MSI Press Blog

  Religion, at its core, is a way of speaking. A way of reaching toward the divine, the ineffable, the mystery that pulses beneath all things. It is not the mystery itself. It is the language we use to approach it. Think ye that arbol is better than tree ? Is Spanish more sacred than English? Is Hebrew more ancient than Arabic? Is Sanskrit more pure than Tamil? These are languages—tools for expression, vessels for meaning. They carry culture, rhythm, metaphor. But they are not the thing itself. To say one religion is “true” and another “false” is like saying Old English was a false language because you now speak Modern English. It’s a category error. It confuses the vessel with the water it carries. The Language of Devotion Each religion offers its own grammar of reverence: Christianity speaks in parables and grace. Islam speaks in submission and beauty. Buddhism speaks in silence and insight. Hinduism speaks in multiplicity and rhythm. Indigenous traditions speak in la...

  Every January, Christians around the world step into a quiet, steady rhythm of prayer for something both ancient and urgently contemporary: unity. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, observed each year from January 18–25 in the Northern Hemisphere, is an eight‑day (“octave”) tradition shared across denominations, cultures, and continents. It’s one of the few moments in the Christian calendar when Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, and many free‑church communities intentionally pray the same prayers, reflect on the same Scriptures, and hold the same hope: “That they all may be one” (John 17:21). 📅 When It Happens January 18–25 every year in the Northern Hemisphere In the Southern Hemisphere, many communities observe it between Ascension and Pentecost to align with their summer season The January dates were originally chosen to fall between two symbolic feasts: January 18: Feast of St. Peter January 25: Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul These two apostles — somet...

  In commemoration of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, MSI Press is making the award-winning ecumenical book,   An Afternoon's Dictation  (Greenebaum), available on Kindle countdown January 18-25. In addition, the paperback edition is available from the MSI Press webstore at 1/3 off for this week:  An Afternoon's Dictation: Inclusive Revelation for the Twenty-First Century - MSI Press MSI Press Book Description:  In 1999 Steven Greenebaum felt he'd hit the wall. Fifty years old, he could not make sense of his life or the world around him. For several months he angrily demanded answers from God, if God were there. One afternoon, an inner voice told him to get a pen and paper and write. Steven then took dictation - three pages, not of commandments but guidance for leading a meaningful life.   An Afternoon's Dictation  grapples with, organizes, and deeply explores the revelations Steven received and then studied for over ten years. His sharing is N...