I will be the first to admit that my appreciation of Islamic culture is limited by how little I actually know about Islam. I read about how Islam is like all of the other world religions in that it has a common thread of inclusion and righteousness. That fundamentally all religions are in this way, the same. I would point out that they share other similarities and also that there are some religious movements that are not at all like Islam.

Islam in today's world reminds me of the…

Are there Angels, Saints, Spirit Guides? One way to find out is to ask them, to look to where they are for evidence of their existence. To have faith that if they do exist they can and do make themselves known and if they do not exist... Well I will accept that as well, on faith. My faith is a certain confidence that things are as they are and I am willing to accept that without preconception or condition. Angels, Saints, Spirit Guides, have you seen them?

It has been my experience…

I want to thank the PeaceNext community for their support. Much of the inspiration that providence has afforded me in my Humpty Dumpty project I have found here at PeaceNext. Humpty dumpty? It is an apt analogy of my creative process over the last several years. My spiritual life, some years back, was very satisfying and then I hit the rough patch. The difficulty was real and my response, well it was injurious. What was a profound and powerful experience was replaced with habits…

There is a metaphysical symbol, that among other things, represents creation or at least is does to me. In that it represents creation it is easily applied to many things as without creation nothing would be. Creation is as the foundation of possibility. It is usual to think of creation in distant terms but I see it as an omnipotent constant presence. It did not happen in some distant past, its moment remains as it only can happen now. All that exists, all that is possible, emanates in equal…

Creation has at least created controversy and so it is plain to see it actually exists. While that is a glib statement concerning creation it is also true. Creativity, or creation, is evident in everything we do and experience. Its most useful exercise is to use our creative authority to be who we are. It is not usual for most people to do this. Many people do this to varying degrees but to actually realize who we are, absent false examples of self, to be only who without the false ownership…

In my life I have had the opportunity to forgive, certainly we all have but how does a person forgive? Family, friends, people I do not even know elicit from me the opportunity to forgive. What is this opportunity? How does it present? I will write in general terms to sketch what amounts to forgiveness.

I find myself in a position where my buttons get pushed I react and I am upset, I feel offended, hurt and want someone to be responsible. When fault belongs to a person other than…

The veil of ignorance is a trickster. Once we have chosen ignorance we never know where it will manifest. It is as a prolific weed that is also a chameleon able to pretend. It replicates itself everywhere we look and fashions itself to appear to be what we are looking for. It sets the parameters for denial and we begin to consider things as they are not. It does not mimic the rational mind, it employs it.

In our social experience ignorance is prolific and as we grow and fit ourselves…

 Let us adopt a policy that does not involve the loss of innocent lives in a war of discretion, be those lives dear to us or someone else. War, too often is an extension of foreign policy. I do not care who sits in the Oval Office, war does not serve us. It serves our enemies. Unless the need actually presents itself, war is just an option.