I've posted the extraordinary short film "Who Art in Heaven", by director Thom Stark. The beautifully produced and poetic film impels us to consider how we come to experience and commit to faith.

http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2013/06/monday-muse-thom-starks-who-art-in.html

I've posted an interview with novelist Billy Coffey, who speaks candidly and insightfully about his new book "When Mockingbirds Sing".

http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2013/06/monday-muse-interviews-novelist-billy.html

Monday Muse shares impressions of her reading of "A God in the Hosue: Poets Talk About Faith":

http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2013/05/monday-muse-poets-on-faith.html

I follow PsychCentral on Twitter and I noticed a Tweet yesterday with a link to an article titled Spirituality and Mental Health. The title sparked my interest because I practice Buddhism and consider myself a spiritual person. I also rely considerably on my Buddhist practice to help support my mental health. I read the PsychCentral…

I've been thinking a lot lately about religion--it must be my age.  I've had a strange religious journey in my life.  My earliest memory of church is of attending Methodist Sunday School on our Army post in Germany and singing hymns like "Onward, Christian Soldiers," but I was really raised--sort of--in the Episcopal church, by parents who had tried out a variety of religions themselves--from the Methodist…

Today's post features a talk by psychotherapist, author, and lecturer Thomas Moore on art, dreams, spirituality, and our need for emptiness.

http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2012/10/thomas-moore-on-art-and-spirituality.html

Please join us on Monday 10/1/12 at 7 PM ESTfor a conversation with Ron Starbuck. Starbuck has been a contributing writer for Parabola Magazine, has had poetry published in Tiferet Journal and other journals and anthologies, and is the author of Wheels Turning Inward, a rich collection of over fifty poems that follow…

Another unedited excerpt of Wrecking Ball

___________________ 





But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,

Though I have seen my head [grown slightly bald] brought in upon a platter,

I am no prophet—and here’s no great matter



T.S. Eliot, The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock





Religion has been helpful with my physical and psychiatric medical problems. But then again,…

When I was in high school, my youth pastor molested a 12-year old girl in our church during a game of sardines.  Do you remember that game?  It’s a twist on hide-and-seek in which a single person hides, and as each seeker finds them, he or she must hide with them until the entire group is hiding together.  The last person to find everyone is “it.”

It wasn’t the first time my youth pastor “crossed the line” (in his words) with a young girl under…

Religion hasn’t really been a huge part of my life, yes I do believe in a higher power but I am not going to run out and join the next religious organization out there.  Just recently before I published this blog entry I got a comment in my wordpress dashboard.  Of someone who came across my blog and clearly is on this religious kick trying to post a prayer on in my comments.  We all know that Mary Madeline rolled with Jesus and as my mother said she was washing his feet in oil, but there is…

http://wildflowermagazine.com/category/spirituality/

I've posted a new poem for Easter, "Mary, Her Name Spoken":

http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2012/04/mary-her-name-spoken-poem.html

When people hear I was a matchmaker in a former life and wrote a book about it they usually react quite excitedly. They start telling me that they have had a few experiences themselves since their divorce with online dating. They could write a book too!

Mostly, they had a go at online dating sites and met a number of people. Nobody met their expectations and they just gave up or kept poking around in chat rooms, reluctantly like you would in an unsavory cafeteria meal.

My…

I overheard a woman say, “Girls can be SO catty.”



The woman she was talking to responded, “They ARE, aren’t they!”

It was a lesson my mother taught me. Her point was: “Don’t trust girls, they’re out to hurt you.”

This year I discovered how important other women are to each other. Read more on…

I've posted a new poem, "Higgs Hides Still", my take on the much-publicized quest for Higgs boson:

http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2012/01/higgs-hides-still-poem.html

I wrote this essay toward the end of last year, and just last week, Christopher Hitchens lost his battle with cancer. I will miss his sharp, fearless mind and his inspiring vocabulary. I hope his end was peaceful, surrounded by his family and loved ones. I don't know much, but whatever lies on the other side, I don't think it's threatened by anyone who is unwilling to take a leap of faith they don't believe in, who dares to question and think it all…

Mary Ann Angel might be described as the little mouse that roars. Her outward demeanor is neither loud nor forceful. However, her strength, unbounded energy to do good deeds, her concern for humanity, and readiness to extend the warmth of friendship is what demonstrate that this soft-spoken woman from humble…

I think I'm a Quaker, but...



I hear some version of this phrase all the time among Young Adult Friends.  Our Meeting had a similar dialogue recently regarding membership.  Some people took a very hard-line stance.  Why wouldn't you want to be a member?  What's holding you…

The Serenity Prayer...........

God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

Courage to change the things I can change,

and Wisdom to know the Difference.

If you are familiar with this prayer, you will want to read this book.

If you are not familiar with this prayer, you will…