MSI Press Blog

What We Mean to Do Right Intention (sometimes called Right Thought) relates to what and how we think. We are most concerned with the part of our thinking that always wants something (which, as humans, is most of our thinking). Buddha said that what we think (and say and do) is what we are. If we think, talk, and act in mean, selfish, and hurtful ways, we find difficulty coming into our lives. If we think, talk, and act in kind and loving ways, we find happiness coming into our lives. Buddha described it as “a shadow that never leaves us." Intention is our true nature trying to come out. It is our inner compass. If we are mindful or aware of our thoughts, we see the nature of our intent. We choose whether it is good or bad, helpful or hurtful. With Right Intention, we promise to be good, and mainly do three things: be aware that we always want things and can take them or leave them; renounce or give up those things that our thinking always wants; and becom...

Kitchen Chaos My mommy is a very nice mommy, but she is a very bad cook. When my sister needed to take some deviled eggs to Rain­bow Girls’ meeting, my mommy made them. Mommy didn’t re­ally want to make them. She wanted to find some place to buy them. However, the leader of the Rainbow Girls’ chapter told Mommy that they were asking all the mommies to make, not buy, the food contributions in order to set a good example for the girls in the chapter. Some example! Against her better judgment and protesting all the way, my sister, Fawn, took them to her meeting. We all knew what would happen. Sure enough, Fawn came back home with all the eggs except one. After one person had tasted one of the eggs, no one else wanted to eat them. Mommy said she did not understand what the problem was. She had made only one small change to the recipe. Since she did not have any paprika, she used some­thing that she thought would be okay because it looked very much like paprika: cayenne peppe...

Readers who care about people, who wonder why so many go astray while others live a good and productive lives, will gobble up the pages of this book faster than they would a psychological thriller. From Deep Within is chilling; its characters are unforgettable. More importantly, they are real: you couldn't create more complicated characters. Susan J. Lewis shares their stories, not with a clinical distance or intellectual analysis, but with compassion and understanding. An absolutely compelling and highly recommended read. So says MidWest Book Review. Read the rest of the book review HERE .

This book is a collection of short stories, poetry, and dramatic essays, written by students and faculty of the New York Institute of Technology in Amman, Jordan, a rich mix of Arab and American authors, reflecting on experiences in the Middle East and elsewhere. To see other works by Dr. Geri Henderson, click HERE . Available from MSI Press webstore .

Sent to the printer this week:  108 Yoga and Self-Care Practices for Busy Mamas  by yoga instructor and guru Julie Gentile. Already available for pre-order on Barnes & Noble. As a mama with a life full beyond belief, do you find yourself too busy to take good care of yourself? Whatever your situation, you deserve spectacular health and wellness. As a mama, your life is full beyond belief, so full that it’s easy for you to forget about self-care. With all of your responsibilities, you’re pressed for time in a major way. But if you don’t take great care of yourself, who will? This guide is your ticket on how to learning to live well as a modern mama. With Millennial working mama, certified yoga teacher, and widely published author, Julie Gentile, as your personal wellness mentor, this book coaches you along your own authentic wellness path. Using 108 writing prompts and self-care practices, yoga poses, meditation, and breathing exercises, Julie shows you practica...

  Book excerpt: Self-Nurturing or Entertainment We all like to be entertained. The trouble is, sometimes entertainment isn’t as satisfying as we think it should be. The reason for this is because, instead of nurturing us in some way, the entertainment drains us, even makes us feel bad about ourselves. What kind of entertainment does this, and how can we avoid it? A little bit of forethought will usually do the trick. Take movies for example: perhaps we are assiduous in our efforts to avoid violence in films—we just don’t like it. But many of the movies out today contain violence, whether we like it or not. (This was explained clearly on the PBS special “Makers”: most movies, it seems are geared for men, and men, according to this special, like to see something being blown up or somebody getting shot.) So suppose you’re going to a movie with a man—husband, brother, male friend—and he is gravitating toward a really violent flick, while you’d like to see something like “The 100 Fo...

Wonderful book review -- fully merited -- for Parker's book by MidWest Book Review . Synopsis: "It Only Hurts When I Can't Run: One Girl's Story" is the personal story of Gewanda J. Parker. Abandoned, neglected and beaten by a mother who really did care about her but suffered from her own demons and addictions, left with friends and relatives, as well as placed in foster homes, molested and raped on more than one occasion, including by men considered upright, the little girl who grew up to become an educator, minister, and entrepreneur learned to survive by running away again and again. This heartbreaking and heartwarming story, told with courageous frankness, reveals a deep trust in God that, in the long run, promoted an unbelievable resilience, allowing a young girl, turned young woman, to forgive those who hurt her and to reach out to all those who hurt with a message of healing and hope. Critique: Impressively candid, exceptionally informative, and ultim...