MSI Press Blog

Excerpt from  GodSway   (Keathley): Daddy’s Girl (part 1)             Did you ever think about jumping off a building? No, I don’t mean in a suicidal way. If that’s what you’re thinking, you should call a crisis helpline immediately, seek professional guidance, and then finish reading this book. What I mean is, have you ever thought about the circumstances in which you would consider doing something so irrational, illogical, and yes, dangerous, that you would never do it under normal conditions? Like stuntmen in a movie, you’d want to know there was something there to catch you, say a net. And you’d have to trust the people on the ground enough to be assured they would hold on to the net tightly, not to let you hit the ground, right? It would help to know they’d had lots of practice and had successfully held the net for other jumpers. And you’d probably want to talk first-hand to those guys, or at least read up on what the...

  Today's meditation from  Weekly Soul: Fifty-two Meditations on Meaningful, Joyful, and Peaceful Living   by Dr. Frederic Craigie. -35-   The greatest thing is to give thanks for everything. He who has learned this knows what it means to live. He has penetrated the whole mystery of life: giving thanks for everything.   Albert Schweitzer   Gratefulness is not conditional. Gratefulness means being aware of and thankful for daily blessings, but thankfulness when things appear to be going well is just a slice of the pie. Gratefulness is a practice, an attitude, and a perspective on your life. Even amid the trials and challenges of your life, isn’t there a foundation—a big picture—for which you can be grateful? You are alive. If you’re holding this book, you can see, and you can read. There is someone, somewhere, who loves you. You have the ability to choose who you are and who you are going to become. This is the reality, and it’s always there in the backgroun...

  ROMAN PILGRIMAGE   I had only one wish on my bucket list—to visit Rome. I lived there as a student nearly fifty years ago, and had never been back. Now was the time. I was excited by the prospect of visiting my old haunts. I wondered what I would discover, not so much about the eternal city, but about myself. How have I changed in those fifty years? The real journey, I realized, was inward. For the most part, I would be alone touring the city for two weeks. I expected the time to be a personal retreat, a spiritual pilgrimage. What it turned out to be was beyond my expectations.   I stayed at an airbnb near the Coliseum, in the center of the old city. Coincidentally, it was around the corner from the Hotel Forum where my mother stayed when visiting. The hotel became my landmark. Everything of interest to me was within walking distance. I had no agenda for each day and did not follow a guidebook. A fellow classmate had given me some suggestions of typical tourist sites, w...