What is the meaning of Father’s Day? In Germany Father’s Day occurs on and is derived from Ascension day (“Christi Himmelfahrt”). The latter, being the 40th day of Easter and occurring 39 days after Easter Sunday, is a Christian holiday (etymology of the word is “holy day”) that commemorates the ascension of Jesus back to … Continue reading Father’s Day
Category: Essays
Food for Thought: What is the role of desires in temptation?
"As tension cannot occur without the chain, so can temptation not be felt without desire." https://youtu.be/Ni75-fCcL6w The fettered man What is temptation? Imagine a man wakes up and finds himself chained to a wall by invisible steel fetters. But who, making no effort to leave the wall, hardly notices the chains and thus cannot experience … Continue reading Food for Thought: What is the role of desires in temptation?
Q & A: What does this mean? “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
Question: What does this mean? “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Does it mean that anything you ask God for, He will give to you? And the knocking part, is He referring to The Kingdom of Heaven opening to you while … Continue reading Q & A: What does this mean? “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
The physics class: thoughts and emotions
As educators, to make school relevant, we need to practically connect every subject to the daily lives of students. I once substituted for a AP Physics class. Physics is a science dealing with energy, force, motion, and matter. I asked, "what are emotions?" After different responses, I explained that the etymology of the word emotions … Continue reading The physics class: thoughts and emotions
Knowledge and experience
Real knowledge can never be transmitted or taught, but must be personally experienced. Imagine if I return from Cape Verde and try conveying my experiences. No matter how elaborate and enthusiastic my descriptions are, I cannot transfer the actual experience to you. As it is a living imprint in my soul, all you have are … Continue reading Knowledge and experience
Quietness and Silence
The terms quietness and silence are used interchangeably, but are distinct concepts. Let me explain. Quietness is the reduction of sound Silence is focused attunement First, everything is energy. Energy always vibrates at a frequency, and frequency always produces sound, so everything produces sound. Thus, sound can never be eliminated, only reduced. As the range … Continue reading Quietness and Silence
Reducing the volume
Let us examine daily experiences to identify the operating principles. Imagine you are listening to a favorite song while driving somewhere, when suddenly you make a wrong turn. You are now in unfamiliar territory. What do we do? Immediately we tense up and straighten our posture! The song momentarily loses its appeal. Then, we do … Continue reading Reducing the volume
The law of movement
Have you noticed? No matter how great the goal is that we strive for, once we achieve it there is an initial feeling of euphoria. Soon after, this feeling starts fading and slowly gives way to a sensation of emptiness. The sheen of the recent success quickly loses its luster, and we are urged from … Continue reading The law of movement
“I deserve….!”
I deserve better! I deserve (insert any wish)! Today, we have become so complacent in our thinking that we do not take the trouble to make a just self-examination, which would cause us to deemphasize “deserve” and instead emphasize “earn”. So, instead of the declarative statement, “I deserve…”, it becomes a question, “how can I … Continue reading “I deserve….!”
The road to knowledge
No matter how many inspirational books or posts we read, we do not have the knowledge itself. Only information can be learned and transferred, not knowledge. The latter must be experienced. Information becomes knowledge only when it is mastered through action. Only when we apply something, see it in our life, and we are able … Continue reading The road to knowledge