A Hidden Key to Contentment
Contentment is a fascinating human experience because it isn’t the same as happiness or fulfilment. Instead, contentment is a sense of completion. Whether life is easy or hard, the contented person can say, 'I am enough and have enough'.
The Two Basic Human Needs: Bios and Zoë
In his famous Hierarchy of Needs, psychologist Abraham Maslow said we need our basic needs like food and shelter met before we can turn to higher needs like relationships and purpose. He later added that we have spiritual needs too, which takes my mind to two hidden words in the New Testament.
How Helping Them Could End Up Saving You
I have no idea why, but when anything gets too popular, I lose interest. Hip Hop was cool until it went mainstream. I ignored The Hunger Games, have never watched Eastenders, and haven’t seen Barbie (but I have seen Oppenheimer—I’m not always consistent). And so when I found Anthony Doerr’s globally-popular Pulitzer Prize-winning novel All
“Go at the Speed of Joy,” He Said. But Could I?
Sitting in a hotel room late last year, six words dropped into my mind: Go at the speed of joy. I’ve been trying to put them into practice ever since.
Are these the 3 Themes of Every Human Journey?
Apparently we are most likely to reflect on our lives at the turn of a new year or when we reach a milestone birthday. Well, a new year has come and a few months ago I turned 50—so I’ve been reflecting! And the discovery I’ve made is that these decades of adulthood, with all their
Boxing Day Blah
One of my favourite Christmas artworks is a painting called The Nativity by contemporary artist Brian Kershisnick. The first thing that strikes you is the hundreds of angels swooping across the canvas to get their first glimpse of Mary’s new-born son. After this your eye falls on two delightful details—first, that it isn’t Mary or
When You’re Invited to the Palace, Don’t Turn Down the Offer
It was a day we won't forget, my wife Professor Merryn Voysey getting invited to Buckingham Palace. There was just one problem - I wasn't allowed in with her!
We Don’t Bow to Zeus Anymore, But We’re No Less Religious
Wander Athens' Ancient Agora marketplace and you'll find altars to yesteryear's gods. We might not bow to Zeus or sacrifice bulls on the Acropolis anymore, but are we any less religious today? I don't think so.
Humility Hasn’t Always Been a Virtue. Here’s How its Meaning Changed
No one appreciates arrogance. In fact, along with kindness and generosity, humility may be our most-cited quality of a good person. All this is fascinating when you consider that humility hasn’t always been a virtue. Here's how its meaning changed.
Living Free Through the Prayer of Examen. A Conversation with Amy Boucher Pye
Amy Boucher Pye is a retreat leader, spiritual director and author of 7 Ways to Pray, a book exploring time-tested tools for encountering God. When Amy asked me to experiment with the Prayer of Examen, I was excited to test out a new practice. Here's our conversation of how I went and what you can