MSI Press Blog

Today's meditation from  Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living   by Dr. Frederic Craigie. -25-   Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear. Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am. I must listen for the truths and values at the heart of my own identity, not the standards by which I must live… but the standards by which I cannot help but live if I am living my own life.   Parker Palmer   How do you spend your time? How do you choose how you spend your time? What undergirds your choices in how you spend your time? Parker Palmer presents two scenarios. The first is when we embrace values and standards that are not ours. It’s tempting, is it not, to be drawn along by the magnetic pull of cultural values? More responsibility is better than less. Higher remuneration is better than lower. Greater public prominence and recognition are bette...

  Today's meditation from  Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living   by Dr. Frederic Craigie. -22-   Stay in the present moment. That’s where you’ll find life’s magic… Sometimes to stay in the present we need to visit the past, to clear out an old feeling, to heal an old, limiting belief. But that visit can be brief. And sometimes we need to think about the future- to make commitments, to plan, to envision where we want to go. But to linger there can cause unrest. It can spoil the moment we’re in now.   Melody Beattie   It is honorable and often spiritually enriching to be in the present moment, but this is balanced by compelling reasons to visit the past or envision the future. Recently, I enjoyed a lovely evening bike ride along the Rillito River next to our seasonal home in Tucson. For people who haven’t lived in the desert southwest, “river” means a dry wash that occasionally has flowing water if there...

  Today's meditation from  Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living   by Dr. Frederic Craigie. -15-   When Native American medicine men talk to the sick, they usually ask three questions: When was the last time you sang? When was the last time you danced? When was the last time you told your story?   Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat   I grew up with loving parents who were passionate about music and whose tastes were… proper. My mother had been a professional opera singer in her younger years and played quite respectable classical piano into her seventies. My dad’s piano proficiency was quite a bit south of his wife’s, but he enjoyed playing and found his own niche and joy in performing choral music. When the radio was tuned to the Beatles and Monkees in my friend’s homes, in my home, it was the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in B ♭ minor. When I was in seventh or eighth grade, my parents signed me up for after-school d...