MSI Press Blog

  Today's meditation from  Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living   by Dr. Frederic Craigie. -28-   Why bother accepting reality? Why confront helplessness, terror or losses? Why not distract ourselves as much as possible from the inevitable destruction that awaits us and all we love? Spiritual and religious teachers say that a full embrace of reality, in all its glory and horror is the only way out of even greater suffering. This is not an idea that enjoy popularity in our secular culture. Popular culture encourages people to distract themselves from ultimate reality with work, achievement, financial success, internet surfing and sports… people are frantically rowing toward something or someone who will get them out of their pain. Spiritual traditions teach people to let go of this pointless venture. Only the individual who can embrace reality as it is will find peace of mind, equanimity or a state of grace.   Cynthia Sand...

  A NEW YEAR “May it be done to me according to your word.” --Luke 1: 38     A new year begins. The transition between the past and the coming year invites reflection. We all look back and then forward. Commentators review the best and worst of everything, attempt to discern trends, and make predictions for the coming year. Will it be a  good or bad year--the best of times or the worst of times? Who really knows? Nevertheless, commentators make their prognostications, sometimes with great confidence. Of course, their opinions vary. Many are diametrically opposed, as if they are looking at different universes. I suspect their imagined futures are really a projection of their own idiosyncratic views of themselves and the world. After all, we see others as we are.  As we begin a new year, of course, we take a personal look at our lives. We look back at our regrets and celebrations. Inevitably, our lives have been a mixed bag. We then look to the next year and enter...

  In her classic tome on death and dying, On Grief & Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief through the Five Stages of Loss , Elisabeth Kubler-Ross identifies five stages that those faced with shocking news associated with loss or potential loss go through: Denial (avoidance, confusion, elation, shock, fear) Anger (frustration, irritation, anxiety) Bargaining (struggling to find meaning, reaching out to others, telling one's story) Depression (overwhelmed, helplessness, hostility, fight) Acceptance (exploring options, new plan in place, moving on) Th subsequent works by Kubler-Ross, including those with colleagues, as well as works by others building on her research have pretty much confirmed these stages. How long it takes to go through any one of them depends upon the individual. Future Cancer Diary posts will dive deeper and personally into these stages. Grief is a complex and highly individual topic and intrinsically intertwined with cancer. MSI has published some helpful w...

  Excerpt from Survival of the Caregiver A Treasury of ABC Self-Help Words that Give Encouragement and Support to the Caregiver  by Janice Hucknall Snyder: ABILITIES are unique and varied in each individual. I hope your parents let you become the person you were meant to be. Did they? If so, then you have developed your own interests. You have been given the opportunity of becoming a happy and well-adjusted person. In which case, you are now better prepared mentally to deal with your current role as caregiver. In fact, all the problems that face you during your lifetime will be more manageable. It is a tragedy when a child is expected to follow in his/her parent’s footsteps. Many times, it leads to failure, depression and even self-destruction. Ultimately, some of these people end up requiring a caregiver—sad but true. When you are comfortable with who you are, you are better able to respond in affirmative ways to all others. When your life is smothered in negativ...

  Weekly Soul by Frederic Craigie, Ph.D.  is a collection of 52 meditations on meaningful, joyful and peaceful living. The meditations begin with thought-provoking quotations from a range of people--writers, journalists, theologians, musicians and artists, activists--and touch on themes of Miracles, Aliveness, Purpose, Laughter and Joy, Presence/Mindfulness, Activism, Acceptance, Gratitude, Forgiveness, Creativity, Civility, and Hope. Each meditation also others Dr. Craigie's stories and commentary, questions for individual and group reflection, suggestions for daily follow-up, and biographical background on the quotation authors. In  Weekly Soul , readers will find a year's worth of affirmation and engaging exploration of wholeness and well-being. Endorsement: There is nothing usual or ordinary about Fred Craigie's rich, compelling invitation to explore who we are and what matters to us. It's insanely readable, this beautifully organized mashup of poetry, philosophy, p...