by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Oct 29, 2015 | communication, experiences, spiritual life
Where have you experienced a disconnection of soul in your life? How have you been brought back to center by an unexpected encounter with the sacred Other? How did your soul learn to breathe again?” I am not a diver, but living at the beautiful Gulf...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Oct 28, 2015 | childhood memories, emotions, family
My daughter’s journey into writing as part of her master’s in fine arts degree program led to her asking me to share with her a bit about what it was like having three siblings. I could tell her about a family of six sharing one bathroom. I could tell...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Oct 27, 2015 | Bible Study, discipleship training, listening
I was reading the latest invitation to a women’s conference with a stellar billing of well known speakers/writers and it got me to thinking about how many of us are “groupies” of this or that Christian “guru”. Some people I know have done...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Oct 24, 2015 | religious movements
In counseling with clients who have used drugs about their journeys into the “un-real”, paranoid, even full-blown psychotic realm and in my own peak spiritual experiences (without the inducing influence of drugs), as described by Maslow, James, etal. of a...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Oct 24, 2015 | religious movements, spiritual life
Syncretism: the attempted reconciliation, amalgamation, or union of different or opposing principles, practices, parties, cultures, philosophies, or religions. “Syncretism is the mixing of Christianity with something else such that they become a different...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Oct 22, 2015 | spiritual formation, spiritual life, Suffering, understand, Worldview
“What we learn from experience depends on the kind of philosophy we bring to experience.” C. S. Lewis Yesiree, now isn’t that the truth? Sometimes an experience challenges the philosophy one has, based on prior experience, so radically that it...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Oct 13, 2015 | Facing fears, Faith, healing, Pain, spiritual life
Joni Eareckson Tada, who has known her share of pain- physical and emotional- shares this poem by Miss Margaret Clarkson, a woman who was bedridden for years with chronic pain: Lord Jesus, King of pain, Thy subject I; Thy right it is to reign: Oh, hear my cry, and...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Oct 5, 2015 | Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 141:3-4, Psalm 37:3-5, spiritual life
As I studied Eddie Rasnake’s workbook on Knowing and Following the Will of God, I was struck by his observation that the Bible contains proclamations (“Thou shalt…”), prohibitions (“Thou shalt not…”), principles, and promises. Reflecting on this, I realized this...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Sep 29, 2015 | Comfort, community, Emotional Literacy, healing
This article on loneliness brings two things to mind for me. One, loneliness as a function of negative perception of social interactions suggests that there is a lack of ability or comfort in trusting others, including God. This is, at heart, an attachment issue. ...
by Cathy Boyd Byrd | Sep 28, 2015 | consolation, healing
It was a rough weekend. I found it necessary to dismiss one young lady who secreted beer into the house, drank it and got caught. That, in my experience, has been a very rare occurrence. She had been doing so well, but she let her anger get the best of her. Rather...
