From The Barna Update, January 10, 2006

Perhaps the most telling information relates to the measures that are not widely used by pastors to assess people’s spiritual health. Less than one out of every ten pastors mentioned indicators such as the maturity of a person’s faith in God, the intensity of the commitment to loving and serving God and people, the nature of each congregant’s personal ministry, the breadth of congregational involvement in community service, the extent to which believers have some forms of accountability for their spiritual development and lifestyle, the manner in which believers use their resources to advance the kingdom of God, how often people worship God during the week or feel as if they have experienced the presence of God, or how faith is integrated into the family experience of those who are connected with the church. Surveys Show Pastors Claim Congregants Are Deeply Committed to God But Congregants Deny It!

I found this interesting since most the folks at our church don't have much depth to their biblical or theological knowledge. We had a good catechism program at our Lutheran Church and as a young teen, I took it quite seriously. With that and other study, I seem to be more familiar with the bible than most. Always a little ironic when folks claim to be biblical Christians but have a shallow understanding of what is there.

Heretics

The story of Reverend Carlton Pearson, an evangelical pastor in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His church, Higher Dimensions, was once one of the biggest in the city, drawing crowds of 5,000 people every Sunday. But several years ago, scandal engulfed the Reverend, he was denounced by almost all his former supporters, and today his congregation is just a few hundred people. He didn't have an affair. He didn't embezzle lots of money. His sin was something that to a lot of people is far worse ... he stopped believing in hell. This American Life

I wonder what would happen if I, church president and study leader, let it be known that I stopped believing in hell.

In his new book, Blind Faith: The Unholy Alliance of Religion and Medicine, Richard Sloan examines the claim that prayer and religion can heal the sick. Using the scientific method, he shows that there is no compelling evidence that religion can actually cure medical ailments. Fresh Air, November 14, 2006

William James was an intellectual force of nature in 19th century America. Trained as a medical doctor, he saw links between the life sciences, psychology and philosophy, and was a seminal thinker on religion. Author Robert D. Richardson has written a new biography called William James: In the Maelstrom of American Modernism. · All Things Considered, November 12, 2006

Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn is the founder of the acclaimed Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts and author of the meditation classic Wherever You Go, There You Are. His talk will present the latest findings in the merging discipline of mind-body medicine.

In this era of massive cultural attention deficit disorder, the increasing acceleration of our pace of life, a work ethic of non-stop doing, and our collective post-traumatic stress since 9-11, we have less and less occasion or inclination to come to know ourselves. However, we suffer greatly as individuals and as a society for the poignant distance between us and our deepest, truest nature. The price of that estrangement is chronic dis-ease, unhappiness, depression and anxiety, feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and confused, and a politics dominated by fear, greed, and ignoring what is most fundamental. When, if ever, are we going to come to our senses, individually and as a society?

From the Buddhist perspective, there are six senses, not five. The sixth is mind. It is useful to see the mind as a sense organ and recognize the full spectrum of its functioning, from thinking, feeling and sensing to non-conceptual knowing. The mind informs all the other senses and brings them to life, and the other senses bring the mind to life as well. In this reciprocal enlivening lies an opportunity to know ourselves deeply as individuals and as a species, and to live and act in the world in ways that contribute to its awakening from the madness of our small mindedness and from the myopia and violence that invariably stem from it.

I attended this talk in February 2005. I had already been enjoying his book, "Where ever you go, there you are" and still enjoy reading passages out of it.

"Keep a daily log of five things you're grateful for. Those who did so for just three weeks reported greater energy and well-being and fewer health complaints, according to a study conducted at the University of California, Davis."

I saw this quote in March 2005 and saved it as an email to myself. Recently a health website had an article by Robert Emmons, a Professor at University of California, Davis who is doing research into happiness. So over time connections are made and common themes emerge in my blog ramblings.

It may have been a couple of decades ago, I enjoyed Gratefullness, the heart of prayer.

Gurmukh stands still for a moment to emphasize a point: "More than discovering yoga, I want my students to discover what Yogi Bhajan taught me: that we are spiritual beings here to have a human experience." She smiles again, and says in a mothering tone, "Our birthright is happiness."
L.A. (Yoga) Story
Yoga teacher to the stars Gurmukh Khalsa steps out of the limelight.
By Samantha Dunn in Yoga Journal