Shamans tend to be men {Women have more of these abilities in their natural state and require less altered consciousness.}, though women also can become shamans; some women shamans are extraordinarily powerful. In some cultures, shamans are involuntarily chosen by the spirits; they realize their calling in a transformational experience, often a serious illness that brings them close to death {For example Damion Brinkley of today.} and is self-cured. In other cultures, persons with natural shamanic gifts are selected at a young age, trained and initiated.

Controlling What YOU Hear By Watching What YOU Say: If you’re going to listen to anyone you’re going to hear yourself. It does not matter what anyone in the world says about you, it means nothing until you allow it to get into your spirit and you begin to say what is being said to you.

At times when we think honestly, if we stop deceiving ourselves, we are forced to admit that life per se can become an unmitigated horror. Not only are we threatened by wars, financial shifts and joblessness, the calamities of nature and narcissistic manipulators, the very earth itself treats us with supreme indifference. The beautiful and productive world we inhabit slowly but surely converts every plant that sprouts a stalk and each creature that draws a breath into fertilizer to feed yet another doomed generation.

The spiritually dead church. In my life, as a minister's son, I have seen many spiritually dead churches. There is no love, or working of the spirit. Some churches, have become a haven, for social gatherings, gossip meetings, and condemnation.

I recently just had 4 new tires put on my mini van but soon afterwards, I noticed the front passenger tire kept losing air. Each time air was added to it, it would soon leak out again. This was a call for action, time to take it back to the garage and let them tell me what I didn't want to hear. I had run over a tiny nail somewhere and now my tire was no longer good as new. But, after a small plug was inserted it is now back to it's original state, holding air and just like new again. I realized this is alot like our Christian walk. Is yours leaking?

Rabbi Kushner could not comprehend how a loving, supposedly merciful and compassionate and just God, could allow such a tragedy to befall him and his loved ones. After all, he considered himself a God-fearing, obedient man who was living a more religiously committed life than most people. So how could a God of justice permit so great an injustice?

Life at times gives us impromptu tests that at the time we think we have fail in our minds.

Even as I started dating a Chinese girl, I knew I was embarking on a remarkable adventure. I just had no idea where and how far the adventure would take me. The more events unfolded, the more I realized that my view of the world and how I lived in it were being profoundly and permanently altered... If the problem with marrying a gentile was that my religion prohibited intermarriage, why should that bother me? Perhaps not everything in Judaism made sense, and as an intelligent and thinking individual I could take from my heritage what I felt was meaningful and disregard the rest...

When we think today in terms of ancient Greece, certainly the people and culture associated with Athens comes immediately to mind. It was the place where the Hellenic spirit achieved its most glorious expression. The most diverse people from the Nile to the Indus, from the Black Sea to the Persian Gulf, came under the spell of the Greek spirit.

Well, it has been said, and I believe, that the easy way out in life is never ultimately profitable – even though it may appear to be. The short and easy way only leads to a fools’ haven; a place where we feel we have arrived only to discover we have missed the mark in life.

Is life challenging you to take a bigger leap? Are you restless with the status quo of your daily routine? Do you feel you are flying blind with an invisible co-pilot?

An article about anxiety that took another turn...

The inescapable fact of the matter is that by ourselves, we cannot do what is right. We just do not make the grade. Knowing the rules whether they are golden or silver, do not make us able to obey them. We keep on falling into a trap called sin.

We diminish the integrity of our prayers when we foolishly attempt to use God as a means of straightening out the mess we, ourselves, have created. Getting yourself in debt and begging God to get you out from under is not praying. Mumbling words to Him when your back is against the wall is not praying.

Maybe once in a lifetime, we find ourselves seeking spiritual growth mostly when everything we try to do is hard to achieve. Among the many questions that consequently come out are: Who am I? Why am I here? Is there a Higher Power?

“Oh, that I had the wings of a dove! I would fly away and be at rest…”

Some people think just by saying the words thank you is just. Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Destroying Strongholds Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way.”
ESTHER 4:15–16, NASB

How do you nurture your spirit. Are you even aware of your connectedness or lack thereof with your Spirit?

If you don't handle stress, it can make you feel tired, drained and depressed - it can also kill you. Here are some simple stress management tips to help you combat stress and preserve your health.

A teacher should, above all, be a person who wants to make a big difference in students' lives. The challenge is to make that difference without permitting stress to drive you out of teaching. The challenge is to practice good stress reduction techniques.

Everybody knows what job stress is....or do they? This articles breaks down the types of stress that can be experienced in the workplace into 4 distinct categories. This classification can help you to determine what might be causing you most stress at work and how to defuse it.

Who says you have to work up a sweat to beat stress? Here are five easy stress management techniques you can practice without having to leave the comfort of your armchair.