A Change of Habit: 7 Secrets to Guilt-Free Living

Lately I've been aware of a shift in faith in earlier and even later generations. There has been a turn toward finding God through yourself and your own faith and against the actual institute of Religion. Patty Kogutek is another prime example. She was a Catholic Nun for seven years and is now turning toward a new idea of faith; a faith that is not dependent on guilt or suffering, but living with God without the influence of an institution. Actually, her number one secret is "don't let religion get in the way of your relationship with God." While in the convent, Patty was faced with the challenges of always making the right decision, even if it went against her gut feeling. She was trying to please everyone else with her decision making and totally removing herself from the equation. With this she came up with secret number four: Don't worry about making a good decision, just make a decision good. While umping back into a secular life, her disappointment took a toll because she was facing two failed marriages: one in man and one in God. It was this self destructive behavior that brought Patty to secret number five: Good judgement comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgement. Then came secret number seven which is a basic summary of what she has learned, happiness is not a gift, but a skill. 

Educating the Heart: The Dalai Lama's Message to the Students of Hawaii

To welcome the 14th Dalai Lama, who is the spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism and Nobel Peace Prize winning activist, to Honolulu, the students involved in Pillars of Peace put on an opening act of break dancing girls and boys as well as ukelele playing Jake Shimabukuro, who talked about how the Dalai Lama has inspired him by his message of simplicity. He played his ukelele with only three strings showing that there was a lot he could do with just these three and that his music playing came from within him. As Pam Omidyar introduced the Dalai Lama, she reminded the high-school audience that when the Dalai Lama was their age, he had already been exiled from his own country as well as receiving a Ph.D. in Buddhism. As he came onto the stage, he bowed humbly. He had been draped with leis, but said that they were too heavy on his shoulders and took them off except for one. He explained to the students that there are two levels of compassion: the biological compassion that we feel for our family, our friends, and our loved ones; and then the more substantial compassion which you can extend it to strangers and then to even your enemies. He also talked about educating the heart, we must educate our heart as well as our mind. 

As Death Grows Nearer, Belief in God Grows Stronger

Religiousness is the highest among older people, and researchers at the University of Chicago are associating this with their realization that death is getting closer. The statistics are astounding; 43% of people aged 68 and older are absolutely sure God exists. With that said, only 23% of people aged 27 and younger said they firmly believe in God. Israel, Slovenia and Russia were three examples where belief in God had grown. For instance in Russia, non-believers who became believers outnumbered by 16 percent those who had lost their belief in God.Belief was highest in strongly Catholic countries such as the Philippines, at 94 percent, and lowest in Western Europe, with only 13 percent of former East Germans believers. In the United States, 81 percent of people surveyed said they had always believed in God, and 68 percent support the concept that God is concerned with people in a personal way. 

Easter At The Mosque

For twelve years, the Spirit Life Church has been holding their Easter service at Pioneer Christian Church, but this year their lease was up. They had very little time to try and find a place for the 500 members that were expecting this service for Easter. Reverend Michael Moran didn't know where to hold the service, until the title in a newspaper "Easter at the Mosque" was seen in a dream of his one night. The next morning, although feeling dubious, called Mr. Metwalli Amer to ask permission to use the Sacramento Mosque for his Easter Christian gathering. After talking to the Board of Trustees, they agreed to let them have their Christian service in the Mosque on Easter. This set a precedent, as no non-muslim group has ever been allowed to worship inside the mosque. Mr. Metwalli commented on his advocacy toward interfaith religion and reminded us that this act of kindness represents the true state of Islam. This "Easter at the Mosque" attracted so many of the Christian followers at the church that they had to conduct two services. Moran said he was overwhelmed with joy at how everything seemed to workout effortlessly and thanked the people of the Islamic church.

Unexplained Changing Frescoes

About two-thirds of Macedonia's 2.1 million people have been baptized Orthodox Christian and there is now a big stir up in one of the churches that is unexplainable. Thousands of Orthodox Christian worshippers from across Macedonia are lining up to visit a church where a cleric says frescoes of saints have begun to appear brighter in color without any obvious explanation. Father Zoran of Saint Dimitrija church in Skopje, the capital, said Monday that the murals, long obscured by the residue of candle smoke, began to appear clearer over the weekend, with red and gold colors becoming more noticeable. That has prompted worshippers to flock to the church for Orthodox Easter last Sunday.

Vatican-Approved Exorcist Featured In New Documentary

A new documentary is coming out called "The Exorcism of the 21st Century." It follows the story of a Roman Catholic Priest from Spain, Jose Antonio Fortea, as he travels to enlighten the faithful people of Spain about exorcism and demonic possession. He is the only Priest who is ordained by the Vatican to preform exorcisms. He takes us on a journey of the prolific steps in order to release a demon from someone's soul who is possessed. The film's intent does not appear to be either to validate or discredit exorcism, but rather to capture the powerful impact that faith has on people. In this sense, Akselsen's film has more in common with a documentary like "Jesus Camp" than it does with various exorcism "mockumentaries" that have been released in recent years such as "The Last Exorcism"and "The Devil Inside".

To watch the trailer Click Here.

Resurrecting the Cause for Which King Died

Martin Luther King Jr. is known for trying to create a vast equality for not only all races, but all people. There is one thing that should be looked at again as well, his mission for economic justice. The very week he died, he was in the process of planning the Poor People's Campaign to go to Washington, D.C. to document that poor people in this nation are citizens just like everybody. He was reminding us about the Constitution of the United States that talked about inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and all God's children ought to have food to eat and clothes to wear. They ought to have jobs and opportunity and some place to stay. All God's children have a right. He was organizing to come to Washington and he said we will tie up the legislative process--we will bring white poor people from Appalachia, Latinos from the border states, bring poor people from the urban centers and say to our nation, "We are Americans too and we have a right to all of the wonderful bounty which God has bestowed on our great nation."

On April 4 this year, a group of us leaders on the Upper West Side of Manhattan are convening a coalition of local and national legislators; interfaith, labor and civil rights activists and leaders; and an esteemed panel of journalists and newsmakers for a symbolic evening of history, re-enactment, riveting discussion and healing songs. Our dedicated interfaith, inter-disciplinary group will pick up the piece of King's mantle that people have let die -- jobs. With more than 12.8 million Americans unemployed, jobs, economic freedom, living wage and worker justice remain the greatest challenges this country faces.