MSI Press Blog

  The following guest post was buried in the Christmas mail, but it is still worth reading: ONE BIG BREATH “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” --Luke 1: 35   I just started participating in yoga classes. I wanted to breathe a little more life into my old, slow, stiff body. The instructor from India invites us to assume many seemingly unnatural positions with our bodies, which I think of as “pretzel poses.” We stretch like rubber bands, hoping not to snap. She asks us to hold those poses for several minutes and breathe slowly and deeply. She instructs us to be aware of our bodies and breathe into the physical sensations we experience. I experience mostly pain, which she tells me is “just discomfort.” She says, “Just follow your breath. It is your life energy,” which she assures us will bring relief. Each session ends with one big breath and the exchange of a solemn greeting, “Namaste” (Bow to you.). The classes have chang

  LIGHT SHOW “ I am the light of the world. ” --Jesus of Nazareth   “ White Christmas, ” written by Irving Berlin in 1942 and sung by Bing Crosby, is the most popular Christmas song ever. That is surprising, since most of the world never experiences snow at the end of December. The southern hemisphere is bathed in summer warmth, while half of the land north of the equator only experiences a winter chill. LIGHT SHOW THEN Christmas, at its heart, is really a light show. History displays its meaning. We do not know precisely when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It was not until the fourth century that December 25 th was established as its official date by the Church. That date was set to compete with the pagan feast of the “ Birth of the Invincible Sun. ” Christ was the rising “ Sun of Righteousness. ” December 25 th was four days after the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. The gradually increasing daylight signified light overcoming darkness. Today we celebrate Ch

Photo by Stacey Gentry   Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas this year with a photo of Sula, parish cat at Old Mission San Juan Bautista (and MSI Press author) from a past Christmas -- she passed away in 2022, but her spirit is still felt on the Mission grounds and in the Mission church. The creche is not the same without her. For more posts about and by Sula and her books, click HERE . Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal . Interested in receiving a free copy of this or any MSI Press LLC book  in exchange for  reviewing  a current or forthcoming MSI Press LLC book? Contact editor@msipress.com. Want an  author-signed copy  of this book? Purchase the book at 25% discount (use coupon code FF25) and concurrently send a written request to orders@msipress.com. Want to communicate with one of our authors? You can! Find their contact

photo by Stacey Gentry: Sula, parish cat at Old Mission/MSI Press "author" in the creche Shared by Dr. Dennis Ortman , author of a number of award-winning books -  CHRISTMAS STORY “ And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory. ” --John 1: 14   Even as a child, I knew that Christmas was about more than Santa Claus coming and getting gifts. The baby Jesus was born. In addition to the Christmas tree and outdoor lights, we set up a Nativity scene in our home. Our parents told us the story and introduced the characters. At school, we re-enacted the Christmas story. We all vied to play Mary or Joseph, but I ended up being a sheep. The nuns explained that the story was about the birth of Jesus, the Son of God, who came to save us from our sins. I wasn ’ t sure what that meant, but I knew it was a very happy occasion. We sang joyous Christmas carols at church and in the neighborhood. At home the family gathered to share a meal and exchange

  Christmas in Nebraska, 2022   …also known as “fly-over country.” I have lived, most recently, in Germany and that is the starting point for my Christmas journey each year to Nebraska. If you want to find the real “spirit of Christmas,” remaining in Germany would be self-evident. For many weeks ahead, each town, each city, opens the town square every weekend for Christmas markets. More than anything, it’s a chance for local artisans to fill the charming booths with their wares and for the church and secular choirs to provide music. People wander around, sipping on Glühwein, munching on cookies, greeting each other, and adding to an overall atmosphere of gemütlichkeit —conviviality, comfort, and friendliness that is almost impossible to replicate in any other setting. My work as a professor means that I must finish my work before I leave for Nebraska, missing some of the biggest, busiest, most beautiful markets.   I’ve spent Christmas in many places: once in the Hagia Sophia of Istanb

                                                   MAKING CHRISTMAS PERSONAL   A teenager in our little country church many years ago had a self-image problem. So convinced was he of his “unworthiness” he refused to take Holy Communion. Nothing we or the minister said could convince him otherwise. I shall never forget the sadness of seeing him sitting alone and forlorn in one of the rear pews as the rest of us joined together in joyful Christmas communion. Sadly, many still struggle with the idea that we are not “good enough” to please God. Maybe that’s why the Holy Spirit gave the prophet Isaiah this all-inclusive vision some 700 years before the birth of Jesus:                “Unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government will be on his shoulders.                And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. “                                                                                                  

  Let the cancer patient drive the bus, suggests Rev McCray in THIS ARTICLE about navigating cancer during the holidays. For more cancer diary posts, click HERE . Blog editor's note: As a memorial to Carl, and simply because it is truly needed, MSI Press is now hosting a web page,  Carl's Cancer Compendium , as a one-stop starting point for all things cancer, to make it easier for those with cancer to find answers to questions that can otherwise take hours to track down on the Internet and/or from professionals. The web page is in its infancy but expected to expand into robustness. To that end, it is expanded and updated weekly. As part of this effort, each week, on Monday, this blog will carry an informative, cancer-related story -- and be open to guest posts:  Cancer Diary .   Sign up for the MSI Press LLC newsletter Follow MSI Press on  Twitter ,  Face Book , and  Instagram .   Interested in publishing with MSI Press LLC? Check out information on  how to submit a proposal .

  winter solstice at Old Mission San Juan Bautista Thanks to Arthur Yavelberg, author of A Theology for the Rest of Us , for this post: Religion has a bad rap these days for all kinds of reasons--many of which are more than fair. Unfortunately, what often gets lost in these issues is the basic nature of true faith and spirituality--hope.   After all, the alternative is bleak--an uncaring, arbitrary universe in which everything has arisen by accident and will eventually dissolve just as randomly.  As the Psalmist writes, our lives are as so many blades of grass and, once we are gone, our footsteps will disappear and it will be as if we never were. Compare that with the fundamental message of the spirit: there is not only design in our universe, but a divine purpose that, while perhaps mysterious, exists nevertheless.  Our lives may be limited, but we can sense the infinite--both in terms of time and the love and compassion that are the essence of what it means to be human. From this per