Carnival on Engaged Spirituality!

Bill Wilson's pilgrimage to India and Nepal

When I thought about hosting the first Engaged Spirituality Carnival, the first thing that went through my head was, “Carnival, eh?” I wonder what the root meaning of the word is?” The root is Latin, of course, and the Italian word that the English word flows from is carnevale, meaning the removal of meat from the bones.

How fitting…even though we’re past the ‘carnival’…and deeply into the Lenten season, we are removing the meat from the bones of our lives by the exploration of it means to engage spirituality in our everyday life.

So, in this first of many (we hope!) Carnival on Engaged Spirituality we’re going to look at our lives, and how we can be a more fully engaged human.

In reaching out to gather submissions for this edition, I made some wonderful new connections. I’m indebted to the writers’ graciousness and honesty.

BIG THANK YOU to all of you out there who submitted to this Carnival and we hope that you enjoy the company—you—keep on this Carnival!

I divided the submissions up into several categories and attempted to put the submissions in the appropriate categories.

Hope you gain greater understanding of yourself and your relationship to the world and Ultimate Reality.  Not all the blogs/sites that are highlighted here may be your 'cup of tea', but engaged spirituality is partly about dialogue with the Other...

First…Virtual Tea House Bloggers…

Michelle Meech is an Episcopal seminarian. She writes monthly blog posts for the Virtual Tea House. She choose the November 2007 post: Sacrifice to submit for the Carnival.

Bill Ellis is an Episcopal priest that since September of 2007 has been the Dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Spokane, Washington. Bill’s posts are where he explores the edges of his personal theology. We are honored to have his heart and head at the Virtual Tea House! Here’s Bill’s most recent blog: What Color is God?

Holly Holbrooks is an Americorp volunteer who will be attending medical school in fall 2008. She is earthy, funny, poignant. Here’s her latest post on the Virtual Tea House: Medicine Woman Walking—Around the Ranch.

Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer is a mother, poet, writer and organic fruit grower. She uses poetry to help people re-engage with the world beyond pagers and to-do lists. Here’s one of my favorite of her VTH posts: Story Telling 101.

Rita C. is a writer, thinker and poet. Here’s one of her beautifully crafted stories on the Virtual Tea House: Lessons from a Veterinarian

Beth (that’s me) is the host of the Virtual Tea House. Here’s one of my favorite posts: Holy Fool Wannabe

I also wanted to give special placement to my new friend Helen Mildenhall, who hosts Conversation at the Edge and Off the Map,  two sites committed to dialogue with the Other. She is teaching me a lot, and I’m honored to host a guest blog from her on the Virtual Tea House: Helen Goes Off the Map

Blogs/sites from spirituality-seekers (some self-help blogs):

Christine Valters Paintner hosts Abbey of the Arts  
" I live my life in widening circles...
that reach out across the world.
I may not complete this last one
but I give myself to it."

Rob Moshe presents Live Your Best Life by Serving Others
I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts. ~John Locke

Karen Alonge presents thoughts on breaking up posted at postcards from nowhere
My best mistake was and still is ... seeing the best in people, sometimes to a fault. 

StarLightWalker presents Lense - Day 9: Mindful eating posted at StarLightWalker.

Gabriella Kortsch, Ph.D. presents Giving Birth To Yourself posted at Psychology, Transformation & Freedom Papers, saying, "Erich Fromm, psychoanalyst and author of The Art of Loving among many other books, wrote: A person's main task in life is to give birth to oneself. Giving birth to yourself can happen at any age. You could be in your 70's, you could be a teenager, you might be in your mid-thirties: it makes no difference, you can make this exhilarating change in your life at any time."

Jan P-u-t-a presents Is Well-Being meant only for the lucky ones? posted at Everyday Mystic  saying, "Thanks for hosting this blog carnival! Looking forward to it." [Note: apologies for the spelling of Jan's name, but needed to do this because of software idiosyncrasies!]

Carole G. McKay presents Food For Thought posted at McKay Today : Nothing But Good News, saying, "A opportunity to stand up and be counted." Also Bye Bye Apathy

Debra Moorhead presents My Intuition Saves a Child's Life posted at Debra Moorhead.com.

Pat Ruppel presents 6 Ways to Overcome Adversity posted at Plain Talk and Ordinary Wisdom, saying, "I’ve read so many blogs with examples of how people deal with adversity and shine. Going through a bit of adversity myself at present, it has been a source of inspiration and hope in seeing how people face adversity and walk through the fire overcoming what appears to be insurmountable odds."

Warren Wong presents What I Think About: How to stop worrying 3 steps to have us stop worrying in ‘no time’!

Ella Moss writes Zodiac Times post ‘Have No Fear, God is Here’ Ella is a single mom who is finding her way through it all.

Michelle Wood hosts Spirits in Harmony: Finding Unity in Diversity Site gives comparative info on world religions.

Joel Gruber writes Fearless Dreams Personal Development post “Who are your enemies?” Your road to personal growth begins with your own passionate dreams.

Mastery of Meditation, Kundalini Yoga and Zen Practice Large library of materials devoted to helping us reach our highest potential.

Blogs/sites from traditional religious/spirituality-seekers:

Brendan McPhillips presents The Beatitudes: A Guide to True Happiness.

January Cat presents Old Hymns posted at What I Believe, saying, "Music has the power to stir our souls no matter our source of belief."

Allen Scott presents Can I Get a Witness? posted at Journey Across the Sky.

Lovelyn presents Finding Joy in Serving Others posted at The Art of Balanced Living.

Leticia Valesquez presents Causa Nostrae Laetitia Catholic site sharing good news about the family and a reality check.

Blogs/sites from people who I wish had submitted their sites (but who I hope won’t mind):

Tim Clark hosts Soul Shelter. Live. Work. Thrive. Tim’s has a beautiful site dedicated to practical spirituality. Even though he didn’t submit his blog, he gave me permission to do so!

Dave Pollard’s hosts How to Save the World   Dave’s environmental
philosophy, creative works, business papers and essays are wonderful. I asked Dave to submit.  While he gave permission he said, “I don't really think of myself, or my writing as spiritual”… Bet you won’t agree!

Julie Rains posts on WiseBread: Living Large on a Small Budget I didn’t receive permission from this site to post this, although I did ask. It’s a great, practical site on freeing ourselves from the tyranny of  the sea of debt and waste in which we swim! Spiritual Insights from a Rich Idiot
 

Blogs with financial well-being/self-improvement connections to spirituality:

John Crenshaw presents The Biggest Scam Your Bank Gets Away With Everyday posted at Truthful Lending dot Com, saying, "This little known scam accounts for a huge portion of fees paid to banks every year and is going on right under your nose. The worst part is, it's completely legal."

Charles H. Green presents Buy With the Heart, Justify With the Brain posted at Trust Matters, saying, "An English tailor demonstrates why it is important to develop the habit of serving others."  Charles also submitted Decaying Social Trust and Moral Indignation  saying, "When business and consumer in the subprime mortgage mess both choose moral bankruptcy over financial bankruptcy—without even thinking about it—and then justify it indignantly through Darwinian arguments—we've got the makings of a major problem."

SJ Yee presents Do you have dreams you are afraid to go after? posted at Personal Development for the Book Smart, saying, "A story that will force you to rethink about abandoning your dreams..."

Phil B. presents Accept It and Move On << Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity, saying, "The philosophy that nothing is perfect, acceptance, and moving on."

Carole G. McKay presents Managing Chaos posted at McKay Today, discussing "How to manage the suffering that accompanies change."

John Crenshaw presents Truthful Lending. Site gives great practical advice on freeing yourself from the burden of debt.

Lorraine Cohen on Powerfull Living: Allowing your heart and spirit to guide you

Gary Evans presents Good to Feel Good blog. Site gives grounded advice on installing new beliefs!

The engaged spirituality of caring for the body, including our sick and elderly; dealing with death and dying:

Mitch McDonald presents Maintain The Basics Of Elderly Personal Hygiene posted at FYI About.com

Jan Welsh (Firedoglake) presents Morality and Health Care in the US: Let the Lazy Buggers Die Great site about the (dis)engagement of spiritual values in our culture.

James Brausch imagines a massage school in Costa Rica…A guide for those wishing to visit or live in Costa Rica.

Lori Jewett presents Between Us Girls: Living More Fully-Death as a Motivator Lori says, “ Whatever our spiritual orientation may be, death leaves us with many questions but it also provides us with the opportunity to engage more fully with life.”

Blog submissions that don’t fit any of these categories but are included anyway (some are political in nature):

Chris presents Astral Projection and Yin Shen: A Taoist Perspective posted at Martial Development, saying, "Of all the spiritual disciplines, Taoism is the most engaged with the physical body. In this book excerpt, Nan Huai-Chin explains the phenomenon of astral projection from a Taoist perspective."

Freddie L. Sirmans, Sr. presents Can The US Prevent A Starvation Crisis? 

Todd Goldfarb presents Spirituality: What I Have Learned So Far posted at We The Change, saying, "good article on how spirituality manifests in we the change founder Todd Goldfarb....enjoy!"

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of engaged spirituality using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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