For Christians, walking the Way of the Cross can be an unforgettable spiritual journey. As they stop to pray at each of the 14 Stations, the faithful are symbolically treading the path Jesus walked to Mount Calvary while reflecting on the suffering He endured.

The devotional prayers may be conducted personally or by an officiating celebrant who may move from station to station as congregants respond. The path begins when Jesus is condemned to death and concludes when he is placed in the tomb. In 1991 Pope St. John Paul II created a new scriptural version of the Stations.

Artistic depictions of the stations can be found on interior church walls as well as outside on the grounds and gardens. Catholics as well as Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians and other Protestant churches mark this significant season of the year by visiting the stations during Lentbetween Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

Via Dolorosa

The origins of the practice of praying the Stations of the Cross are believed to be connected to early Christians retracing Jesus steps from the site of his condemnation by Pontius Pilate to the place of his death. That practice continues today on the path known as the Via Dolorosa (The sorrowful road.)

Angie and Willliam Platfoot of Tipp City are among those who have participated in the meaningful tradition in Jerusalem. Angie, who grew up near Minster, Ohio has early memories of praying the Stations with the Sisters at school on Fridays with her classmates.

Everybody was farmers there so we did the stations on Sunday afternoon with our families, she remembers. Then, when our children were little we started doing them again.

Bill and Angie Platfoot walk on trails that circle the Lange Estate, which is home to the Transfiguration Center for Spiritual Renewal. The wooden structures, in the background, that line the paths are the way of the Cross that depicts the journey of Jesus to the place of his crucifixion. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Bill and Angie Platfoot walk on trails that circle the Lange Estate, which is home to the Transfiguration Center for Spiritual Renewal. The wooden structures, in the background, that line the paths are the way of the Cross that depicts the journey of Jesus to the place of his crucifixion. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Credit: JIM NOELKER

The couple has made two pilgrimages to Israelone in 2017 and another in 2019. On one of them, nine brothers and sisters and three in-laws accompanied the couple.

The experience, says Bill Platfoot, was very moving. You are following in the footsteps where Jesus walked and carrying a big wooden cross as you go from one station to the next, he explains. " You pray the rosary, youre meditating, its very spiritual. Its one of the highlights of my life, an experience I never dreamed Id have.

The Platfoots, who belong to West Milton Church of the Transfiguration, are fortunate to have access to stations both indoors and outdoors at their church as well as the Transfiguration Center for Spiritual Renewal in Ludlow Falls.

A beautiful outdoor walk

One of the loveliest places to walk the Stations is at the Transfiguration Center. Located on 173 acres of gently rolling land bordering the Stillwater River, the Center, endowed by Kathryn Lange as a retirement community for priests, is open to the public on weekdays and includes wooded trails, natural grasses, wildflowers, native birds and wildlife.

The Rev. John D. MacQuarrie, now pastor of St. Bernard parishes in Springfield, was serving in West Milton at the time the Center was created and says the stations were hand carved by local woodcarver, John Bookwalter.

John had a wood shop in West Milton for a good number of years, MacQuarrie remembers. He was a very creative fellow and people loved his art. He grew up in Transfiguration Parish and we asked him to make new stations for outdoor prayer and meditation based on Pope John Pauls more accurate scriptural references.

Bookwalter was given a book to follow with simple pictures and Bible references. According to our business manager and grounds keeper at the Lange Estate, John used different species of wood but mainly walnut, ash and oak. It took him about six to eight months; he finished in 2003. He died about six years later and I celebrated his funeral.

The Schoenstatt Shrine is on a pathway at the Lange Estate, which is home to the Transfiguration Center for Spiritual Renewal. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Credit: JIM NOELKER

The Schoenstatt Shrine is on a pathway at the Lange Estate, which is home to the Transfiguration Center for Spiritual Renewal. JIM NOELKER/STAFF

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Credit: JIM NOELKER

MacQuarrie adds that the sculptures were almost destroyed during the tornado and had to be moved to a new location outside of the woods.

Walking for social justice

For more than 30 years, a number of local faith organizations have collaborated to host a downtown Dayton Good Friday Walk for Justice and Peace in which the traditional devotional practice is paired with contemporary social justice issues.

The idea is to bring attention to the suffering of many people in our world and how from a faith perspective we are called to be aware of their suffering and think of ways in which we might help to alleviate it, explains Nick Cardilino, director for the Center for Social Concern at the University of Dayton. People have used the Stations of the Cross as a way to compare the suffering of various people to the suffering of Christ.

A Walk for Justice and Peace is held annually on Good Friday in downtown Dayton. Participants stop at various locations for the traditional stations of the cross Jesus walked to bring awareness to social issues. FILE

A Walk for Justice and Peace is held annually on Good Friday in downtown Dayton. Participants stop at various locations for the traditional stations of the cross Jesus walked to bring awareness to social issues. FILE

Examples? The first station, when Jesus is condemned to death, is recited in front of the Old Courthouse where the death penalty is referenced. In front of the YWCA, there is a focus on the lack of affordable child care tied to station number four where Jesus meets his mother.

Participants gather annually in downtown Dayton for a Walk for Justice and Peace on Good Friday to bring awareness to social issues. FILE

Participants gather annually in downtown Dayton for a Walk for Justice and Peace on Good Friday to bring awareness to social issues. FILE

A similar annual walk is held at UD. Like other Catholic churches around the world, UDs Chapel of the Immaculate Conception features the 14 stations prominently displayed on its walls, explains Scott Paeplow, associate director of Campus Ministry. Campus Ministry has led gatherings every Friday afternoon throughout Lent to pray the Stations together as a faith community as we journey through this liturgical season towards the celebration of the High Holy days of the Church.

In years past UD students, faculty and staff have also prayed the 14 stations through the lens of social justice and care for the marginalized through the annual observation of the Romero Stations of the Cross.

Praying at home

Stores that specialize in selling religious items offer a variety of products to enhance the devotional experience of praying the stations. Dayton Church Supply in downtown Dayton is a fourth-generation, family-owned business that carries products for both churches and home.

A wide variety of meditation booklets and pamphlets are available at the store, including those written especially for children.

There are home-bound people who want to do the stations but cant get to a church, explains Karen Klepacz. We have beads for meditation and prayer with the Stations on them, an olive wood crucifix with the stations and a new item for children with little windows that can be closed after they pray each station.

The stores second floor has a wall of sample stations that can be special ordered. Materials range from fiber glass and mosaics to wood carvings and fabric.

The store, located at 136 E 3rd St, is open from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. Phone: 937- 223-2521.

Bringing the stations to life

One of the eagerly anticipated Lentin events at Emmanuel Catholic Church in Dayton is an annual dramatic reenactment by young church members incorporating narration, meditations, acting and song. Thirty children, dressed in tunics created by volunteer moms, participated this year.

Youth at Emmanuel Catholic Church in Dayton participate in a Living Stations of the Cross. CONTRIBUTED

Youth at Emmanuel Catholic Church in Dayton participate in a Living Stations of the Cross. CONTRIBUTED

Jenn Dahlstrom of Beavercreek, who directs the special evening, says its been performed for the past 20 years. She says other churches in the Miami Valley have heard about it and asked for the script.

Fourteen-year-old Matthew Greiner, who participated for the first time this year, played the coveted role of Jesus.

Through my experience in the Living Stations of the Cross, I found that we can only understand a tiny bit of the pain Our Lord went through during His passion, he says.

Youth at Emmanuel Catholic Church in Dayton participate in a Living Stations of the Cross. CONTRIBUTED

Youth at Emmanuel Catholic Church in Dayton participate in a Living Stations of the Cross. CONTRIBUTED

HOW TO GO:

What: The Good Friday Walk for Justice and Peace

When: Noon to 2 p.m. Friday, April 15

Where: Beginning at Courthouse Square with stops through downtown. The walk will end at First Baptist Church, 111 West Monument, where a free soup lunch will be served.

Parking: Free on city streets throughout downtown and at the Church.

For more info: 937-229-2576

HOW TO GO:

What: The Stations of the Cross created by West Milton woodcarver, John Bookwalter. The grounds also include gardens, a goldfish pond, a reflection pond and miles of walking trails near the scenic Ohio River.

Where: Transfiguration Center for Spiritual Renewal, 3505 Calumet Road, Ludlow Falls, Ohio

Open: The grounds are open from sunrise to sunset seven days a week.

For more information: http://www.transfigurationcenter.com or call 937-698-7180.

Read the rest here:

Stations of the Cross, a spiritual journey, is observed in variety of ways in the Miami Valley - Dayton Daily News

The Chronicle

According to Proverbs 10:22, many people do not realize that cars and houses and riches are not the blessing; they are a result of the blessing.

To a Jewish child, it is not correct to point at a new car or house and say, look at my blessing because the blessing of God is intangible and immaterial. It is invisible to the naked eye.

The blessing is the stem and a car is a fruit of the blessing. Just as you cannot see the wind but can tell when it passes because of its force and the way it blows away papers and you cannot point at the paper and say, look at the wind, you cannot point at tangible and material things and call them blessings.

The blessing is what empowers you to obtain material riches. The blessing is the spiritual endowment that comes upon someone and is an empowerment to succeed.

It is not tangible and it cannot be seen. The Bible says that the blessing maketh one rich. This means instead of toiling you are to put your effort into looking for the blessing.

Jewish people devote their time in seeking the blessing. They understand the power of the blessing and will do anything to get it. To them the issue of a blessing is never taken for granted or lightly, it is a deep, serious spiritual matter.

In Genesis 24 we see Abraham sending a messenger to go and find a wife for his son Isaac. Genesis 24:53 tells us that Abrahams servant (messenger) gave Rebekah jewelry of silver, gold, and clothing. He even gave precious things to Rebekahs brother and to her mother. All these things were manifest in Abrahams life because he had the blessing.

Genesis 24:35The LORD has blessed my master greatly, and he has become great; and He has given him flocks and herds, silver and gold, male and female servants, and camels and donkeys. (NKJV)

When the blessing comes upon you there is no way that you will remain insignificant and obscure. We see that Abraham became great and he was influential.

He also had male and female servants. The blessing will take you from being an employee to being an employer. God mentioned all these things in the Bible because He wants us to have them. He desires us to have the blessing that He gave to Abraham.

God Bless.

[emailprotected]

See the original post here:

The blessing is Spiritual - Chronicle

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times? Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:21-22.

The number seven is mentioned 735 times in the Bible, a fact that endows this prime number with deep spiritual relevance. According to the Book of Genesis, God created the earth and the heavens, together with all the creatures in seven days on the seventh day, he rested. The number symbolically joins the universe and all its marvels to the creator; it completes all creation.

This grouping in sevens runs across the hundreds of pages of the Bible, from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Jesus uttered the famous seven last words that are laden with ominously stark meanings. They are laments of abandonment, of being forsaken, the loin cloth covering the nakedness, while hanging on for three hours, trussed, vilified and suspended between heaven and earth.

Traditions, beliefs and religion

In Roman Catholic iconography, Mary, the mother of God, manifests the self-sacrificing pain of her motherly humanity via the seven daggers piercing her heart, each symbolising episodes in the life of her son that caused her unspeakable distress. She silently soldiered on, first amid the prescience of Simeons prophecy uttered at the time of her young childs presentation in the Temple, where the old man told the new mother: And a sword will pierce your very soul.

The torments of her sons passion at Golgotha and his passing away through the most undignified of Jewish deaths would add other daggers, painfully piercing her very existence and soul.

The choice of venue for Sebga (Seven), the chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows, in Mqabba, is not coincidental. The chapel is dedicated to the sixth dagger in the series of sorrows, that of holding the Son of God, her child, as a corpse in her lap. The seventh and last sorrow is the actual burial, the separation of the dead from the living.

The deadly sins are also seven in number; vices that open the gateways to damnation: the price the soul pays for relenting to devilish temptations. The seven heavenly virtues can be looked upon as neutralising the sins by indicating the path to eternal salvation.

The number seven has found itself integrated into our traditions, such as in the seven days of mourning after the death of a relative or a close friend. Seven also figures in many occult invocations and in esoterica. It is invoked in the casting of spells and finds itself woven into the fabric of mathematical magic squares.

The wonders of the ancient world were seven, as well as the classical planets, thus relating to the numbers astrological significance. The Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, also mentions the number seven in apocalyptical contexts.

Besides Christianity and Judaism, Hinduism and Islam also extol the numbers purported extraordinary properties by regarding it as a mathematical manifestation of physical and spiritual completeness and perfection. Like the other prime numbers, it is divisible only by itself; it controls its own destiny no other number can affect or destroy it by reducing it to a singularity.

The 14 Stations of the Cross

In every Catholic cathedral, church and almost every chapel around the world, one finds the 14 Stations of the Cross, in painterly, sculptural, symbolic or numerical form, commemorating 14 instances in Christs passion, starting from His condemnation by Pontius Pilate to death on the cross and episodically leading up to His burial. A praying ritual devotes contemplation on each of the 14 stations. It is not coincidental that the exhibits for this exhibition are 14 in number, although they are specifically themed to only two of these stations.

Each station in the chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows is accompanied by an exhibit, thus integrating the artistic with a ritual of prayer into one whole narrative. For Sebga, Mark Mallia and Etienne Farrell have focused on two of these stations, the former on the 12th station and the latter on the 13th, which are probably the most salient ones in the whole group.

Mallias exploration of the seven vices

As Jesus hung on the cross, He forgave the soldiers who had crucified Him and prayed for His mother and friends. Jesus wanted all of us to be able to live forever with God, so He gave all He had for us. The 12th Station of the Cross

Mallia regularly revisits themes related to the passion of Jesus Christ. In his March 2017 exhibition Zabach in a private chapel in Mosta also dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows, the artist investigated Christian iconography to come up with a series of 21 paintings that focused on the main protagonist as a sacrificial lamb. Zabach, in fact, is Aramaic, Jesuss language, for sacrifice.

The crucifixion paintings in that exhibition hinted that, in a post-apocalyptic world, every being, even the Son of God Himself, gets carbonised and transformed into ashes through nuclear warfare, as that the ship of redemption has probably sailed. In the backdrop of the Russian-Ukraine war, the message is more topical; most roads seem to lead to the most inauspicious of conclusions. It is ironic that both countries embroiled in the conflict honour the image of the saviour in their religion. But, probably, true religion and introspection are mere trifles in the context of war.

This reduction of the crucified body to an empirical representation evokes parallels with Francis Bacons Crucifixion of 1933. The translucence captured by Bacon is ghostly, as though a shadow, an X-ray image.

One could regard this as a portent of things to come; the bombing of Nagasaki and Hiroshima 12 years later was the apocalyptic epilogue of World War II. Nuclear shadows of actual people were generated by the detonation; body cells were irradiated thermonuclearly, fried to the ground as terrible spectres of the people who had lived on the streets and sidewalks of the two ill-fated Japanese cities.

Mallias waif-like crucified bodies are also cinders, burnt through by all measure of irradiation apostasy, warfare, neo-liberalism; also by being subservient to the seven vices, by succumbing to the calls of the flesh and primeval instincts that are so hard to suppress.

The seven vices, or deadly sins, are explored by Mallia through seven artworks that are thematically linked to the cross and the emaciated crucified body, one of the timeless symbols dear to Christianity.

Farrells contemplations on Marys seven sorrows

Jesus, how brutally You were put to death. How gently You are taken from the cross. Your suffering and pain are ended, and You are put in the lap of Your mother. The dirt and blood are wiped away. You are treated with love. The 13th Station of the Cross

The procession of Our Lady of Sorrows in Malta probably dates to the 17th century. Forming one of the statuary groups of the Good Friday processions, held in many towns and villages in the Maltese islands, the Friday before Good Friday is solemnly dedicated to the heartache experienced by a mother throughout the relatively short lifetime of her son. In some statues, the grief-stricken mother is portrayed on her own, at the foot of the cross, overwhelmed by psychological ache. In others, the tortured body of her only son lies lifeless in her lap.

Sometimes, a small angel joins her, holding the crown of thorns and the four nails that pierced the limbs of Jesus, symbols of the physical agony that He endured on the cross. St John the Evangelist, Jesuss favourite disciple, is included as well in some instances, offering the aggrieved mother some solace.

Most of Farrells seven exhibits focus on the semiotics of the spiritual and psychological pain endured by a mother whose son had professed a contradiction: to love ones enemy.

The artist delivers a universal message, that this pain wasnt endemic to the Mother of God alone. Each mother goes through the pangs of hell when she loses a child through some physical and psychological sickness, accident, substance abuse or through wanton acts of war, declared by unscrupulous dictators.

The Maltese saying goes that it is unfair that some mothers have to pass through the torment of burying their own children. Perhaps the pain is much more profound than the one experienced by children when their parents pass away. One of the works tellingly integrates escutcheons of the daggered heart with what seems like a representation of the opening of the birth canal, perhaps suggesting that the sorrow of motherhood starts from conception. Depending on ones perspective, it could also be interpreted as a strong anti-abortion statement.

The Churchs rites for the day dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows prepare us for the sobriety of Holy Week, which starts on Palm Sunday until Holy (or Black) Saturday, during which time the faithful are asked to contemplate on episodes that occurred 2,000 years ago and that led to the birth of Christianity. Farrell and Mallia are inviting us to do this in the intimate sacred space of a small chapel in the village of Mqabba while also meditating on the 14 Stations of the Cross and their artistic interpretations of the seven vices and the seven sorrows.

Sebga, hosted by the chapel of Our Lady of Sorrows, Mqabba, opened on Sunday and runs until Saturday. Visit the events Facebook page for opening times and more info.

Independent journalism costs money. Support Times of Malta for the price of a coffee.

Read more from the original source:

The universal and spiritual relevance of the number seven - Times of Malta

This week, God showed me this Scripture, Hebrews 10:22-25:

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up gathering together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the day approaching.

The book of Hebrews was written in 70 A.D. to encourage Jewish Christians who were thinking of abandoning their faith, as many were facing great persecution. The title of this section of Hebrews is A Call to Persevere. Currently, we are seeing great strife in our lives and around the world. People are suffering unimaginable atrocities. Children are being harmed in ways that are unfathomable. Evil is wreaking havoc. How are we to respond? What can we turn to? In whom do we put our trust?

The Bible is the living word of God. It says that we must worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). So, what is the truth? Jesus says that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that no one comes to the Father but through Him (John 14:6).

Do we believe this? Do we believe Jesus? Do we trust Jesus and follow Him? Believing is a choice. God offers us the free gift of forgiveness through Jesus; He offers us His unconditional love and sacrifice, and the hope of His promise of eternal life with Him. That eternal life begins right here on Earth. When Jesus came to Earth, He brought the Kingdom of Heaven here, upon us. When we receive the gift from God, that gift of eternal life, then we carry the Spirit of God within us, and we go forth to fulfill the calling to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven as we preach the gospel and heal the sick.

With sincere hearts, our faith cleanses us from the sin that entangles us and we are washed with pure water, the living water that Jesus offers us. We must stand firm and hold fast to the hope we profess, especially when life gets difficult or extremely painful. When we think that we can no longer endure or carry on, God tells us to continue lifting one another up, through love and good deeds, through gathering together, through encouraging one another. And all the more as we see the day drawing near.

Jesus will return one day, to gather His flock and take all believers to heaven. The day or the hour is unknown to all, except to God, but the signs are apparent earthquakes, famine, wars, lawlessness, calling good evil and evil good, a departure from the truth, and wickedness, perversion and idolatry in increasing measure.

As we see these things happening, in our own communities and throughout the world, we must hold fast to our faith in Jesus and the hope of His promise. We are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. Jesus has conquered the grave. He has defeated death. He is victorious. And we have the victory through Him.

As we go through Holy Week, reflecting on the Last Supper, Good Friday and Easter Sunday, may the hope we have in Jesus be ever stronger, may our lives reflect Gods loving sacrifice ever more, and may we be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit so that we can endure the race and win the prize and great reward that eternal dwelling. Free from all sin and sadness. Free from all pain and persecution. What a glorious reunion it will be, basking in the glory of Gods holy presence, together in heaven, forever and ever.

So, let us shine the light of Christ all the more brightly and bring His joy and love to a hurting world. Whoever believes in Jesus, fountains of living water will flow from within them (John 7:38-39). The day is drawing near God is with us and Jesus is our hope.

This beautiful sky from last month the sun on the horizon is like Jesus coming back, His light approaching, and the clouds are like the army of angels coming with Him.

Laurie Kurgas is minister over the InSpirit Healing Services at BASIC Living Water. For more information, visit InSpiritPrayer@yahoo.com.

See more here:

Spiritual Perspective: As you see the day drawing near - Los Altos Town Crier

The Rev. John F. Hudson| Wicked Local

Pain [is] the touchstone of all spiritual progress. -- Alcoholics Anonymous

Tell me if its going to hurt.

Thats my one rule for pain, at least physical pain.If you are going to give me a shot or stick a needle in my arm to draw blood or do anything to my body that is going to cause pain, just give me a heads up. Okay?

Ive been thinking about this personal maxim as our nation has started to emerge from COVID lock down and masking up and moved now to a time for COVID slow down and masking off. Its like the spring of 2021 all over again. Im as into it as the next mask wearer but then, this happened to me. After one of the very first big social situations I went to without a mask in almost a year, the next day I got a text letting me that a close contact at the meeting was sick with COVID and had tested positive. They hadnt known they were infectious but that is often how things work when it comes to COVID.

Everything is okay until it is not okay. You are safe until you are exposed. You are healthy until you become sick. You get sick and maybe it is mild and you recover fast or maybe it is worse and you are laid low, even hospitalized, or maybe youll always have long COVID or maybe it will take your life. I try and remind myself of these possibilities on a regular basis, especially now that folks are shedding their masks so fast and so joyfully.

Heck, thats what I did!

I want to get rid of the masks forever and everything else that accompanies COVID, all the pains, all the ways it has inflicted very real pain: physical, economic, social, and emotional. COVID is a pain! I wish it would just go away! Shoo! But in reading the news and listening to the scientists and epidemiologists, perusing government websites, heeding the folks who actually know what they are talking about, the message Im hearing is … we are okay for now but, it could come back. There could be another wave. Or another variant. The need for another shot. But we dont know if or when.

Pesky virus! Ugh.

But at least I know that the pain might make a return engagement. That the hurt may return. HEADS UP! Id rather remember this possibility is real. Because the notion that right now, is actually the time, FINALLY, when we all get to go back to normal for good. ... Maybe normalcy is back. Maybe it isnt.

This I do know. COVID is still a pain. A pain in the ...well, you get the picture.

I suppose the one piece of goodness I can still take from the badness is this: pain almost always makes me spiritually grow and grow up.Pain, for all the struggle: it usually changes us. Deepens us. Makes us return to our faith or recommit to our sacred beliefs. It can make us more powerful and more resilient. Pain physical, mental, or spiritual I know this is the thing that has most forced me to change in this life.

I dont seek pain out, no. No one does. And the God I love doesnt inflict pain either. But when pain shows up and it always shows up in every human life -- we cant negotiate away this truth. When pain stops by and when times are tough and when the valley we walk down into is dark and full of shadows, I often kid myself. GREAT! Another blasted growth experience! But there is truth to this.

The pain of COVID has taught me just how much I need and I love my family and friends. I hope I never, ever, EVER again take them for granted again.The pain of COVID has taught me what a deep responsibility I have to care for the most vulnerable, the very sick, the very old, the very poor, the uninsured, because they certainly suffer more than me. The pain of COVID and almost getting it (knock on wood!) reminds me how lucky I am to have access to quality health care, and it moves me to work so that one day all folks have decent health insurance. The pain of COVID and its isolation has made me more fully appreciate doing things live and with real breathing, living human beings. Going to a baseball game or the movies or choir practice. Yes, its a risk still but Ill take it.

Will this hurt? If you have to ask the answer is probably, yes. But thanks for the heads up!

The Reverend John F. Hudson is Senior Pastor of the Pilgrim Church, United Church of Christ, in Sherborn, Massachusetts (pilgrimsherborn.org).If you have comments, send them to pastorjohn@pilgrimsherborn.org or in care of The Dover-Sherborn Press (Dover-Sherborn@wickedlocal.com).

View original post here:

SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING: Be ready for pain, and be ready to grow from it - Wicked Local

Days after he became the first batsman in IPL history to retire out to allow Riyan Parag to swing his bat around with just a few balls left in the innings, R Ashwin summed up the decision that shook some of the mental cobwebs around the game: It happens in football all the time. T20 has moved towards football substitutions. We are already late. This wont be a stigma like the non-striker run out, he said on his YouTube channel. Its indeed surprising that it has come so late in cricket and its only fitting that it took an innovator like Ashwin to push the envelope.

Not that it was the first time in cricket. In 2018, a small cricketing nation, Belize, in a T20 international against Bahamas retired out their batsman, Howell Gillet, who was plodding along for 23 balls for just eight runs in a game against Panama. This January, in a Big Bash game in Australia, Sydney Sixers retired out Jordan Silk for the final ball of the innings as they wanted a fitter player at the non-strikers end to run faster. In some ways, cricket is evolving closer to the soul of gully cricket. Retired outs, baby overs (where a bowler is pulled out after three balls if he is too expensive), tactical drops (where catches are deliberately dropped if it is felt that its better to make a struggling batsman continue rather than invite the wrath of an incoming attacker). After all, most of the innovative shots, from reverse sweep, lap shots or balls like carrom, originated in the gully cricket of yore.

Cricket is witnessing a spiritual return to its grassroots, to its unorganised avatar. What kids do in streets, adults are picking up in a competitive environment. It will be interesting to see how technology is wedded to it. There has been talk of batting cages and virtual-reality headsets to help the incoming batsmen prepare better just before they step in to bat. With the stakes so high, any innovation that helps the game improve can only be welcomed.

Read the original:

With devices like retire out, cricket may be witnessing a spiritual return to its grassroots, to its unorganised avatar - The Indian Express

To necessitate thespiritual upgradation of the society and highlightthe significance of Ramadhan, the International Centre for Spiritual Studies (ICSS) of Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) held a One Day Conference onthe theme"Impact of Fasting on Spiritual and Mental Health"in collaboration withShamah Foundation (A Women Concern based in Kashmir) here on Tuesday.

Several key figures, eminent religious scholars, health experts from across the valley delivered special lectures during the conference which commencedwith recitation of the Quran and Naat-e Rasool(PBUH).

In his presidential address, Vice Chancellor, IUSTProf. Shakil Ahmad Romshoo,the Chief Guest on the occasion, deliberated upon social, spiritual and mental benefits of fasting for the wellbeing of an individual and how itboosted unity within a community. Prof. Romshoo congratulated ICSS for conducting sucha useful and intellectual exchangeas it would contribute towards the upliftment of human character and spiritual understanding.

Shaykh-ul-Hadees, Darul Uloom Raheemiyyah Bandiporaand eminent religious scholar, Maulana Mufti Nazir Ahmad Qasmi in his distinguished lecturereferred to the first Hadith of Bukhari Inna mal aamalu bi-niyaat (i.e., the actions are rated according to the intentions) and said that before fasting or any practice, correcting intentions was needed. Heunderscored significance of fasting at multiple levels, as the benefits were not just confined to physical starvation of a human body but went beyond if fasting was observed in a pure and proper way and it could stop us from wrong doing in any profession we are in. While controlling our eyes, ears other body parts, mind, emotions from evil practices, we could achieve the spiritualcleansing, a revereddimension of fasting and worship according to Islam, he added.

Renowned psychiatrist andDirector Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience KashmirProf. Mushtaq A. Margoob, explored the psychological dimension of fasting. He said that fasting not only meant abstaining from eating but also controlling basic instincts, evil desires, emotions and feelings that lead us to stress and anxiety. He discussed how fasting in Ramadhan over a period of time trains us with self-control over body, emotion and desires.Prof. Margoob, who is also the visiting professor of the university touched the subject of mental health according to WHO and said it is a state of wellbeing in which humans realize their potential and capabilities and then fight with stress and anxiety to live a productive and healthy life which would finally contribute to the welfare of the society.

Prof. Qayyum Hussain, Honble Vice Chancellor Cluster University Srinagar, the Guest of Honor on the occasion talked about therelationship between Ramadhan and science andemphasized the physical importance of fasting. He also stressed on healing due to fasting as itbroke-down the nonessentials cells and couldstop many diseases like Parkinsons, dementia, Cancer etc.

Earlier Director ICSS, Prof. Hamidulla Marazihighlighted the spiritual and mental benefits of fasting in his welcome address and called on the significance of exploring research in this direction to contextualize these dimensions. He further added that ICSS would continue with such programmes in future and would work to make the Centre a pivotal platform for spiritual education.

Also during the event, Trustee of Shama Foundation, Haji G.M. Dug detailed the work and functions of Shamah Foundation. The event, whichwas attended by Deans, Officers, HoDs, faculty members students and scholars of the universityconcluded with vote of thanks by former Incharge of ICSS and Dy Director IUST Dr. S. Iqbal Quraishi.

Sincerely,

Originally posted here:

IUST holds Conference on Impact of Fasting on Spiritual and Mental Health - Brighter Kashmir

"And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty" (1 Corinthians 15:14).

The resurrection of Jesus Christ was not only necessary to the truthfulness of the gospel; it is essential to the Christian faith.

There have been several misrepresentations by religionists concerning the resurrection of Christ. Some going under the semblance of Christianity have deviated from the testimony of the sacred Scriptures concerning Christ's bodily resurrection. Jesus clearly stated he would physically rise from the dead (John 2:19-21).

Christ Jesus did not receive a rematerialized body as some have theorized (see Luke 24:39). The book of Romans 10:9-10 clearly states it is necessary for believers in Christ to accept and believe that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Belief in the bodily resurrection is essential to salvation.

The resurrection of Christ is the greatest event in the history of mankind. It is the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Our eternal destiny with the Lord is predicated on the reality of his resurrection. Christianity would be meaningless had Jesus not resurrected. Since his bodily resurrection is an actual event, all components of our faith are confirmed as true in every sense.

If your religious organization, affiliation, society or denomination denies the physical and bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, everything they claim in their teachings are void. This was the message repeated in the New Testament by Paul the Apostle. Remove yourself from such a group and find a body of believers who affirm the New Testament definition of the resurrection of Jesus.

The bodily resurrection of Christ is not just a feature of Christianity; it is of essential significance, which dominates the New Testament. If you have any questions, comments or disagreement with this article, share your thoughts with me.

David Vivas Jr. is the pastor at World Harvest International Church in Delano.

Read more:

COMMUNITY VOICES: The resurrection of Christ: Spiritual or physical? - The Bakersfield Californian

Typically civilized human beings try to solve our problems by doing a better, more improved variation of that which got us into trouble in the first place. We go about dealing with the climate crisis, for example, by creating industrial alternatives, like solar, wind, and electric cars all of which are dependent upon burning fossil fuels for their manufacture. Or we try to move beyond white privilege through legislation and courts as if political solutions are the answer to political problems.

What we consistently fail to recognize is that by trying to change in this manner what we deem as unacceptable, were only dealing with the symptoms and not plumbing to the depths of the matter. As it is with the climate and white supremacy, we dont recognize and act upon the spiritual malaise that is at the core of both: the breakdown of our relationships with our fellow living beings because of the absence of respect and appreciation for the momentary existence we all share.

This condition, peculiar to the civilized species, results from the fact that we dont grow up spiritually. We fail to realize our moral potential as agents of heart. Rather, the expression of our love for life is arrested by the political society were raised in that emphasizes power relationships, not compassion and kindness. This condition blinds us to our inherent state of interbeing with the rest of life, thus depriving us of the power we receive from mutuality and collaboration with our fellow sentient beings.

This is exacerbated by the fact that we come into mortal existence powerless, unable to accept that were not in control of life. Coupled with our inability to appreciate our interconnection with life, this creates an existentially intolerable dilemma for the spiritually undeveloped infant, threatening it with psychological fragmentation. Fortunately, the organism provides relief through the presence of our innate ego which shields us from our powerlessness through the creation of I.

The latter is an illusion of a separate Self, seemingly independent from the rest of life that serves as a surrogate for the power and control we otherwise lack. In this way we are able to function and remain intact until such a time when our development allows us to accept our inescapable powerlessness and achieve spiritual adulthood.

But ego is also an impediment to this development. Its fantasy of political power grows addictive. We become stuck in power relationships, and the oppressive way of life they produce. So attached, we are prevented from seizing the moment when, from a maturational standpoint, we should be able to take that fateful step into the unknown, accepting ourselves for the inherently powerless, but interconnected beings we are, and to live a virtuous existence based upon an equanimous recognition of our always pending death.

Instead, we hang on to ego, and its seductive illusion of power.

It doesnt have to be this way. Just as we made our world, so too can we realize the transformative change required by our times, to finally be the people of heart that each of us potentially is anytime we choose to be. Through a spiritual practice, we can increasingly see life for what it is and be commensurately real about our heart-based potential with a regular practice of love.

The beauty of this is that it can only be accomplished through choices we make within the moment to moment matrix of our everyday lives. Transformative change is not dependent upon circumstances outside of ourselves, though the latter certainly plays a significant role in our lives.

Rather, it is contingent upon how we choose to respond to these circumstances, especially as they impact the quality of our relationships with other living beings. This is where a spiritual practice is crucial, one that is suffused in moral and ethical nuances, as well as broad strokes.

The key here is ego, and specifically how we achieve our liberating purpose given the tight grip and negative influence it exercises on our lives. The conventional answer would be to get rid of it, to eliminate ego from our lives. This is how Civilized people have typically pursued changing something that we judged as unacceptable.

And yet, because such a course is itself an act of ego, and not of heart, ego destroying ego only reproduces and reinforces ego, rather than resulting in liberating change.

What is required, instead, is to accept ego as the natural part of us that it is, perhaps expressing gratitude for its presence at a time in our lives when we required its intervention, while at the same time engaging in a committed spiritual practice where we cultivate the moral values that allow us to increasingly act outside its sphere of influence. While remaining part of our lives, we nevertheless are able to let go of the mindless habit of reacting to egos harmful imperatives to be in control, responding instead to our momentary reality in a progressively wholesome manner.

Liberation then becomes, not a matter of eliminating, but rather one of living with ego as the person of heart we were born to be, engaged in a transformative practice of love in action.

Tim Stevenson is a community organizer with Post Oil Solutions from Athens, and author of Resilience and Resistance: Building Sustainable Communities for a Post Oil Age (2015, Green Writers Press). The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of Vermont News & Media.

Originally posted here:

Stevenson | Living with the Long Emergency: Spiritually engaged activism - Brattleboro Reformer

For those of you that have been waiting for a BlackBerry revival, you may not have to wait much longer. While it may not be BlackBerry, the upcoming Unihertz launch could potentially fill the void left by OnwardMobility.

PhoneArena spotted a teaser for an upcoming Unihertz phone that could end up looking a lot like the spiritual successor to the BlackBerry KEY2. The image doesn't show much except for a sliver of light shining on a physical QWERTY keyboard. The rest of the phone is shrouded in darkness, although you can just make out the device's silhouette.

Some internet sleuths managed to take the image and edit it to give us a better look at the phone. Based on the edited photo, the upcoming Unhertz phone will sport a design that closely resembles the BlackBerry KEY2, although with some differences. Most notably, the bezels appear to be much larger, which is a bit disappointing in 2022, especially when the 2018 KEY2 had respectably-sized bezels, even by today's standards.

Unihertz isn't new to launching phones with physical keyboards. In fact, the company has launched several models over the years, as highlighted in the teaser video. Last year, we reviewed the Unihertz Titan Pocket, which unfortunately had more misses than hits. That said, it's great to see a company still trying to keep the physical keyboards alive at a time when the best Android phones all feature the same all-display design.

Many fans were hoping for a new 5G BlackBerry phone to kick off a keyboard revival after being teased for some time by OnwardMobility. The effort eventually fell through, leaving fans quite disappointed. Depending on what we get from Unihertz, this upcoming device may be just what keyboard loyalists are looking for, especially if it comes equipped with 5G connectivity.

Read the original:

Spiritual BlackBerry KEY2 successor could arrive with upcoming Unihertz launch - Android Central

Revelling in the unrivalled comfort, quality and performance of this spookily-named saloon on a ghost hunt in southern Scotland

Scotland has no shortage of ghost stories.

Any country with so much bloody history and rich folklore is bound to have its fair share of spooky sightings.

While crumbling castles and ancient alleyways claim the lions share of reported sightings there are plenty of roads with their own supposedly supernatural stories.

So, with the keys to Rolls-Royces latest spookily named offering in our hands, it seemed only fitting to take our Ghost in search of spooks on Scotlands most haunted road.

According to those who record such things, the A75 running between Annan and Carrutherston in Dumfries and Galloway has more reports of ghosts, bogles and other spooky goings-on than any other route in the country. It also happens to pass through the beautiful rolling countryside around the Solway Firth - a fitting place, then, to test the Ghosts performance.

Our route to the south-west took in the mist-shrouded and suitably satanic Devils Beef Tub where the Ghosts rear-wheel steering made light work of the tight twisting road that winds down the side of the famous gorge towards Moffat.

That all-wheel-steering is central to Rolls-Royces ambition for the Ghost to be a car to drive as well as be driven in. Despite its size - all 5.5 metres of it - the Ghost is remarkably easy and enjoyable to drive and doesnt feel any more unwieldy than a large-ish SUV. The steering is weighted just so, so you dont feel like youre wrestling more than two tonnes of metal but its not so light that you lose all sensation. Its by no means a sporty car but it feels surprisingly neat and responsive even on the smaller winding roads our route took us along.

Past the Beef Tub and through Moffat and Dumfries, where the gleaming white paintwork and proud Spirit of Ecstasy turned more than a few heads, we headed south and east towards the infamous Kinmount Straight where drivers claim to have encountered everything from a ghostly furniture van to medieval peasants and even a menagerie of spectral animals.

Despite keeping our eyes peeled for phantom poultry and otherworldly hitchikers, the scariest thing we encountered was the condition of the roads and the only evidence of witchcraft was the way the Ghosts suspension dismissed potholes, patches and broken surfaces.

The Ghost is equipped with air suspension that uses data from a front-facing camera to prime the adaptive dampers for changes in surface. This is backed up by a mechanical mass damper that smooths out any particularly big changes in attitude, and the way the suspension handles bad surfaces is almost supernatural. Nothing covers ground in the imperious way a Rolls does, shrugging off the kind of problems that would unsettle most other cars.

That isolation from the problems of the world is only enhanced by the Ghosts coccoon-like interior. Reportedly, prototypes of the car were so well insulated that passengers felt ill due to the lack of sensation, so a little ambience was engineered back in. Regardless, press the button to close the power-operated doors and you enter a hushed world where double glazing and 100kg of sound deadening bring unrivalled serenity and even the air vents are lined with felt to reduce any disturbance to your calmness.

Everything about the Ghosts exquisite interior feels designed to soothe you. Thats whether youre at the wheel or stretching out in the massage seats with a glass of Champagne from the built-in chiller, admiring the shooting stars darting across the Starlight headliner. Most surfaces are wrapped in the finest leather and elsewhere our car featured a beautiful open-grain wood finish. Of course, you can specify your own Ghost with virtually any combination of materials as part of Rolls dedication to personalisation. Anything not finished in wood or leather is chromed and even the switchgear is engineered with a beautifully damped operation, so everything moves softly but precisely.

In a state of near-transcendental calm, we pressed on towards Annan. Alas, we didnt find any spooks or spectres but we did discover the spirit-rich environment of Scotlands south-west. From the tiny farmyard operation of the Oro Gin distillery at Dalton to Solway Spirits and the imposing and impressive backdrop of the Annandale Distillery, the region is bursting with purveyors of craft gin and whiksy. A crueller person might suggest such spirits are the root of many of the A75s reported spooks.

But drifting home along the original and now reclassified A75 with the boot suitably stocked and the Ghosts adaptive laser headlights cutting through the gloom its easy to see how the remote route, undulating between steep embankments and through stands of gnarled trees, could stir up the imagination. Indeed the near-silence with which the Ghost makes progress added to the eerie feeling, barely a whisper coming from the mighty 6.75-litre V12.

That 563bhp twin-turbo engine is one of the Ghosts masterpieces. In normal operation it is almost imperceptible as it easily propels this rolling cathedral to luxury. Even in its sportier Low mode it never does anything so uncouth as roar but, with a heavy right foot, you can stir it into a purposeful woofle. Like a butler clearing his throat to let you know the horizon will be joining you shortly. And I do mean very shortly. Despite weighing 2.5 tonnes, the Ghost can hit 60mph in just 4.6 seconds.

Thats not really what the Ghost is about, though. While its entertaining to launch the contents of a gentlemens club forwards faster than most hot hatches, theres more pleasure to be had from wafting along effortlessly, revelling in the cars unrivalled comfort and refinement and enjoying your surroundings - haunted or otherwise.

Price: From around 250,000; Engine: 6.75-litre, V12, twin-turbo, petrol; Power: 563bhp; Torque: 627lb ft; Transmission: Eight-speed automatic, four-wheel-drive; Top speed: 155mph (limited); 0-60mph: 4.6 seconds; Economy: 18-18.6mpg; CO2 emissions: 347-358g/km

See the original post here:

Rolls-Royce Ghost review: On a spiritual journey in the lap of luxury - NationalWorld

For Kate Berlant and Jacqueline Novak, it all started with the promise of free beauty products and an extremely LA fascination with wellness culture.

From keto diets to mud baths to the boob cream Berlant received moments before our Zoom conversation, the multibillion-dollar industry has seemingly taken over the world. So in an effort to explore the bizarre, weird and, at times, existential sphere of self-care, the two longtime friends started their iHeartRadio podcast, Poog, and slowly turned it into a much broader survey of culture and whatever the fuck else they want to talk about.

In many ways, the comedians who refer to themselves as The Hags are the perfect people to execute such a heady, far-reaching concept, imbuing it with a lightness that one wouldnt expect for a podcast that tackles topics like spiritual consumerism and the notion of shame, in addition to Berlant spearheading discussions about beauty, skincare and food, and Novak acting as the go-to source for all things wellness, including spirituality, mental health and, also, skincare.

As such, their podcast takes its name from Gwyneth Paltrows notorious lifestyle and wellness brand, Goop. However, Poog is different from similarly branded podcasts in the sense that Berlant and Novak use beauty and wellness as a starting point to talk about everything from snorkeling to dairy-free alternatives to colonics to analytical psychology, as proven by our 45 minute-long side conversation about Jungs theory of synchronicity and ghosts potentially being a projection of the psyche.

"Wellness and beauty are really our Trojan horse, because the conversations devolve into just Jacqueline and I talking about, like, Interstellar," Berlant said, before Novak added that its more about the "abstract parts of our interests and getting vaguely existential."

"But its also dipping into products. We move back and forth, Novak said. Like we're talking about Spirit and our most intimate sort of spiritual concerns, and then pivoting into blueberry martinis and creams.

But underlying the constant ping-ponging between concepts is Poogs desire to bring them together for a series of on-the-fly conversations that are equal parts off-kilter and insightful, which includes their lack of interest in apologizing for their love of "frivolous" things or intellectualizing the common critique surrounding the idea of "self-care" turning into this "capitalist monster, per Berlant.

"To me, [Poog] is this space where all those things that are considered frivolous or weirdly feminine can live. It's almost like [embracing] all these things that we're expected to hide in spaces like the workplace, Novak explained, with Berlant saying that theyre trying to point out that wellness, beauty and the cult "obsession" surrounding these things are "not to be devalued."

Granted, Berlant said they have one very slight critique that mostly hinges on the industrys current "focus on the exterior, instead of the interior. Specifically, she referenced the inner work and healing that should be considered the real fucking wellness, though she was also quick to add that outwards-facing self-care is still "real and valid in its own right." Because after all, Poog isnt about shaming anyone (including themselves), rather, its about simultaneously interrogating these sorts of dynamics, while also being open to their own adherence to the "pleasure is paramount" principle.

On a similar note, Novak stressed that wellness has acted, for her, as a kind of secret doorway out of bouts of depression, saying that it was nice to feel this joy at caring about stupid shit again, before adding that theres a lot of healing psychology incorporated into spirituality and self-care given their ability to get you out of that judging mind place.

I was just trying to find a way to live life and that took me down those paths, which I happen to really enjoy. I sort of joke about being addicted to healing, Novak said as a stray feather began to float around her room. A message that shes on the right path from her spirit guides and the Archangels, I said, before things quickly devolve into a conversation about the Old Testament and The Sopranos. Just as it should.

Welcome to "Internet Explorer," a column by Sandra Song about everything Internet. From meme histories to joke format explainers to collections of some of Twitter's finest roasts, "Internet Explorer" is here to keep you up-to-date with the web's current obsessions no matter how nonsensical or nihilistic.

Related Articles Around the Web

Read the original post:

Ascend With Poog, the Spiritual Beauty Podcast - Papermag

If you've ever taken an evening car ride, or just so happened to catch a glimpse of the starry sky during the early months of fall, you may have noticed the harvest moon. Unlike other full moons, the harvest moon is a little different in both its color and timing, making this moon phase incredibly striking. POPSUGAR consulted with an astrologer to figure out when the next harvest moon will appear, the spiritual meaning behind it, and what the harvest moon in 2022 will mean for every zodiac sign.

The harvest moon takes place during the autumnal equinox, when the sun crosses the celestial equator from north to south at the start of autumn. According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the harvest moon earned its name because of the moonlight that occurs early in the evenings, leaving farmers with more time to harvest their summer-grown crops.

The full harvest moon will rise on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2022, at 5:59 a.m. ET.

The 2022 harvest moon is in Pisces.

Astrologer Anya of Ask the Answer says September's harvest moon will have the signs feeling a little uneasy, but it does offer an opportunity for a fresh start. "This particular moon's closeness to the autumnal equinox means that it is symbolic of new beginnings and a door to spiritual awareness," Anya tells POPSUGAR. "On the other hand, with the Piscine energy of this full moon, you may experience a bit of a feeling of insecurity and a feeling like you're being too perceptive."

In order to prepare yourself for these particular feelings that come from a Pisces sign, it's best to try and relax. "During the harvest moon, it's best to slow down, wait, and see what happens in your life," Anya says. "Enjoy the beautiful September sunsets, look back at your achievements, and take a deep breath . . . the tricky bit is nearly over!"

The next full moon following the harvest moon of September 2022 is the October blood moon on Oct. 9, 2022, at 4:55 p.m. ET.

Read the original post:

September's Harvest Moon Will Bring Uneasiness and Opportunity - POPSUGAR

If you happened to be gazing idly from a window of New York Citys J train crossing the East River on the Williamsburg Bridge, most days between the summer of 1959 and the autumn of 1961, you might have glimpsed a lone saxophonist huddled into a cranny of the gigantic steel skeleton.

Travellers on the footway might have got close to the sound of him, too: an astonishing tumult of fast tumbling runs seeming to echo the chatter of the wheels on the subway tracks, honking low-tone exclamations exchanged with the hoots of the riverboats, snatches of blues, pop hits, classical motifs, calypsos. Few witnesses to those torrential monologues will have shrugged him off as just another busker; this was an intuitive master of his instrument who, for some reason, had chosen to tell this multitude of stories to the sky instead of a rapt roomful of fans.

What made me withdraw and go to the bridge was how I felt about my own playing, reflects that saxophonist today, 91-year-old Sonny Rollins. I knew I was dissatisfied.

He climbed the steep iron steps within two blocks of the apartment he shared with his wife, Lucille, at 400 Grand Street in Manhattan, and was thrilled by the space, light and noisy solitude they led to. Rollins was 28 and already one of the undisputed giants of the subtle and sophisticated modern-jazz advances known as bebop that had taken off in the 40s even though Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman were close on his heels with radical new approaches to how melody, harmony and rhythm could dance spontaneously together.

Between 1956 and 1958, after a series of brilliant small-band albums including Saxophone Colossus and Way Out West, Rollins was acclaimed by the New Yorkers Whitney Balliett as possibly the most incisive and influential jazz instrumentalist since Charlie Parker, while the jazz/classical musicologist Gunther Schuller wrote that the thematic fertility and coherence of the young geniuss off-the-cuff improvisations held together as perfect compositions.

In the summer of 1959, though, Rollins disappeared from the radar and stayed off it for the next two years instead playing the saxophone on the bridge day and night, rain or shine, in solitary sessions of sometimes 15 hours or more. This month is the 60th anniversary of his return to the recording studio, when he entered RCA Victors Studio B in New York on 30 January 1962 with a classy rhythm section and an even classier frontline partner in Jim Hall one of the subtlest jazz guitarists of the era. That January session, and another a fortnight later, produced Rollins eagerly awaited comeback album, The Bridge.

Down the phone from his home in upstate New York, Rollins sounds as sprightly as he has in the handful of conversations we have had down the years always curious, sharp of memory and generous about everyone who makes music. He hasnt played the saxophone since 2014, due to a respiratory condition. But memories of the long days and changing seasons on the bridge are vivid, as are the reasons that propelled him there, when logic suggested staying in the public eye.

I was getting a lot of publicity for my work at that time, but I wasnt satisfying my own requirements for what I wanted to do musically, he says. One of his neighbours at the time was an expectant mother, so there was an immediate reason, too: it was difficult to practise a loud horn like the tenor saxophone in my apartment without disturbing somebody.

Rollins had withdrawn from jazz before, in the early 50s, when heroin addiction had taken him into a stretch of hard-labour rehab at the Lexington Narcotics Farm in Kentucky. In 1956, the year after he got clean, the exultant Saxophone Colossus session emerged. So Rollins understood the liberating potential of focused, relentless hard work, away from gigging and hanging out. But he also knew how fresh and different the new music of Coltrane, Coleman and Davis was sounding by 1959 (the year in which those three made the groundbreaking albums Giant Steps, The Shape of Jazz to Come and Kind of Blue) and felt he needed to provide answers of his own.

Did he worry about the disappointment his withdrawal might bring to his fans? Am I playing music for other people, you mean? Rollins inquires. Yes I am, in a way. But Im playing for myself. I have to sound good. I dont want to make my public feel Im great if I dont feel like that. Also, Ive always loved practising as much as I did performing. Wherever I was, on tour or whatever, I always wanted to find some place to practise, because thats in my DNA, to keep improving myself.

Every scrap of music Rollins heard from his youth in jazz-steeped Harlem onwards seemed to get stored in the random access memory of his mind, to be inverted and reshuffled on the fly in performance. His neighbourhood friend Thelonious Monk would smuggle him underage into clubs, he would pass the world-famous Cotton Club on his walk to school, and he would internalise it all, plus snatches of his siblings classical practice, jukebox hits and more. Reappraising and digging into all that material in his head, away from the pressures of gigging and travel, seems to have been a trigger for Rollins ascending to the bridge.

I just happened to be out walking and I saw some steps and I thought: lets see whats up there, Rollins says. And when I got up to the top, I just saw all this fantastic open space. No one was up there. It was busy, sure the subway trains and cars were going over and the boats going underneath but there werent many people walking on it in those days; its much busier now. There were a lot of pillars and abutments back then, where I could find spaces where people couldnt see me, though they could hear me. The only people who could see me were the few who were walking across the bridge. And not many of them would stop to talk. I guess they mostly thought: whos that crazy guy?

Presumably calls of nature and inhospitable weather must have intervened now and then? Well, I would play for a long time every day, often 14 or 15 hours. Of course, sometimes Id come down to go to the bathroom, or Id go to a bar I liked where I might have a cognac, but then Id go right back up. If it was cold, Id play with gloves on; that was not a problem.

It was so wonderful to be so close to the sky up there, any time of year. Maybe this might sound a little bit corny to people, but it was a spiritual feeling to me. Years later, I remember playing an open-air concert, somewhere in Buffalo or Maine, and I looked up at the sky and felt that communion with some kind of spiritual element. It felt great to me that distance thing, reaching out to something beyond the people.

Rollins felt ready to return to the stage in autumn 1961, concerned that Lucille was bearing the brunt of supporting them both in her secretarial job at New York University. When The Bridge came out the following year, it didnt reveal the radically reinvented Rollins, possibly leaning toward free jazz, that some of his admirers were anticipating. But nonetheless, this was not the same Rollins as the ruggedly freewheeling one of three years earlier.

His own compositions, the staccato, exclamatory John S and the balefully stripped-down title track, mixed brittle short-note themes (resembling percussion patterns) with clusters of dense melody, opening out into improvisations that suggested his rival Coltranes Giant Steps had not gone unnoticed. But his handling of the 30s Billie Holiday ballad God Bless the Child harked back to the muscular lyricism of the tenor sax pioneer Coleman Hawkins, albeit with a characteristically Rollins-spiced sardonic bite. His tonal range seemed broader, his ear for telling detail sharper.

Rollins then made some uneven but intriguing recordings for the free-jazz-oriented label Impulse! in the mid-60s, before taking a second sabbatical in 1968-71 for philosophical study, Zen meditation and a retreat to a monastery in India. As he entered his 40s, the restless self-inquisitor then seemed ready to concede a middle ground between his own improvisational wilfulness and his audiences hopes for a catchy tune.

From the early 70s to his retirement in 2014, Rollins explored bop, swing, funk, Latin and Caribbean music, striding the worlds sold-out concert stages with the greatest living improviser emblazoned on the posters outside a line endorsed by seamlessly flat-out, unaccompanied sax improvisations that would pull cheering crowds to their feet. No more than a handful of jazz musicians since the emergence of the genre in the early 20th century had enjoyed such acclaim.

Seemingly unstoppable, Rollins hurtled on into his 80s, but, although he endured the initial effects of the rare lung-scarring disease pulmonary fibrosis, he was finally forced to concede in 2014. I ask him if he had considered less full-on approaches to performance at that point. In my case, it was that I couldnt play at all, he says. Blowing the horn made me sick. Believe me, I tried to play for a long time before I realised I just couldnt play any more.

People suggested electric instruments, but I just wanted to blow into the horn the way Coleman Hawkins did, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Lester Young, all of these great people whose music still makes them feel alive to me, even though theyre not here in the flesh. And I had that for a good portion of my life and I have accepted it now. But at first I was very distraught. It took me quite a while to find a way where I wouldnt end up in the insane asylum. Because all I ever wanted to do was play. It took me a while to find another reason for living, and I found it in meditation and eastern philosophies.

Was the thought that he had given so many people pleasure, and inspired many fine musicians to play, a help in this search? Well, if somebody has heard me playing and it gave them an inspiration to do something, then Im happy about it for them, Rollins says. But Im not happy about it for me, because Ive always just been trying to get my act together, so to speak. You know what I mean? But, of course, I realised that I had to be grateful that Ive had the opportunity of playing for a long time in some of the greatest music of my era, and that perhaps there are people whose playing I maybe inspired somehow, so I shouldnt be mad at the world because I had to stop. So I was eventually able to deal with it, and my meditational practices and spiritual interests did help me not to feel sorry for myself.

As we part, I ask a cheesy question I know that, as a believer in reincarnation, he will have been asked many times: does he want to come back as a musician in his next life? This occasions his deep, rumbling chuckle. I try to envision the eternity of the universe, Rollins says. I guess thats bigger than thinking of coming back as a musician again, maybe next time around just playing a little better. I think its that this life made me think more about what it means to be a human being, a good person. I was taught the golden rule as a boy: do unto others what you would want them to do unto you.

I didnt always do that when I was young. In the jazz world back then, Charlie Parker was into drugs and a lot of people that were following him started to use drugs because he did. That was the worst thing that Charlie Parker felt about himself; it was what destroyed him. He was so torn up by all the young guys that were following him into using drugs. I know that, because I experienced it from him.

But I think, while a lot of us did stupid things, once youre playing music, theres something special youve been given by the gods above, or whatever it is. Like Rollins on that bridge, his peers also were playing to the sky. Ive heard people saying: No, hes not a good human being, about some of the musicians Ive known, but I never found that. Every one of them Monk, Miles, Coltrane was good to me, and I realised that they were all spiritual people and great human beings.

Continued here:

'I was so close to the sky. It was spiritual': Sonny Rollins on jazz landmark The Bridge at 60 - The Guardian

Self-love and self-care take on a whole new meaning for Aquarians. The 11th zodiac sign is largely focused on the collective and ensuring equality for all. Under the new moon in Aquarius, we aim to dream big for ourselves and the bigger picture of our lives. But we also make wishes of joy, prosperity, and harmony for all.

The Aquarius new moon peaks on Feb. 1 at 12:47 a.m. ET and opens a portal to set intentions and wishes around things like humanitarian attitudes, seeing the future, revelations, humor, and friends. Since Aquarius rules the future, you can stimulate the third-eye chakra to allow your long-range goals and heart's desires to be on full display under this new moon. Simply massage between your eyebrows with your eyes closed, or you can lie down and place a crystal there to activate the third eye and see your dreams unfold into reality.

As a ruler of humanitarianism, this new moon in Aquarius gives us the opportunity to set intentions and make wishes that create outcomes good for everyone involved. It also ignites the desire to give and receive love in platonic relationships and promote healthy friendships. If a friendship that was important to you has fallen by the wayside, this may be the time to explore whether there's an opportunity to make amends or not.

But the bigger picture of your life is also very important with this new moon, which is ripe for manifesting dreams, seeking knowledge, and being more objective.

As you prepare your New Moon in Aquarius spiritual bao ritual, remember that this air sign also rules circulation, and more specifically, the ankles and calves. Consider incorporating the restorative yoga pose, legs up the wall. Lie flat on your back or on a small pillow. Push your bottom up against the wall with your legs straight up. You can hold this pose for 10 to 20 minutes to help alleviate ailments like varicose veins, which is a vulnerability of Aquarius.

Ingredients:

-1-2 cups of Epsom salt, cup of pink Himalayan salt

-Several splashes of Agua de Florida or Florida Water

-Selenite, turquoise, moonstone, or clear quartz (for third eye activation) crystals and gemstones

-Petals from orchid flowers

-Hemp, sage, and/or mugwort herbs

-Cedarwood, clove, juniper berry, or thyme essential oil. Make sure it's safe on the skin. It may need to be mixed with a carrier oil like coconut oil.

Ritual

1. Fill the bath with warm water (never hot), and add the Epsom and pink Himalayan salts, and Agua de Florida.

2. Pray over the water and mix with your hands as you speak affirmations and wishes out loud.

3. If you have time, do legs up the wall for 10 minutes as the bath fills.

4. Place crystals around the edge of the bathtub, in the water (if it's a crystal that's safe in water), or place them on your body as you soak.

5. Add your choice of herbs. If you prefer less mess, you can add your herbs to a tea ball or make tea with them on the stovetop, strain it, and then add that to the bath.

6. Add several drops of oil and adorn the top of the bathwater with the orchid flower petals of any color.

7. Soak for 20 to 40 minutes.

8. While you allow yourself to air-dry, watch as the bathwater drains and imagine all that no longer serves you going down with it.

9. After your bath, dress comfortably, light a candle, incense, or diffuse some oil, and write 10 wishes under the New Moon in Aquarius.

10. Read each wish out loud and say, "Thank you, thank you, thank you," after each one.

11. Sit in meditation for a moment, focusing all your energy on the third-eye chakra. You may want to hold your clear quartz or lie down and place it between your eyebrows. Allow yourself to dream your greatest dreams and watch them become reality.

Read more:

This New Moon in Aquarius Bao Will Help You Manifest Your Goals - POPSUGAR

The new series Star Trek: Prodigy is a spiritual successor to Star Trek: Voyager.

Star Trek doesnt seem to do sequel series that often, but there are a few instances where they do something similar to that concept. For instance, with The Next Generation leading into Picard, or how Discovery, Strange New Worlds, and The Original Series share characters. Those could all be seen as sequel series, and so could Prodigy and Voyager.

Like the others mentioned, they arent a direct sequel series, granted, but they sure do feel like a spiritual successor in so many ways. The shows have a lot in common, more in common than some seem to realize. Especially Voyager and Prodigy.

Were going to look at just three of the reasons that Voyager and Prodigy are seemingly connected, in order to show that these shows are far more interwoven than meets the eye.

Like with Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Prodigy starts its story in the Delta Quadrant, even if they didnt stay there the entire series. The show starting there is a sign that theyre paying homage and respect to the series that came before it.

Bringing in aliens domestic to the Delta Quadrant, aliens we never met before, and having them be the stars of the series is a great idea. It helps connect the two shows in a way that very few other series have had a chance to do.

The only close relation that any of the shows have that even rivals this is the Discovery, Strange New Worlds, and Original Series. All three shows feature Spock and Christopher Pike, uniting all three shows with a linear timeline. Even if some fans wish that wasnt the case.

Prodigy and Voyager sharing a quadrant is meaningful in a way thats unique to them. Sure, they werent very close, Voyager only got through about half of the way from their point of arrival to the Alpha Quadrant, and Prodigy takes place near the border of the Delta and Beta Quadrant, but Im still counting it. Well see where the show goes next now that its in the Gamma Quadrant but that may just open up a connection to Deep Space Nine.

Wouldnt that be something?

See original here:

3 reasons Star Trek: Prodigy is a spiritual successor to Voyager - Redshirts Always Die

Khenpo Karten, a Tibetan monk who leads the Manjushri Dharma Center in Pacific Grove, recommends beginners start with silent, five-minute meditations three times a day.

When confronted with a global pandemic, there is almost something trite about the idea of New Years resolutions forget an after-work walk or healthy lunches, I hope youve gotten vaccinated and boosted. But once youve taken care of those essential projects, your personal part in the public health mission to slow (and eventually end) the pandemic, there are, of course, other layers to keeping ourselves well, from mindfulness to injury prevention.

This annual Health & Fitness issue explores a range of related topics. Whether youre training for a big race or trying to find mental stability in an unstable time, we wish you the best in your journey.

Sara Rubin, editor

The tongue lightly touches the palate, the eyes are set down the length of the nose, Kharten says as he folds his hands on his lap, palms up, thumb tips touching. Kharten, a Tibetan monk, explains that people new to the Buddhist form of meditation must first learn how to sit. Hips slightly elevated above the knees, shoulders strong but not tense, spine straight. You need to slow down the body, speech and mind. This body, everyday, is working; this mind, always thinking; this mouth, always talking. We lose connection with our mind and forget how to take care of it.

The Dharma Center is covered wall-to-wall in a colorful bouquet of Buddhist symbols, portraits and books, scored by Tibetan hymns; however, Kharten, who alternates between joyful laughter and grave seriousness while discussing meditation, explains the practice is for everyone, not just those in burgundy robes.

People should meditate because we all have a monkey mind. Sometimes the mind is very difficult. Meditation is medicine for the mind, Kharten says.

The term monkey mind is common lingo in meditation circles, referring to the noisy, restless, thinking mind; the one that clouds us with narratives about ourselves and the world around us. The one that, for many, has probably been on hyperdrive over the last two years, and much longer. Meditation, in its many forms of practice in Monterey County, offers a vehicle toward inner silence and connection, some more expedient and expensive than others.

During an hour-long introduction to Transcendental Meditation, Lindsay Dyson, director of the Carmel TM center, uses the analogy of riding a boat in the middle of the ocean when, suddenly, massive swells approach and strong winds overwhelm. Stuck on the surface, the entire ocean appears turbulent (our monkey mind), but zooming out, you see the ocean is a mile deep, and silent and still at its depth.

Developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi the man the Beatles visited in India in the 1960s TM uses a silent mantra to help reach the minds silent depths, and is recommended in 20-minute sessions twice a day. The technique prides itself for its ease and its distinction from any philosophy or spiritual dogma; however, TM needs to be taught by a trained practitioner. Although centers across the world began offering income-based rates in recent years, they arent cheap, ranging from a course fee of $420 to nearly $1,000. Dyson says the Carmel TM center offers some scholarships.

Scientific literature on the impact of meditation is surprisingly thin, as many studies have tested small sample sizes or lacked control groups. However, the existing research has tied meditation to various signs of improved health, regardless of whether the meditation is motivated by religion or discovering an inner awareness.

The American Heart Association promotes meditation as a way to lower blood pressure. Studies have linked the practice to treating irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety and depression. A 2018 Harvard study indicated that meditation alters the expression of 172 genes that regulate inflammation, circadian rhythms and glucose metabolism.

ValiAnna Francis rings a glass bowl has she leads a peace meditation session at The Center for Spiritual Awakening. ValiAnna has been practicing sound meditation for 13 years.

BEHIND THE CENTER FOR SPIRITUAL AWAKENING IN PACIFIC GROVE,a woman named ValiAnna, a master sound practitioner and shaman activist according to her business card, enters the courtyard tapping a hollow, rust-hued cylinder like a gong. She is decked out in amethyst crystals. The bowl, she explains, is made of quartz, ruby, white diamond, yellow gold and iron; it is singing an F tone, which she says connects to the heart chakra. Six other bowls of varying sizes one for each of the other chakras, or energy centers in the body sit on a table under the courtyards magnolia tree. Around 11:45am, people, mostly older, mostly women, begin trickling in, filling up roughly 20 chairs for the weekly Wednesday vibrational detox.

Over the course of the next hour, the group, eyes closed, meditates while ValiAnna plays the bowls, chiming in now and then with vocal intonations. Toward the end, she approaches each participant individually with a humming bowl to bless their biofields. The effect is overwhelming for some who wipe away tears as the session ends. What began as a silent courtyard now sings with chirping squirrels and various types of bird calls.

The crystal bowls, I think, deepen the experience, but some people prefer no noise, says Coleen Gsell, executive director at the center.

The Center for Spiritual Awakening, which offers a full menu of meditation techniques, is a nondenominational spiritual center that Gsell says focuses on inner wisdom. The center, located in a former Christian Science facility, doesnt require membership and is open to the public.

Bill Little, spiritual director at the center, has maintained a strict meditation practice for 60 years, which began with TM. He recommends starting with whats known as the Hamsa breath mantra. Sit comfortably in a seat, close your eyes, and breathe. On the inhale, silently say the first half, pronounced hahm. On the exhale, the second half, pronounced, sah.

Just keep patient, eventually the mind will slow down, Little says. The crucial thing is that the breath stops for a split second between [the inhale and exhale]. In that split second, not only is the breath not moving, the mind is not moving either.

More:

The practice of meditation spans from the strictly spiritual to secular. - Monterey County Weekly

One of my favorite parts in my job is watching students go through Confirmation. The Church of the Resurrection offers a Confirmation course for current 8th-12th grade students. In Confirmation, students have the opportunity to explore their faith by asking questions, they get opportunities to serve their community, and they journey alongside adult mentors to participate in small group discussion. At the end of Confirmation, they are invited to make a public commitment to Christ and become a full member of our church community. In addition to all that, they dig deep into reading the Bible!

Many of our Confirmation students grew up in the church. They remember reading the Bible in Sunday School--the stories about Adam and Eve, Jonah and the whale, Jesus walking on water, and so many others. Some of our Confirmation students are new to the church and are hearing some of these stories for the first time. The powerful thing about Confirmation is that students open up their Bibles together while sitting in a circle, they read a Bible passage, and then reflect on it together. They ask the question, How is this useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character? (like 1 Timothy 1:16 talks about).

It is always powerful to learn from students the perspectives and insight they are bringing into reading Scripture. When I listen to our Confirmation students reflect on the Bible, I feel like Im learning just as much as them as I hear how the Holy Spirit is nudging them in their reading. Im constantly saying, Ive never heard that perspective, or, you view that in a really unique way. Sitting with students and reading the Bible together reminds me that even though Ive been through seminary, sometimes I need to have the posture of an 8th grader when reading the Bible! Reading the Bible together allows us to hear the passages more fully and recognize how the Holy Spirit is working in each others lives.

I encourage you today to open your Bible. Turn to one of those stories you know well. While reading it ask yourself, How is this passage useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character for me today? Maybe take the posture of an 8th grade Confirmation student the next time you read the Bible and ask, How would a student read this passage? There is no limit to what the Holy Spirit can reveal to us, and there is always the opportunity for the Bible to change our hearts. May the Holy Spirit guide you in your reading, and may the Bible's words encourage you today.

Original post:

The Bible's spiritual purpose - Downtown - Church of the Resurrection

George Harrison was a profoundly religious man, whereas David Bowie described himself as more of a spiritual seeker. During an interview, Bowie discussed his desire to find clarity. Bowie contrasted his internal life with Georges. Notably, Bowie covered a song George wrote.

On the album Reality, Bowie covered a song George wrote called Try Some, Buy Some. During a 2003 interview published in Vice promoting Reality, Bowie said the song was important to him. Bowie interpreted Try Some, Buy Some as a song about personal metamorphosis. He also mused on Georges beliefs.

For him, there is a belief in some kind of system, Bowie said, perhaps referring to Georges Hindu faith. But I really find that hard. Not on a day to day basis, because there are habits of life that have convinced me there is something solid to believe in.

RELATED: George Harrison Said The Beatles Yellow Submarine Wasnt Any Good But He Had a Theory About Why It Was Popular

Bowie discussed his philosophical side. But when I become philosophical, in those long lonely hours, its the source of all my frustrations, hammering away at the same questions Ive had since I was 19, he said. Nothing has really changed for me. This daunting spiritual search.

Bowie further elaborated on his thoughts about spirituality. If you can make the spiritual connection with some kind of clarity then everything else would fall into place, he opined. A morality would seem to be offered, a plan would seem to be offered, some sense would be there. But it evades me. Yet I cant help writing about it.

RELATED: The Beatles: John Lennon Said Paul McCartney and George Harrison Overshadowed Him on This Song

George released his version of Try Some, Buy Some on the album Living in the Material World. It wasnt a single. Living in the Material World reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for five weeks. It lasted on the chart for 26 weeks in total.

Meanwhile, The Official Charts Company said Try Some, Buy Some did not chart in the United Kingdom. Living in the Material World reached No. 2 there and lasted on the chart for 12 weeks.

Bowie never released Try Some, Buy Some as a single, so it never hit the Billboard Hot 100. Meanwhile, Reality hit No. 29 on the Billboard 200. It stayed on the chart for four weeks.

The Official Charts Company reports Bowies cover of Try Some, Buy Some did not chart in the United Kingdom. On the other hand, Reality reached No. 3 in the U.K. and remained on the chart for five weeks.

Bowie had a different spiritual life than George; however, that didnt stop Bowie from recording one of Georges tracks.

RELATED: The Monkees Davy Jones Said He Could Have Easily Been David Bowie I Could Have Been and Done What He Did

Read the original:

David Bowie Said It'd Be Really 'Hard' to Have George Harrison's Spiritual Life - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

In Ascension: Awakening in 5D' Heather Lee shares her own life experiences as a medium and healer to teach others how to take the first step to live an idyllic life

OAKHAM, Mass. (PRWEB) January 24, 2022

Author Heather Lee has published her third book, titled "Ascension: Awakening in 5D," which acts as a guide for readers who are ready to dive into their ascension journey. Learning to expand awareness and live through the heart is a tough art to master, but reading this book is a huge step toward doing just that. Throughout the book, Lee provides real-life experiences that teach the reader it is possible to live in heaven on earth.

Lee has encountered a lifetime of career experiences in counseling and healing, which she discusses in her book. She shares stories from her personal life as well as some of those she has been involved in with her clients. Working in this career for over 25 years, she has plenty of pointers to share when it comes to embarking on a spiritual journey and learning how to make life-altering realizations.

"I would love for this book to be able to reach an audience who is looking for insight on ascension and has the desire to discover how they can utilize their own life lessons to progress on their spiritual journey," the author said.

In this book, Lee starts at the beginning by explaining the fundamentals of the spiritual world, such as how living is defined for each individual and how to understand the collective consciousness that humans are. Ultimately, by the end of the book, readers will have obtained all the necessary knowledge and tools to begin gaining awareness in new areas of life and live in complete bliss and harmony.

"Ascension: Awakening in 5D"

By Heather Lee

ISBN: 978-1-9822-7654-6 (softcover); 978-1-9822-7653-9 (e-book)

Available through Balboa Press, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon

About the author

Heather Lee has spent 25 years as an intuitive counselor, medium and energetic healer but has possessed these natural intuitive abilities since her childhood. Worldwide, she is known for her connections and has assisted thousands of people on their personal paths through ascension and healing. Heather is often recognized for her humbleness, compassion and down-to-earth personality. Lee is devoted to maintaining the comfort of her clients while simultaneously pushing them out of their comfort zones. This results in healing, learning and growth. Heather is also the author of two other books, "A Bang into Gentleness: A Psychic`s Journey Through Spiritual Transformations" and "Second Sight in 3D: A Medium`s Memoirs." For more information, please visit the author's website.

General Inquiries, Review Copies & Interview Requests:

LAVIDGE Phoenix

Grace Connor

480-998-2600 | gconnor@lavidge.com

For the original version on PRWeb visit: https://www.prweb.com/releases/author_takes_readers_on_a_spiritual_journey_and_provides_life_changing_tips_and_tricks/prweb18446704.htm

Excerpt from:

Author Takes Readers on a Spiritual Journey and Provides Life-Changing Tips and Tricks - Benzinga - Benzinga