I was talking with a dear friend the other day and the subject of life’s travails came up. “I understand all about how God uses life to experience Itself,” she said, “but why does it have to be so hard on us?”

We talked then about the many things that people on Earth are going through --- from, in recent days, the Boston bombing to the Cleveland kidnapping to the carnage in Syria, to say nothing about the individual trials and tribulations to which we are all subject in our daily lives.

“Is God just playing with us?” my friend wanted to know. She then said she knew better, but was still at loose ends trying to explain to herself why it was necessary for truly horrible things to occur in peoples’ lives.

This one is difficult to explain. I have asked myself...

A couple days ago, in my daily course of business, I found myself walking behind a lovely couple on a busy sidewalk.  The gentleman was having a good time, laughing, dancing, immersed in his own personal space and thoughts, oblivious to the bustling world around him – in what many people call “the zone.”  I was quietly enjoying being in the moment of witnessing his free-spiritedness.  It was then when his companion said, “Honey, this lady behind us is trying to get by us,” to which he replied bluntly, “I don’t care.”

His words, at first blush, were coarse and stinging.  And they lingered in my thoughts for quite a while as I contemplated the feelings and energy behind this abrupt declaration:  I don’t care.  And as with all the events in my life, it served as an opportunity for me...

The Greatest Wealth is Health - Virgil

Having a conversation with God just makes sense when facing any challenge, and health challenges are no different. Given that most of the human race die from preventable chronic illnesses, what if anything might we wish to look at and potentially change in our lives to circumvent us becoming another statistic?

God has much to say on health and healing, and the Conversations with God Foundation is hosting an event to address recovery through holistic health. This conversation will be powerful yet practical, providing a new way to look at yourself and your life that could change everything. It will also look at common sense solutions to everyday living problems, like all good Conversations with God do.

You need not wait until symptoms appear to benefit from recreating yourself and your health anew. For example, were...

(This week's Addiction & Recovery column is hosting a guest article written and contributed by Mary Warner.)

If only the symptoms of a disease are treated, the victim may feel better for a while, but the symptoms will eventually return because the disease was not cured.

One cannot cure the dis-ease of illegal drug use by trying to eliminate drugs. The cause must be found and eliminated. "The real question is why are millions of people so unhappy, so bored, so unfulfilled that they are willing to drink, snort, inject, or inhale any substance that might blot out reality and give them a bit of temporary relief?" (Ann Landers, syndicated columnist)

The cause can be discovered by talking respectfully and nonjudgmentally to drug users and listening to how they feel (perceiving the feelings behind the words) and to what they believe.

The cause and...

For many of us, this Sunday (and the Sundays yet to come in May) marks the end of a very significant chapter in our life. Graduation for many of us is right here, giving us the promise of new hopes, new dreams, and new visions. In this very, very exciting time, though, we not only look forward to what is yet to come, but also remember what has come to pass.

Though it may seem a little nostalgic, take some time BEFORE graduation to remember what your greatest version of your grandest vision you had about Who You Are was in high school. For when we look forward, it is just as important to remember where we came from to continue to create and enhance that vision. We all had a dream, a goal, an ideal, and along our journey,...

I have been attending a spiritual center where they encourage us to do affirmative prayer treatment when we want something. In my experience, though, this doesn't always seem to work. For example, when I was younger I owned a piano store. I prayed for its success, and I envisioned opening up more stores in the surrounding area. I knew where I wanted them to be and I really saw this in my mind's eye, but my first store ended up going under and I had to give up my dream. I don't understand. Does affirmative prayer work or not?… Sam

Dear Sam… That is a wonderful question and I'm so glad you asked it. This is an age-old query, "Why doesn't God always answer my prayer?" The answer is, God does always answer every single prayer and God always says, "Yes!"...

Have you ever watched a young child look in the mirror? They are mesmerized with what they see! They make goofy faces, smile and giggle…but you do not see them looking at themselves with criticism or derision. You don't hear many four-year-olds say “my nose is too big" or "my eyes are too narrow." Children do not learn these concepts until other people teach them to feel that way about themselves.

In recent years, the cosmetic company, Dove, has embarked on a "Social Mission" to increase the self-esteem of females. As part of this larger mission, they recently conducted a campaign called "Real Beauty Sketches." The basic idea was that they surreptitiously paired strangers for a brief time and then had each person sit with a forensic sketch artist to create drawings of one of the participants. The drawings that resulted...

From Conversations With God, Book 1: “You cannot be ill without at some level causing yourself to be, and you can be well again in a moment by simply deciding to be.”

We are making ourselves ill with our foods and worse yet, with the way we live our lives and the way we think. But isn’t it wonderful that we can decide here and now that things have changed! Let’s decide to be healthy in every way.

When you think about improving your health, you probably think of losing weight and dieting first. Maintaining a healthy weight and eating right is necessary, but did you know that there are many other areas in your life that are just as important?

The food you eat is actually secondary to the primary nourishment areas in your life. The primary areas include your activity and...