India.Arie has been sharing her message of self-love and hope with people all around theworld since she dropped her debut albumAcoustic Soulin 2001,. With classic cuts like Video and Brown Skin, and albums like Voyage to India, two Testimony albums and 2013s Songversation, the singer-songwriter hascertainly madean impressive mark.

In June, the Denver, Colo. nativereleased her latest project, theEP SongVersation: Medicinea project she describes as meant to belistened to duringquiet time, likeinprayer, mediation or yoga. India performed the the first single I Am Light with Erykah Badu on the 2016 Soul Train awards, and she talked to The Boombox about theSongVersation EP and how her music fits with the cultural boom of black female creativity.

What inspired this latest project? SongVersation does have a creative process, and it has a spiritualprocess. Which for me, creativity and spirituality are one in the same,so SongVersation: Medicine is an album that I offered in the spirit of just administering to people who are caught up in the times.

The world is changing so fast, she continued.Were all looking for something meaningful. People who never thought about meaningful things before now are looking for things that are meaningful, because the world is so crazy I wanted to detail the process through which I create my music, and so I call that the Songversation PackageJournal that is a companion to this album, and I just debuted it on the Oprah Share the Adventure Cruise.

Can you talk about the I Am Light single and what you wanted toconveyin the song?

I think that song is able to speak to people where they are. For me, I think the bottom line is, which is one of my favorite quotes thats from C.S. Lewis, You do not have a soul, you are a soul. You have a body. To me thats what [I Am Light] is really all about. Reminding people that things are going to happen sometimes, but its not wrong its human. Were going to struggle, but its not wrong its human. Were going to have good times, but that doesnt mean its going to define you anymore than the bad times.

There seems to be a surge in high profile music and movie releases that speak to black women. Whats your take on that? Why the sudden shift?

I think black women are seeking to empower ourselves. When youre in a world that always doesnt love you, it starts to where you have to love you. And thats the best you can hope for, and then other people might love you too, but then you figure it out at some point like Were going to make our own movies. Like Ava DuVernay, thats why shes so important, right? Thats why Oprah making that commitment to tell black stories is so important. I think the pain of being a black woman in the world makes us want to empower [ourselves more], and I think the art comes out of that.

I also think that Michelle Obama has something to do with it. Just seeing her brought a certain empowerment Just seeing this woman [reminded us] Wait a minute, were dope.

Whatdo you think about SZAs recent success, and what does itmean for black female singer-songwriters going forward?

I dont think black singer-songwriters in the industry have ever gotten a fair shake, because the music industry says the same words like There can only be one of yall or two of yall at a time, and theres all these other people who have different offerings, but they dont see you as unique, they just see you as another one of those things.

Like Jazmine Sullivan. Forme shes one of the best singers in the world, technically speaking and she wrote those songs and those songs are great. But theyre going to make her compete for a slot with SZA, and it doesnt make sense. Theyre not the same thing. Just because theyre thick girls with pretty faces andwrite songs, theyre not the same thing There can be an Ed Sheeran and Shawn Mendes, and they let it happen, but there cant be two [black singer-songwriters who play guitar].

Can you tell us how you began teachingThe SongVersation Practice classes at Berklee College in Boston?

With The SongVersation Practice, it was a natural evolution of me finding who I am, and how I evolved and as a writer,I wanted to detail it and share it with other people. I was at Marthas Vineyard, I met the head of Berklee and he said Would you ever come to Berklee? Is there something you want to do? I think he asked me thinking Id have to think about it. I said I have something, and he loved the idea.

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India.Arie Talks SZA, Spirituality and 'SongVersation: Medicine': 'Black Singer-Songwriters Haven't Gotten a Fair Shake' - The BoomBox

Does the Biebs have a new Purpose?

On Monday, Justin Bieber shocked fans when he cancelled the final 14 dates of his Purpose tour and broke teeny-boppers hearts all over the world. Some say he's suffering from exhaustion after a year and a half of touring, others have said he's doing some "soul searching," and now there's reports attributing his drastic move to his allegiance to pastor Carl Lentz's Hillsong Church.

The Bieb's religious devotion is not news as it has been well chronicled over the yearshe's spoken about it, he 's sung about it, he has tattoos about it. It's definitely not a secret.

However, a source tells E! News that over the last year especially the "Sorry" singer has been very dedicated to the Hillsong Church and that it's helped him through some stressful times. But, the source adds that the tour being shut down early is not a result of his dedication to Hillsong, instead it's because he's "burnt out" from his constant touring.

The insider continued that Bieber loves his family at Hillsong but that he's always felt that way. The source also said that it's at Hillsong where the 23-year-old has learned about having balance and loving himself and that's as a result of their practices. Additionally, the insider says the Canadian's camp supports his decisions and the choices he makes in regards to his well-being.

Another source affirmed the same sentiment, telling E! News, "Justins definitely done some soul searching lately but it was his own decision to cancel the tour. Its been hectic and that 'rock star' life doesnt mix anymore with the life he wants to live."

Another source also tells E! News that the Grammy winner has been leaning on Patrick Schwarzenegger for support during this transition in his life and wants to be around like-minded individuals like Patrick.

The insider says that both Bieber and Schwarzenegger enjoy being involved in the church and have been hanging out a lot doing sober and relaxed activities together recently.

In a statement apologizing to fans, Bieber's longtime manager Scooter Braun wrote, "A man's soul and well being I truly care about came first and we must all respect and honor that. Justin will be back and I know he looks forward to performing for you and with you all again. One chapter ends and another begins."

We hope he finds whatever he's looking for...

Read more here:

How Justin Bieber's Spirituality Impacted His Purpose Tour Cancellation - E! Online

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Religion and Spirituality Books Preview: August 2017 - Publishers Weekly

A movement is growing.

In recent months, hundreds of thousands have mobilized in mass protest moved by a sense that our collective state is not well. Amid a slow and steady drip of half-truths and outright lies, action is an appropriate response, a sign of hope.

Emotion-laden responses are useful in building bridges from apathy to action. Yet, as countless fatigued and burnt-out activists struggle in the wake of moral outrage, we must go deeper.

We need a discipline of contemplative activism.

In recognizing the challenges of working for social justice, spiritually-rooted social action provides something of substance to the people in movements. From this place of rootedness, social movements can set intentions that point towards sustainability.

Through activism we confront toxicity in our world; through contemplation we confront it in ourselves, said Phileena Heuertz, founding partner of Gravity, a Center for contemplative activism.

Through retreats and trainings, Heuertz helps individuals find their own center of gravity, or, as she describes, the place that inherently knows we are loved, safe, and have no need to fear.

Without practices that dismantle our unconscious egoic motivations, at best our work will be limited in its effectiveness and at worse, our work will exercise more violence in the world, said Heuertz.

In drawing from a deep well of spirituality, contemplative activism nurtures a sense of wholeness.

Traditionally, contemplative spirituality is built on a foundation of silence, stillness, and solitude. For some, this means a commitment to exercises like centering prayer, the Daily Examen, and meditation. Others describe more physical practices like yoga, breathing exercises, and dancing.

While these practices are necessary for formation, Micky ScottBey Jones, director of Healing Justice Initiatives at Faith Matters Network, says there is more to activism than organizing and running successful campaigns.

"Not being rooted in something that allows for spiritual, emotional, and physical evaluations and check-ins will lead to a shallow and exhausting activism that likely isnt sustainable in a health way, said Jones.

All too often, contemplative spirituality is critiqued as being isolationist and a mere aspiration towards bourgeoisie spiritual experience. If our inner life doesnt change how we address and meet the needs of those around us, we have precious little to offer the world.

Contemplative activism, then, isnt ultimately about a set of practices but about holding a certain posture in the world.

Contemplative activism is an invitation and an exploration of counterintuitive practices as a way to show up differently in the world, said Tia Norman, contemplative designer for Folklore Films.

Healthy spiritual disciplines should not only change our own way of being, but lead us into conflict with a greatly needed voice and presence. In articulating this posture, Marlon Hall, whose work through The Awakenings Movement equips and sustains social visionaries, references Mark 4, in which Jesus speaks with spiritual authority to calm a storm threatening to overtake himself and those with him.

Winds hollowing and ocean waves crashing against the vessel moving his party, Jesus stood and directly enjoined peace to be still, said Hall.

From the center of a storm, Jesus prophetic posture emerges from a place of inward stillness. For contemplative disciplines to be of use in building sustainable movements, they must hold a firm commitment to balancing both inward and outward engagement.

Contemplative activism carves out vessels of peace where Christ may speak directly to the issues of peace for people moved by the storms of our current sociopolitical climate, said Hall.

In focusing on contemplation and action we honor the whole being. This nurturing of whole individuals is crucial for building transformative social movements equipped to engage personally, communally, and systemically.

Alongside contemplation and action, healing must be an essential part of a spiritually-rooted movement.

The three are inextricably linked and in this moment; we need the potency of this triad, interconnected, to heal ourselves and heal the world around us, said Teresa Pasquale Mateus, co-founder and executive director of The Mystic Soul Project.

As a storyteller and advocate for the liberation of women caught in cycles of sexual violence, healing through contemplative activism is critical to Nikole Lims work.

Lim describes parts of her experience in holding the stories of those in her community as secondhand post-traumatic stress disorder. The weight of her work has, at times, led to physical illness. While hospitalized with an unnamed virus that caused immense physical and mental stress, Lim wrestled with whether she was equipped for her vocation and considered abandoning it altogether.

Shortly after being hospitalized, Lim joined a pilgrimage to Rwanda. The intention of this experience, Lim said, was to journey alongside survivors and perpetrators of genocide to understand the pain that oppresses us all.

It was through this experience that healing came in a profound way, said Lim.

From the grounding of spiritual practice, Lim discovered courage to intentionally enter experiences of unspeakable violence and pain while caring for her own needs. Contemplative prayer has taught Lim the value of pausing and listening.

These moments of reflection allow me to catch my breath inviting God into the work toward justice so that in my exhaustion, I do not perpetuate violence through my careless words or unconscious actions, said Lim.

As exemplified in Lims experience, Teresa Pasquale Mateus says, I think that the grounding in a relational and intimate God, which the contemplative path offers, and practices for deep spiritual and emotional healing can help rebalance and restore much of this brokenness inside each of us and our communities of faith and action.

Contemplative activism offers a foundation for a transformative and sustainable movement. While new language and practice continually evolve in this discipline, Micky ScottBey Jones offers a reminder that it is an approach that simply needs to be claimed in this time and place.

Contemplative spirituality is our heritage. It is a gift from the ancestors. From those who have gone before in our faith traditions and moral courage movements.

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How Can Spiritual Practice Sustain Activism? - Sojourners

Description Twenty-Third Publications, a Division of Bayard, Inc. is seeking an Acquisitions Editor to work as a contractor from their home office. The primary responsibility for the Acquisitions Editor for Spirituality and Parish Lines is to provide 20 publishing projects per term of Agreement (a combination of books and small booklets) that will support the mission of Twenty-Third Publications in these categories. This role is carried out in collaboration with the Publisher and the Acquisitions Team. Qualified candidate should have five years editorial experience, three in book acquisitions preferred. Responsibilities

Seeks and actively acquires manuscripts and/or authors that match these editorial lines.

Maintains an updated working docket of proposals discussed by the Acquisitions Team in the spirituality and pastoral lines and collaborates in building seasonal lists from this docket.

Evaluates incoming proposals and manuscripts.

Obtains author questionnaire and reviewer recommendations (as needed) regarding manuscripts or proposals under consideration.

Participates in a weekly acquisitions meeting: prepares Potential Project Report for manuscripts under consideration and presents these to the Acquisitions Team members; uses this feedback in weighing project viability.

Offers standard terms to author; requests author contracts.

Collaborates with the author in the development of a project, bringing the manuscript to a point where it may be sent for copy editing, or in some case further developmental editing as needed.

Seeks imprimatur when needed or when appropriate, asks author to obtain.

As needed, makes suggestions for endorsements, foreword or preface and obtains these where appropriate, and forwards information for back cover write up to marketing.

When possible, attends annual conferences and conventions to maintain relationships and make new contacts with other publishers and authors.

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Acquisitions Editor, Spirituality and Parish Resources - Publishers Weekly

To listen to the music of metal band Neurosis is to surrender surrendering to heaviness, to being pummeled with emotion through sound, to being carried away beyond space and time. To see Neurosis is to welcome this furious intensity most expressly; the experience is a commitment.

That word, commitment, is also a perfect encapsulation of a band that just saw its 30-year anniversary in 2015, has maintained the same lineup for more than two decades, and is still fresh off the release of its eleventh studio album last year's Fires Within Fires, released on their own label Neurot Recordings (another example of commitment, this one to DIY practices and business ethics). Fires Within Fires is music that extends far beyond metal, wrapping around ideas from folk, ambient, industrial, and psychedelic music to create something deeply, painfully, and beautifully their own.

Neurosis sprang out of the '80s hardcore punk scene in Oakland, Calif., but within a few years the band's style had evolved into a singular form of dark, heavy, uncompromising music they are still finding new ways to explore to this day. Since 1995, the core lineup has been guitarist and vocalist Steve Von Till, guitarist and vocalist Scott Kelly, bassist Dave Edwardson, keyboardist Noah Landis, and drummer Jason Roeder.

Neurosis elevated the concept of heaviness to an art form one that, although it often is, didn't necessarily need to be brutal in order to convey that heaviness. The breadth of their influences shows this; a short list includes everyone from Swans and Amebix to Hawkwind and Hank Williams.

At one point, a sixth member controlled visuals during their shows, which added yet another layer to the immersive Neurosis live experience on top of the earthshaking music and unnerving samples, but that component was officially retired in 2012. That's another hallmark of Neurosis when something is done, it's done. This is not a band with a soft spot for nostalgia.

"Forward-moving" is an expression guitarist Von Till uses to describe the band's approach, and it's not hard to see its truth when considering their musical output: 1992's Souls at Zero changed the landscape of modern metal forever with total destruction of genre expectations; 2001's A Sun That Never Sets delved even further into experimentation with an embrace of folk influences; 2004's The Eye of Every Storm, while as massive as everything else they've done, is downright quiet at times, even merciful.

The band visited Detroit in 2015 its first time back in the city since the '90s but expansive tours of this nature have been a rare treat in recent years. These days, the members are scattered across the United States with families and day jobs; it's not easy to get to certain parts of the country, making us very lucky indeed to have the opportunity to see them again only two years later, especially at a time when old songs rediscovered for their 30th anniversary are still fresh in their minds (and bones).

In advance of the show, Von Till (who remembers getting tattooed during tour stops in Detroit on two separate occasions in the '90s) took time to speak with us about their most recent work, his evolution as a guitarist, and the role of spirituality in the music, among other things.

Metro Times: Tell me about Fires Within Fires.

Steve Von Till: That album felt like a gift from the universe as a 30th anniversary present. It sounds goofy but it really came like that. We live quite far apart, we don't rehearse, we don't get together very often. ... I think it was February 2015, we realized we had a weekend available. Instead of booking gigs, even though we had no riffs and nothing we were working on, we decided to get together and see what would happen. By the time that Sunday rolled around, we had the skeleton for that entire record, within a matter of 48 hours. It felt really powerful, perfect, and blessed just the way it was. We got together once before we recorded it, just to fine-tune and arrange it, but it was basically there, right from the beginning. That had never really happened to us before. Bits and pieces of certain songs here and there, but not an entire work.

MT: What has shaped you as a guitarist and songwriter?

Von Till: In Neurosis, I don't think we feel like we're songwriters so much as channelers. Neurosis is a driven beast. I can't sit and write a song for Neurosis. I can generate interesting riffs and sonic ideas or concepts to discuss but it only really takes shape when we find the time and space to surrender to the bigger energy, the thing that's bigger than us as individuals, where each person has their own unique input and where we go through the process of creation and destruction. Nothing is sacred until it's on tape. We take turns speaking for what we feel the spirit of the music is demanding from us, and it takes shape in different ways.

As far as a guitarist [laughs], I often joke that I'm probably a worse guitarist now than I was before, as far as traditional chops, because I've only been playing this strange music my entire adult life. And it's only been with these dudes in this style. If you're sitting and jamming some classic rock or blues, I wouldn't know what to do. I can make noise and sound on anything given the right opportunity, a sledgehammer and an oil drum or whatever, but as far as skills, I think I've become increasingly idiosyncratic, which probably contributes to a lot of originality and unique approaches to things, but it's also probably limiting in a traditional sense. I always think it might be nice to force myself to learn other people's music just to make my fingers do different things.

MT: I read that you, at least at one point, called your rig the "chain of death."

Von Till: That's actually not true, necessarily. I said it once and it caught on but it wasn't by any means supposed to be a pet name or anything. I like finding ways to completely destroy and mutate a perfectly good guitar signal. I like to be able to have clean, really nice, classic, beautiful warm tones, and piano and bell-like stuff when I need it, and more traditional hard rock and heavy tones as well, but I spend a lot of time and effort trying to make things sound perfectly broken. That's probably what I meant, the mutating and destruction of signals which is part of the joy I get out of guitar gear, finding combinations of things that cause that unique fluctuation between dissonance and harmony.

MT: Do you have anything that you use that is not normally a part of someone's rig?

Von Till: Probably the most unusual stuff I have is the fact that I don't have pickup selectors on my guitars. I run both pickups out of a stereo cable and I choose my pickup signal based on a custom audio electronics switcher rig built by Bob Bradshaw. That's another thing, the custom audio electronics switching allows me to make a lot of choices on a lot of things with a single touch of a button, not having to tap dance around all my pedal boards because I have a lot of shit going on in there. I've always used two amps, all the time. Several different channels on one amp and several different pedals on the other amp and different combinations of dirt which are unique to each of the two.

MT: On a very broad level, what would you say has been an unconventional influence on Neurosis?

Von Till: It depends on how you look at it. The world, and the way we grew up, and the things that we were interested in, it all just makes perfect sense and is totally conventional. Of course we would be inspired equally by nature, film, psychology, shamanism, psychedelics, punk rock, Black Sabbath, Throbbing Gristle, Joy Division it all makes sense to us. It's either all unconventional, or it's all standard from whatever your perspective is. We're influenced and inspired by everything we see and hear. And trying to never limit ourselves. When we were coming up, it was a time in independent music when, to us, what it meant to be punk rock or to be DIY meant "fuck you." We do what we want, but then it turned out that every little genre had rules and blinders on about what was acceptable. When we got keyboards, people just shit, like 'What? You can't have keyboards in heavy music.' I'm like, 'What are you talking about? [Laughs.] Joy Division's not heavy? Throbbing Gristle's not heavy? Deep Purple's not heavy? [Laughs.]'

MT: What is your spiritual relationship to the music?

Von Till: If I could put that into words, I'd be a writer, not a musician. It's really difficult to explain. It's a feeling. It's an emotion. It's everything all at once. It's everything within and outside of ourselves. It's everything within and outside of the Earth. It's the entire human experience, from the macro lens to the personal trials and tribulations, traversing our way through that maze in myriad different ways, and really it becomes surrendering to this sonic wave of purification, a way to cope with all those thoughts and feelings and move past the mundane for a while.

Neurosis plays St. Andrew's Hall with Converge and Amenra on Saturday, July 29; Doors at 7 p.m.; St. Andrew's Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit; saintandrewsdetroit.com; $27.50 and up.

Read more:

The spirituality of iconoclastic metal band Neurosis - Detroit Metro Times

Low-cost, local events happening this week. To be included, your event must be family friendly, cost less than $25 per person and take place in Cecil County as well as adjoining areas within a 20-minute drive. Please submit the event title, time, address to accent@cecilwhig.com. Once approved by an editor, the event will be listed until its completion date. It will run in the print edition as space allows. You can also submit to a separate online calendar at cecildaily.com.

THURSDAY 27

YOGA,9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at Painted Turtle Arts Studio, 13 N. Main St., North East. Ongoing $15 drop-in. Multi-level for everyone. Call instructor Laura Hannan at 1-540-421-0296.

CLUTTERERS ANONYMOUS,6 to 7 p.m. at Janes United Methodist Church, 213 N. Walnut St., Rising Sun. Clutterers Anonymous is a 12-step program to help people solve their problems with clutter/hoarding. There are no dues or fees. Contact Martha H. 443-350-1483.

YOGA,7 p.m. weekly classes at Cecil County Arts Council, 135 E. Main St., Elkton. Intro class is free. Then pay $10 per class or buy five classes for $45. Classes are designed for new and experienced yogis. Contact class instructor Sarah Mester at smester@comcast.net.

IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH,7 p.m. at 229 E. Main St., Elkton. Panic, fear, anxiety, depression. Attend a free weekly meeting with Recovery International.

SPEAKER, 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. at the North East Fire Hall, 210 Maudlin Ave., North East. Speaker John Price will speak about the Rapture.

FRIDAY 28

FREE LUNCH,12 to 1 p.m. every Friday at Elkton Presbyterian Church, 209 E. Main St. provided by Elkton Community Kitchen. All are welcome. For more information contact elktoncommunitykitchen@gmail.com.

SATURDAY 29

SMART RECOVERY,10 to 11:30 a.m. at Janes UMC in Rising Sun. This meeting is for those recovering from the disease of addiction. This is an open support group that meets every Saturday.

SATURDAY EVENING SERVICE,5 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 105 N. Bridge St., Elkton. Will recur every week at this time.

PUPPETS AND PEACH ICE CREAM, 6 p.m. at Harts UMC Amphitheater, 3203 Turkey Point Road in North East. Puppets and music performance by Jack Foreaker. Free admission. Refreshments will be on sale, including Harts famous Turkey Point Peach Ice Cream.

ARTS, CRAFTS, and COUNTRY MARKET10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at West Nottingham Presbyterian Chuch, 1195 Firetower Road, Colora. Seeking vendors willing to participate. A 10' by 5' space is $10. Call 410-658-6366 for more details.

COMMUNITY DAY, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Abundant Life Worship Center, 250 Booth St., Elkton. Annual community day filled with activities and food for kids and adults. Call 410-398-0095 for more info.

SUNDAY 30

OUTDOOR WORSHIP, 9:30 a.m.grain or shine outdoor interdenominational service at Elk Neck State Park hilltop shelter, 4395 Turkey Point Road (Route 272, 9 miles south of NEUMC). Gil Nagle.

PARISH SUNDAY SCHOOL, 9:45 a.m. at Zion UMC in Cecilton. Recurs weekly.

MUSICAL MINISTRY,3:30 p.m. at Griffith AUMP Church, 95 Cedar Hill Church Road, Elkton. The Sensational Stars of Kent County will be the guest group, and all are welcome to join. Contact 410-398-1136 or 410-620-4940 for info.

SUMMER CONCERT,3 p.m. at Memorial Park, 100 Lancaster Pike, Oxford PA. The Hamm Family performs a show followed by refreshments. For info call Oxford UMC at 610-932-9698 or Union UMC at 610-932-2585.

MONDAY 31

DEBTORS ANONYMOUS,6 to 7 p.m. at Janes United Methodist Church, 213 N. Walnut St., Rising Sun. Debtors Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who help each other solve their problems with debt. DA is a 12-step program. There are no dues or fees. Contact Martha H. 443-350-1483.

NARANON MEETING,7 p.m. at Bethel Lutheran Church, North East. Hope and Peace every Monday. Contact Lorri: 443-250-0909.

WOMENS NA MEETING,7 p.m. at Bethel Lutheran Church, North East.

TUESDAY 1

YOGA 4 SENIORS,9 to 10 a.m. at Painted Turtle Arts Studio, 13 N. Main St., North East. Pre-registration is required. Call instructor Laura Hannan at 1-540-421-0296. $12 per class if all six are pre-paid or $15 drop-in.

SENIOR MEETING, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Stephens Parish Hall in Earleville. Anyone 55 or older is invited to attend. Come and meet your neighbors. No membership fee. Lunch is served. Come for the fellowship, speaker, see what events we are planning. Questions call 410-275-8150. Recurs weekly.

MENS YOGA CLASS,11 a.m. at Painted Turtle Arts Studio, 13 N. Main St., North East. Pre-registration is required. Call instructor Laura Hannan at 1-540-421-0296. $12 per class if all six are pre-paid or $15 drop-in.

COMMUNITY ARTS AND CRAFTS,1 p.m. free instruction at St. Stephens Church, 10 Glebe Road, Earleville. Ongoing drawing and painting classes for beginner or serious artists. bspelled123@gmail.com. http://www.communityartandcrafts.com. Call Jerry at 410-275-2945.

TOPS,5:30 p.m. at Rosebank UMC, Rising Sun. Nonprofit weight-loss support group, meets weekly. $6 monthly fee. First meeting free. topsrosebank@gmail.com.

NARANON,7 p.m. every Tuesday at Elkton United Methodist Church. A Nar-Anon adult support meeting for those with addicts in the family.

MEDITATION,7 p.m. every Tuesday with Three Roots Wellness at Painted Turtle Arts Studio, 13 N. Main St., North East. Learn basics of meditation practices and how to make it useful in your everyday life. Donation based. Registration is required email to angela@threerootswellness.com.

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Religion and Spirituality Events: 7/26 - Cecil Whig

July 26, 2017 10:10 ET | Source: Adventist Health System

photo-release

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla., July 26, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Research has long shown that people who are more religious and spiritual have better health and adapt more quickly to health problems compared to those who are less so. Now, the results of a year-long study of health care providers, including physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants across Midwestern and Southeastern states, indicate that a majority of providers are willing to assess the spiritual needs of patients, and that providers who receive training on how to appropriately engage patients on spirituality are twice as likely to regularly conduct spiritual assessments.

The study, called Faith in Practice, was conducted by Adventist Health System, one of the largest faith-based health care systems in the U.S., and Duke Universitys Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health. It was designed to examine the attitudes and practices of care providers as they relate to the integration of spirituality into patient care, while introducing practical strategies for the application of spiritual care in the outpatient setting.

The study makes clear that physicians are willing to address the spiritual needs of patients, and that education and training programs can significantly increase the integration of spirituality in outpatient medical practices, said Harold G. Koenig, MD, director of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health at the Duke University School of Medicine and a leading researcher who has dedicated more than 30 years to studying the effects of spiritual and religious involvement on human health.

In all, 520 care providers from more than two dozen Adventist Health System facilities across Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Illinois took part in the study. Participants had varying faiths, and some had no religious affiliation whatsoever.

The findings of this study show that spirituality is not only important to many patients, but that providers also see patients spiritual needs as an important aspect of their overall health and are open to addressing those needs, said Terry Shaw, president/CEO for Adventist Health System. I am proud that our organization is helping lead the way in this important aspect of care delivery, and in doing so, we can better meet the needs of the patients we serve.

Some of the studys key findings include:

Providers who received education and training were twice as likely to regularly conduct spiritual assessments in their patients.

There were significant increases in how frequently providers prayed with patients, were willing to pray with patients, shared their faith with patients and encouraged patients own religious faith over the 12 months.

Patient acceptance of and appreciation for the spiritual assessments increased over the span of the study.

The frequency with which spiritual assessments were conducted increased among both religious and non-religious providers.

Providing whole-person care, mind, body and spirit, is at the core of our mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ, said Ted Hamilton, MD, chief mission integration officer and senior vice president of mission and ministry for Adventist Health System. Many patients would welcome a discussion about their spiritual needs with their physicians as part of their care, so providing the appropriate resources and support for doctors to meet this need is one way we can take better care of our patients.

Providers began the study by completing a survey to evaluate their attitudes and practices related to addressing the spiritual needs of patients in clinical practice, which was followed by an orientation that focused on identifying and addressing those needs. The survey was taken again one month after the orientation, and once more a year into the training program. During the study, providers asked their patients three questions:

Do you have a faith-based support system to help you in times of need?

Do you have any religious beliefs that might influence your medical decisions?

Do you have any other spiritual concerns that you would like someone to address?

If a patient had spiritual needs, they were documented in the electronic medical record. From there, those patients were assigned spiritual care coordinators who could help address concerns or connect patients with a chaplain for further support.

Providers strive to honor and respect patients values, beliefs and preferences. This study opens the door to one approach that may help caregivers feel more comfortable assessing whether or not a patient would prefer spiritual support and connecting them with the resources to receive that support in those cases, added Koenig.

About Adventist Health System

Adventist Health System is a faith-based health care organization headquartered in Altamonte Springs, Florida. A national leader in quality, safety and patient satisfaction, Adventist Health System's more than 80,000 employees maintain a tradition of whole-person health by caring for the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of patients. With 45 hospital campuses and more than 8,300 licensed beds in nine states, Adventist Health System facilities incorporate the latest technological advancements and clinical research to serve more than 5 million patients annually. The full continuum of integrated care also includes urgent care centers, home health and hospice agencies, physician practices and skilled nursing facilities. Each Adventist Health System facility operates independently in delivering care and services to best meet the needs of the local communities they serve.

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Link:

Study: Physicians Willing to Assess Patients' Spiritual Needs, More Likely to do so with Education and Training - GlobeNewswire (press release)

The phone interview lasted an hour and raised interesting questions.

The gentleman was gathering ideas for his thesis at Creighton University in Omaha the subject dealing with the question, Does spirituality play a role in financial life planning?

When you think about a financial planner, you tend to focus on money issues. But an advisor who thinks holistically frames money in terms of your life and the lives of those you love and who depend on you.

Money is but a tool to finance necessities and meet obligations, but it also revolves around life issuesbuying a home, marriage, raising of children, educations, caring for aging parents or other loved ones, building a business, career changes, confronting adversity, independence and choices in life and in retirement, meaning, purpose, and all of the emotions and anxieties that accompany life transitions, both positive and negative. Financial life planning recognizes that life issues guide money issues.

So does spirituality belong as part of financial life planning conversations? he asked. And is there a difference between spirituality and religion?

The answer to both queries is, Yes.

Consider the second question first. Studies from the University of Virginia and Pew Research Center point to the trend seen in the frequent comment, I am spiritual but not religious. (See Why Millennials Are Leaving Religion But Embracing Spirituality). Only about 40 percent of millennials say that religion is important in their lives. They are less attached to organized religion than their parents or grandparents were at the same age.

The survey indicated, however, that 80 percent of those surveyed believe in God. Many made statements like, I experience a deep sense of wonder about the universe, or I feel a deep sense of spiritual peace and well-being.

Those of any generation who do not attend religious services, or do so infrequently, do seek peace, well-being, purpose, and meaning in their lives. Those deeply involved in organized religion have beliefs and life direction nurtured by religious principles.

The goal of an advisor is to understand what your values are and what you are trying to accomplish in life and how money and risk management play into your aspirations.

What you believe relative to eternal life and accountability to a Supreme Being may govern what you do with money, assets, and your gifts (including human capital) over your lifetime.

Understanding your groundings helps an advisor to ask the right questions and work with you to frame plans tailored to your values.

Those who do not believe in God have values that must be understood by a financial life planner. The search for meaning and purpose, a desire for peace and well-being, legacy and a sense of social justice and obligation to your fellow humans tend to be universal guidelines for most. Mother Teresa of Kolkata (Calcutta) has been canonized to sainthood. A series of quotes attributed to her sum up a prescription for a good life, whether you are spiritual or spiritual and actively religious.

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway. What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.

Create anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.

Be happy anyway. The good you do today will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

If you do those things, you will handle the vagaries of life, traversing valleys as you seek the next peak, until the last day when you long to hear, Well done, my good and faithful servant!

How does money, spirituality and religion play into your journey?

That is the stuff of meaningful conversations.

Lewis Walker is a financial planning and investment strategist at Capital Insight Group; 770-441-2603. Securities and advisory services offered through The Strategic Financial Alliance, Inc. (SFA). Lewis Walker is a registered representative and investment adviser representative of SFA which is otherwise unaffiliated with Capital Insight Group. Lewis Walker is a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach and Living Your Strengths is a growing theme in faith-based organizations.

The rest is here:

Spirituality and financial life planning - Dunwoody Crier

Description Twenty-Third Publications, a Division of Bayard, Inc. is seeking an Acquisitions Editor to work as a contractor from their home office. The primary responsibility for the Acquisitions Editor for Spirituality and Parish Lines is to provide 20 publishing projects per term of Agreement (a combination of books and small booklets) that will support the mission of Twenty-Third Publications in these categories. This role is carried out in collaboration with the Publisher and the Acquisitions Team. Qualified candidate should have five years editorial experience, three in book acquisitions preferred. Responsibilities

Seeks and actively acquires manuscripts and/or authors that match these editorial lines.

Maintains an updated working docket of proposals discussed by the Acquisitions Team in the spirituality and pastoral lines and collaborates in building seasonal lists from this docket.

Evaluates incoming proposals and manuscripts.

Obtains author questionnaire and reviewer recommendations (as needed) regarding manuscripts or proposals under consideration.

Participates in a weekly acquisitions meeting: prepares Potential Project Report for manuscripts under consideration and presents these to the Acquisitions Team members; uses this feedback in weighing project viability.

Offers standard terms to author; requests author contracts.

Collaborates with the author in the development of a project, bringing the manuscript to a point where it may be sent for copy editing, or in some case further developmental editing as needed.

Seeks imprimatur when needed or when appropriate, asks author to obtain.

As needed, makes suggestions for endorsements, foreword or preface and obtains these where appropriate, and forwards information for back cover write up to marketing.

When possible, attends annual conferences and conventions to maintain relationships and make new contacts with other publishers and authors.

Go here to see the original:

Acquisitions Editor, Spirituality and Parish Resources Job Opening ... - Publishers Weekly

Did Justin Bieber cancel his tour because of his "spiritual awakening"?

Sources close to the singer have indicated that the "Sorry" singer suddenly cancelled the remainder of his Purpose World Tour this week after "spiritual soul-searching and his own view of the path in life he should be taking."

SEE ALSO: Kate Hudson shaves her head for new role -- see the close-cropped look!

His newfound spirituality stems from his increasingly "intense" relationship with a pastor. In recent months, Bieber has become heavily involved with Hillsong Church and one of its twelve lead pastors, Carl Lentz. Though insiders told TMZ that Lentz didn't recommend Bieber cancel the rest of his tour, he has definitely gained influence over the erratic star.

Though Bieber himself denied that religion played any role in his decision to cancel the Purpose World Tour, a couple of buzzed-about outings with Lentz have had fans speculating otherwise.

In pictures that have gone viral on social media this week, Bieber and Lentz are seen looking buddy-buddy while out and about in Los Angeles. In one photo, Bieber is all smiles as he walks next to a shirtless Lentz in very low-rise camo shorts. In another photo, Lentz wraps his arm familiarly around Bieber.

See more photos of Carl Lentz:

8 PHOTOS

Carl Lentz, Hillsong Church pastor

See Gallery

LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 13: Pastors Lauren Lentz and Carl Lentz attend the 'Hillsong - Let Hope Rise' premiere at the Westwood Village theater on September 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Pure Flix)

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 25: Carl Lentz attends the 1st Annual Casino Night hosted by J.R. Smith at Stage 48 on March 25, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Shareif Ziyadat/WireImage)

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JULY 3: (EUROPE AND AUSTRALASIA OUT) Hillsong NYC Pastor Carl Lentz pictured backstage at the Hillsong Conference at Allphones Arena in Sydney, New South Wales. (Photo by Toby Zerna/Newspix/Getty Images)

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JULY 3: (EUROPE AND AUSTRALASIA OUT) Hillsong NYC Pastor Carl Lentz pictured backstage at the Hillsong Conference at Allphones Arena in Sydney, New South Wales. (Photo by Toby Zerna/Newspix/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 12: EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE/SPECIAL RATES APPLY Pastor Carl Lentz is interviewed during the 'Elvis Duran Z100 Morning Show' at Z100 Studio on February 12, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 12: EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE/SPECIAL RATES APPLY Pastor Carl Lentz attends the 'Elvis Duran Z100 Morning Show' at Z100 Studio on February 12, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 10: Carl Lentz attends Hard 2 Guard at Baruch College on February 10, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Shareif Ziyadat/Getty Images)

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To be sure, Lentz and Bieber's relationship isn't new. The star allegedly holed up at Lentz's home, which he shares with his wife, back in 2014 before his major Purpose-led career comeback, which the star has repeatedly said was fueled by a newfound spirituality. Bieber also attended a Hillsong conference in Sydney with Lentz earlier this year.

Sources say that Lentz is "not a typical pastor" and that Bieber is "becoming the Tom Cruise of that church," alluding to Cruise's de facto status as the celebrity face of the Church of Scientology.

Bieber's manager Scooter Braun maintains that Bieber cancelled his tour to benefit his "soul and well-being," and Bieber responded with a resounding "no" when paparazzi asked him if religion played a role in his decision. That being said, there's no denying that the Carl Lentz could be influencing Bieber's career decisions.

Bieber also isn't the only young star to be involved in Hillsong. Two of his ex-girlfriends, Selena Gomez and Hailey Baldwin, have also routinely posted about the church on social media, though it's unclear whether or not Bieber was the one to introduce them to the church.

Earlier this year, Gomez actually sang with Hillsong Young & Free earlier this year while leading a worship for the church in Los Angeles.

See photos of Justin Bieber on the Purpose World Tour:

35 PHOTOS

Justin Bieber Purpose World Tour

See Gallery

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Justin Bieber performs on stage during opening night of the 'Purpose World Tour' at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Justin Bieber performs on stage during opening night of the 'Purpose World Tour' at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Justin Bieber performs on stage during opening night of the 'Purpose World Tour' at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Justin Bieber performs on stage during opening night of the 'Purpose World Tour' at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Justin Bieber performs on stage during opening night of the 'Purpose World Tour' at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 20: Recording artist Justin Bieber performs at the 2016 Purpose World Tour at Staples Center on March 20, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: (EDITORS NOTE: This image has been converted to black and white.) Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

SEATTLE, WA - MARCH 09: Singer/songwriter Justin Bieber performs onstage at KeyArena on March 9, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage)

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 20: Recording artist Justin Bieber performs at the 2016 Purpose World Tour at Staples Center on March 20, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 20: Recording artist Justin Bieber performs at the 2016 Purpose World Tour at Staples Center on March 20, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 20: Recording artist Justin Bieber (L) and Chance The Rapper perform at the 2016 Purpose World Tour at Staples Center on March 20, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 20: Recording artist Justin Bieber (L) and rapper Big Sean perform at the 2016 Purpose World Tour at Staples Center on March 20, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)

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For more on Justin Bieber's denial, watch the video above.

More from AOL.com: Robert Pattinson reveals he got expelled from school for selling porn & dishes on almost getting fired from 'Twilight' Nicolas Cage criticized by human rights group for propping up 'brutal' Kazakh dictator Abby Lee Miller cries, eats mac and cheese during her last moments before heading to jail

Excerpt from:

Who is Justin Bieber's hot, shirtless pastor? Details emerge on their relationship - AOL

Guest post by Ron Garret

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Spirituality and rationality seem completely opposed. But are they really?

To get at this question, lets start with a little thought experiment. Consider the following two questions:

1. If you were given a choice between reading a physical book (or an e-book) or listening to an audiobook, which would you prefer?

2. If you were given a choice between listening to music, or looking at the grooves of a phonograph record through a microscope, which would you prefer?

But I am more interested in the answer to a third question:

3. For which of the first two questions do you have a stronger preference between the two options?

Most people will have a stronger preference in the second case than the first. But why? Both situations are in some sense the same: there is information being fed into your brain, in one case through your ears and in the other through your eyes. So why should peoples preference for ears be so much stronger in the case of music than books?

There is something in the essence of music that is lost in the translation between an audio and a visual rendering. The same loss happens for words too, but to a much lesser extent. Subtle shades of emphasis and tone of voice can convey essential information in spoken language. This is one of the reasons that email is so notorious for amplifying misunderstandings. But the loss in much greater in the case of music.

The same is true for other senses. Color is one example. A blind person can abstractly understand what light is, and that color is a byproduct of the wavelength of light, and that light is a form of electromagnetic radiation yet there is no way for a blind person to experience subjectively the difference between red and blue and green. But just because some people cant see colors doesnt mean that colors arent real.

The same is true for spiritual experiences.

Now, before I expand that thought, I want to give you my bona fides. I am a committed rationalist, and an atheist (though I dont like to self-identify as an atheist because Id rather focus on what I *do* believe in rather than what I dont). So I am not trying to convince you that God exists. What I want to say is rather that certain kinds of spiritual experiences *might* be more than mere fantasies made up out of whole cloth. If we ignore this possibility we risk shutting ourselves off from a vital part of the human experience.

I grew up in the deep south (Kentucky and Tennessee) in a secular Jewish family. When I was 12 my parents sent me to a Christian summer camp (there were no other kinds in Kentucky back in those days). After a week of being relentlessly proselytized (read: teased and ostracized), I decided I was tired of being the camp punching bag and so I relented and gave my heart to Jesus. I prayed, confessed my sins, and just like that I was a member of the club.

I experienced a euphoria that I cannot render into words, in exactly the same way that one cannot render into words the subjective experience of listening to music or seeing colors or eating chocolate or having sex. If you have not experienced these things for yourself, no amount of description can fill the gap. Of course, you can come to an *intellectual* understanding that feeling the presence of the holy spirit has nothing to do with any holy spirit. You can intellectually grasp that it is an internal mental process resulting from (probably) some kind ofneurotransmitter releasedin response to social and internal mental stimulus. But that wont allow you to understand *what it is like* any more than understanding physics will let you understand what colors look like or what music sounds like.

Happily, there areways to stimulatethe subjective experience that Im describing other than accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Meditation, for example, can produce similar results. It can be avery powerful experience. It can even become addictive, almostlike a drug.

I am not necessarily advocating that you go try to get yourself a hit of religious euphoria (though I wouldnt discourage you either the experience can give you some interesting and useful perspective on life). Instead, I simply want to convince you to entertain the possibility that people might profess to believe in God for reasons other than indoctrination or stupidity. Religious texts and rituals might be attempts to share real subjective experiences that, in the absence of a detailed modern understanding of neuroscience, can appear to originate from mysterious, subtle external sources.

The reason I want to convince you to entertain this notion is that an awful lot of energy gets wasted by arguing against religious beliefs on logical grounds, pointing out contradictions in the Bible and whatnot. Such arguments tend to be ineffective, which can be very frustrating for those who advance them. The antidote for this frustration is to realize that spirituality is not about logic. Its about subjective experiences to which not everyone is privy. Logic is about looking at the grooves. Spirituality is about hearing the music.

The good news is that adopting science and reason doesnt mean you have to give up on spirituality any more than you have to give up on music. There are myriad paths to spiritual experience, to a sense of awe and wonder at the grand tapestry of creation, to the essential existential mysteries of life and consciousness, to what religious people call God. Walking in the woods. Seeing the moons of Jupiter through a telescope. Gathering with friends to listen to music, or to sing, or simply to share the experience of being alive. Meditation. Any of these can be spiritual experiences if you allow them to be. In this sense, God is everywhere.

Things to ponder: Why are spiritual experiences in general so strongly associated with irrationality? Is it possible that spiritual experiences *causes* people to become irrational?

Do you think comparing spiritual experience to music is an apt analogy? What about comparing it to a psychedelic drug?

What are the benefits and drawbacks of seeking spiritual experiences? On balance, is it a worthwhile thing to do?

___________________________________________

Connect with Dr. Gleb TsipurskyonTwitter, onFacebook, and onLinkedIn, and follow hisRSS feedandnewsletter.

Read more here:

Is Spirituality Irrational? - Patheos (blog)

Reviews and News:

Isaac Bashevis Singers religion: Fiction was where Singers Yiddishkeytwhich he translates as Jewishness and which I would suggest can be understood as Jewish lifefound its fullest expression. It was his way of being Jewish with others.

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Surfing religiously: Though Calvinist missionaries outlawed surfing when they first came to Hawaii in the 1820sthey viewed it as frivolous and wantonthe last 50 years have seen single-fin riding rabbis, short boarding priests, and bodysurfing Buddhist monks. Surf-related yoga and meditation retreats are common, too, led by the likes of the Pipeline master Gerry Lopez. Bethany Hamilton, the professional who lost an arm to a tiger shark when she was 13, looks to her faith in God to compete on the same level as pros with two arms (which she does mind-bendingly well). The big-wave champ Greg Long sits in lotus to prepare for confronting apartment building-sized walls of ocean.

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Push notifications are ruining your life. Turn them all off.

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The spiritualist convictions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

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Nearly everyone agrees: Dunkirk is the best film of the summer.

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Revisiting the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic: There had been pandemics before, notably the Russian flu of the 1890s, which killed a million people, but nothing on this extraordinary scale. Bloated corpses clogged rivers; bells never ceased tolling for the dead; and smoke blocked out the sunlight for days as the unburied were cremated in huge funeral pyres. When the flu subsided in 1919, nearly 50 million people had died.

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Salvador Dals mustache intact 28 years after the painters death: The mustache kept its classic 10-past-10 position, Llus Peuelas, the secretary general of the foundation that oversees Dals estate, told reporters on Friday, referring to the artists waxed and gravity-defying bristles, which Dal kept pointed upward, like the hands of a clock. Narcs Bardalet, who had embalmed Dals body in 1989, told the Catalan radio station RAC1 that finding the mustache intact was a miracle.

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Can poetry and pop change your life?

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Essay of the Day:

In Aeon, Sam Haselby writes about the 19th-century interest in the beauty of the soul and what it can teach us today:

In a global culture that appears increasingly obsessed with radical individualism, narcissistic presentations of self, and incendiary political rhetoric, it is hard to imagine that society once cared about the beauty of the soul. But, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in Germany and across Europe, the pursuit of a beautiful soul became a cornerstone of philosophical thought and popular discourse, advanced by some of the most important intellectuals of the time, including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Friedrich Schiller and Wilhelm von Humboldt. To these thinkers, the pursuit of inner perfectibility responded to the horrors of the French Revolutions irrational mass action culminating in The Terror of the 1790s. Nascent notions of democracy, they believed, could be developed only if each individual achieved liberation from what Immanuel Kant described as the self-incurred tutelage of intellectual immaturity by developing cognitive and emotional faculties through aesthetic experiences.

At the core of the beautiful soul is the idea that the individual possesses an innate cognitive potential. Subject to the right environmental and educational conditions, this latent potential can be developed to reach a more perfect state of intellect, morality, character and conduct. The beautiful soul is an aesthetic concept focused on developing human capacities and advancing knowledge and culture. It entails the pursuit of personal cultivation to create a convergence of the individual aesthetic impulse with a collective ethical ideal. The beautiful soul is a virtuous soul, one that possesses a sense of justice, pursues wisdom, and practises benevolence through an aestheticised proclivity for the good.

Read the rest.

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Photo: Jaguar catches a fish

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Poem: Horace, II.10. Translated by Ryan Wilson

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See the original post here:

Prufrock: Surfing and Spirituality, Isaac Bashevis Singer's Religion, and Revisiting the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic - The Weekly Standard

Caldwell, N.J. Thinking deeply about how you communicate, text and post might not be the way most teenagers would like to spend a week at summer camp, but 10 high school students found it was the best way they could imagine.

The students gathered on the campus of Caldwell University from July 15 to 21 for the Spirituality and Leadership Institute program.

We probed questions like: What does it look like for us to eat, drink, dress, shop, watch, play and love in ways that help and heal those around us and foster health and happiness in our own lives? explained Dr. Kyle Bennett, Ph.D., director of the institute and a Caldwell University assistant professor of philosophy.

Mr. Bennett made us understand that nothing just is. There is always a further meaning, said Rich Franklin, a rising senior at St. Mary of the Assumption High School in Elizabeth.

Now in its second year, the program is aimed at helping young people look at avenues for promoting public justice and seeking the common good. Mornings consisted of lectures and class; afternoons and evenings included free time and organized events. The students lived in the universitys residence hall.

It was a new experience every day, said Viv Zeballos, a rising senior at Millburn High School.

I felt like I was actually in college, said Franklin, who attended the institute for a second year.

Among the speakers was Meghan Ritchey, an events coordinator and curator in New York City, who gave career advice. She stressed the importance of being mindful of serving others and at the same time providing a quality product. Ritchey said that as a freelancer she must rely on God because there is so much uncertainty. She encouraged the students to choose good mentors and to find ways to work with teams, putting experiences over events and concentrating on relationships more than work. She said they should show God they are willing to take risks. Anything you think you are bad at, you should do.

Ritcheys talk was so motivating and inspiring, said Zeballos, who works at a bakery and now feels empowered to take risks and to share her creative promotion ideas. For Noah Wickenheiser, a rising junior from Notre Dame High School in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, Bennetts talk on interacting with others was most valuable. It made me think about how I act around others and how I value others, he said.

Other speakers included: actor Matt Lowe on thinking and creativity, business executive and Caldwell adjunct professor Barbara Davies on journaling and expression, and Assistant Professor of Theology Christopher Cimorelli, Ph.D., on working and the environment.

Getting to know students from different schools and locations was a broadening experience. Im basically a city kid who found a country friend, said Franklin.

Activities included rope courses at the Turtle Back Zoo, a Jackals baseball game, an ice cream social, dodgeball, kickball and mini golf.

The program was well organized, said Wickenheiser. They included everyones ideas.

Id rate it as a really positive experience, said Zeballos.

A 10 out of 10, agreed Wickenheiser.

The institute is made possible through a grant from the Lilly Endowment Inc.

The other students who participated are:

Antonia Ippolito, Pope John XXIII Regional High School

Nasir Jones and Jennifer Lawson from St. Mary of the Assumption High School

Daniel Cwynar from James Caldwell High School

Sophia Feijoo from St. Dominic Academy

Miles Smith from Union Catholic Regional High School

Sidney Lauredant from Oratory Preparatory School

An optional overnight weekend will be held October 6 to 9 at the Spruce Lake Retreat Center in Canadensis, Pennsylvania.

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High school students gather for Spirituality and Leadership Institute - Caldwell University News

The Rev. Canon Dr. William J. Danaher, Jr. Published 3:35 p.m. ET July 24, 2017

Mike Thompson's animated look at the 50th anniversary of the Detroit uprising. Mike Thompson/Detroit Free Press

Pingree Street in Detroit burns during rioting in 1967.(Photo: Tony Spina/Detroit Free Press)Buy Photo

It is humbling to walk through "Detroit 67: Perspectives," an exhibit at the Detroit Historical Society. At its beginning, visitors stop to create their own headlines. Working with a template, they can describe the events of 1967 as a riot, a revolution, an uprising, a rampage or a rebellion. They can call the people involved individuals, protesters, thugs, freedom fighters or criminals. They can characterize the police response as actions that quelled or assaulted the gathering or gangs on the streets.

This exercises purpose is to help us see how the words we use can reveal our biases and attitudes. In an era of post-truth politics and fake news, the exhibit therefore invites self-reflection about the history we share, or dont share, about what happened in Detroit in 1967.

According to its tag-line the Detroit Historical Society is an organization where the past is present. However, the Detroit 67: Perspectives exhibit shows how this phrase represents a complex reality. It points not only to the power dynamics at work in the process of writing history, but in the memories each of us carries in our bodies whether we personally lived through the events of 1967 or not.

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What binds a community together is the common history and memories its people share. In contexts where there has been longstanding injustice and violence, reconciliation stands or falls on developing a shared sense of what happened, when, and how this past continues to affect the present and future. More than any other accomplishment, the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (1996-1998) did just this in the public hearings it held and in a massive, multi-volume report published from 1998-2003.

By revealing the different histories we have learned and the memories we share, "Detroit 67: Perspectives," shines a light on the work we still need to do. In order for us to find wholeness and healing as a wider community, we need to loosen our grip on our own stories and listen to the stories of others. Because there is the deep connection between history and memory between what is written and learned (history) and the imprint this knowledge makes on our feelings and attitudes (memory).

This is difficult work: Memories divide as much as unite. They traumatize as well as heal. They tell truths that are self-evident but largely unspoken. They remind us that the past is still present within us. Memories haunt us like ghosts or walk alongside us as spiritual companions. They can bind us or set us free.

It is also spiritual work, because what makes a memory bad or good is not its content, but the way we carry it in our minds and bodies. This is why, in the end, we cannot simply revisit the factual history of the 1967 Rebellion if we want a positive outcome from this commemoration. We need collective reflection, interaction, catharsis, conversation, communion, and conversion if we want to revisit this past in a productive way.

We need, in other words, to make from our past a kind of ritual that will help us come together in a new, powerful way. Rituals are critical, because at their best they help our bodies metabolize our memories in new and powerful ways.

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To do this, my collaborator, Oren Goldenberg, and I have worked with the Charles Wright Museum of African American Historyto produce a performance art project, People of the Infinite Fires. Beginning and ending on the same dates of the Rebellion, this project will create space for ritual catharsis and artistic performance around a sacred fire that will burn continuously for five days.

The fire will be kindled at the Museums entrance, on an altar fabricated by Ryan C. Doyle and decorated by Olayami Dabls of Detroits African Bead Museum. Curated performances by local artists will take place alongside other rituals or remembrances provided by participating community members.

Although the histories of the 1967 Rebellion remembers fire as destructive force, fires are also used in many communities to enter sacred space, to purify people, to convey an offering, to hold collective space, and to communicate a divine presence. By ritually keeping a fire, the project will transfigure the way we remember the role fire, and ritual, plays in our lives and memories.

At the end of the five-day period, the fire will be extinguished ceremoniously with water from the Detroit River. The ashes will give nutrients to a seed buried under the fires ashes. As the 50th anniversary of the Rebellion passes, the seed will be a ritual reminder of what has taken place, a hopeful promise for the future.

This project seeks to breathe new life into Detroits motto as we revisit 1967: We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes (Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus). This motto does not bear the false promise of a world without fire, but rather conveys the hope that fires can be part of a slow and sacred process of social healing and reconciliation. May this hope be fulfilled, God willing.

The Rev. Canon Dr. William J. Danaher, Jr. is rector ofChrist Church Cranbrook and canon for Interfaith and Ecumenical Engagement at theEpiscopal Diocese of Michigan.

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Column: The spirituality of remembering the 1967 Detroit Rebellion - Detroit Free Press

Our current health care crisis is really a spiritual crisis and, until we recognize this, we will never resolve it.

We live in a soulless high-tech world in which we find our souls to be under a daily assault. Disease and ill health are the natural by-products of living under such de-humanizing conditions. In a truly human, humane natural society, humans rarely get sick. Good health is a state of being and our natural birthright as "children of God."

Health care, on the other hand, is an after-the-fact response to the physical symptoms that develop as a result of our living in such an unhealthy environment.

In an unnatural, de-humanized world maintaining a healthy state of being becomes a full-time job. We must "be vigilant" for individuals or circumstances that would create such an unhealthy state. For instance, it does 1ittle good to eat right and exercise if we go to work every day in a toxic psychological environment.

Because our current health care system only responds to symptoms after they have already developed, it may actually be regarded as a "disease system" rather than a health system. A true "health system" would teach us how to attain and maintain a healthy state of being. This means not just eating right or exercise but some kind of spiritual practice.

Now that our current disease system has become increasingly costly, conflicted and often ineffectual, what was originally a spiritual issue has become a medical issue and now a political issue. As such, it will never be resolved.

Joseph H. Vanderpool

Rensselaer

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Letter: Include spirituality in our health system - Albany Times Union

Prayut said the country had faced a number of problems because of the absence of spirituality, which provides what he calls a moral blanket against ill practices.

The premier said he did not want to blame anyone, but was reminding everyone about this point so people would come to help one another and get out of this sticky situation.

Dharma-based democracy, he said, was something that people did not talk about much, but it was actually crucial because its based on rationale. Democracy without dharma, he said, would find no peace and stability. To achieve moral society, this principle should be taken into consideration. It was also the starting point for reconciliation, he said.

I just want you to be thoughtful about the country a bit and have conscience enough to be able to think of some religious principles that we can apply to our present political problems, he said.

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Democracy can't be strong if spirituality is weak, says PM - The Nation - The Nation

A Regina woman who spent 3-1/2 years in solitary confinement cried Wednesday as she recalled how a spiritual ceremony led by a First Nations elder helped her through difficult times at a British Columbia prison.

BobbyLee Worm, 31, was testifying at a B.C. Supreme Court trial launched by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association and the John Howard Society of Canada over the use of indefinite solitary confinement.

Worm was sentenced to nearly six years in prison in June 2006 for armed robbery. She served time at the Edmonton Institution for Women before being transferred in July 2008 to the Fraser Valley Institution for Women in Abbotsford, B.C., where she occasionally participated in spiritual ceremonies.

Prison officials limited an elder to certain elements of a spiritual ceremony, she said.

"The elder would still want to see me regardless of how they were telling her how to give me my spirituality because she knows how important it was to me to have that in my life at that time," Worm said through tears.

"It helped me keep grounded and keep myself together in order to get through those times."

Justice Peter Leask stopped proceedings to give Worm a break from testifying about her experiences, which involved long stints in 23-hours-a-day isolation, including one term that lasted almost a year.

Worm told the trial she was handcuffed in her cell while an elder met with her through a food slot.

The constitutional challenge was filed in January 2015. The federal government tried to stop the trial, saying legislation introduced last month would impose a time limit on solitary confinement terms.

However, the two groups say a warden would still have the final say and cases such as the 2007 in-custody suicide of Ashley Smith of Moncton, N.B., could still happen. The judge rejected the government's argument.

Correctional Service Canada maintains that so-called administrative segregation is used when inmates are difficult to manage, their safety may be at risk in the general population, or if there is no reasonable alternative to maintain the safety and security of an institution.

The court heard 50 allegations were made against Worm at the Edmonton prison, stemming from damage to property, possession and dealing of contraband, fights, assaults and uttering threats.

Worm told court she once tried suicide and said in her affidavit dated June 1 that she understood through counselling in prison that her repressed anger led her to assault inmates, leading to more time in isolation.

Her parents were intravenous drug users and she also turned to similar drug use, eventually contracting hepatitis C, she said in the affidavit.

She wanted to complete her Grade 12 education in prison but sometimes refused to participate because she was overwhelmed by trying to learn while being restrained as a teacher spoke to her through a food slot, Worm told court.

When she saw a teacher in another room, Worm said she was led out of her cell in shackles and handcuffs and learning became challenging because her hands were cuffed from behind and she couldn't use a pencil.

"I just got tired of everything that came with it, trying to get that," she said of a high school diploma.

Worm said she eventually earned privileges such as guitar lessons but was handcuffed during that time.

"It would have been a good nightclub act," the judge said, to which Worm responded: "I'll have to keep that in mind."

In 2013, she settled a lawsuit against the federal government, filed on her behalf by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, which said she'd suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of abuse her during childhood and adolescence.

Correctional Service Canada is currently required to release prisoners from administrative segregation at the earliest possible time. The proposed law would establish an initial time limit of 21 days, with a reduction to 15 days once the legislation is law for 18 months.

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Regina woman says she needed spirituality while in solitary confinement - National Observer

Some people love being photographed and others run away the minute they see a camera pointing at them. Which one are you? Last week I had a photoshoot for my new yoga and creative writing website and, believe me, it was a plain spiritual experience (which didnt actually start as a blissful one).

Esther Oromi, http://www.bookactorbarcelona.com

We have never been so photographed, never so captured, broadcasted, exposed. We are in the era of selfie sticks and social media craziness. For some, our digital world has produced the perfect breeding ground for vanity and falseness; for others a global marketplace like no other; for some a genuine means of self-expression. Like a blurry-edged parallel universe, there is our life and then our social media life. Who is who? Are pictures just authenticity barriers or true images of ourselves?

Social Media is indeed a complicated environment to navigate, which in my opinion, only reflects how complicated any human environment is with or without technological aid. Even if you show up in life with integrity and genuineness, you may be heavily criticised, no matter what environment you choose, digital or otherwise. Thats the way it works. We are caught up in a voyeuristic game, an unsure hide and seek exercise, an overwhelming riddle for anyone in search of authenticity. We are in love and in war with visibility.

If you are on any kind of spiritual path, you might find yourself secretly debating between virtuously rejecting being part of the vanity stigma attached to social media and reticently desiring you were more visible, especially if you have a business. At the end of the day, we can only love what we know and we all want to be loved at some level or other. And, of course, we want to serve (or do we always?). What do we really want? Human psyche is a maze.

Back to the point of being photographed and spiritual experiences, when it comes to social media spirituality we have also created a hierarchy, according to the type of images we show on our wall or websites. From more to less enlightened online persona (1 being more and 6 less), the list goes like this:

2. Attending events that reinforce the image we want to portray

4. Ruminations or own deep philosophical thoughts

5. Pictures of us taken by somebody else

I can see above a gradual progression which takes two parallel paths. The first goes from what others think about the world, passes by what I think about the world, ending in what I experience about the world, which includes the perception of my body. The second, from the collective mind, to the personal mind and to the body.

We human beings are multi-layered and I do not condemned the use of wisdom quotes or sharing of interesting events. It is fun, it can be so truthful and deep, I do it all the time. I love when my friends do it. But what I do condemn is the strong criticism that we all get or provide (and never appears on the comments) when what we show is our bodies, rather than our minds. Here we are again, getting caught up in the same old mind-body debate, injected over millennia by politics, religion and science, in summary, force-fed to us and tangled into our DNA by power and status quo. Navigating through the above list feels like a stripping act.

I have bought this bullshit for years. That my mind was better than my body. That identifying with my thoughts made me clever and interesting and showing my body made me vain and unworthy of appreciation. If you are a woman and you want to run away from becoming objectified, the first thing you do is running away from your body and any image of it. This running away made me literally ill.

And when I thought I was free of the above preconceptions about my body, after all those years of yoga, meditation and inner work, all came back last week in my photography session when, paralysed in front of the poor photographer, my mind started shooting in all directions all the contradictory poison that we have all been fed for generations.

But I dont, really. I dont want to hide. Luckily there is a yogini inside of me that I have been feeding for years. I do want to be seen for who I am, for how I can contribute to the world. What others see in me and my body is entirely their business and not mine. Their criticism is their journey. We are all mirrors of each other. My inner yogini, confronted by the bright light from the ceiling, gently smiled in front of the camera, gently pushed the bullshit away, tenderly took over my body and said YES to be me. The stiffness left, I softened (and the photographer sighed with relief!).

Esther Oromi, http://www.bookactorbarcelona.com

My body expresses itself in ways that my mind cant even imagine. It connects me to deep wisdom. My body is wisdom. Generations of concentrated evolution in each one of my cells.

My body is raw nature, and it remembers. It is star dust which roots to Life with the strength of trees, it flows in time and space with the power of rivers, it expresses itself with the freedom of four-direction winds, every second it feeds the Earth with breath as the Earth feeds it in return. An act of love. My body creates life, is part of it. What inside, outside; what outside, inside; what above, bellow and so on, we know the ancient song. I am so proud. I am here. I am in my body. I am. And in this body I can be of service, never otherwise.

If you ever question who you are to be seen, well, it might look this way, but this issue is not really just about you. Its about all of us, its about the world and how we create it every day.

If you need to be reminded, heres who you are:

You are the embodiment of The Great Goddess, Nature, (yes, men too), your body is scientifically a miracle, you are a dream of consciousness, which energy was so strong that manifested into matter and inhabited time and space. There is nothing in your body that is not sacred and beautiful and when we look at each other, and when we show up as spirit-infused bodies, we help each other remember.

Its our primordial duty and our privilege to deeply admire our body, whatever the mind, society, culture, economy thinks we look like (or we are supposed to look like). It is our duty to thank Her, to honour Her, to take care of Her, to respect Her rhythms, to celebrate Her, and to give the rest of the world permission to stop hiding behind empty words and ideas, and start showing up in full bodies, serving each other with what we are right now: feet to move forward, legs to sustain us, arms to embrace and love, hands to help, lips to kiss and communicate, ears to profoundly listen, eyes to see the beauty of being alive, breath to connect and inspire and yes, maybe a crazy hairstyle one day, or special make up, or yoga in heals, or simply a smile in a mobile photo can remind us of not taking everything, especially ourselves, too seriously. And thats what a photoshoot taught me. Who would have thought?

Esther Oromi, http://www.bookactorbarcelona.com

Have you ever had a similar experience with having pictures taken? Have you ever received a profound insight during a mundane activity? Please, share your stories in the comments. I cant wait to read them and connect.

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What a photoshoot can teach you about spirituality - HuffPost

Report By Jerry Moras

Canada, Jul 22: The carmelites inaugurated the Karnataka Goa province spirituality centre in Edmonton, in Alberta on Thursday, July 20.

Archbishop of Edmonton, Alberta, inaugurated the Mount Carmel Spirituality Centre.

Auxiliary Bishop of Edmonton, Gregory J Bittman, celebrated the Mass at 1225 Township Road 535, Parkland County, Alberta. The solemn eucharistic was celebrated in the presence of regional superior, Fr Rudolf DSouza, OCD, superior, Fr Mario Fernandes, OCD and many other OCD and other priests from Canada.

A grand reception followed the Eucharistic celebration. Over 300 people attended the programme.

Regional superior, Fr Rudy, OCD promised fidelity and obedience to the Archbishop and Auxiliary Bishop of Edmonton. Further, he promised Mount Carmel Spirituality would run under Christian and Carmelite spirituality that would build help to build Christian values.

The 'Mount Carmel Spirituality' formally known as 'Ephphatha House' was run by Fr Raymond F Gulmond, co-founder of Ephphatha House, and spiritual director of the house, several prayer groups and numerous individuals.

The Ephphatha House is a prayer and retreat centre, devoted to the Divine Mercy and consecrated to Our Lady. The house started 28 years ago as a project of the Community of the Presentationand has come to be known primarily for its promotion of the truths of the Catholic faith. It is a house of prayer, a retreat house, a gathering place for groups of all types seeking faith-centered activities and an atmosphere of devotion to the Lord.

About Discalced Carmelite Friars

Also known as OCDs, the congregation headed by provincial superior Fr Charles Serrao is setup under the patronaged of the great St Teresa of Jesus of Avila in many states in India and abroad. Their presence is seen in the dioceses of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa and overseas Tanzania, Middle East, Europe and Canada.

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Canada: Carmelites open Mount Carmel Spirituality Centre in Edmonton - Daijiworld.com