Speaking of New Age… Reiki No Good

Since I used to be very into New Age teachings, and learned first hand how destructive it is, I’m always interested in helping spread the word on true enlightenment.

The US Catholic Bishops Conference just issued a report on Reiki: Guidelines for Evaluating Reiki as an Alternative Therapy. It’s quite timely. The Vatican released it’s report in August, 2003: Jesus Christ: the Bearer of the Water of Life. (For an earlier source on New Age healings, see The Bible.)

The report references these websites: Reiki: Gentle Healing in an Ungentle World and Reiki for Christians. (One wonders where the Turabian Styling is in the footnotes!)

The conclusion:

Since Reiki therapy is not compatible with either Christian teaching or scientific evidence, it would be inappropriate for Catholic institutions, such as Catholic health care facilities and retreat centers, or persons representing the Church, such as Catholic chaplains, to promote or to provide support for Reiki therapy.

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New Age Healing : The Goddess | Catholic Christian Psychology

I’ve been enjoying the site Chastity ~~ in San Francisco? — well written  psychology, plus solid healing in the Catholic mystic tradition.  I’m especially interested in reading about trauma and natural events, so I can continue to understand future ‘Katrina effects’ in a more wholistic fashion.

Dr. Richmond, the author, has some great insights into New Age trends such as New Age Healing : The Goddess | Catholic Christian Psychology.  And he juxtaposes them against an authentic Christian spirituality.

It’s definitely worth a look see:   interesting Site – with solid spirituality to boot.

Change I Can Believe In

Yes, I apologize. I hit ‘Publish’ instead of ‘Save Draft’, and sent this out to numerous persons blindly.

Rather than commenting frenetically on climate change, it occured to me to research Catholic teachings on the subject in more depth.

Catholics and Climate Change has a lot of info. And the coordinator publishes with the USCCB. And there’s a tugboat on the river outside?

?!

Excuse me. I’ve just never seen that before.

Anyway! Here’s the Good News on Climate Change.

Archbishop Migliore acknowledged that although not all scientists agree that climate change is occurring, other environmental threats, such as indiscriminate deforestation, water pollution, the lack of potable water in parts of the world and depletion of fish stocks, demand action from the world community and individual Catholics alike.

True not everyone agrees on climate change. And, there’s no doubt pollution is rampant and we can all be better stewards. Here, here!

Archbishop Migliore, the Vatican’s Ambassador to the U.N. says people can adopt lifestyle of Voluntary Simplicity; it comes down to “working less, wanting less, spending less.”

Work less. Want less. Spend less.

I can handle that.

So…. if you need me I’ll be out on the veranda working less. And contemplating the goodness of creation, boats in the flooded river, staving off the spring chill…

And I have to prepare for Human Achievement Hour: tonight, 8:30-9:30PM.

Cooling off the Warming

I’m no great supporter of anthropogenic global warming theories, and articles such as this one about Freeman Dyson help to demonstrate why.

FOR MORE THAN HALF A CENTURY the eminent physicist Freeman Dyson has quietly resided in Prince­ton, N.J., on the wooded former farmland that is home to his employer, the Institute for Advanced Study, this country’s most rarefied community of scholars. Lately, however, since coming “out of the closet as far as global warming is concerned,” as Dyson sometimes puts it, there has been noise all around him….
Dyson is well aware that “most consider me wrong about global warming.” That educated Americans tend to agree with the conclusion about global warming reached earlier this month at the International Scientific Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen (“inaction is inexcusable”) only increases Dyson’s resistance. Dyson may be an Obama-loving, Bush-loathing liberal who has spent his life opposing American wars and fighting for the protection of natural resources, but he brooks no ideology and has a withering aversion to scientific consensus….

(He doesn’t like the idea either.)

Adding fuel to the growing scepticism are interesting articles such as the one entitled U.N. ‘Climate Change’ Plan Would Likely Shift Trillions to Form New World Economy

A United Nations document on “climate change” that will be distributed to a major environmental conclave next week envisions a huge reordering of the world economy, likely involving trillions of dollars in wealth transfer, millions of job losses and gains, new taxes, industrial relocations, new tariffs and subsidies, and complicated payments for greenhouse gas abatement schemes and carbon taxes — all under the supervision of the world body….

I’m not quite in line with most Bishops on the matter, though they do agree that prudence should be involved in the matter. And that it should not become a political movement bereft of scientific inquiry.

In the Rain

There’s been a lot of rain hereabouts.

I love the rain.

In the Rain

Don’t get me wrong, I love beautiful weather too.

But when you have the time to sit on the banks of a river with a good book, a roof over your head and some free time, well — who am I to complain?

Fr. Kenneth Allen