Faith Archives | Page 2 of 4

Hospice Nurse: A Tender Hand In the Presence of Death

Mind & SpiritJuly 19, 2016

"Heather knew some people believed that bodies didn’t matter, that only the soul counted, but she believed that God had created bodies for a reason and that they mattered a lot... She wanted to make a patient more comfortable for a few hours, or at least not hurt him when she put in a needle, and sometimes a patient would thank her for being so gentle and tell her that she had a good touch. She understood now that touching itself was important, whether it healed or not; she had not realized this before she became a nurse." [Read Article]

Daily ReadFaith0 Comments

5 Ways of Coping When Life Doesn’t Make Sense

Mind & SpiritJuly 13, 2016

"...in the aftermath of his cancer diagnosis, Jimmy Carter, a devoutly religious man, has publicly relied on his faith to help him make sense of his illness... Cancer did not cause Carter nor his friends to revise their faith- in fact, it seems to have deepened it. They are hoping to understand how cancer fits into the plan for his life... 'When you get into a tough situation and you don’t know what God’s plan is, you should bow the knee.'" [Read Article]

Daily ReadFaith0 Comments

A Psychiatrist Explains His Work With Exorcists

Mind & SpiritJuly 1, 2016

"Is it possible to be a sophisticated psychiatrist and believe that evil spirits are, however seldom, assailing humans? Most of my scientific colleagues and friends say no... But careful observation of the evidence presented to me in my career has led me to believe that certain extremely uncommon cases can be explained no other way." [Read Article]

Daily ReadFaith0 Comments

Discerning the Difference Between Spiritual and Psychological Problems

Mind & SpiritJune 29, 2016

“Some devout Catholics see it as preferable to say they are suffering from something like the dark night of the soul, rather than to admit that they have depression and may need medication and counseling... The problem with over-spiritualizing is that you cut yourself from so many tools that psychology and even your faith could have to help you to be happy.'" [Read Article]

Daily ReadFaith0 Comments

Study Says Belief in Eternal Life Is Innate Not Learned

Mind & SpiritJune 8, 2016

“...children struggle to imagine a time when they did not feel or desire... Our deep-seated intuitions about what constitutes the core of a person – the capacity for experiencing emotions and desires – underlies the belief in eternal life. While exposure to religion can elaborate these intuitions, as they certainly do in the case of afterlife beliefs, belief in eternal existence does not depend on being exposed to religious teachings that support these ideas." [Read Article]

Daily ReadFaith0 Comments

No Simple Answers for Those Who Suffer

Mind & SpiritNovember 30, 2015

"When my husband recently challenged someone who said that our son's pain happened 'for a reason,' she told him that he had to keep a positive attitude. But I don't think that believing his pain is part of a plan—of God, as this person believes, or of fate—is positive. It is fatalistic. It means that it has appeared for a reason and it will go away for a reason, and there is little that can be done about it. It makes the person in pain a victim who can only suffer, like Job, who could do nothing to escape his fate." [Read Article]

Daily ReadFaith0 Comments

Lorenzo Albacete on the Mystery of Suffering

Mind & SpiritNovember 30, 2015

"The cruelest response to suffering is the attempt to explain it away, to tell the one who suffers: 'This is why this is happening.' ... Mystery's answer to suffering is always grace—a free grace that comes to us without conditions, without rationalizations, without explanations. Suffering can be relieved by the co-sufferer only when the co-sufferer can bring the suffering person into contact with grace and into the experience of being loved..." [Read Article]

Daily ReadFaith0 Comments

The Most Highlighted Bible Passages Are About Anxiety, According to Kindle Data

Mind & SpiritNovember 5, 2015

"New data from Amazon... gives us a peek at what, specifically, readers connect with. From the Bible: 'Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.'" [Read Article]

Daily ReadFaith0 Comments

Religious Americans Are More Devout Than Few Years Ago

Mind & SpiritNovember 3, 2015

"The portion of religiously affiliated adults who say they regularly read scripture, share their faith with others and participate in small prayer groups or scripture study groups all have increased modestly since 2007. And roughly four-in-ten religiously affiliated adults (41%) now say they rely mainly on their religious beliefs for guidance on questions about right and wrong, up 7 percentage points in seven years." [Read Article]

Daily ReadFaith0 Comments

Tradition vs. Psychotherapy: A Clash of World Views?

Mind & SpiritOctober 27, 2015

"In one session, Rachel reminded me that Judaism was a religion of actions. It was your behavior that was important, not the reasons for your behavior or the emotions you experienced. As Rachel once put it, 'We were chosen by God specifically because we promised to ‘do and hear,’ instead of the other way round' — instead, that is, of deliberating about motivations or intentions. Judaism, as she understood it, was antithetical to the sorts of probing questions central to psychotherapy." [Read Article]

Daily ReadFaith0 Comments

How Our View of God Affects Our Mental and Physical Health

Mind & SpiritOctober 21, 2015

"'In general, the more religious or spiritual you are, the healthier you are, which makes sense. But for some individuals, even if they have even the smallest degree of negative spirituality -- basically, when individuals believe they're ill because they've done something wrong and God is punishing them -- their health is worse... [W]hen people firmly believe God loves and forgives them despite their shortcomings, they had significantly better mental health.'" [Read Article]

Daily ReadFaith0 Comments

How to Care for Someone Who Feels Rejected by God

Mind & SpiritOctober 21, 2015

"Caretakers must acknowledge what's at stake when they overreact to someone's loss of faith or sense that God is punishing them... Research has shown that receiving a supportive, rather than combative, response to a confession of negative spiritual beliefs allows people to emerge from a tough situation with deeper faith or, at the very least, an improved relationship with God." [Read Article]

Daily ReadFaith0 Comments