MSI Press Blog

  This week editor's choice:   Blest Atheist by Elizabeth Mahlou Book Description: As a young child, outraged by the hypocrisy she finds in a church that does nothing to alleviate the physical and sexual abuse she experiences on a regular basis, Beth delivers an accusatory youth sermon and gets her family expelled from the church. Having locked the door on God, Beth goes on to raise a family of seven children, learn 17 languages, and enjoy a career that takes her to NASA, Washington, and 24 countries. All the time, however, God keeps knocking at the door, protecting and blessing her, which she realizes only decades later. Ultimately, Beth finds God in a very simple yet most unusual way. A very human story, Blest Atheist encompasses the greatest literary themes of all time – alienation, redemption, and even the miraculous. The author’s life experiences, both tragic and tremendous, result in a spiritual journey containing significant ups and downs that ultimately yield gr...

“My grace is enough for you, For in weakness power reaches perfection.” --St. Paul   I’m in the business of compassionate healing. As a psychologist, my patients come to me in emotional and mental pain. They feel broken and want to be whole. They want relief from their suffering--their depression, anxiety, tempers, compulsions, and disturbing obsessions. Coming to me, they ask me to witness their suffering and bring them relief. Two questions often haunt them: “Why is this happening to me? How can I fix it?” In their desperation, they look for answers from me, whom they consider “the expert.” Contrary to their expectations, I direct those questions back to themselves and assure them, “You have the answers, but don’t know it yet.” I invite them to pay close attention to their own experience, to listen to the subtle voices speaking within, and to engage in open and honest dialogue with themselves. For many, that is a new experience. These voices have been drowned out by the...

Malcolm Muggeridge spent much of his life as a skeptic, a journalist who saw through illusions and mocked pretension. He had witnessed war, political corruption, and the failures of ideology. For years, he believed that truth was only what could be exposed — never what could be adored. But slowly, the irony gave way to insight. Muggeridge began to see that the world’s emptiness pointed toward something fuller. His encounters with people of faith — especially Mother Teresa — revealed a joy that defied logic. He realized that cynicism could dissect life but never explain it. His conversion was not sentimental; it was moral and intellectual. He wrote that faith was “the great discovery of my later years,” the only lens through which human suffering and beauty made sense. The journalist who once sought scandal found grace instead. Muggeridge’s transformation reminds us that faith can begin in disillusionment. When the world’s promises collapse, the soul starts listening. He discovered that...