By Stephen Russell-Lacy. According to mindfulness meditation we should adopt the outlook of ‘non-striving’ to deal with stress. But how can non-striving be a goal if we are encouraged not to strive for it? Stress and non-striving A part of my body might feel uncomfortable. For example churning in the stomach, a tense forehead, or … Continue reading Non-striving in mindfulness – A paradox?
By Stephen Russell-Lacy The British public, generally speaking, show deference to royalty and are scandalised, yet fascinated, by any of its human failures. However, after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, the royals were perceived, in the tabloid press, as cold and unfeeling when they did not participate in the outpouring of general grief. … Continue reading The Queen – Why so popular?
By Stephen Russell-Lacy. Do you sometimes feel indifferent to the problems people experience? A lack of concern for those in financial difficulty or who are ill or infirm? Perhaps you want to become someone with more warm-heartedness. To find more sympathy for the plight of others. Kindness is more than empathy. It is the … Continue reading Kindness – What hinders it?
The management of chronic pain is one of the most widespread and difficult challenges facing health care professionals. Most sufferers believe there is a physical cause for their problem even though sometimes the cause isn’t found. They tend to regard any psychological or spiritual approach with scepticism. Actually, it is probably true that such practices … Continue reading Chronic pain – Why be optimistic?
Do you feel lower in status or ability than others? Perhaps you find yourself engaging in self-disparaging self-talk from time to time. ‘I can’t do this as well as them’; ‘I fall behind because I’m basically too slow’; ‘They look down on me because I’m not good enough’. Here we have a sense of inferiority … Continue reading Inferiority – How to heal this feeling?
Some, perhaps many, Muslims hate the West. The dislike varies according to what question is asked, when it is asked and where. Generally speaking, what is detested is sexual freedom being exported around the rest of humankind. And there is anger about the West’s political support for Jewish occupation of Palestine. What is controversial is … Continue reading Terrorism – More logical than loving the enemy?
We have private thoughts at the back of the mind all the time. Often these are unnoticed yet they have a profound affect on our feelings. Cognitive therapy shows that negative and fear-laden laden thoughts add to depression and anxiety. The trouble with this approach is that often our inner thoughts are so well hidden … Continue reading Say to yourself something different.
A basic teaching of Christianity is that there is only one God but in three distinct divine persons, the Father, the Son of God and the Holy Spirit: each said to be God. Many Christian theologians themselves admit they have found it impossible to come up with a persuasive and rational explanation for three Gods … Continue reading Son of God — How to make sense of Christ’s claim?
Incarnation When the source of everything chose to dwell within one fragile body of a nobody, greater than the universe, yet barely traversing more than a double span; God became a man. Omnipotent, now impotent, dependent, vulnerable to all life’s troubles; no cheating here nor chance of unfair advantage, but just life at its harshest. … Continue reading Poem for Christmas
The ancient Egypt Book of the Dead is a collection of funerary instructions placed in coffins and sarcophagi in order to prepare the soul of the deceased for the afterlife and judgment. The scenes are dramatically presented in pictures and words. A Swedenborgian view, of how natural things correspond to spiritual matters, suggests that the … Continue reading Beliefs of ancient Egypt about death?