/morsl/taxonomy/term/129/all en /morsl/article/meditation-spiritual-wellness/spirituality-long-winters-nap <p>In the first lines of the poem <i>The Night Before Christmas</i>, the narrator had just settled down for a long winter’s nap before being awoken by a visit from Santa Claus. For anyone feeling like 2024 has been a struggle, the sound of a long nap is deeply appealing, preferably with no interruptions! Yet too often, we talk ourselves out of this essential rest, and instead pile on more activities and commitments, plans and projects – far more than can really fit into whatever “free” time we have.</p> Fri, 20 Dec 2024 19:41:54 +0000 Carlene Gardner 2884 at /morsl /morsl/article/holidays-and-holy-days-interfaith-dialogue-spiritual-wellness/unexpected-encounter-spirit-christmas <p>On Thanksgiving Day, my family walked to the largest church building in Canada, St. Joseph’s Oratory. It was just a break from a day of cooking and lounging before we sat down to eat.</p> <p>It was one of the first wintry days of the year with rain and chilly winds. Instead of enjoying the Oratory’s lookout and walking into the woods as we planned, we decided to take refuge inside the church.</p> Wed, 18 Dec 2024 19:54:01 +0000 Candice Wendt 2883 at /morsl /morsl/article/interfaith-dialogue-spiritual-wellness/warm-winters-tale <p>I was walking to class. The weather was awful; bitter cold temperatures that chilled to the bone. Raging winds did not help, succeeding in driving an icy feeling through ones warm flesh and blood. The feeling? Like a hot knife melting through butter.</p> <p>It was on such a day that I noticed two very bewildering things. Suddenly, people on the street had lost their individuality. They were all like snowflakes; unique, yet nameless and faceless. I stopped. People continued rushing past me. What I was doing in that blistery winter was my business. Nobody cared.</p> Tue, 17 Dec 2024 16:04:08 +0000 Ishrat Kanga 2882 at /morsl /morsl/article/interfaith-dialogue-spiritual-wellness/omnipresence <p>I come home, and I hear "Churaliya" playing in the kitchen CD player as my mom is cooking dinner. I smile discreetly to myself as I casually walk in, and settle to my room. Hmm. One song has the power to take me back all the way to being five years old, and commanding my little sister to let this song finish playing! Or just back to last week to competing with a fellow vocalist to let me sing this song one more time at a local jam session! Ah, it’s so simple when you take a moment to experience the omnipresence of a feeling.</p> Mon, 16 Dec 2024 17:08:37 +0000 Adhika Maharaj 2881 at /morsl /morsl/article/ecospirituality-holidays-and-holy-days-radix-spiritual-wellness/do-you-believe-miracles <p>On the 25<sup>th</sup> of the month of Kislev in the Jewish calendar, Jews around the world will light Chanukah candles in their homes. This act commemorates the miracles that occurred at the time of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, 138 BCE.</p> Wed, 11 Dec 2024 19:28:26 +0000 Natalie Pakes 2879 at /morsl /morsl/article/interfaith-dialogue-spiritual-wellness/performance-art <p>The performing arts have a legitimate place in public religious ceremonies. In fact, a religious ceremony is in itself performance art of the highest order. The preparation and presentation of a piece of music is an intensely spiritual exercise. I refer to spirituality not as something otherworldly, but rather as the very human effort to be compassionately present to the people, events, and tasks that I encounter every day.</p> Tue, 03 Dec 2024 20:28:41 +0000 Loren R. Carle 2878 at /morsl /morsl/article/what-do-you-see <p>What do you see when you look at my face? Loneliness, isolation, seclusion? What do you see when you look in my eyes? Dejection, desperation, dreariness? I am a Muslim woman, after all. I am both visible and invisible to people around me. They cannot see me, yet they know that I am a living being, breathing and walking beneath my veil.</p> Wed, 27 Nov 2024 16:07:46 +0000 Afifa Naz 2877 at /morsl /morsl/article/interfaith-dialogue-spiritual-wellness/do-mitz-wha <p>There is a lot of talk about mitzvos in Judaism. So what are they and what do they mean to me? The word mitzvah has been interpreted in a number of ways. Sometimes it means a commandment. Often it is considered simply a good deed or an act of kindness. But we can derive a deeper understanding by looking at the Hebrew rot, <i>L ‘tzavot</i>, which when translated means ‘to connect.’ G-d gave us mitzvos as a way of connecting to Him.</p> Mon, 25 Nov 2024 20:57:10 +0000 Sarede Switzer 2876 at /morsl /morsl/article/interfaith-dialogue-spiritual-wellness/lesson-heretic-2024-film <p>Recently, I went to see the film <em>Heretic</em>. I was curious about what it would portray about religious thinking, and I wasn’t disappointed. I won’t spoil the plot of the movie here, but I will discuss some of the arguments made during the beginning and middle of the film.</p> <p>The antagonist Mr. Reed (played by Hugh Grant) tries to dismantle the faith of two university-student-aged missionaries who come proselyting at his door.</p> Tue, 19 Nov 2024 19:43:27 +0000 Candice Wendt 2874 at /morsl /morsl/article/interfaith-dialogue-spiritual-wellness/significant-act <p>The idea of transcendence often brings to mind something other-worldly, or beyond our normal sensory range. It is a concept that has developed in many spiritual traditions. Dictionaries remind us of where the word comes from: the prefix trans-from the Latin verb "to cross", or simply meaning "across", and -scend, from the Latin verb "to rise or climb," also the root of the English ascend. So, when we put the two together, we get something like "to climb across." This makes me think that transcendence is perhaps more earthly than we normally suppose.</p> Mon, 18 Nov 2024 20:27:04 +0000 Loren R. Carle 2873 at /morsl /morsl/article/interfaith-dialogue-spiritual-wellness/confessions-bi-spiritual <p>Our society is sometimes fixated on demarcating the boundaries of identity. Anyone with a dual or multiple identity can testify to this, including those who are mixed-race, or who do not conform to a binary gender structure. What about people who are bi-spiritual, those who feel equally at home in two or more spiritual communities? Most, if not all, of the contributions to <i>Radix Magazine</i> are written from the perspective of one faith tradition.</p> Wed, 13 Nov 2024 20:43:41 +0000 Kathryn Lum 2871 at /morsl /morsl/article/meditation-spiritual-wellness/neuroscience-prayer-and-journaling <p>What can we do to find relief when we feel anxious, threatened, or stuck in patterns of low moods or spiraling thoughts? Whether this is caused by unpleasant interactions on social media, the burdens of schoolwork, or worrying about the future, journaling and prayer can both help according to happiness researcher and expert Arthur Brooks. He shared his thoughts on a <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/6ifnhTZLpllBAjQwK0SKvs?si=rtwYtU8hTHWq_YdioAAEmA&nd=1&dlsi=4d608c2581584245">recent podcast episode</a> (listen at 32:09 for thoughts on anxiety, journaling, and prayer).</p> Wed, 06 Nov 2024 21:05:27 +0000 Candice Wendt 2865 at /morsl /morsl/article/meditation-spiritual-wellness/akida <p>When I was little, I was an idealist, and my dream was world peace. Then I entered adolescence and became convinced, to my great dismay, that things had already gone so wrong in the world that my dream could never by anything more than simply a dream, and that in fact, our world was destined for ruin. I see things differently now, and my idea of the world has been informed by my experience of it; I’m no longer much of an idealist, nor am I a pessimist.</p> Wed, 06 Nov 2024 16:53:51 +0000 Erica Crawford 2864 at /morsl /morsl/article/holidays-and-holy-days-spiritual-wellness/spooky-stories-and-spirituality <p>Why are we drawn to spooky stories? Is this related to spirituality? I’ve been thinking about these questions this October as I discovered and became hooked on the podcast <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/76571Rfl3m7PLJQZKQIGCT">“Spooked.”</a></p> <p>I’ve found that there are ways these stories intrigue and benefit me, even spiritually.</p> Thu, 31 Oct 2024 15:00:17 +0000 Candice Wendt 2861 at /morsl /morsl/article/spiritual-wellness/recognizing-sacred-our-day <p>Our fast-paced lives can leave little time for reflection. Yet moments of calm reflection help us appreciate the many blessings of life. As the poet Gerard Manley Hopkins once wrote, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” But often we are too busy to notice this. Every day - and each moment of every day - the sacred tries to communicate its beauty, truth and wisdom but we can miss it if we are too busy or distracted. It’s like being on a bus driving through a beautiful countryside - with the curtains closed. </p> Thu, 24 Oct 2024 17:56:11 +0000 Dr. John Meehan 2859 at /morsl