MSI Press Blog

  Nightwalker The following guest post comes from MSI Press author of the award-winning book,    A Theology for the Rest of Us ,  . "The most terrible loneliness is not the kind that comes from being alone, but the kind that comes from being misunderstood. It is the loneliness of standing in a crowded room, surrounded by people who do not see you, who do not hear you, who do not know the true essence of who you are. And in that loneliness, you feel as though you are fading, disappearing into the background, until you are nothing more than a ghost, a shadow of your former self." — George Orwell, 1984 Followers of George Orwell and his prophetic "1984" might see a sad connection between his feelings and those of Cassandra--the ancient Trojan priestess who was doomed to foretell the future, only to be ignored. Still, from a spiritual perspective, in the darkness of such loneliness, maybe it is possible to take comfort that, despite whatever anyone else may say--some of...

Alone with Ourselves  In therapy sessions, I have been asking my patients how they are coping with the confinement, loneliness, and fear. Regarding their quarantine, I ask if they experience it more as a prison or retreat. Almost all have told me that it feels mostly like a retreat. Perhaps my encouraging them to relax and observe themselves is paying some dividends. For example, one insight patient, commenting on the lock down, said, “If we allow fear to take over, we’re exchanging prisons and giving ourselves a life sentence.” However, as the quarantine drags on for weeks, I suspect they may change their tunes. Surprisingly, my most emotionally fragile patients struggle little with the virus fear. They do not sweat the big stuff, only the small stuff. For example, they may agonize for years about a rude comment. My patients also complain about so much closeness with restless, bickering kids and bored partners that, they say jokingly, it will eventually lead to the do...

Something invisible has stopped the world in its tracks, humbling us, making us aware of our vulnerability. It is the Coronavirus. Despite our technological prowess, we are not the masters of the universe we imagined. Mother Nature still rules. As the world-wide epidemic sweeps across America, President Trump has declared war on this invisible enemy. He has mobilized the forces of scientists, healthcare workers, and business leaders to combat the virus. As a psychologist, I am among the ranks of the battle-ready. The front-line workers confront the enemy face-to-face in the patients they treat. They are the hospital service people, aides, technicians, nurses, doctors, and first responders. I admire their courage and salute them. They risk their lives daily, inadequately armed, and many have fallen in the fight. I am a back-line worker as a psychologist, fighting another invisible enemy, fear. Pandemic panic can be as contagious and pernicious as COVID-19. Living in Michigan, o...

  Precerpt (excerpt prior to publication) from   Pathways to Inner Peace  by Diane Dreher, currently available on pre-order. Introduction If you’ve been longing for a deeper sense of connection, you’re not alone. We are living in challenging times. Years of rapid change, the COVID pandemic, natural disasters, and political uncertainty have disrupted our lives. Many of us have lost loved ones, connections with friends and colleagues, familiar routines, and a sense of personal security. Psychologist Pauline Boss, PhD, says that we’ve suffered “the ultimate loss: the loss of trust in the world as a safe and predictable place” (2022, p. 4; Dreher, 2023). There’s an epidemic of loneliness in our world and a dramatic rise in anxiety and depression ( Murthy & Chen, 2020; World Health Organization, 2022, 2024) . An increasing sense of loneliness and disconnection has rippled through our world, with disastrous consequences. Research has found that loneliness actually can...