Conversations with Calliope- Spiritual Wisdom

(Boston Twilight)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How was your weekend?
JOE: Excellent. I spent it communing with nature and with people I enjoy being with.
CALLIOPE: Taking a break?
JOE: Not really. It's my way of refreshing myself and reconnecting with what really matters.
CALLIOPE: How does that affect your writing?
JOE: It gives me a sense of perspective on why I do what I do.
CALLIOPE: Could you be more specific?
JOE: Without a larger perspective it is easy to become lost in details and spin my wheels.
CALLIOPE: Tell me about your perspective.
JOE: I think we might have talked about it before. It has to do with my spiritual focus or context for living my life as well as for my writing.
CALLIOPE: I see.
JOE: My focus is on understanding life, my own and that of others, and sharing insights which occur to me.
CALLIOPE: Is that what you mean by wisdom.
JOE: Precisely. Now back to work. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope- Spiritus Christi

(Lisbon Skyline)

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe How are you today?
JOE: Quite well thank you.
CALLIOPE: Any surprises this weekend?
JOE: One. Carol and I finally decided to try Spiritus Christi Church.
CALLIOPE: What kind of church is it?
JOE: More or less Catholic but without much of the rigidity.
CALLIOPE: You mean things like female priests and inviting non-Catholics to communion?
JOE: Exactly.
CALLIOPE: What was it like?
JOE: Returning home after many years. The experience brought me to tears.
CALLIOPE: How so?
JOE: I felt pushed out of the monastery many years ago for asking too many questions. Eventually the Catholic church's rigidity became too stultifying for me and I finally left.
CALLIOPE: And now you are back?
JOE: Not quite. Spiritus Christi is out of favor with the powers that be but has recreated a Christian community much like the one that existed in the first days of the church, or at least how I imagine it to have been. Talk with you tomorrow.

Conversations with Calliope- Book Release- Navigating Life

JOE: Good morning Calliope. I have some news for you to read.
CALLIOPE: I'm ready. Go ahead.

RELEASE- FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION

Do you hope for a new America? A crisis in how the world sees us, economic upheaval and feeling stuck with our problems tosses us in a perfect storm on troubled seas. How can you set a new course for yourself and make a contribution to the world community?

Are you ready to change your life and help create a new society? Navigating Life: Commonsense Reflections for the Voyage shows you 13 ways to do it:

• Appreciate the life you have.
• Take your goals with you into each new day.
• Discover your powers and use them wisely.
• Find your place in the world community.
• Live each day with passion.
• Fire up your creativity.
• Let stress spur you to action rather than cripple you.
• Meet people who have taken the first step.
• Say what you mean. Hear what others say. See where silence fits.
• Treasure the people who mean the most to you.
• Hear what it feels like to be different.
• Set boundaries on toxic people.
• Sort out what's important to you.
  

Navigating Life: Commonsense Reflections for the Voyage by Joseph G. Langen is available from Booklocker.com in paperback or e-book format and from Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com in paperback format. Read the first chapter at:

www.commonsense-wisdom.com.

What readers say about Dr. Langen's writing:

• "Lovely thoughts."
• "I Thank God for your light in my life."
• "I wanted to thank you for being honest with your writing."
• "Very inspirational and thought provoking."
• "I keep your book by my bed and read a selection each night."

Contact: Joseph G. Langen
5 Franklin Ave.
Leroy, NY, 14482
Phone: (585)768-9966
WEB: www.commonsense-wisdom.com
Email: jlangen@commonsense-wisdom.com

About the author:

Dr. Langen learned to reflect on life living in a monastery. He has worked as a psychologist for many years with individuals, couples and families.He has written a previous book of reflections, Commonsense Wisdom for Everyday Life, a memoir of his seminary and monastery experience,Young Man of the Cloth, and a novel about an abusive priest's search for redemption, The Pastor's Inferno. He writes a biweekly column on commonsense wisdom topics and maintains a blog, Conversations with Calliope, a dialogue with his muse about the writing life. See more about his writing atwww.commonsense-wisdom.com.

Watch a brief video of Dr. Langen introducing his book at www.commonsense-wisdom.com/Navigating_Publicity_0001.wmv

Available at: www.booklocker.com/books/3803.html
$14.95 paperback, $8.95 e-book.

Coming soon to:

Amazon.com
Barnesandnoble.com
Borders.com

JOE: Talk with you on Friday.
CALLIOPE: Thanks for the info. See you then.

Writing, Religion and Spirituality

In our writers' group meeting this week, we listened to each other read our writing and were able to make constructive suggestions to each other. Our final discussion was of a passage which centered on a spiritual experience. We had more difficulty with this one. It was interesting to me that of all the topics we discussed, spirituality should be the only one (so far) which has caused us any problems. Spirituality or lack thereof seems to be a very emotional topic for at least some people. There are people for whom their spirituality is their lifeline, those for whom the mention of spirituality recalls for them bad memories of religion being forced on them or or disappointments arising from unmet expectations of God. Others think the whole idea of spirituality is silly and illogical. Some don't seem to know what to think of the whole topic. It occurred to me that the difficulty of listening to others talk about religious and spiritual views which differ from our own is part of what makes nations war with each other. We can't change the whole world by tolerating differing beliefs, but at least it is a start.

(Westminster Abbey)