Internet publishing is being taken more seriously these days in the study of religion. Online journals and forums such as The Immanent Frame, Fre.quenc.ies, and the recently launched Reverberations, from the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) are now considered to be creditable sources of...

We've now gone through a few years of economic hardships, and we are making it through. Yes, times are hard for most of us; harder than we've ever known or experienced. It's true it is not over, but there is hope and we're going to be all right. Trust me....

Spring is almost here, and love is in the air! Valentine's Day is upon us, hooray!

Valentine's Day, as we know it, is a celebration of love. Love is itself a celebration of others. To love one another is to treasure, validate, hold dear, and to cherish as highly valuable...

Did you make a mistake? No problem. No surprise. Everyone makes mistakes.

Admit it. Correct it with God's assistance and forgiveness. Learn from it. Mistake gone. No problem.

Problems arise when we cling tight to OUR way, not God's way, or fail to exercise our empathy or understanding of others'...

Today, I'm thinking of how good I have it.

I remember friends and colleagues who I have loved, but I'm reminded that they passed away. I remember a friend with great style and ability to design, as I see his work, and the lines and curves of great buildings. I...

There are so many diets and weight loss products, books, films and blogs it's so hard to know what to do with overweight and obesity. If you are realizing that you have a problem with weight, and want to do something about it -- let me give you some words...

We are now in the second week of the new year, and if you are like most people, the resolution(s) to lose weight, diet, exercise, make more money, save money, etc., are fading.

I encourage you to just be sensible and moderate this year, and perhaps not go on a...

This week, New Year's week, for me, is all about love. No New Year's resolutions that are ultimately results of criticisms and self-loathing. No starting new and tortured personal campaigns for change. No feeling bad about myself. I am going to love myself, love others and love life as fully...

This is the first weekly post of "Dr. Norris J. Chumley Satisfied Life (tm)" appearing each Wednesday on the topic of Healthy Living with Spirit.

It is deep winter and it has been very cold up north. There is lots of snow on the ground; ice on...

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...