Blog

Some Surprises from the Roman Catacombs 1: Religious Symbols

| Past

The ancient catacombs winding for miles beneath Rome, favorites of tourists from all over the world, provide a glimpse of religious life for several centuries of the early Christian era. In the next few posts, we will look at the catacombs from perspectives not usually considered – the symbols evocative of ancient goddess worship and […]

Good Government versus Bad Government: Don’t Throw the Baby out with the Bath Water

| Present

We Americans have a long history of ambivalence toward government at all levels. We have recently witnessed the stand-off in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon between authorities and anti-government protesters. Republican presidential candidates cry out for abolition of government agencies – and have been doing so for decades (recall Ronald Reagan’s frequent rallying […]

An Astronaut and the Afterlife

| Future

The late Dr. Edgar Mitchell was the sixth man on the moon. He was also the founder of the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS) and the first chairman of Eternea, Inc., the non-profit organization founded by Proof of Heaven author, Dr. Eben Alexander. Dr. Mitchell’s life and convictions are worth examining if we harbor any […]

Fear, The Enneagram and Political Decision-Making

| Present

Danger and threats (perceived or real) are all around us – terrorists, violence, illegal immigrants, out-of-control cops, a volatile stock market, wild weather … It is understandable that we react to these threats with fear. As individuals and communities, we want and need to reduce these threats as much as possible. We are always seeking […]

Reincarnation and Genetics: A Novel Approach to Facing Racism

| Future,Present

Paranormal evidence points to the fact of reincarnation. Near-death experiences, reputable psychics and mediums, the seer Edgar Cayce, out-of-body experiences, electronic voice phenomena, past life regressions in psychotherapy, and instrumental transcommunication together combine to show that most human beings have lived multiple lives on earth – some estimates suggest in the neighborhood of 85-100. Given […]

Paul’s Female Colleagues: Not Keeping Silence in the Churches

| Past,Present

Sixteen years into the 21st century – despite the reality of women in the workplace, women in leadership positions in business and government, and the ordination of women in many Protestant denominations and in Judaism – we can still find preachers railing against the leadership of women in Christian organizations. (We will concentrate here on […]

Dreams: Real Visits of Deceased Loved Ones

| Future

“To sleep, perchance to dream” – Shakespeare’s Hamlet Many people who have lost loved ones to death report having vivid dreams of the loved one. The deceased seems so real to the dreamer, and the experience is often so joyful, that the dreamer is very upset upon awakening, feeling cheated that she no longer has […]

The American Workplace 6: Summary and Suggestions

| Present

We need to be honest about the state of workers and the workplace in the United States of America: in many cases, the situation for millions of individuals and families is demoralizing, unhealthy, detrimental to the social fabric, and sometimes downright dangerous. We have seen in this series how US workers have virtually no job […]

The American Workplace 5: Wages, Savings and Debt

| Present

How is your dollar doing? A look at some statistics about wages, savings and debt in the US is instructive. If you are not doing terribly well financially, you are not alone – and there are ways out of our collective problems, if we are willing to look seriously at ideas from other nations and […]