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Jesus: The Original “New Age” Thinker
By
smcswain
You are a “New Age” Christian. What does this mean? And, why must people constantly label others? My critics sometimes say to me, “You’ve just become too ‘New Age’ for me.” Or, “You’re just another ‘New Ager.” What is meant by this criticism? I am not quite sure. Here are a few guesses, however. 1.…
Meditation: The Key to Living a Sacred Life
By
smcswain
Meditation is the key to living a sacred life. It is the key that unlocks the chamber to an inner life of tranquility. Meditation is also the indispensable discipline you must practice in order to know a sacred, spiritual life. If meditation is the indispensable link, therefore, even the key to living a sacred life,…
The Song of Birds at Spring…
By
smcswain
The birds are singing this morning. Do you hear them? Or, are you dashing about preparing to plunge into the business of living on Monday morning?I will be, too, but the song I heard this morning stopped me right smack in the middle of the madness. Were it not for the winter that remains… …the…
Want to Be Free…Truly Free? Here’s How!
By
smcswain
The Buddha used the word “anata” to refer to “no self.” What did he mean? The same thing Jesus meant when he said, “Deny thyself” (Matt. 16:24). Then, what did these two spiritual teachers mean? Detachment is the word, my friend. Or, to put it another way, “Let go.” “But let go of what?” you…
How Do You Grow in Christ?
By
smcswain
“Be no longer children,” wrote the Apostle Paul, “but grow up in Christ” (Eph. 4:15). All my spiritual life…for as long as I can remember…religious people have sincerely, but mistakenly, exhorted me to “grow up in Christ.” It sounded reasonable. And, they were quoting Saint Paul. But what did most of these religious people really…
Is There Really a Heaven or Hell?…
By
smcswain
I suppose. If you need them. But here’s another consideration. In Falling Upward, Father Richard Rohr writes… “When you do not know who you are, you push all enlightenment off into a possible future reward and punishment system, within which hardly anyone wins. Only the True Self knows that heaven is now and that its…
Faith So Simple…As a Mustard Seed…So Why Does Religion Complicate Faith?
By
smcswain
Faith is so simple. So very simple. It is religion that complicates it. Why? Control, perhaps. Distinction from other religions, maybe. I’m not quite sure. What I do know is that faith is not about either control or distinction. Instead, it is about release, the turning loose of all attachments. When Jesus said, “If you…
What Is Salvation? Enlightenment? Awakening? Learning to Let Go…
By
smcswain
Fr. Thomas Keating, the Trappist monk, said “Discernment is a process of letting go of what we are not. “Discernment” is yet another word, similar in meaning to enlightenment, awakening, salvation. All of these words point to the process of “letting go,” as Keating puts it, “of what we are not.” What are we not?…
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