/morsl/taxonomy/term/129/all en /morsl/article/ecospirituality-spiritual-wellness/hymn <p>Said the human to God: I want to know you.</p> <p>Please teach me how. Lead me your way.</p> <p>God said: Start with these small drops of rain</p> <p>And dig your knuckles into earth’s fragrant terrain</p> <p> </p> <p>Once you see, you cannot unsee.</p> <p>With only two eyes, sip tenderly.</p> <p>Magic is Alive.</p> <p>In everything, there is infinitely more          Growth</p> <p>So wake the morning with your roar            An Oath</p> <p>Open your mouth like a baby bird stretching its view</p> <p>And let the sweet words of prayer speak you</p> Tue, 15 Apr 2025 18:48:28 +0000 Anonymous 2956 at /morsl /morsl/article/spiritual-wellness/waltz <p>I like the word waltz,</p> <p>so I kept it for the title.</p> <p>Though it has no immediate relevance</p> <p>to this serenade of randomness;</p> <p>no particular thing to say:</p> <p>only a desire to soar with you</p> <p>in our minds, with our hearts;</p> <p>as kindred spirits can only do.</p> <p> </p> <p>The other day while I was on the bus,</p> <p>burdened by burdens,</p> <p>i thought of heaven.</p> <p>I never really thought of heaven like I did that day;</p> <p>it brought tears to my eyes.</p> <p> </p> <p>How I longed for heaven at that time:</p> <p>i saw the beauty;</p> Thu, 03 Apr 2025 18:47:36 +0000 Sara Cornett 2951 at /morsl /morsl/article/interfaith-dialogue-meditation-spiritual-wellness/meet-nicholas <p>Hello! My name is Nicholas, and I’m a U3 International Development Student. I’m half Canadian and half Colombian, but I grew up in the tiny Southeast Asian nation of Brunei, where I lived for seventeen years. Growing up in Southeast Asia exposed me to various traditions and led me to take an interest in Buddhism along with other Eastern philosophies. Meditation and mindfulness are central to my daily routine and have permanently changed my life for the better. I have undertaken over two hundred hours of Vipassana meditation training and am currently running the 91���� Meditation Club.</p> Mon, 24 Mar 2025 15:34:56 +0000 MORSL 2946 at /morsl /morsl/article/interfaith-dialogue-meditation-spiritual-wellness/resistance-during-troubled-times <p>Things are troubling in the world right now in many ways. I’m saddened by the lack of empathy and compassion for suffering and injustice demonstrated in high places.</p> <p>How might we deal with fearful, difficult times, and the anger we feel about injustice?</p> <p>In the recent film <i>Conclave</i>, when Catholic Cardinals gather from around the world to vote on who should become the next pope, a terrorist throws a bomb on the roof of the Sistine Chapel that disrupts their process and frightens some of them.</p> Fri, 21 Mar 2025 18:39:14 +0000 Candice Wendt 2945 at /morsl /morsl/article/march-2025-time-fasts-many-faiths <p>Many people of diverse faiths across the world are fasting this month!</p> Wed, 12 Mar 2025 14:52:20 +0000 MORSL 2942 at /morsl /morsl/article/spiritual-wellness/meet-benjamin <p>Hey! I’m Benjamin (you can also call me Ben; he/him). I’m a fourth-year PhD candidate in the Quantitative Life Sciences program at 91����. In my research, I follow in the footsteps of the Prophet Ezekiel, trying to make dry bones “live again”; my research focuses on quantifying and understanding the relationship between lifestyle and bone architecture. Before my PhD, I completed an undergraduate degree at 91����. I grew up in Montreal’s Jewish community, studying at Jewish elementary and high school, and attending an Ashkenazi Modern Orthodox synagogue for most of my life.</p> Tue, 18 Feb 2025 16:06:54 +0000 Benjamin Rudski 2937 at /morsl /morsl/article/spiritual-wellness/meet-abigail <p>Hello! My name is Abigail Segel (she/her) and I'm a Religious Studies student with minors in Psychology and Gender, Sexuality, Feminist, and Social Justice Studies. I am from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and have enjoyed being an international student in Montreal. I come from a Reform Jewish background, and attended Sunday school and summer camp growing up. I'm now a member of the 91���� Chavurah, which allows me to explore my Judaism outside the structure of a formal institution.</p> Fri, 31 Jan 2025 20:50:53 +0000 Abigail Segel 2931 at /morsl /morsl/article/spiritual-wellness/feuerbach-religion-and-boundaries-love-pragmatic-age <p>Listening to <i>Philosophize This!</i> recently, I encountered an episode discussing Ludwig Feuerbach's views on religion. Feuerbach posited that the image of God in any given era reflects the virtues and ideals esteemed by that period's culture. He argued that humanity, in the face of existential uncertainty, historically projects its highest ideals onto a divine being, creating a theology that embodies the qualities they aspire to emulate.</p> Fri, 17 Jan 2025 16:53:44 +0000 Yan Liang 2903 at /morsl /morsl/article/meditation-spiritual-wellness/spirituality-long-winters-nap <p>In the first lines of the poem <i>The Night Before Christmas</i>, the narrator had just settled down for a long winter’s nap before being awoken by a visit from Santa Claus. For anyone feeling like 2024 has been a struggle, the sound of a long nap is deeply appealing, preferably with no interruptions! Yet too often, we talk ourselves out of this essential rest, and instead pile on more activities and commitments, plans and projects – far more than can really fit into whatever “free” time we have.</p> Fri, 20 Dec 2024 19:41:54 +0000 Carlene Gardner 2884 at /morsl /morsl/article/holidays-and-holy-days-interfaith-dialogue-spiritual-wellness/unexpected-encounter-spirit-christmas <p>On Thanksgiving Day, my family walked to the largest church building in Canada, St. Joseph’s Oratory. It was just a break from a day of cooking and lounging before we sat down to eat.</p> <p>It was one of the first wintry days of the year with rain and chilly winds. Instead of enjoying the Oratory’s lookout and walking into the woods as we planned, we decided to take refuge inside the church.</p> Wed, 18 Dec 2024 19:54:01 +0000 Candice Wendt 2883 at /morsl /morsl/article/interfaith-dialogue-spiritual-wellness/warm-winters-tale <p>I was walking to class. The weather was awful; bitter cold temperatures that chilled to the bone. Raging winds did not help, succeeding in driving an icy feeling through ones warm flesh and blood. The feeling? Like a hot knife melting through butter.</p> <p>It was on such a day that I noticed two very bewildering things. Suddenly, people on the street had lost their individuality. They were all like snowflakes; unique, yet nameless and faceless. I stopped. People continued rushing past me. What I was doing in that blistery winter was my business. Nobody cared.</p> Tue, 17 Dec 2024 16:04:08 +0000 Ishrat Kanga 2882 at /morsl /morsl/article/interfaith-dialogue-spiritual-wellness/omnipresence <p>I come home, and I hear "Churaliya" playing in the kitchen CD player as my mom is cooking dinner. I smile discreetly to myself as I casually walk in, and settle to my room. Hmm. One song has the power to take me back all the way to being five years old, and commanding my little sister to let this song finish playing! Or just back to last week to competing with a fellow vocalist to let me sing this song one more time at a local jam session! Ah, it’s so simple when you take a moment to experience the omnipresence of a feeling.</p> Mon, 16 Dec 2024 17:08:37 +0000 Adhika Maharaj 2881 at /morsl /morsl/article/ecospirituality-holidays-and-holy-days-radix-spiritual-wellness/do-you-believe-miracles <p>On the 25<sup>th</sup> of the month of Kislev in the Jewish calendar, Jews around the world will light Chanukah candles in their homes. This act commemorates the miracles that occurred at the time of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, 138 BCE.</p> Wed, 11 Dec 2024 19:28:26 +0000 Natalie Pakes 2879 at /morsl /morsl/article/interfaith-dialogue-spiritual-wellness/performance-art <p>The performing arts have a legitimate place in public religious ceremonies. In fact, a religious ceremony is in itself performance art of the highest order. The preparation and presentation of a piece of music is an intensely spiritual exercise. I refer to spirituality not as something otherworldly, but rather as the very human effort to be compassionately present to the people, events, and tasks that I encounter every day.</p> Tue, 03 Dec 2024 20:28:41 +0000 Loren R. Carle 2878 at /morsl /morsl/article/what-do-you-see <p>What do you see when you look at my face? Loneliness, isolation, seclusion? What do you see when you look in my eyes? Dejection, desperation, dreariness? I am a Muslim woman, after all. I am both visible and invisible to people around me. They cannot see me, yet they know that I am a living being, breathing and walking beneath my veil.</p> Wed, 27 Nov 2024 16:07:46 +0000 Afifa Naz 2877 at /morsl