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EDITORIAL - In Conclusion (Charles Davidson)

EDITORIAL – In Conclusion (Charles Davidson)

AND SO . . . YOU AND I COME TO THE END OF OUR JOURNEY TOGETHER ON LIFE TURNINGS in this experiment in interactive blogging beneath the rubric of spirituality and the healing arts.

“For what can one learn that is better than what God has given by nature to every human soul—which is living and loving, hoping and believing, in the depth of every soul . . .?”

- Vincent van Gogh

When we started this…

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THEOLOG - The Shifting of Power in the Church (Stephen McCutchan)

THEOLOG – The Shifting of Power in the Church (Stephen McCutchan)

IT IS COMMON TO SUGGEST that the church is experiencing vast changes in response to an ever-changing world. If in fact God has not lost control of history and the church remains the Body of Christ, then what on earth is God doing through the church for the sake of the world today?

If Jesus is “the way, the truth, and the life,” then the church is invited to approach the world in weakness, as did…

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PSYCH TALK - A New Way of Understanding the Problems of Parents and Children (Debra Wesselmann)

PSYCH TALK – A New Way of Understanding the Problems of Parents and Children (Debra Wesselmann)

THE RESEARCH IN THE FIELD OF ATTACHMENT opens up a whole new world for all of us in understanding the problems of parents and children. Attachment is the emotional connection between any two people.

Most parents love their children and want to give them the best start in life possible. By gaining a clear understanding of attachment and the obstacles they are facing, parents can overcome their…

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PHRASINGS - How to "Plant" a Home (Monika Wengler)

PHRASINGS – How to “Plant” a Home (Monika Wengler)

SINCE LIVING ON A FARM FOR OVER TWENTY YEARSI have had to move several times. Caring about the kind of house I moved into, I brought my favorite things along with me to fill it. Yet, more important to me was finding and making a good home for my plants. Each time, I was lucky enough to locate a place where I could bring my plants before moving even a single piece of furniture. At the first one to…

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BEARING WITNESS - The Footprints We Leave Behind (Keith Herron)

BEARING WITNESS – The Footprints We Leave Behind (Keith Herron)

OUR WORK IS NOT THE ONLY THING THAT DEFINES USbut it is a major contributor to self-definition. The canopy of our work spreads across the decades from the end of our adolescence until we’re either forced to quit working or we retire. The average person works four decades or more. We work until we can afford retirement. For some, the day of affordability never fully arrives and we are confronted…

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BEARING WITNESS - The Unlived Life: Pondering the Path Not Taken (Keith Herron)

BEARING WITNESS – The Unlived Life: Pondering the Path Not Taken (Keith Herron)

NEARLY A CENTURY AGO ROBERT FROSTpenned the well-loved poem, “The Road Not Taken,” posing a question about the possible meanings of choices not made, in contrast to the ones actually made. Some would suggest life is marked and measured almost entirely by the decisions we make. Every day offers countless decisions that must be made and even the most insignificant decisions go into the mix in…

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COACK TALK - "The Ghost of Future Regret" (Gwen Suesse)

COACK TALK – “The Ghost of Future Regret” (Gwen Suesse)

I CAME ACROSS THIS PHRASE as I was reading a remarkable book, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, by David Mitchell. A historical novel set in Japan at the turn into the 19th century, this book tells a magical story combining layers of history, intrigue, politics, values, cultural clashes, and unrequited love. Exquisitely, poetically written, it is a book to savor.

What a useful concept: to…

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BOOK REVIEW - A STAR AND A TEAR by Stephen McCutchan (J. Harold Ellens)

BOOK REVIEW – A STAR AND A TEAR by Stephen McCutchan (J. Harold Ellens)

A Star and A Tear, Stephen McCutchan, 2013, Pp 386, Self Published. Reviewed by J. Harold Ellens, PhD.

WHEN I FIRST PICKED UP THIS BOOK I THOUGHT, why do preachers give their books such dumb and schmaltzy titles? By the time I was halfway through this gripping novel I realized the title was exactly on point and infinitely memorable. Stephen McCutchan has a deft skill at a good story and…

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PSYCH TALK - The Best Advice on How to Fall in Love with Your Environment (Monika Wengler)

PSYCH TALK – The Best Advice on How to Fall in Love with Your Environment (Monika Wengler)

Emma Kidd suggests that “to begin to more fully understand Nature, and life, we must develop the capacity to encounter what is active and living.” 

WHEN WE THINK OF RELATIONSHIPS THIS TIME OF YEAR, we usually think of romance and falling in love with a special person. While there are plenty of advice columns out there that want to help you improve your love life, rarely do any consider how you…

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HEALTHY CLERGY - Welcoming the New Pastor (Stephen McCutchan)

HEALTHY CLERGY – Welcoming the New Pastor (Stephen McCutchan)

OK, YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE PROCESS of identifying a new pastor for the congregation, making the offer and having it accepted, and s/he is coming to be the pastor of the congregation. Now, how do you help to make the beginning a good one and establish from the start a culture of mutual caring?

From the outset of this new relationship, the PNC can communicate to the congregation by several…

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COACH TALK - Emptying My Backpack (Gwen Suesse)

COACH TALK – Emptying My Backpack (Gwen Suesse)

I DON’T HAVE TIME TO WRITE. I DON’T HAVE TIME TO THINK! My dance card is totally filled: I bought a condo, decided to do a major renovation, sold my home, and dealt with several unexpected challenges that required lots of time. Moving day is six weeks away. I need to finish up condo orders, go through a lifetime’s collection of stuff, cull, weed, and PACK!

So, dear pilgrim (when you live alone,…

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NOTEWORTHY - What Happens When You Personally "Zoom Out"?

NOTEWORTHY – What Happens When You Personally “Zoom Out”?

IMAGINE IT’S A DAY JUST LIKE ANY OTHER DAY. 

You get up in the morning, shower, and put on your clothes. You walk to the kitchen and make yourself a cup of coffee. You fry an egg, spread a slab of butter on a slice of toast, sip the brew, munch the egg and toast, and scan the newspaper.

An hour later you are sitting at your desk at the office, reading your email and writing a memo to your boss.

B…

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NOTEWORTHY - When Serious Illness Strikes, What Do You Say?

NOTEWORTHY – When Serious Illness Strikes, What Do You Say?

WHO AMONG US HAS NOT KNOWN SOMEONE perhaps in our family, perhaps a closest friend or colleague stricken with a serious or fatal illness — and suddenly we are at a loss for words as to what to say, and actions as to what to do?

  Author and attorney Josephine Hicks has written a best-selling book entitled If There’s ANYTHING I Can Do: What You Can Do When Serious Illness Strikes.

  She and…

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LENT - A Time of . . . (Marilyn Chandler McEntyre)

LENT – A Time of . . . (Marilyn Chandler McEntyre)

LENT IS A TIME OF PERMISSION

To retrieve time for reflection

To return to an old story in new ways

To open the hand that clutches

To explore the spaciousness of less

To enter quiet spaces

To practice expectancy

To say the postponed “yes”

  LENT IS A TIME OF RETURN

To what keeps inviting us back

To the circle of saints

who surround us

To the threshold of mystery

To what we have loved and neglected

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AN APOLOGY FROM THE EDITOR - A Technological Snafu

AN APOLOGY FROM THE EDITOR – A Technological Snafu

Dear Reader of Life Turnings —

It is quite possible that when you went to your computer to open your emails today, you found a half-dozen or so new posts composed in a mysterious language waiting to be deciphered.   Actually, what you were reading was the language of “technological snafu.” That is, when the content data in the Life Turnings website theme was being tested with another theme for…

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Nunc Tincidunt Elit Cursus

Nunc Tincidunt Elit Cursus

Quisque ligula ipsum, euismod a vulputate a, ultricies et elit. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Nulla nunc dui, tristique in semper vel, congue sed ligula. Nam dolor ligula, faucibus id sodales in, auctor fringilla libero. Pellentesque pellentesque tempor tellus eget hendrerit. Morbi id aliquam ligula. Aliquam id dui sem. Proin rhoncus…

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Proin Sodales Quam Nec Sollicit

Proin Sodales Quam Nec Sollicit

Quisque ligula ipsum, euismod aturesit vulputate a, ultricies et elit. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Nulla nunc dui, tristique in semper vel, congue sed ligula. Nam dolor ligula, faucibus id sodales in, auctor fringilla libero. Pellentesque pellentesque tempor tellus eget hendrerit. Morbi id aliquam ligula. Aliquam id dui sem. Proin…

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