by social@thebtscenter.org | Dec 5, 2019 | 21stCenturySpirituality, Bearings Review 2015, From Our Archives
This time of year marks the return of the “C&E” crowd to churches—the folks who appear at Christmas and Easter. I imagine that lots of clergy and regular congregants have mixed feelings about these seasonal prodigals. On the one hand, it’s pretty magical to have a...
by Kay Ahmed | Nov 7, 2019 | 21stCenturySpirituality, Featured Article
As the sailboat continued to rise about the white capped waves, I gripped the side and leaned back as far as I dared trying to drive the boat down flat on the water. My feet slipped on wet floorboards and someone yelled, his voice constricted into a high-pitched...
by social@thebtscenter.org | Nov 1, 2019 | 21stCenturyCulture, 21stCenturyReligion, 21stCenturySpirituality, Coping, From Our Archives
As someone who has volunteered in hospice for ten years and has written on the spirituality of dying and death, I am often asked about grief and coping with loss. I used to balk and say, “I do dying and death; not grief. I know nothing about coping with loss.” While I...
by Kay Ahmed | Oct 3, 2019 | 21stCenturyCulture, 21stCenturySpirituality, Featured Article
She said it with a cool indifference, and like she meant it: “If I stayed in Salt Lake City, I would have killed myself.” She said she had options. She had an underwear drawer full of “benzos.” She could cook a lethal overdose of heroin. The drugs weren’t really for...
by social@thebtscenter.org | Jun 7, 2019 | 21stCenturyCulture, 21stCenturyReligion, 21stCenturySpirituality, From Our Archives, Lessons Learned
Do this. Don’t do that. Spend your time this way. Pray this way. Believe this. Reject that. This is the kind of rigidity that young people like me cannot stand when it comes to religion. We just don’t get it. Indeed, although many would probably not say so outright,...
by social@thebtscenter.org | Mar 6, 2019 | 21stCenturySpirituality, From Our Archives
The sight of my marked forehead on Ash Wednesday brings the inevitable question: “What are you giving up for Lent?” I have a stock answer: Lobster Newburg and healthy thoughts. Truth is, I genuinely struggle each year, knowing that whatever I choose to give up will be...
