In a disaster aftermath, whether caused by hurricane or earthquake or tsunami, the right impulse is to rush in with appropriate relief. But for people of faith, too often this same "rush in" model is applied to making excuses for God.

The struggle for me during these times is how to not treat such times as some voyeuristic movie experience that can be paused or halted by powering down my device, but instead find a healthy way to participate in the healing and support.

NEW YORK -- When a partially-collapsed construction crane began teetering from a Manhattan high-rise a block from the home he shares with fellow Jesu...

Below is a slideshow of prayers written by the HuffPost Religion community. Prayers during times of crisis reveal what we believe, what we hop...

Storms shake up the physical world but not our spiritual world. That was the response that HuffPost Religion received when we asked our readers if the...

Talk to her, I thought. Talk to her. Normally, I don't strike up conversations with perfect strangers but there was something about the woman waiting for the elevator with me at the medical complex. I couldn't ignore the voice in my head any longer.

Outside the kitchen my life was spiraling downward. I told myself I was in control, that I wasn't really addicted at all. I used heroin to come down from coke, alcohol to moderate the pills. I had it all figured out.

In the most important moments of life and death, when I might have hoped for some religious clarity, the lines of religion blurred right in front of me. It was no use leaning either toward or against them.

The service ended. We said goodbye and hugged Fred in another of those moments when silence, speaking and actions need to find a way to rhyme.

If voter fraud is almost nonexistent, why is a private anonymous family foundation spending significant cash in a swing state like Ohio in communities of color?

If one's faith is entirely dedicated to adherence to right beliefs, when those beliefs are challenged or insulted, so too is one's religious life. Such an affront to the mind's assessment of right and wrong can result in extreme emotional responses.

Somewhere between my unanswered prayers and the realization that I could not worship myself into happiness, my faith died. I stopped believing that God only loved me if I was happy and peaceful.

When people would divide us, polarize us, fill us with fear and make us defensive, when we are encouraged to spend trillions of dollars killing our enemies instead of praying for them -- let us remember in those instances that we are not separate, we are one.

As for our labels saving us -- Christian, Jew, agnostic etc. -- we could all change places and swap labels and we'd still be what we are: potential members of a lynch mob.

Given the mind-spirit-body connection, how can women have a truly healthy spiritual life when our bodies are riddled with doubt, self-consciousness, fear, judgment, disappointment, and demoralizing references?

The word "forward" embodies his vision for a better tomorrow, an aspiration to be commended. As we focus on this new vision for our future, it's helpful to understand what vehicle will be fueling this momentum for a better day for all.