Y.S. Stephen - Reader | Casual Observer

How do people who perceive themselves to be religious or spiritual decide who is more worthy? We sometimes use spiritual exercises, religious posts, knowledge, or deeds to navigate this slippery terrain. Some criteria are better than others, but William Comb, says in his book,  Who Told You That You Were Naked? , that using good deeds as to judge a person's righteousness is dangerous. The danger lies in the false sense of security we generate when we assume we behave better than other people. More dangerous is the complete oversight of the human nature that this attitude generates. According to William Combs, “By reducing sin to a mere list of offences, we can convince oursevlves that we are becoming better persons because we are commiting fewer “sins” than we once did. This attitude shifts our focus away from the devastating consequences of sin—the inner conviction we do not measure up.” The implication of this attitude is that a Christian who sees himsel or herself in th...

As we go about our busy lives in a technology-driven world, we must craft our inner life in a way that makes it easy to communicate with God where and when we want. Prayers (in a Pentecostal Christian context) has been more of an external performance in recent times. A performance suited to the well-spoken and to those with tastes for the dramatic. There is little time left for silence or prayerful contemplation in our religious gatherings (except for preaching time). The say-what-you-can-in-the-most-evocative-words-you-can-muster exercise is not suitable for all, neither does it benefit all. This is why I am a bit partial to what is called Ignatian Contemplation - a practice that involves the use of imagination to pray and connect to God. Needless to say, Ignatius of Loyola, one of the founders of the Jesuits order, first advocated this practice as a way to keep God actively present in his mind and heart in order to make good decisions in his life among other things. ...

...a brilliant resource that encourages children to learn about their emotions. Babies are one of the most expressive groups of people on earth. They do not hold back when expressing their feelings. Older children and adults, on the other hand, have societal expectations to deal with when it comes to emotional expressions. As adults, society expects us to hold back certain feelings and be considerate of others. This is understandable, for an adult or teenager with no self-control is dangerous to himself and others around him. Unfortunately, there are some children who cannot control how they respond to their feelings. This might be due to medical reasons or it might just be that they were not shown how to do it by the adults around them. My Book Of Feelings by Tracey Ross and Rosy Salaman tries to remedy this by putting together a brilliant resource that encourages children to learn about their emotions - how to define them, how they arise with different situations, and w...