Britain has lost its church-going heritage. There is a growing voice of atheism led by Richard Dawkins author of the God Delusion, attacking what is seen as religious superstition. If Christianity is thought to be judgmental, hypocritical and blindly accepting irrational dogma, why should anyone still believe in God?
Yes it can happen. No one likes their faults to be pointed out and some with thin skins see criticism as a personal attack. They get shirty, defensive or bite back. You probably would think twice before taking the risk of saying what you really think to them. Yet keeping quiet means not doing anything about the problem.
By Stephen Russell-Lacy. We don’t choose our neighbours, nor our bosses and work-mates, not even our relatives. Sometimes these people are uncomfortable to live with, difficult to talk to, or they oppose our hopes and aspirations. How do you look after your own needs whilst dealing fairly with these people? How do you deal … Continue reading Look after yourself & others – How to do both?
Spiritual substance, in particular, is hard for our material minds to grasp. We’re so used to thinking of everything solid as being material, and of everything non-material (thoughts, feelings, etc.) as being wispy and insubstantial. But dreams show us a world that is non-material, and yet solid when we’re in it. Dreams are more like … Continue reading Spiritual Substance and Material Reality
On 10th May 2012, the wonderful writer and storyteller Sally Pomme Clayton will return to Swedenborg Hall, for her second artist residency performance. Eros & Psyche is a storytelling performance for adults, inspired by Ancient Greek mythology and philosophy. Emanuel Swedenborg was arguably influenced by Platonic ideas, and it is these which Sally hopes to … Continue reading Eros and Psyche
Personal tragedy visited Jack. Although in his sixties and retired, he still felt young. His whole life revolved around doing handyman jobs in his own home and in the homes of his three daughters. He greatly enjoyed the company of his family and their appreciation. But recently he was experiencing some troubling ailments. First he noticed he was getting … Continue reading Personal tragedy – How could I face it?
Swedenborg wrote many fascinating books for those interested in profound issues. But where does one start? Which one to read first? Dr Jonathen Rose tackles this question in this 6 minutes video giving a brief summary of some of the main titles. And in his new book Garden of Theology he gives further advice. [youtube_sc url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG4ZF4DV_IU]
Okay so you seldom shout at your teenage son to keep his bedroom tidy. In fact you don’t voice explosive anger, never mind verbal abuse or a threat of violence to get your own way. But perhaps without even realising it, do you sometimes use less obvious methods of manipulation?
Do your attempts at influencing others amount to trying to make them think, act, or feel the way you do? How do you assess the way you manage other people in your life? Do you get your own way too often?
When the women’s movement spoke up for the value of women it rebelled against the traditional gender stereotypes and proclaimed equality between the sexes. It quite rightly opposed any idea of male superiority and female subservience. However this idea of equality has also led to a minimising and even denial of any basic differences between the sexes.
With advances in brain scanning equipment, neuroscience can now observe human consciousness — seeing what the brain is doing when the person is aware of remembering, imagining, feeling, thinking and even making choices. Before the invention of this technology, it had been well known that when a brain is damaged, then the mind doesn’t work so … Continue reading Consciousness – Can science explain it?