Thanks to the reader who tells me that Christmas albums by “Mannheim Steamroller” are her absolute favorites, “followed closely by the Trans- Siberian Orchestra. Both put out such a passionate flavor of Christmas tunes. They’re quite wonderful.” I’ve listened to patches on Amazon.com (what a nice feature!) and invite you to do the same. The…

God bless us, every one! And God bless the thoughtful writer behind “Ow, My Blog,” who writes a Buddhist analysis of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Check it out. You’ll find new dimensions of the famous fable. An excerpt: “While Dickens’ first two ghosts are vague impressions, the third is an obvious Grim Reaper, and…

You know, don’t you, that the most important thing you can do if you are getting very little exercise is to stretch out on the floor, lying on your back and hugging your knees to your chest? Then you just rest. You know that, right? It’s important because there are days when all of us…

This is the first year in three that I have not written an article for Beliefnet.com on “spiritually uplifting” children’s gifts for the holidays. Gifts for children tend to be so particular to the individual, and in truth, people were telling me that my gift choices were sometimes too expensive, or that my selections had…

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More from Beliefnet and our partners