By David Jones When I think about the question, “What is love?” I do my absolute Virgo best to overthink it. And then I try to write everything I can ever say about the subject, so that I don't look back at it and go, “Crud! I didn't mention that one thing that [...]
By Guy Newland “My religion is kindness."This is something that the Dalai Lama repeats again and again, like a mantra, wherever he goes. The 80-year old Nobel Laureate entitled the Dalai Lama, whose actual name is Tenzin Gyatso, is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists. So he is a Buddhist, but not a missionary [...]
By Peter Schaller Growing up in the 1980s, we were served the Cold War for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was mostly up to Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr. to create a general sense of hysteria in the population, but since proper government propaganda channels were not quite enough, they brought in the [...]
By Daniel Scharpenburg Spring started two months ago. It will be summer soon. It doesn't always feel like Spring here in the Midwest right away, but it definitely feels like spring now. Soon it will be summer and we'll all be sweaty and gross. Some of my pagan friends celebrate the seasons. I’d like [...]
Elaina G Photography By Daniel Moler Yep. I probably shouldn't, but I'm going to do it. I am going to talk about cultural appropriation. And, more specifically, I'm going to address this word "shaman," and its use. First of all, I'm a white man. I really can't help that. Believe me, I've [...]
By Ryan Hutchins All life is in a constant state of fluctuation. The earth we inhabit is perpetually rotating, the days disappear and turn into nights, one season dies and gives birth to another. Without exception, all beings are seasonal as well. They grow, flourish, then wither and die. Life itself is an elaborate [...]
By Darren Chittick I’ve interpreted for His Holiness the Dalai Lama on several occasions. On one of those occasions, I received a blessing from him, and a blessing scarf. I recently cut that scarf into pieces. It all started with this obsession I’ve had lately with two concepts from Judaism, Ein Sof and Yesh. [...]
By Denele Campbell This morning my Facebook newsfeed included an image of a bloody thorn-crowned Christ on the cross. I’ve never understood why death is enshrined in our culture, especially at a time we’re seeing the natural world revive from winter. This is spring. Why worship death? In reality, spring equinox and the [...]
By Ryan Hutchins The mysteries of the universe can never be known. We can speculate and create theories, but there is no way of ever knowing for certain what is eternal. Some people mask their faith as an understanding of life. Some may say they know something to be true because of their faith and to a certain [...]
By Ty H. Phillips I hear her cackle first thing in the morning. I come in at 6:30 am and she has been up for three hours already, two of which are spent praying in the chapel downstairs. I sit down at my desk and hear her laughing---cackling if you will---with the nurses. [...]