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Why Christianity is Dying While Spirituality is Thriving...
I published this article first with the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-mcswain/christianity-is-dying-spirituality-is-thriving_b_1950804.htmlrnr
Wisdom from the Spiritual Traditions: The Real Meaning of the Law of Attraction
Mohandas Gandhi said, "I consider myself a Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, and Confucian."
Secrets to Living the Life You've Always Wanted
It seems rather odd to refer to any of what follows as secrets. For one thing, the word “secret” implies that something is hidden and the wisdom below is anything but secret. In some form or fashion, you could find these in virtually any spiritual tradition. Second, “secret” implies that the spiritual wisdom that would lead one to the life he/she really wants is really only accessible by a few. And, the unfortunate tendency is not to regard your self as one of the select few. But, of course, you are.
Our Shared Fears and 5 Ways to Overcome Them
In life, we experience two kinds of fear: Real fear, and psychological fear. Or, as I prefer to think of the latter, ego-fear. In the words of Immanuel Kant, the ego is “our precious little self.” Or as Eckhart Tolle calls it, “the voice in the head.” It isn’t who you really are, but the you that you think you are. Each day, what you see in the mirror is the reflection of your physical being, and within, you may get glimpses of your unique personality in that reflection too, in between your laugh lines or furrowed brow. Still, it's not really you.
Wanted: Straight Christian Allies
Fact: I am a Christian. Fact: I am straight. Fact: For much too long, I have stood, just as much of the church has, on the wrong side of the gay/lesbian issue.
God in America: The PBS Special and a Conversation with Stephen Prothero
"God is dead," said Nietzsche. Well, maybe somewhere, but not here, as the PBS special, God in America makes abundantly clear.
What Elizabeth Gilbert, Jesus, and the Buddha can teach you about prayer
She says it’s her favorite book ever. And, lately, all my wife talks about is seeing the movie version of Eat, Pray, Love, starring Julia Roberts. So, I finally decided to check it out for myself. I wasn’t expecting much. I got to the first scene, however--the one where the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, cries out to God in prayer--and I was hooked. In a marriage that isn’t working, Gilbert is an emotional train wreck waiting to happen. Since her life makes no sense to her whatsoever, she does what many of us have done when we can’t think of what else to do--she prays.r
Eat, Pray, Love Many Gods: Why Elizabeth Gilbert’s book inspired so many to find God off the beaten path
It made little sense to me why my wife would hide Eat, Pray, Love in the nightstand beside our bed. So, when I decided to see what all the fuss was about, I reasoned, “No need to buy a copy since there’s a perfectly good one in the nightstand beside our bed.” You’d have thought I just made off with the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. I promised to protect it, to handle it with as much care as a paleographer would an ancient text—no bending of the edges, no underlining, circling, or writing in the margins—things I typically do with my own books.r
Why Do You Think the Church is in a State of Crisis?
The church today appears to be more lost than the world it's trying to save. One reason is that the church has so wedded itself to western culture that Christians today look and live more like the culture around them than the Christ before them. The irony is, while the church almost continually rants against the culture, it has in fact embraced it, as well as its values.
What is Your Experience With Other Faith Practices?
I was introduced to many other religions, not intentionally, but more by accident. My father was a minister, but my mother was a travel agent and tour leader. When I was just a child, she began leading tours and taking groups to Europe and the Middle East, the Scandinavian countries, even to the Far East, including Russia and China. My two brothers and I were the lucky beneficiaries of being raised by parents who took us on vacations to exotic, sometimes strange, but always faraway places.
Questions I’m frequently asked: Are you still a Christian?
Interesting you would ask me this, as others have asked me this question, too, and I suppose it is because I no longer pretend to believe that Christianity is the only way to know God. Yet, as far as my own faith journey is concerned, I regard myself as more Christian today than I've ever been. Admittedly, there are some dramatic differences.