MSI Press Blog

I think I'm done with "How are you?" as a casual way of greeting someone when we're passing by. It seems like that phrase should be reserved for when we are truly wanting to sit down and listen to one another. I've never figured out how to give an authentically brief answer, and what a loaded question these days! Some serious collective shadow work is being done by and through us now. When I say "shadow work," I mean facing the parts of ourselves we've disowned or pretended didn't exist, both on an individual level and a systemic one. My true essence, like yours, is love. Also, there are times I have been inconsiderate, pushy, dismissive, greedy, stubborn... all the painful things humans can be. These shadow parts need compassionate attention, for they come out in deadly ways when ignored or denied. When anger is safely raged, felt, and released, it can become empowerment, a clarifying of needed. Unworthin

Gewanda is the founder and CEO of Hope and Healing Corporation, serving the needs of the marginalized of society locally and abroad to orphanages in Haiti and Africa. In 2003, she started an organization to help young girls and teens suffering with self-esteem and identity issues. Gewanda is a featured concert soloist, and her natural talent in music and  praise and worship has offered her the opportunity to minister and travel singing throughout the US, Canada and Bahamas. Levitical Praise was birthed out of these true authentic worship experiences. Johnson holds a Master of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary. Gewanda has worked with multiple multicultural and diversity assemblage of both professionals and laity groups in various settings. Most notable, in 2003, she was asked to speak to the highly Militant Religious Divides between the Protestants and Catholics in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Gewanda hosted a weekly radio show called “Message of Hope,” which dire

Dr. Graves (Ph. D., Texas Tech University) is an education expert, well-published in peer-reviewed journals and textbooks. During pregnancy, she suffered complications due to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) that resulted in kidney failure. After personally experiencing the traumatic change from career woman to a chronically ill, stay-at-home mom, she has actively cultivated strategies to balance her ongoing health battles with her desire to be a great mother and wife while staying professionally active. Her book,   How to Be a Good Mommy When You’re Sick: A Guide to Motherhood with Chronic Illness , gained the attention of   Library Journal , which reviewed it positively. Other positive reviews followed. For other posts about Dr. Graves and her book, click HERE .

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 doorst

Soul Food for the Weary                                                                                                   Inspired by Psalm 16 If you develop a toothache, you go to a dentist, right? If you need glasses, you call an optometrist; if you need money, a banker. But what if you’re soul-weary?   “Where could I go but to the Lord? Seeking a refuge for my soul Needing a friend to help me in the end (Brother won’t you tell me?) Where could I go, O where could I go, where could I go but to the Lord?”  (Gaither Vocal Band) The psalmist declares: “The Lord himself is my inheritance, my prize.  He is my food and drink, my highest joy!  He guards all that is mine.  He sees that I’m given pleasant brooks and meadows. I will bless the Lord who counsels me; giving me wisdom in the night.  He tells me what to do.  Save me, O God, because I have come to you for refuge.  I said to him, ‘You are my Lord, I have no other help but you.’”

Practice: The Expansion of Positive Emotions  Expanding a positive emotion can be a wonderful way to start your day. However, it can be performed in almost any situation and at almost all times. As emphasized in the introduction, it is highly recommended to try out expansion, at least in your first attempts, with a friend guiding you. Important: whenever you see this mark, “…” it is your sign to pause for a few seconds in order to either receive a response or settle into and deepen a new state .  1. Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes. Allow your entire being to relax more and more. Breathe slowly and deeply… You are about to enter into your innermost Self… to enjoy a state of self-knowing, which is the sweetest and most wondrous state possible… Now, from this relaxation, let the moment or time in your life in which you experienced the highest level of happiness, elevation, and limitlessness rise to the surface of your mind. Recall the situation within yourself.

11. A Slice of Canine Heaven  When Emme died, I struggled to find the right words of condolence for her owner, my colleague Matt. I finally told him that rarely are my expectations of great things completely fulfilled, but my day with Emme exceeded my hopes and was a joy. Emme was a 170-pound Great Dane who spent one hot summer day, per Matt, “babysitting” me when I was homebound with a sinus infection. I’d been sick in June with a similar illness, and when I returned to work, Matt offered to bring Emme to my home the next time I felt ill. He knew I loved Great Danes but couldn’t own one because of my chronic illness. So, during my second week-long bout that summer with sinus issues, I gave Matt a call. At six-thirty the next day, he arrived with Emme and the largest dog bed I’d ever seen.  After an hour of anxiously checking my front door, Emme settled in. She was the most obedient animal I’d ever encountered. She jumped on the couch to cuddle on command. She placed her head