian Minimalism and the Christian Life What do you think of when you hear the word “minimalism”? Do you picture an almost-empty room devoid of color or furnishings, except maybe a bed? Literally, nothing else exists in this room. Bonus points if the room has glass walls. Minimalism is nothing like that picture, which is about what isn’t there—and that’s only […] Written by Red Letter Christians May 17, 2021May 17, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Buddhist Crying – An Understanding It is often said that crying is cathartic. To what extent is that true? I wrote a post last year that took the position that crying was not the release of pain but an expression of pain. And as such, as an expression of emotion, it only strengthened the emotion and thus increased the […] Written by Ronald Hirsch May 16, 2021May 16, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Buddhist Courage of the Heart Very often what nourishes our spirit most is what brings us face to face with our greatest limitations and difficulties. My teacher Ajahn Chah called this “practicing against the grain,” or “facing into one’s difficulties.” Every life has periods and situations of great difficulty that call on our spirit. Sometimes we are faced with the […] Written by Jack Kornfield May 15, 2021May 15, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Buddhist Veils of perception :: Initial unveiling In 2017, I posted an exploration into how we look at life through filters of fear and how that distorts perception and causes problems in our lives and in the world. But if we simply remove the filters of fear, like lenses on a camera, would our view be completely clear? Probably not. We still […] Written by Stephanie Noble May 14, 2021May 14, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian Counselor’s Corner—Psalm 23 & 3 Tips to Handle Stress It’s been a strange and difficult year. As soon as I feel adjusted to one new hard thing, another shows up. And I know that it’s not just me who’s experiencing life like this. We are experiencing stressors stacked up, one on top of each other. And the bigger the stack, the worse we feel. […] Written by intervarsity May 13, 2021May 13, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Evangelical Four Words that Help Us to Define Counseling The New Testament uses four different words to emphasize the more concentrated aspect of disciple-making that we call counseling. The meanings and uses of these words help us to envision a well-rounded ministry that is geared toward helping people change. Parakaleo — First, according to Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, the […] Written by Paul Tautges May 12, 2021May 12, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian Tired of Looking for the Exit A teen who happens to be gay sits in a church youth group of friends when the LGBTQ subject comes up. Seats shift. Arms cross. Eyes look down. A few make nervous jokes. Some voices are affirming. Others are not. “Weird.” “I don’t get it.” “Not natural.” “Love the sinner; hate the sin.” This last […] Written by Red Letter Christians May 11, 2021May 11, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
General Christian Come to Me All You Who are Angry During the last recession—the one they called “great”—I lost my home to foreclosure. I also lost my savings to survival, my credit to bankruptcy, a best friend to cancer, a loved one to alcoholism, and (almost) my marriage to the upending grief of it all. Having been raised in a progressive christian family, I knew […] Written by Red Letter Christians May 11, 2021May 11, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Buddhist Compassion for Imperfection What if you could love yourself fully, including your imperfections? What if you could love others in the same way? You might fear that by loving your anger or laziness, your addictions or your anxiety, that you will never change for the better, that you will become more angry, lazy, addicted, or anxious. But if […] Written by Jack Kornfield May 10, 2021May 15, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Buddhist Dhammapada: The Story of Thera Sariputta While residing at Veluvana, the Bamboo Grove monastery in Rajagaha, the Buddha uttered Verses (11) and (12) of this book, with reference to Sanjaya, a former teacher of the Chief Disciples, the Venerable Sariputta and the Venerable Moggallana (formerly Upatissa and Kolita). Upatissa and Kolita were two youths from Upatissa and Kolita, two villages near […] Written by Minerva Lee May 9, 2021May 9, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Buddhist Through a mother’s eyes Mom & me Happy Mother’s Day to moms, step-moms, birth-moms, adoptive moms, foster moms, grand-moms, and everyone who has ever been a primary caregiver for a child. Thank you for your service to humanity! Interesting fact: Did you know why humans are so much more helpless than babies of other species? Apparently, for us to […] Written by Stephanie Noble May 8, 2021May 8, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
Buddhist The Origins of Fear It is commonly thought that fear is a natural human condition. One points to the “flight or fight” reaction of primitive man or moving your hand from flame, and finds in those reactions the evidence of fear being present in humans from the beginning. I disagree. Flight and moving one’s hand from a […] Written by Ronald Hirsch May 8, 2021May 8, 2021 Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
