MSI Press Blog

  Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from 365 Teacher Secrets for Parents by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly.                                                        #133 Fun with Words   I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living. ~Dr. Seuss   Poetry is playing around with words in unique and wonderful ways. You can also do the same without creating a poem. Just make up some silly stuff! Try these:   Alliterations (sentences in which most of the words begin with the same sound): ●        Have your child choose a beginning letter or sound. Let’s use “m” as an example. ●        Now have him brainstorm a wide variety of words that begin with that letter. ●        He c...

Today's meditation from Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living by Dr. Frederic Craigie. -19-   When we let go of our battles and open our heart to things as they are, then we come to rest in the present moment. This is the beginning and the end of spiritual practice. Only in this moment can we discover that which is timeless. Only here can we find the love that we seek. Love in the past is simply memory, and love in the future is fantasy. Only in the reality of the present can we love, can we awaken, can we find peace and understanding and connection with ourselves and the world. Jack Kornfield   Thanks substantially to work by Jack Kornfield, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Sharon Salzberg, and a small number of other pioneers in this area, the idea of mindfulness—paying attention, in the present moment, without judgment—has embedded itself in the American consciousness. A man suffers flashbacks and remorse about a motor vehicle accident in which his d...

  The Dark Night of the Senses is the purification of how we experience God. The Dark Night of the Soul is the purification of how we relate to God at the deepest level of our being. They are related, but not interchangeable. One is the doorway; the other is the interior passage. 🌑 The Dark Night of the Senses This is the first night in St. John of the Cross’s map of spiritual transformation. It happens when: Prayer becomes dry, flat, or strangely unsatisfying Old spiritual consolations no longer “work” The senses — imagination, emotions, spiritual sweetness — stop cooperating You can’t go back to your old way of praying, but you can’t go forward either This night is not punishment. It is weaning . God withdraws the “milk” of spiritual feelings so the soul can grow beyond needing emotional feedback to stay faithful. The person is being moved from sense-based spirituality to faith-based spirituality . It is uncomfortable, but it is not annihilating. It is pruning, not uprooti...