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Cut the Crap Spirituality

One of my favorite songs is Jackson Browne’s “Rock Me On The Water,” particularly the lyrics: “The signs are everywhere. You’ve left it for somebody other than you to be the one to care.” Everyday presents opportunities for us to be the “ones to care” – to use life to create ourselves as caring people.…

In my last blog, I said there is a scenario where God may care about results. As I mentioned I do not believe God is separated from us, but is rather a process of which we are a part. That God is in us experiencing itself/evolving through us. Imagine that you consist of two parts…

How many times have we uttered or heard the following phrases? It was God’s will for that to happen. It was only through God’s grace that I was saved from the accident. We must honor a loving God who cured your illness. Thank you God for keeping us out of harm’s way. Let’s cut the…

I’m a big fan of movies. I often am bewildered, however, that not everyone likes the movies I like. “I mean come on . . . how could anyone disagree with my opinion about a movie?!” What’s interesting about movies is that there are no objective “good” or “bad” movies. There is a little bit…

Don’t ask if things are fair and just – They aren’t. Fairness and justice are human inventions. Instead ask how you can use the experience to become a better person.

My kids had a lemonade stand the other day, and I watched from the porch. It struck me how people reacted when encountering the kids. Some of our neighbors drove by, and didn’t even acknowledge them. Many others, however, often complete strangers, stopped to engage the kids, and buy their product. One woman even handed…

I’ve been noticing lately that our dog, Lucky, craves being in the same room as us. It’s not that he needs to be in physical contact with us – He just needs to be around us. It’s as if there is some field of energy he desires to be near. I then began noticing how…

Someone asked me if I dislike religion. I don’t dislike religion. I dislike that religion has been taken over by fundamentalism. Fundamentalism is the belief that there is only one way to God, and it knows the way. It is by its very nature devisive and righteous. Often fundamentalism is based on the literal reading…

Spirituality and religion both explore the mysteries of life. They go about it, however, in completely different ways. Religion says there is one truth. Spirituality says there is a unique truth within each of us. Spirituality emphasizes the questions. Religion emphasizes the answers. Religion embraces uniformity. Spirituality embraces individuality. Spirituality requires personal responsibility. Religion requires…

As we watch the fireworks this Fourth of July and “ooh” and “aah” at their spectacular beauty remember that they represent the beauty of our freedom we often struggle to preserve. Timothy Velner is a husband, father, attorney and author living in Minneapolis. You can follow his daily blog – a series of discussions between…
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