Last week I received a brief, but powerfully moving letter from one of our readers, a Vietnam War veteran.
Here’s the letter:
“Thank you so much for this (the video of The Way of the Warrior). It made me unload the gun. It stopped me from taking my life. I am a Vietnam vet who has chronic progressive multiple sclerosis.”
(Name withheld)
In a follow-up letter this man told me:
“If my letter will help others, please use it!… Read more
Danny, my 33-year-old next-door neighbor, died last week. Nearly everyone is saying he died too young, and what a tragedy it is.
Can we die too young? And is it a tragedy if we do die young?
Here is part of Danny’s obituary from our local newspaper:
“He was a free spirit and loving person. He loved life and lived it to the fullest. He never met a stranger. . . . He was the best kind of trouble, the kind you knew had nothing but love for his friends and family.… Read more
Last week there was a great discussion on physical healing at a forum I belong to.
The forum, Earth Heart Spirit, was started some years ago by my good friend, Mikala St. Germain. Mikala is also the moderator.
What particularly intrigued me was a question one of the members asked, and Mikala’s answer:
Member’s Question:
“Dear Mikala,
“. . . the question I’ve had for a long time . . . . Once we release the cause, (for) example, a habit, thought pattern, emotion, etc.,… Read more
You’ve probably heard it said you get what you expect. Do you really believe that? Many people I know don’t. Yet they always do get what they expect.
We’ve talked about expectations in two earlier articles, one on July 8, 2008 and the other October 7, 2008. But I thought it time to revisit expectations since it’s a subject riddled with fear and negativity. I was reminded of this when I went for a haircut recently at Frank’s Barber Shop.… Read more
When Will You Die?, our article from two weeks ago, generated some interesting feedback from our readers, all of it positive. Except for one email.
Here’s that one email, exactly as I received it — except it was in all-capital letters. In email lingo that’s called “shouting.”
… Read more“Do you always need to be so negative and morbid?
“Can’t you ever share a positive, uplifting, spirit empowering message to help us feel joy in our day?
“There are so many sad and depressing, doom and gloom messages out there, generated by the dark.
How do you feel about yourself? I mean everything about you, especially your physical body. Good or bad or somewhere in-between?
Spirit and I have talked about self-esteem before, most recently in this article. It’s obvious that many — probably including ourselves, at least at one time or another — suffer from low self-esteem. It’s one of the worst causes of human misery on this planet today.
A Gallup poll reports 2 out of 3 Americans suffer from low self-esteem.… Read more
Ever ask yourself that question? I used to, but don’t any longer. I figure I’ll die when I’m ready, and not a moment sooner.
The other day I came across an article and video on CBS News about a 112-year-old man in Great Falls, Montana, USA. At that age, Walter Breuning is the oldest man in America. Not terribly remarkable by itself. There have been older folks. But Walter is in near-perfect health and, as the article says, “.… Read more
This past USA presidential Inauguration Day I was out walking on the trail where I usually jog. It was such a beautiful mid-winter’s day, I wanted to enjoy it before arctic weather descended upon us once again.
About a mile down the trail I saw a tall thin man walking slowly ahead of me with his little dog. As I came abreast of them the man turned and greeted me. His eyes were filled with sadness and I could feel his heavy energy.… Read more
You may have heard about the recent controversy surrounding Reverend Alberto Cutie (pronounced koo-tee-ay), a popular Roman Catholic priest in Florida. It seems Father Cutie was caught on film in some steamy scenes with a lovely lady in a bikini.
As a former Roman Catholic who almost became a priest, I found Father Cutie’s situation interesting, to say the least.
The celibacy debate within the walls of the Vatican and beyond has been raging for centuries. Yet the church has stubbornly stuck to its requirement of celibacy vows for new priests.… Read more
We’re hearing more and more “bad” news lately — the global financial crisis, home foreclosures, swine flu, etc. The mainstream news media are doing their damnedest to convince us we’re all victims. Or, at the very least, potential victims.
Many folks I know are buying into all the media hype and nonsense. The problem, of course, is if you believe you’re going to be a victim of the economy, swine flu, and/or assorted other disasters, chances are good it will happen to you.… Read more
My little town in the USA’s northern Rocky Mountains used to be a pretty laid-back place. Not much traffic, not much noise, not much pollution, lots of peace and quiet, lots of friendly folks. It was, and still is, a great place to live. But lately I’ve noticed a trend more typical of big cities, not little western towns.
As I drive or walk around town, more and more I see people talking on cell phones in their cars.… Read more
One of our readers sent us several excellent follow-up questions in response to last week’s article, “Perspectives on Pain.” If you missed that article you’ll find it here.
Following is our friend’s email, slightly edited. She’s given me permission to use her name and email address, should anyone wish to contact her. Her first name is Sam, and here’s her email address.
Ahh, John, I certainly sympathize with your friend. I don’t know what her pain issue is, but I do know a bit about pain, so I wish and pray for her for whatever needs to be healed.… Read more
This past week I received an email from a dear friend who’s had a long road of daunting physical challenges. Her latest one is learning to live with pain.
Here is my friend’s email, slightly edited:
Dear John,
I finally today found last week’s message, Does Praying Do Any Good? I have had a series of really bleak years, feeling that my prayers are all “bouncing off the ceiling” — a really dreadful feeling to have!
I try to “know” as I once did so profoundly, that my prayers are “being heard” and will therefore be effective.… Read more
One of my dearest and oldest friends died two Sunday mornings ago. Some of you know her — Joan Bramsch. She was a gifted writer, publisher, teacher, spiritual seeker. And one of the most powerful, loving women I’ve ever known.
Joan and I never met in person. Yet the bond of our friendship and love was deeper than that I have with other friends, and even some family, I have known “in the flesh.”
Joan was always so upbeat and happy, even when she was going through hell.… Read more
Last week one of our newsletter readers sent us a question about prayer. She wondered if praying does any good at all. Or is it just an exercise in frustration and futility?
Here’s our reader’s letter:
“Hi John and Spirit,
“Thank you for the years of support and truth.
“I would like to know about the purpose of prayer. I have prayed for people and thought that this would keep them protected and secure in the physical, and yet they still get hurt and leave the physical unexpectedly.… Read more
I’m on the board of directors of a local community service organization. Last week at our regular board meeting we were chatting before the meeting started. The chat turned out to be more interesting than the meeting itself.
Besides being on the board of directors, I also write and publish the organization’s newsletter. But I’ve been so busy lately I’ve missed a few publishing deadlines. So the other board members wondered why, out loud, and rightly so.
I told them I’d been very busy with my work.… Read more
An old friend of many years and I recently started walking on weekends up in the foothills south of our town. It’s a break from our busy schedules, a chance to catch up with each other and to relax in the natural splendor of northwestern Wyoming’s rugged Rocky Mountains.
In the foothills you can see nearly the whole valley below, from the gently rounded Big Horn Mountains on the east to the raw rugged peaks of the Absaroka Mountains on the west.… Read more
One of the Washington Post’s headlines yesterday read “U.S. Downturn Dragging World Into Recession.” How does that headline make you feel? Insecure perhaps? Scared?
BTW, in keeping with Spirit’s frequent advice about not reading “bad” news, I didn’t read the article. But the headline intrigued me.
Most of my life I was a “security freak.” I wanted absolute certainty in my life. In an effort to achieve that I planned everything out in advance. I had a ridiculously detailed written 1-year plan, a 5-year plan, a 10-year plan, and far beyond.… Read more
I know that’s a strange title for a newsletter article. But those of you who’ve been with us a while know I can come up with even stranger titles than that one.
Last week I was at a meeting of a community service organization I belong to. One of our speakers gave a short talk on health. The first thing he said was “Have you checked your blood pressure lately?” Hence the title of this article.
The speaker launched into his talk with a brief history of his personal physical health.… Read more
Sam and Sara: A Story of Healing
Sam and Sara (not their real names) are a delightful couple I know here in Wyoming. They have a remarkable story of healing. But it’s probably not what you’d expect in such a story.
I first met Sam and Sara some years ago up in the foothills south of town while I was out jogging. They were strolling along, hand-in-hand, obviously deeply in love. It intrigued me to see a couple that age holding hands.… Read more
Life, Death, and Plane Crashes
Last week, on a cold foggy night in Buffalo, New York, Continental Flight 3407 suddenly spiraled down into a fiery crash five miles from its destination.
The plane, for those of you who might not know, crashed on its final approach to Buffalo Niagara International Airport about 10:20 that dark foggy night in Buffalo. Fifty people died, including all passengers and crew members, plus one man on the ground.
The sad events in Buffalo had a particularly poignant personal meaning for me.… Read more
With Valentine’s Day approaching, I thought love would make a good topic for this week’s newsletter.
What is love?
Regardless of how you define it, it obviously can take many forms. One of which we celebrate every February 14 — romantic love.
But today we’re going to expand our definition beyond romance. My favorite definition of love is one Spirit gave me many years ago:
“The choice to see the divinity in all beings.”
(NOTE: Spirit’s message today is a bit longer than usual and, to me at least, a bit sterner.)… Read more
Last week after we published our Money podcast, we received a fair amount of feedback. With one exception, it was all positive. In the exception, the letter writer talked about limiting beliefs. So we’ve decided to do this week’s article on that very subject.
Here are the comments from the person talking about limiting beliefs:
… Read more“In today’s podcast it is said that creating wealth is as ‘simple’ as giving up limiting beliefs, but come on: this IS the crux of the problem!!
Last week an old and dear friend from my childhood died. I celebrated.
I realize that may sound cold and callous to some folks, perhaps even to some of you reading this. But I actually did celebrate after my sister told me of my friend’s death.
To explain, let me go back to days long past.
I’ve known Joe most of my life, over fifty years now. Though he was much older than me, when I became an adult we grew very close.… Read more
As a former Roman Catholic from a large Italian family, still mostly Catholic, I read with great interest a recent Washington Post article on the Vatican.
The Vatican recently decided to go public with one of its most secret tribunals, the 800-year-old Apostolic Penitentiary. This tribunal handles cases of sin the church considers so grave only the pope can grant absolution.
It seems Catholics the world over, including mainly Catholic Italy, the Vatican’s home turf, are increasingly ignoring the sacrament of penance.… Read more