Tag Archives: New Living Translation

Live the Answer to Your Questions

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Today’s guest blog is written by Kim Shippey, an avid reader and devoted husband, father, and grandfather. He is a full-time writer and editor with the Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly print and online publication.

Have you heard the one about the man who asks his rabbi, “Why is it that rabbis always answer a question with another question?” The rabbi answers: “So what’s wrong with a question?”

That story opens a new book, Living the Questions (HarperCollins, 2012), by David M. Felton and Jeff Procter-Murphy, who have 40 years combined experience in local church ministry.

They say that on any authentic spiritual journey, asking the hard questions is not only permitted, but necessary.

What we learn through difficulties and disequilibrium, mistakes and challenges, discoveries and unlearnings, is that the process is what’s important. They write: “The unanswerable questions asked in the company of fellow seekers along the way become a central part of the process of the deepening quest, the broadening understanding, and the journey beyond our otherwise limited horizons.”

And Felton and Procter-Murphy urge no delay in seeking spiritual answers to tough questions when they quote Bohemian-Austrian poet Rainer Maria Rilke: “Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.” Continue reading →

Fresh starts

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Today’s guest blog is written by Kim Shippey, avid reader of books and articles on spirituality, and Boston-based writer and editor. You can also read his columns in the Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly print and online publication.

Many of you will know the story about one of the America’s top violinists, Joshua Bell, who on a cold morning in January 2007 played some intricate Bach variations on his 3.5 million Stradivarius on a railway station platform in Washington, DC. In 45 minutes, only six people stopped long enough to drop a total of $32 into his violin case. Two nights before, Bell had filled a Boston concert hall, with seats averaging $100.

Even more remarkable–and helpful to me–were Bell’s remarks in a January 2012 issue of Newsweek magazine in which he described his performance as a 12-year-old in his first violin competition. He messed up worse than he could even have imagined. Not knowing the etiquette, he stopped completely, turned to the audience and said, “I’d really like to start over.” He just wanted to redeem himself. Continue reading →

Think BIG

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This week’s guest blogger, Kim Shippey, is an avid reader and an editor for the Christian Science Sentinel. His post takes a look at two books–one new and one a classic–that shed light on prayer and healing. Kim comes from a long tradition of practicing spiritual healing, and he writes this blog from his perspective of growing up with parents who were both Christian Science practitioners, dedicating their time to healing in their community after raising four children.

A recent book by Rabbi Schmuel Herzfeld, Fifty-Four Pick-Up (Gefen, 2012), offers helpful insights into ways in which prayer helps heal the sick, regardless of one’s religious persuasion or measure of respect for and trust in the medical profession.

The rabbi writes: “Let’s not ignore the possibility that prayers simply work–that they actually heal . . . disease. . . . A spiritual approach to our health uses the words of our prayers in order to ground us, strengthen us and heal us. This is what faith is about. It should be something we embrace at all times in our life.” Continue reading →

7 Ways to a Good Grip on Life

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Today’s guest blog is written by Kim Shippey, avid reader of books on spirituality and Boston-based writer and editor. You can also read his columns in the Christian Science Sentinel, a weekly print and online publication.

Could you imagine anyone–mother, soldier, schoolteacher, business executive, bus driver, retiree–who wouldn’t be tempted to at least browse through a book titled 7 Keys to Spiritual Wellness (Loyola Press, 2012). And whether you endorse–or feel tempted to use–author Joe Paprocki’s keys or not, I suspect that even a peek will peak your interest in the topic. Continue reading →