I'm outraged over the media coverage of Penn State former football coach, Joe Paterno, who died recently of lung cancer. All of the news coverage I've seen is all about the "legacy," "ethics," "values" and "successful career" of the "Legend." In the midst of a flurry of condolences, there are...

Here we are again -- a new year is upon us. To mark the start of another 365 days many of us resolve to make some changes. Be it lose weight, get healthier, make more money, spend less, find a job or get a new one, exercise regularly, whatever. Why...

Yes, it is possible to lose weight, get fit and healthier through prayer. I know prayer works with weight loss and health challenges: I've lost 150 pounds and maintained it almost 20 years only by the grace of God, eating more healthfully and through "re-creation." Without God's help, I would...

There's a lot of interest in ancient and authentic Christian prayers and monasticism recently, especially with the CBS News '60 Minutes' piece on Holy Mt. Athos, the secluded peninsula in Greece home to continual prayer for the last 1,100 years. I made a spiritual pilgrimage to Mt. Athos a couple...

Written with V. Rev. John A. McGuckin, Ph.D.

In ancient times, as early as the late second and early centuries of the Common Era in Egypt and Syria, more than a few people abandoned their civic responsibilities, relationships and personal crises in order to seek relief and commune solely with...

I really like the "anti-religion" signs that are cropping up this Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa season. They make me really love God even more, and are catalysts for conversation, even argument. As a matter of fact, it's been my observation that there hasn't been much talk of God for decades...

As a little kid I always thought that church was cool. I liked the choir at my hometown Episcopal church, and going up to get wafers and juice. But the Scripture reading, prayers and sermons always seemed really boring. As I got older, I began to not feel God in...

A prayer used some 2,000 years ago, still in use by monks and nuns in far away caves and monasteries but mostly unknown to the rest of the world, is the subject of a new documentary feature film and book. It's called Mysteries of the Jesus Prayer and...

Women aren't the only ones who feel the loss when the "baby" grows up, goes to college and moves out of the house. Fathers do too. Although it's a little hard to admit -- I am already feeling the empty-nest syndrome, in spite of being sure it would never hit...

It's always great when a potentially sad story has a very happy outcome; sometimes it might even be called miraculous. This was the case this week with the rescue of 11 year-old, Nadia Bloom of Winter Springs, near Orlando, Florida. Her parents Jeff and Tanya Bloom, Metro Church group and...

The religious holidays of Passover and Easter are aligning in the same week this year. Traditionally, these are festivals of renewal, rebirth and most importantly freedom and forgiveness. Passover and Easter ordinarily fall sometime after the Vernal Equinox (after the full moon) or the beginning of Spring, and for good...

It's a trend today to disdain religion as repressive and affirm spirituality as transformational or liberating, but really, one can be a member of a religious institution and be spiritual, or be religious or spiritual without belonging to a church -- or both. There's a new trend of "do your...