Gita Audhya offers her readers a love story stretching from Hawaii to Texas, poor to rich.BRIDGEWATER, N.J. (PRWEB) June 04, 2012 Gita Audhya’s novel “In Pursuit of Love, Spirituality and Happiness” (published by iUniverse) captures the essence of true love between two people, their conflicts, astonishing and amazing romances and the relentless pull of day-to-day problem living in a corrupt ...
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Sunday 3 June 2012
THE psychological wellbeing of children as young as two will be assessed as part of a project to regularly monitor the mental health of youngsters in Scotland for the first time.
Pre-school children could be monitored under proposals to assess mental health
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New project measures psychological wellbeing of Scottish youngsters By Judith Duffy
A new set of "indicators" has been developed which will enable researchers to build up a detailed nationwide profile of the mental health of Scots aged under 17.
The first survey is due to be published towards the end of 2013 and it will subsequently be updated every four years.
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Children to be quizzed on happiness and spirituality ... from the age of two
Two hundred and 12 degrees is the boiling point of water but it is also a place where young people can worship God on Wednesday nights.
Trinity Assembly of God lead pastor Kelly Fulfer, top right, delivers a sermon Wednesday to members of the 212 youth ministry at the Trinity Assembly of God.
The youth ministry 212 meets at the Trinity Assembly of God to help youngsters 12 to 18 years old learn about Jesus Christ through fellowship, worship and Bible teaching.
"We don't tell people where to go to church," said 212 worship pastor Casey Steen, "We just create an environment for people to experience God."
Steen said his job as worship pastor is to create a culture of worshippers of God to help change the community forever. The youth ministry 212 started in August 2010 with a group of college students who wanted to spread God's word through the satellite ministry of Copper Pointe Church in Albuquerque. It started with about 16 individuals and now has a consistent attendance of 65 students. According to Steen, many children have another home church in Portales but attend 212 meetings regularly.
Haleigh Bird said her work as a 212 worship team member gives her much responsibility and allows her to help Portales youngsters strengthen their connection with God.
"I never thought I would have so many kids come up to me and ask me for advice with their love of God," Bird said.
"It's really fulfilling to have kids want to know your opinion about things."
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'Experiencia Mistica,' Spanish for 'Mystical Experience,' is a particle board and paint rendering of a church. Viewers climb into the 6-foot-tall, 10-foot-long and 8-foot-wide structure, and sensors pick up the viewer's presence, triggering video on a silver monitor, lights and music.
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Technology meets spirituality in interactive 'Experiencia Mistica' installation
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Jacob D. Myers: Holy Ink: The Spirituality of Tattoos (PHOTOS)
QUEZON City, May 31, 2012Far from being a merely religious concept, spirituality can be highly political, as Filipino youth who have been immersed in the Taiz community would agree.
Pia Montalban, 29, a disaster training volunteer of Alay Bayan, explained that it is precisely her Catholic spirituality that moves her to be immersed in social and political realities.
Montalban, who spent 3 months experiencing the Taiz spirituality of trust and unity in France from December 2006 to March 2007, said that young people should not merely wait for bishops to issue statements on social issues confronting todays society but on our own, we [should] ask and listen.
She also explained that probably 90% of farmers, workers and other sectors involved in nagging social issues are baptized Catholics. Montalban begged the question, Where is the Church? Aren't we the Church?
Carlos Pascasio, who was in Taiz in 1989 at the height of the conflict between East and West Germany, said that living in the Taiz community helped him see that spirituality is closely linked with concern for one's neighbor. Pascasio, who now works in real estate, said, I developed a macro view; it widened my horizon.
Pascasio himself was a former student activist involved in such groups as Kabataang Makabayan and League of Filipino Students before realizing that the solutions proposed by such groups would never work.
Bro. Andreas Krautsieder, a Taiz brother who visited the Philippines a month ago, agreed that since the love of God cannot be separated from the love of neighbor, it cant be helped that the Gospel be political.
Krautsieder said that to be political does not necessarily mean being partisan. Talking about feeding the hungry and visiting prisoners, he said [these are] very earthly and yet can transform our life if we start to put it into practice.
Taiz is an ecumenical monastic order in Taiz, Sane-et-Loire, Burgundy, France. The Philippines has been sending young people to immerse in the community since the early 1980s. [Nirva'ana Ella Delacruz]
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In this highly materialistic world, spirituality could play an important role in steering the Muslim faithful through the right path following the teachings of God in all walks of their lives, says Dr. Eric Winkel, a senior American researcher at the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. "If we can keep our integrity and honesty, we can still achieve world recognition," Winkel, who embraced Islam, told Muslims. Winkel emphasized the need to balance between spirituality and material life. "We have to achieve some kind of a balance between spirituality and material life. We have to restore this balance to be strong. We have to be always in the middle that is the beauty of Islam," he told Arab News. He stressed the significance of spirituality. "Scholars of Islam had given great importance to spirituality. They tried to be closer to God by giving less importance to materialism. Through spirituality people try to improve their lives in accordance with the teachings of Islam. Sufis will be very cautious while doing things. They think about every aspect of their lives whether it is correct or acceptable according to Islamic teachings and values," he explained. Winkel called upon Muslims to uphold their great Islamic values. "These values are our gift to the world. We have to uphold those values and traditions, no matter how difficult it is. Many people were attracted to Islam as a result of the trustworthiness and good qualities of Muslim traders." He called upon non- Muslims including Americans and Europeans to understand the divine teachings and cultural values of Islam, before taking a stand. He believes that Islamic economics can solve the present global economic crises through its interest-free finance system. The global economic system, based on interest has been found to be a disaster. It promotes a kind of consumerism that is harmful to not only humans but also environment. People everywhere have realized that there is a serious problem. We need a new system to address these problems. French Embassy officials in Kuala Lumpur came to our institute and said they want to learn more about the Islamic economic system. All Abrahamic religions including Judaism and Christianity are against riba or interest." Winkel converted to Islam in 1986. He was in South Carolina at that time. He was impressed by the unity and brotherhood among Muslims as he saw them helping one another. He recalls that Ahmed Numeri, who was a Ph.D student in the North Carolina University was one of the persons who inspired him to embrace Islam. He has studied Arabic to learn the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and practice it in his life. The American scholar denounced the smear campaigns against Islam and Muslims, especially in the Western world. In the 1970s and 1980s Westerners were not talking about Islam but about Socialism and Communism. Somewhere in 1980s some people in the far right began thinking we need an enemy after the fall of Communism and chose Islam as their enemy No. 1. because they found Muslims could not be changed according to their whims and fancies. This is a very deliberate attempt and it began from 1980s onward." Winkel however is very optimistic about the prospects of spreading the message of Islam in the West, especially in the United States but pointed out that it should be done in a proper way. "Many people had embraced Islam after 9/11 incidents in the US, which encouraged many Americans to read about Islam and its reality. They found Islam quite different from what the media projected. This is the beauty and specialty of Islam. Despite these massive smear campaigns across the world, people are coming forward to learn and embrace Islam. Americans are very open-minded. If we are able to propagate the message of Islam in a nice manner they will accept it." Winkel joined IAIS as a principal research fellow in May 2010. After earning his Ph.D. in Government and International Studies from the University of South Carolina, he worked with IIIT in Herndon, Virginia and then at the International Islamic University Malaysia. His current projects focus on bridging this world of the new sciences to civilizational renewal-with projects on Islamic Affinities with New Science, and Finding Islam in Math. His publications include: Mysteries of Purity and Islam and the Living Law (Oxford University Press, 1997) and his novel Damascus Steel.
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Muslims can achieve global recognition through honesty and integrity, says American scholar
EVENTS
Carmelite Institute of Spirituality: A Day of Recollection is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. today at the Carmelite Institute of Spirituality in Stanwood. The Rev. Stephen Watson will speak about "Marion Spirituality in Carmel." The Catholic institute presents monthly Days of Recollection and hosts spiritual retreats. Suggested donation is $15-$20. Bring sack lunch; coffee, tea provided. The institute is at 27008 78th Ave. NW, Stanwood. 360-629-4032.
Torah reading in Edmonds: Chabad of Snohomish Country will have a Torah reading of the Ten Commandments at 10:30 a.m. Sunday, followed by a dairy buffet at 11:15 a.m. at the Edmonds Conference Center, 201 Fourth Ave. N. Edmonds. Families welcome.
Pastor installation: Our Saviour's Lutheran Church in Arlington will hold the installation service for the Rev. Scott Summers, the new pastor at the church, at 4 p.m. June 3. Summers, who came from a church in Woodburn, Ore., is a married father of two, and a graduate of Washington State University and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, Calif. The church is at 615 E. Highland Drive, Arlington.
Spring concert: Cantabile, a Skagit Valley choir, will perform classical music at 7:30 p.m. June 2 at Advent Lutheran Church, 4306 132nd St. SE, Mill Creek, and at 4 p.m. June 3 at Salem Lutheran Church, 2549 La Venture, Mount Vernon. Donations accepted. 360-579-2279 or http://www.cantabileof skagitvalley.org.
Spiritual leader in Bellevue: Spiritual leader Mata Amritanandamayi Devi, known as "Amma," will begin a North American tour at 10 a.m. Thursday and 7:30 p.m. June 3 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 900 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue. Free and open to the public. Programs include spiritual talks, devotional singing and the opportunity to receive a spiritual blessing in the form of a physical motherly embrace. Registration is required for a retreat with the leader Friday to June 3. Call Clare Simons at 503-705-7350, or email claresimons1@gmail.com.
Bible speakers in Snohomish: Zion Lutheran Church will host missionaries David and Valerie Federitz 12:30-1:30 p.m. June 7 at 331 Union Ave., Snohomish. They have been missionaries with Lutheran Bible Translators for more than 11 years and have spent time in Ghana, Africa. Open to the public. Lunch served at noon.
Hymn sing: Imanuel Lutheran Church in Everett will host an informal event to sing hymns 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. June 16 at the church social hall. Refreshments served. Church is at 2521 Lombard Ave. 425-252-7038 or http://www.immanueleverett.org.
Father's Day Car and Bike Show: Northshore Christian Church will host its 10th annual Father's Day Car and Bike Show 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 17. There will be dozens of classic cars and motorcycles on display to the public. The church is at 5700 23rd Drive. W, Everett. For more information, go to http://tinyurl.com/ NorthshoreCarShow.
Riverside Ecclesia Festival: "Unity for His Community," a family event featuring a picnic, face painting and other activities, is scheduled for 12:30-5:30 p.m. June 30 at Jetty Island. Admission free, parking fee $3. Donation and volunteers welcome. 425-923-7975.
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May. 26, 2012
(Dreamstime)
A veritable rainbow of paint drips decorates the top of our dining room table. On the floor beneath it are hundreds of tiny scraps of paper and the blunt-nosed scissors that snipped them. A nearby bin collects other tools of the toddler art trade: crayons and markers, glue sticks, pipe cleaners and empty toilet paper rolls.
Taped to the window are our childrens masterpieces: paper snowflakes, a construction paper owl, and an igloo made of mini-marshmallows, though someone seems to have removed, and most likely consumed, most of the marshmallows.
While I would prefer my home to be mistaken for a Pottery Barn catalog shoot, I accept this colorful mess because it fosters creativity, an important developmental skill for children -- and a spiritual practice for adults.
Granted, I have a crafty thumb. When we go camping with friends, Im the one who brings the balls of yarn to make Gods eyes. At Christmas, I organize gingerbread-house-making parties. While Daddy loves to play outside with our 3- and 4-year-old, Im more apt to haul out the Play-Doh, paints or cookie recipe.
It runs in our family. My own creativity was nurtured by a mother, aunts and grandmothers who painted their own ceramics, tatted the edges of their own pillowcases and canned their own handpicked blueberries. I was taught to knit, embroider and sew at a young age. And my mother retaught me in adulthood when I wanted to pick up those hobbies again.
So when my own children get restless, we paint rocks gathered at the beach or iron crayon shavings between wax paper to make stained glass windows. I abhor packaged craft projects that come with pre-cut pieces that only need to be assembled. Wheres the imagination in that?
The whole point of crafting is to make something entirely new that no one else has ever made or could have made. To do that, we have to let our minds empty so we can see what ideas percolate when faced with a blank sheet of paper.
Sometimes the creative process can help with the mind-emptying. At the university where I teach, meditative coloring is offered as a stress reliever during finals week. Similarly, the repetition of knitting or hand-sewing can result in what some call flow and Christians call joy.
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The Corning school district plans to name Corning West High School Principal Robin Sheehan... - 5:42 pm
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For me, Memorial Day has a face. It is the face of the family members whose loved one made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Since 9/11 I've seen these faces in at least 30 homes in my community.
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IT'S not everyday that you get the chance to meet a living legend — especially when they literally come from the other side of the world. But when the opportunity knocks, you answer; and I answere
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Art and Spirituality with Sr Sheila Gosney rjm Posted: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 11:44 pm Email Print A Day of Prayer and Creativity with Sr Sheila Gosney rjm will take place in Wapping, east London, on Saturday 26 May 2012.
Focussing on 'The Heart of the Seed of Love' - 'What the sower is sowing is the word.' Mark 4:14, the day will begin with Mass at 10am followed by coffee/tea. The workshop will run from 11 am 4pm with a break for shared lunch.
The Day takes places at Old St Patricks School, Dundee Street Wapping E1W 2PH
Organiser Alice Robertson said: "Come and join us in a day of spirituality and creativity opening doors on our spiritual journey through art and prayer. Please bring something for a shared lunch."
For more information contact: alicerobertson@hotmail.com
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Spirituality: It's always good to be your own person
Last week, while working a per diem shift in my reprisal as a hospital chaplain, I was mistaken for someone I am not. It happened as I entered an unfamiliar nursing station and offered the busy
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Columbia, SC (WLTX) - Taking a walk to combine spirituality and physical activity is a rising trendamong young adults.
One such group of young adults at Shandon United Methodist Church walk as the sun comes up on Wednesday mornings.
"It's a nice break from everything," said Amanda Rosinski who says the group is doing good on attendance despite theearly hours.
Rosinski brings her dogto what is now themid-weekmorning routine.
The group, ranging from 4to 12 members depending on the week,uses a devotional book to guide their time and praybefore hitting the pavement.
"A lot of the book and scripture we read deal with nature," said Rosinski. "You have a reflection time and it's nice to get your thoughts gathered from the beginning of the week towards the end of the week."
The group started seven months ago and is marketed to young adults, both men and women, in the church.
"Started off as a way for us to spend a little more time together in a very different setting," said Julie Songer Belman, a minister at Shandon United Methodist Church. "Instead of getting up and thinking about all the things I have to do today and all of the stresses and worries ... Just take a walk."
It turns out taking a walk is gaining popularity among a younger generation looking for something less traditional and structured.
Columbia International University professor David Cashin says the popularity comes from those looking to investigate spirituality while staying active.
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May. 19, 2012
From left: Loretto Sr. Delores Kincaide, co-member Kim Klein, and Sr. Maureen Fiedler (Margie Jones)
NERINX, KY. -- Todays youth and young adults want what Lorettos already have, Loretto Sr. Delores Kincaide told the Loretto jubilee gathering of hundreds of members and co-members here April 25. A deeper spirituality, a supportive community, and a purpose that will change the world in which they live. Loretto is in a position now to consciously promote expansion by reaching out to these youth and others who desire what we already possess.
Politicians pontificate, the Vatican and hierarchy play politics, but women religious simply keep their eye on the road ahead. They walk the walk, but when they pause, they can certainly talk the talk. And they did at the communitys Symposium on the Future. Kincaide, longtime coordinator of the Loretto Network for Non-Violence, was the first of three speakers whose style ranged from droll to intense, from witty to exhorting, from profound to spiritual.
Loretto has existed to meet the needs of the time with the wisdom of the time. Thats why we were given the gifts of higher education, Third-World experiences and the freedom to live where most needed, Kincaide said. She urged her fellow Lorettines to create a new Earth. To make the motherhouse an institute whose reasons for existence would be to intentionally work on learning together, teaching others about evolutionary consciousness and spirituality. Make the motherhouse a laboratory for sustainability on all levels of living. Draw to the task, she said, the tools and resources of the metaphysical sciences -- philosophy, psychology, theology and spirituality -- and the physical sciences.
Loretto co-member Kim Klein, zeroing in on the end of Western economic progress as we know it, and the future of Loretto, worked in parallel to Kincaides artful arguments: Make a radical shift in how we conceptualized our economy. She said the capitalist engine of economic growth has, in the rich countries, largely finished its work -- though, like radiation, it has a long half-life. To improve todays quality of life, now depends on community and how we relate to each other.
Klein, an Oakland, Calif.-based fundraising consultant for social justice nonprofits, and a co-member for 20 years, said, what we at Loretto know how to do is the most important information in the U.S. today -- we know how to be friends, how to offer friendship across generations, across opinions, across nations. The vow of poverty meant that everything is shared, but there are ways of sharing that might involve different promises. We know how to measure community by its happiness, rather than by its product; by its quality, not its accomplishments.
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Interlinking with Kincaides proposal, Klein said, This is our moment. It is not just our challenge -- it is our time.
Mother Earth and the effect of climate change is the issue of the 21st century, said the final speaker, Loretto Sr. Maureen Fiedler. Like Klein, Fiedler wove her concerns about climate change -- and the lobby to downplay it -- into Kincaides vision for a motherhouse center to promote a spirituality to undergird this work. But it has to be an active spirituality, a seedbed for advocacy and action, and it needs to embrace the interfaith dimension.
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VOLUNTEERS are desperately looking for a new home for their not-for-profit womens group in Brunswick East.
The Grove Wholistic Centre for Spirituality needs to leave its premises because the owner has other plans for the site.
The centre, founded in 1991 in a building belonging to the Sisters of Mercy in The Grove, Coburg, moved to the Brunswick East terrace in 1996.
Volunteer Michelle Morris, a counsellor and family therapist, said the centres founders developed a place that would empower and support women in a safe environment.
The centre provides workshops and classes on meditation, music, craft, creative writing and spirituality among ongoing groups.
It offers a place where women can feel safe and have a place as a retreat from the business of life to reflect, explore their creativity, their spirituality and to connect with other women, Ms Morris said.
For women who might be isolated, it gives a sense of connection.
She said they had been able to cheaply rent the terrace with an office, library, waiting area, counselling rooms and a group room.
I am not confident about finding a new space, (but) I am confident that The Grove will go on in some form, Ms Morris said.
If you can help, phone 9383 1993.
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For my first term in college, the syllabus consisted of intensive study of four classic works of history. One of these was A History of the English Church and People, which was written in the early 8th century by a monk who came to be known as the Venerable Bede.
As I worked my way through this text in the original Latin, I gradually fell in love with the saintly people depicted in Bedes narrative. I already knew Columba, for he is the patron saint of the Scottish Church, honored for bringing Christianity from his native Ireland to Scotland by way of the tiny island of Iona.
But the others Aidan, Cuthbert, Oswald, Hilda, Chad and more were new acquaintances. They have become my companions in the faith, introducing me to the earliest roots of Christian faith in my native land and also to the riches and distinctiveness of the way people worshipped and thought in all the places on the fringes of Western Europe that are associated with Celts.
Cuthbert, in particular, has become a revered soul friend and I have traveled several times to Holy Island, a small barren island connected at low tide by a causeway to the coast of northeastern England, just a few miles south of the Scottish border.
It was here that Cuthbert spent much of his life as abbot, hermit and finally bishop of Lindisfarne, the priory on Holy Island that was founded by Columbas monks. The priory was later sacked and destroyed by Danish invaders, but the monks managed to escape with treasures including the exquisite Lindisfarne Gospels (now in the British Library).
There is a special quality about the island, which seems imbued with the character of those Celtic saints, who were firmly committed to their faith, yet gracious and compassionate.
I am by no means alone in my appreciation for Celtic spirituality. In recent years, there has been a revival of interest in the distinct pattern of spirituality reflected in the early monastic liturgies of the Celtic church in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, northern England, Cornwall and Brittany.
A growing number of Episcopal churches now offer what is termed a Celtic Eucharist, often on a monthly basis. At St. Michaels Episcopal Church, we held our first Celtic Eucharist a couple of Sundays ago and it was well received.
The order of worship was similar to our usual liturgy, but the prayers and music reflected the spiritual traditions of the ancient Celtic church. The prayers came from the 8th century and 9th century Stowe Missal, the oldest book from the early Irish Church still extant.
We began with the hymn known as St. Patricks Breastplate, also called the Lorica litany. The word lorica is Latin and means shield or breastplate. Since prayer was viewed as a spiritual shield, an Irish lorica was a prayer for protection against evil. When pagans converted to Christianity in Ireland, these loricas replaced the old incantations.
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WHITTAKER: Celtic spirituality offers unique look at religion
BRUNSWICK Aging, and all the things associated with it, is certainly a leading topic today. International speaker Mark Swinney asks, Could it be that God didnt intend us to age?
Swinney will present his talk, Eternal life, on Monday at 7 p.m. at First Church of Christ Scientist, 288 1/2 Maine St., Brunswick.
Claiming ones identity as Gods offspring brings countless freedoms, said Swinney. As Gods spiritual creations, we dont necessarily need to be slaves to time. We dont need to wait to become fully who we are. Time doesnt have the power to erode who we are, dilute our intelligence, or sap our strength.
Swinneys ideas are based on the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the Bible, and as discussed in Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy.
A practitioner and teacher of Christian Science healing, Swinney has devoted more than 25 years both to praying with people and empowering people to pray effectively for themselves. Swinney is a prolific author with more than 250 published articles addressing numerous facets of prayer and healing. He has traveled much of the world speaking about his heartfelt love for God and Christian healing, and is known for his honesty, humor and candid style, according to a news release from the church.
Swinney is a member of the Christian Science Board of Lectureship. He lives in Placitas, N.M.
For further information call 729-0317 or visit http://www.csbrunswick.org.
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Last week, while working a per diem shift in my reprisal as a hospital chaplain, I was mistaken for someone I am not. It happened as I entered an unfamiliar nursing station and offered the busy staff a morning greeting.
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