If the reality of unconditional love is dawning upon you, as it is on me, then your natural impulse is to freely share your personal experience with the world. This is what practical spirituality is all about.

Have you written any meditation, poem, story, letter or essay that may, in its own way, enhance the value of this site for yourself and for others? Then e-mail me. Of course, true to the spirit of this site, neither copyrights nor payments will apply. Let your love expand unconditionally, and freedom will be your monument.

Stan Schaap

This short story is shared by Brian Joseph It was Christmas Eve and James was home from college. He had just finished helping his mother clear the supper table and was talking about his plans for the coming summer after he graduated. His fourteen year old sister entered the kitchen. ” Are you guys ready? [...]

This article is shared by Marsha Jordan How does being a Christian affect the minute details of your daily life? Do we put in “pew time” on Sundays but live pretty much the same way everyone else does the rest of the week? Or do we live lives of excellence at all times? Aristotle said, [...]

This article is shared by Marsha Jordan I have an acquaintance who won big on the slot machines in Las Vegas. I wouldn’t mind having money spill out of a machine into my pockets, but that’s not likely to happen since I don’t gamble. However, I am rich because I possess a treasure greater than [...]

This article is shared by Marsha Jordan Due to complications of an illness, without warning I’d been struck blind. As I lay awake in the lonely darkness, I prayed harder than I’d ever prayed before. I was living a nightmare. I felt alone and afraid. The searing pain stabbed at my eyes as if fire [...]

This article is shared by Marsha Jordan My sister, Mrs. Clean, bleaches her ceiling, vacuums the driveway, and irons socks. Her house looks like a magazine cover. Mine looks like the county dump. Her floors are so clean you could eat off them. You can eat off mine too . . . if you’re a [...]

This short story is shared by Brian Joseph Strange how a word or phrase used in a certain way can evoke a memory. That is how it was for Marissa as she sat on the beach. It was early Fall and late in the day so there weren’t many people around. She sat close to [...]

This essay is shared by Brian Joseph In his Apology to the Athenians Socrates tells of coming upon a group of poets who do not understand the meaning of their own poems. In his Republic Plato said that all good poets were inspired and possessed when they created. Plato also said that “it is God [...]

This short story is shared by Brian Joseph Maria sank down into her living room chair. It had been a long day. She closed her eyes and replayed the events of the last few days. There had been another encounter with one of the crippled hearts. When she was done replaying the events of the [...]

This article is shared by Debbie Edwards It’s never too late to realize your potential and achieve your dreams! Everyone reaches plateau’s in their life when they find stagnation and indecision over what their life is really about. And that’s a natural evolution in the process of becoming a master of their own craft. This [...]

This article is shared by Debbie Edwards I never would have thought that the end of the summer in 1986 would have been such a big year for change for my family and I. I had just finished my whole elementary education in Catholic school and was ready to finally enter into the public school [...]

This article is shared by Debbie Edwards My mom and dad never married. They separated before I had the chance to remember who he was. I grew up knowing him through glossy black and white professional photographs of him sitting at his piano, and a book proposal he had once written when he was an [...]

This article is shared by Debbie Edwards Have you ever received a really negative or frightening reading by a spiritual advisor? I’ve encountered several people within the last few days who have shared their personal experiences in which they were given really negative, doom and gloom, scenario’s of their future to come. I knew this [...]

What can I do when someone I love hurts? To be honest, my knee-jerk reaction is to try to fix them. Good grief, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had my ass handed back to me for doing that. My kids are the best example. When one of my kids is hurting I [...]

This article is shared by Debbie Edwards I’m sure you’ve noticed the change in attitude lately of everyone around you. Either someone is happy and loving, or they are completely angry and confused. This is happening everywhere. We all see it, feel it, and are actively experiencing it. With change comes people who will oppose [...]

This article is shared by Marsha Jordan My grandson was here for five days, and I lived to tell about it. The husband and I spent much of that time trying to impress upon Cobi that a diet of just pickles and olives is not balanced or healthy. Yesterday, he had three huge pickles for [...]

This article is shared by Marsha Jordan Two kids were talking one day. Marvin said, “That new kid in school is nothing but a big fathead!” Matilda, in her refined way, softly said, “You shouldn’t call people names like that. It’s rude. I never call people names.” Marvin shrugged and told her, “Well, I just [...]

This article is shared by Guy Finley Each time we see the need to let go of something — a bad habit that drags us down, an unsatisfactory relationship, a career choice that can’t complete us in the way we dreamed it would, or maybe unrealistic expectations of ours about others that eventually spoil our [...]

This article is shared by Marsha Jordan Last night my grandson, Cobi, was putting his pajamas on in the bathroom when suddenly, the door swung open and he jumped out. Wearing his underwear on his head, he announced, “It’s Undie Man to the rescue!” Cobi loves super heroes. Last week when I bought him new [...]

This article is shared by William Cottringer What is ‘It’? ‘It’ is the one thing we all want and yet do the same one thing to keep from getting. The trouble is that we have taken ‘It’ apart and disassembled ‘It’ into way too many different things, which has just increased the options we think [...]

This article is shared by Marsha Jordan Have you ever felt forgotten, neglected, unappreciated, or unloved? Haven’t we all? Joseph, a prophet of God, was mistreated by his jealous brothers and just about everybody else he encountered. His brothers sold him as a slave and told their dad he’d been killed by a wild animal. [...]

This story is shared by Kristine K. Lowder “Find the most beautiful anniversary card you can and send it to Marilyn as a token of My love for you.” “But Lord,” I sputtered, “you don’t understand. Send Marilyn a card after what she did to me? Are you kidding?” His velvet steel reply was unequivocal, [...]

This article is shared by Marsha Jordan I recently bought a magnifying mirror . . . a big, lighted magnifying mirror that makes it impossible for me to ignore all my face’s imperfections. The unreasonable clerk who sold me the mirror wouldn’t let me return it. She said not liking what I saw in it [...]

This article is shared by Kristine K. Lowder Do you remember the jingle? It’s the catchy tune from one of TV’s top shows of yester-year: Sometimes you want to go Where everybody knows your name, And they’re always glad you came; You want to be where you can see, Our troubles are all the same; [...]

This article is shared by Kristine K. Lowder I have a confession. I’m an “after-Christmas” aficionada. I love to save on “after-Christmas” sales. I love to “stock up for next year” at half-price and exchange unwanted gifts for refunds. I like clearing up and cleaning out and the sparkling expanse of a brand new, clean-as-a-whistle [...]

This poem is shared by Kristine K. Lowder Can I bind myself to that naked stake Shall I lift high the red-striped timber Will heart and hand fully lade partake Can flesh fade without a whimper? Do roses bloom without a brier Shall I bend Thy will to mine Doth dross consume sans smelting fire [...]

This article is shared by Marsha Jordan John the Baptist didn’t have any great talents. He didn’t perform mystifying miracles (not even a simple card trick). He wasn’t a handsome crooner with a voice like Perry Como’s. He didn’t have degrees or diplomas. He didn’t have an impressive gift of speaking like Billy Graham. He [...]

This article is shared by Marsha Jordan After some friends lost their home in a tornado, I helped them clean up what was left. There wasn’t much. Where their house had once stood was a refrigerator. That’s all. Destruction was everywhere. Debris covered the yard and the nearby woods. All day we sorted through the [...]

This article is shared by Marsha Jordan I swore it would never happen, but it did. I noticed it one sweltering August afternoon in 2001. I opened my mouth and . . . out came my mother’s voice! I was saying all the things I’d long ago sworn never to repeat. I HAD BECOME MY [...]

This article is shared by Marsha Jordan As I loaded dishes into the dishwasher, I sang along with the radio. My grandson looked up from the picture he was coloring and said, “Grandma, there’s one thing about you that I don’t like.” Anticipating what he was going to say, I asked, “What? That I sing [...]

This short story is shared by Brian Joseph He sat down in his favorite living room chair and looked at her peacefully asleep on the couch. It had been a long day. It had started early, with a Mother’s Day breakfast in bed. He had just put the children to sleep. He picked up the [...]