MSI Press Blog

  From Dennis Ortman PAIN PATIENCE “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces character, and character produces hope, and hope will not leave us disappointed.” Romans 5: 3-4   What is more natural than to seek pleasure and avoid pain? We Americans entertain high ideals. We aspire to greatness, to being the best, number one. These aspirations, however, may at times shade into excess.    Our remarkable advances in technology promise to fulfill our dreams. So we seek lives of the most pleasure with the least pain. The pharmaceutical industry invests billions of dollars to help us attain this goal. Their medications promise wellbeing and the possibility of killing all pain. This mentality and the easy availability of drugs spawned the opioid epidemic. We sought a better life, a pain-free life, through chemistry. Soon, the dream of wellbeing turned into a nightmare. The more pills we consumed to escape the pain, the more we needed to take, until we reached a limit. The p

  DEADLY SINS “Jesus now called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority to overcome all demons and to cure diseases.” --Luke 9: 1   “The unexamined life is not worth living,” proclaimed Socrates two and a half millennia ago. That timeless wisdom is an unfailing guide to happiness and fulfillment. The examination entails an honest assessment of both our strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately, many of us tend to have an unbalanced view of our innate tendencies, exaggerating or diminishing one or the other. We also tend to take the moral inventory of others to avoid self-reflection. We have an astute awareness of others’ faults, while being blind to our own. From an early age, I learned to make a nightly examination of conscience. As a child, I used the Ten Commandments, the list of what is forbidden, as my guide. I focused on the “thou shalt nots.” I tried to avoid doing what was wrong, fearful of punishment. When I sinned, I went to confession and performed the prescribed

  CHANGE OF HEART “I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts.” --Ezekiel 36: 26   “I hate change!” If I received a dollar for every time a patient said that to me, I could work for free.   They often add, “Change replaces the familiar with the unknown. The unknown scares me.” In response, I remind my anxious patients, “If there is no change, you are dead. The future is always unknown, of course, because it does not yet exist. You are now in the process of creating your own future.” I also ask them,”Why are you here meeting with me, except to change?” They tell me how miserable they feel and powerless to do anything about it. Frightening change is the price of relief. Therapy is for healing and growth. Some of my patients imagine that their trying life circumstances cause their distress. In our work together they learn that only changing their minds and hearts, their outlooks, atti

  Dennis Ortman, author of several award-winning books, offers the following reflection for MSI Press blog readers -  FULL LIFE “I came that they might have life and have it to the full.” --John 10: 10   We have two natural desires: to live forever and to be happy. Modern medical science promises the first, but cannot guarantee the second. However, a recent bestselling book suggests that we can have both, now. Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles wrote  Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life  (New York: Penguin Books, 2016) in which they described the natural steps to a long, fulfilled life. They journeyed to Ogimi, Japan, where a large portion of the population lives into their hundreds. They interviewed dozens of the elderly residents to discover their secret. What they learned was a natural way to live longer with joy. Here are some of their recommendations: ·           Live an active life doing what you enjoy, and don’t retire. ·           Eat a moderate, balanced diet