The Empowerment of Sil Lai Abrams
Empowerment specialist and domestic-violence awareness activist Sil Lai Abrams, author of the book "No More Drama: Nine Simple Steps of Transforming a Breakdown Into a Breakthrough," expresses a desire to help women live healthy and fulfilling lives, generated from her own troubled past.
Chakra Wakening
I have been practicing yoga on and off for a few years now, first taking classes at the YMCA, then Butterfly Yoga, which I still frequent when I can. But lately my schedule has been so hectic that the only way to get my yoga practice in is at home on my own or with a video.
Reeves Lends Weight to Mosque Opposition
A former Jackson attorney says he sees parallels between his representation of Madison citizens against a proposed mosque and the plight of his own former home in south Jackson.
Is the Federal Budget a Moral Issue?
In my Jackson Free Press column of Feb. 18, "It Starts at Home," I wrote about how the nation's reprioritizing for prosperity needs to begin in our own back yard. I pointed out that "every major religion says that as part of the human family, our purpose as human beings must include caring for that family."
Essential Healing
I sat on my bed, worn out from arguing with my son. Tears streamed down my face as I replayed the scene in my mind, which seemed like the part in "The Exorcist" where Linda Blair's head spins round and round.
Bringing Traditions Together
Dr. Beverly Lanzetta isn't afraid of life's Big Questions. The New Mexico author, ordained interfaith minister and monastic is the founder of the Desert Interfaith Church and the Interfaith Theological Seminary. She has written and edited six books on spiritual contemplation and contemporary religious thought.
Lift Up Your Voices and Chant
One of my most favorite things about going to church is singing. Whether it's belting out a hymn or the softer sounds of the liturgy, raising my voice in praise to the divine is pure, unadulterated joy.
The Myth Of Separation
Photos by Ronni Mott
Young Abraham left his father Azar's house after losing all hope of teaching him about God.
Wearing The Veil
"And say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and adornments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers..." (The Qur'an, Chapter 24, verses 30-31).
The Cherry Orchard
Stepping off the tour-bus, four leathery-faced, rough-hewn men with ear-to-ear grins met us with handfuls of shiny, garnet cherries. "Eat, eat!" they said with proud enthusiasm, pressing as much fruit into our hands as we could hold. After four days of being fed copious amounts of prepared food at every meal, fresh fruit was a delight, and we eagerly bit into the ripe little orbs.
The Y Spirit
Church attendance in the U.S. has remained static for 15 years. Many young people feel disconnected from religion, feeling that traditional churches don't address their real-world concerns.
Taking Religion Back
Politics and religion: two subjects that should never be introduced in polite conversation. When I moved to Mississippi, the admonition became a hard and fast rule for me. Mississippi politics contains a lot of bizarrely coded language that, as an outsider, I can't penetrate. And religion? Well, let's just say that I got invitations to about a half-dozen Baptist and Methodist churches within a couple of weeks, none of which I accepted. There are some who will likely never forgive me for that Yankee faux pas. Being in the buckle of the Bible belt came to mean only one thing to me—evangelical, fundamentalist Christianity.
Indigo Changes
America's baby boom generation set out to change the world in the '60s and '70s, and they succeeded. Marching together, they helped stop an unjust, undeclared war and made choice a legal reality for women. They also ushered in an age of increased self-awareness and self-help gurus in an effort to make the closely examined life a life worth living. Many of them, derided as hippies and cock-eyed liberal optimists, found their place in the world by eschewing the moneyed American dream and following their hearts and consciences. Today, their children and grandchildren are on the verge of changing the world yet again.