God And Men And Women At Columbia

Spirituality + psychology = peace.

God's Boot Camp

"It hurts to be beautiful." Now there's a gospel message! Plus it's bad advertising. We'll leave aside the obvious problem that I, just for example, could work out four hours a day and never be mistaken for Brad Pitt (or, to be more age appropriate, Sean Connery). The larger issue has to do with our culture's prevailing value, which is avoiding pain at almost all costs. Relatively few of us will actually pay to suffer.

But is it better than saying that weight loss and fitness are effortless? Maybe. Still, I'd prefer the double meaning of a middle-ground message: "Being beautiful is easier than you think." So it is, when, as a matter of rigorous (and popularly priced) spiritual exercise, you begin to see yourself as God does. Besides, even Marine recruiters minimize the pain of basic training until they actually get you inside the gates of Camp Lejeune.

God And Men And Women At College

The LA Times on a new study of college students' spiritual lives. First, they question what they've been taught to believe already:

It also found that many young people eschewed the rituals of organized religion but embraced what the researchers defined as the cornerstones of spirituality: asking the big, existential questions; working to improve one's community; and showing empathy toward other people.

"These spiritual qualities are critical and vital to many things a student does in college and after," Astin said.

The researchers also found that students who were more spiritual typically performed better academically, had stronger leadership skills, were more amiable and were generally more satisfied with college.

Mindfulness Your Own Business

Judith Warner wonders if peace of mind is overrated and sometimes even rude.