religion
How religion plays into corporate culture and office politics.
Kicked in Ribs
I, coincidentally, am the back-of-the-coffee-shop mystery. I bring thrifted books, sharpies, and sharp eyes. I scribble blackout poetry and sip on iced coffee and listen to James Arthur and pop my fingers again and again. My tote bags are overflowing with straw wrappers, Midliner highlighters, and forgotten stories.
Macy Lynn EvridgePublished 2 years ago in JournalUN REPORT CITES “SERIOUS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS” IN CHINA
I’ve taken some flak about a certain issue over the past few years. I’ve learned not to let barbs from readers bother me, but put-downs are still a good way to take the temperature of a particular topic.
David Morton RintoulPublished 2 years ago in JournalTruly Beautiful
I am still in awe of how God moves in my life. I recently made the decision to rededicate my life to Christ and get baptised again. It was completely random, first time at a new church, didn't know anyone outside of my sister, brother in law, and two friends. I had resigned from my job a few days prior (not by choice), I felt lost and scared. I'm a single mom of 3, how will I provide for my kids? How will we keep our home, what will we do for food? I was dealing with dibilitating anxiety because of it, I couldn't even enjoy my brother in laws birthday at restaraunt without having a full blown anxiety attack on how I was going to pay for it. Jesus isn't a new thing in my life, I grew up learning about him, having a relationship with him. I had people in my life that still prayed for me and my children. But I didn't realize that working for the man that I had been working for had isolated me, I worked so much, I didn't have time for anything else. I wasn't in the Word daily, I took my eyes off Jesus and started focusing more on monetary gain than actually living. It was just another way to put a bandaid over the hurt that I never dealt with. And let me tell you, if you don't deal with it, there will come a point where it will overflow. I had put bandaid, over bandaid on my heart, tried to control everything I could fix it, and if I didn't know how, I would learn how. Until something happened in my life that I couldn't control and everything spiralled. Again. This was not the first time something happened to me that completely rocked my world, and there was nothing that I could physically do about it.
The Traveler’s Gift: The Worst Required Reading of My Career
The Traveler’s Gift: Seven Decisions that Determine Personal Success by Andy Andrews, is hands down the worst book that a company has ever required me to read.
Haley RymelPublished 2 years ago in JournalAre you a good witch or a bad witch?
Once upon a time there was a girl who was different from a lot of people she knew. Now we all know that is how the stories usually go. Mine is a bit different. Since an early age, I never really fit into any type of box. Not just my appearance, but the way I thought about things. Religion being one of those things. Now I know what you are going to say, 'Another person trying to convert people'. Yeah, that's not me. I just wanted to share my experience on how I became a Wiccan who practices witchcraft. Before you ask, yes there is a difference. Wicca is a religion. Mostly it is one motto, "Harm none, Do what ye will". Kind of like the Hippocratic Oath that doctors take. Wiccans believe in using the energy of the elements: Fire, Earth, Air, Water and Spirit. The five points of the Pentacle. Yes Pentacle. Pentagrams are upside down and used mostly by Satanist to scare people. I never could understand the ardent faith that some people have with organized religions. I have read all of the Bible, though it has been sometime since I did, and I have researched other religions too. None of those religions ever made me feel faith. That is until I was introduced into Wicca. All my life weird stuff has happened. From seeing or hearing ghost to thinking something was going to happen and it actually happen. I have written before about dreams and experiences I have had. Some of it happened even before I could give it a name. Now I am a practicing Wicca for the past 27 years. At times, I have questioned my faith. I think there is always a time in which your faith comes into question. How much do you believe? How much faith in the powers that be do you have? During one of these times, I found Wicca. I'm a Gen X child. So naturally my generation wanted to explore new ideas. A friend of mine began reading about Wicca and the craft. Partially because we were inspired by the movie The Craft. I know it sounds ridiculous but, hear me out. It was a bit of an eye-opening experience. I started dabbling a bit with my abilities. One of the things I was always good at is my gut feeling about people. I call it my traffic light. People I feel I can trust are green. People to stay away from are red. People who fall in between are yellow. Those are the people you really have to be around more to get a better feeling for. Yes, I am right 9/10 times. There are only a few times when I can say I was wrong. Mostly with the yellow people. A gut feeling is more of your internal alarm system. Hence the reason how I found Wicca. No other religions could explain the way I was feeling, the things I was experiencing. Then a friend of mine told me about reading a book about Wicca. She lent it to me, and I began to explore. Everything I was going through began to click into place. The way I was thinking and what I was thinking all started making sense. Now Witchcraft is another thing that I began to experiment with. Using simple spells along with my will (intent) behind it. I began to notice that I was making things happen. There was never a question or doubt in my mind about either Wicca or Witchcraft. The only doubt that ever plagued me at the time was whether I was doing the right thing. Yes, I did dabble in the darker side of the Craft as well. To experience both sides leaves one with a respect for the Craft that you hadn't before. To really know the highs and lows of the Craft is to test both sides. That is where true faith lies. To know you can help or hinder anything in your life. That changes a person. Your level of respect changes your perception of the Religion and the Craft.
MaryBeth CalahorranoPublished 2 years ago in JournalThe Halcyon Effect
A moment of clarity, though this one transcends what you’ve come to expect of them. Colour more vivid. The light is different. Above all, a sense of change prevails over the perspective. It is as if the lens has focused in. Now, this sensory phenomenon (For sensory it is, though it also seems to transcend any of the senses) may occur in a relatively mundane period of life, it is normally associated, at least in my experience, with periods of life that touch are soul, and periods, whether we know it or not at the time, which will form our future self. The beginning of a new relationship usually. It is as if an obscuring film that takes the lustre out of the everyday is lifted, revealing the world in its true splendour.
Harry Hunter BaxterPublished 2 years ago in Journal5 Reasons Why I'm no longer a Christian
Jesus said to him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen, and have believed. John 20:29
Sherlock KnowsPublished 2 years ago in JournalBreath into Her
They tell me to breath life into her, but that's what I'm afraid of. They say "Maybe you're not healing from the past, because you're trying to be who you once were, and that person is gone. There is a new, strong being, trying to be born. Breath life into her, and let her come forth."
Josie Del VallePublished 2 years ago in JournalThe Ex-vangelical Awakening
I don’t know the first thing about being a prophet. I mean. I suppose that’s a little boldfaced of me to say. I’ve been a member of the church long enough that I know what the job of a prophet is supposed to be. I grew up in a congregation that meant I learned my catechism and my scripture. I won my prizes for memorizing the most verses and spitting them back out like a wind-up doll, or a particularly intelligent parrot.
Human Happiness: According To Quran
During Ramadan, I was reflecting on the Quran while hearing it read. Ramadan is the month of the Quran and it is the month in, which the Quran was revealed.
Aisha MohammadPublished 2 years ago in JournalWhat Makes Us Believe In God
I thought to share this story because people often ask me to tell them my story of how I came to believe and about religious conversion because I converted to Islam as a teenager. I thought that I would share how I came to believe in God in this article and another time tell the story about how I came to convert to Islam.
Aisha MohammadPublished 2 years ago in JournalA New Voice
Sometimes a voice wants to find itself without looking in the mirror. I was like that once. I felt like my voice had been stolen from me– a few times, in fact– because I refused to look at it in the mirror or acknowledge its semi-tragic existence. Around me there were other voices and I shopped around a bit. Peering through the handprint-plastered windows, I tried to adopt the voices I saw around me because I refused to look at how broken mine was.
Bianca WargoPublished 2 years ago in Journal