Every Christmas the Yuletide card portrays a silver star in a navy blue sky and every year the same heavenly object sparkles from the top of the decorated evergreen. At season's end the three wise men and their fellow shepherds gather at a hastily set up manger for the familiar nativity scene. Though it shimmers on the greeting card and its brilliance lights up the tannebaum, it wasn't a star that erupted into a supernova on that dark Judean night. The star that shone so brightly two thousand years ago was wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

A thought of joy is stars in panorama and clouds in celebration. A thought of anger is ear-splitting thunder and torrential rain. A thought of loving kindness is caressing breeze and sweet dew. A thought of dignity is scorching sun and autumn frost. This is a poem by JiGong, my Heavenly teacher.

A healthy spirituality can be one of the most effective tools at our disposal for managing stress. However, for reasons as individual as they themselves are, many people feel leery of anything to do with the spiritual. This article draws the all-important distinction between spirituality and religion, and explores how spirituality can reduce stress levels.

How is it that animals without elaborate expensive technology were able to predict the largest Tsunami in human history while humans, the most advanced species, were caught unaware? Have we lost our connection to the natural forces around us and to our natutral ability to communicate with nature?

When my dad was nearing the end of his life he began searching his heart to see if there was anything left undone - some unconfessed sin, a misdeed, anything at all he needed to make right before he faced God. He constantly prayed that the Holy Spirit would bring to his remembrance anything he needed to make right with his fellowman. It was during this time that he came across a rusty old garden tiller at the edge of his garden. It belonged to a farmer down the road who had sold it to Dad, but, when it didn't work, the farmer returned his money to him and told Dad just to bring it back any time.

The Big Choice “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you will eat with me.” REVELATION 3:20, NCV Jesus gives this invitation. To know God is to receive His invitation. Not just to hear it, not just to study it, not just to acknowledge it, but to receive it. It is possible to learn much about God’s invitation and never respond to it personally. Yet His invitation is clear and nonnegotiable. He gives all and we give Him all. Simple and absolute. He is clear in what He asks and clear in what He offers. The choice is up to us.

Signs of, and ways of overcoming burnout, whatever the cause.

In this essay, I will seek to show that the testimony of my conversion to Christianity is based upon the teaching of Scripture.

With the end of what seemed to be a never ending winter, we are now ready to start cleaning up around the house. We are anxious to lighten the load and get rid of unwanted junk. Some of it we get tired of or have outgrown. We either do one of three things, throw the stuff out, give it away or sell it because it still has some value. How much easier it is for us to clean up our property than it is to clean up our inner souls? When we get rid of this junk, we are that much richer for it. Sometimes we can't put a price on things that really matter. What is your freedom worth to you?

These were fears that I felt. The fear of the unknown. The fear of things beyond my control. The fear of venturing out of my comfort zone...

All of my life I had heard, read and sang about angels, not really giving a lot of thought to or about them. Just before my mother passed away in August of 1984 she told me of her wonderful experience of a visit from an angel. After talking with Mom there was no doubt in either of our minds that this was a real experience, Mom passed away shortly after that.

Take a moment and go within. Can you feel the winds of change? If you cannot feel it within yourself, look at the world around you. Can you see how the winds of change buffet your family, friends and coworkers? The winds of change, of course, are the underlying cause of your major news stories.

From the moment of our birth, we become externally focused into the material world. The world demands and commands we focus our attention on it. Exhausted at the end of the day, we fall into our beds to sleep. If we remember our dreams, they for the most part mirror our daily lives. Not only are we consciously, burdened, by our waking life, in sleep we are burdened as well.

Hot buttons are those that, when people push, you turn red and out comes the anger, resentment, insecurity, and other negative emotions you wish weren't a part of your life.

Over the past five years, many people have been committed to mental institutions, tortured, detained, imprisoned, and even killed, simply for refusing to give up this practice...

Do you want to look and feel better? If so, put more exercise in your schedule. One of the major benefits of exercise is that it keeps your body healthy, and it provides a great stress relief. Another significant benefit is that-

A religious or spirituality lifestyle is generally a healthy one. Many people, especially seniors, use prayer as a means of relieving stress. The daily personal and spiritual practice of prayer can nurture your soul. There is a difference between prayer and meditation. Prayer helps you-

Those who suffer from stress will know just how bad and how varied the symptoms can be, symptoms of stress range from a feeling of uneasiness, feeling tired and irritable, heartburn and indigestion along with a lack of concentration. For those who are severely affected then their life can be hell, the feelings of stress can be particularly debilitating and begin to effect almost every aspect of your day to day life.

This is the final period, I mean article on facing off against your fears. In the previous two articles, we delved into the first five steps of our seven-step game plan in dealing with our opponents: fear, anxiety and worry. Our goal now is to develop and practice the coping skills that will enable us to handle all fearful situations.

True inner peace, confers tranquility, inner harmony and inner balance, and is an inner condition, which is independent of external conditions and circumstances. It can be acquired through proper training, resulting in the ability to remain calm, undisturbed and unhurried in difficult and unpleasant situations.

There's no getting around it, stress is a fact of life. We can use chose to stress to our advantage (if we know HOW to do it) or we can react negatively to the gush of energy that stress provides. Don't think stress gives you energy? It really does! Find out how.

It is now commonly accepted that the basic cause of a great deal of physical ill health is stress. The World Health Organization confirmed this years ago when they issued a statement that said that in the opinion of the researchers humans '...kill themselves minute by minute with worry and anxiety.'

Whether or not you believe that 'money is the root of all evil' you'll probably agree that money causes more stress than just about anything else you can think of. But does money really cause stress and, if so, is there a way to avoid stress over money?