Dr. Howell’s Reflections
Everyday, Dr. Howell writes a reflection, inquiry prompt, and a prayer.
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Connection
December 28, 2023
When on the cell phone and our call is dropped, our connection is lost. When our toaster doesn't work, there's no electrical connection. There's no connection if I meet someone and can't relate to them. If part of me scares or disgusts me, I am probably disconnected from it. If I am unaware of my spiritual capacities, I am not connected to them. If my prayers bounce back to me, I may be disconnected from the Divine.
Looking Ahead
December 27, 2023
In this holiday season, we reflect on our triumphs and shortfalls. We look at the year behind us and the one ahead. This process calls for great self-compassion. So often, when we take stock of our lives, we judge ourselves harshly. But that negates Christ's message that we are to love others as we love ourselves.
Looking Ahead
December 26, 2023
The ego and the soul frequently have two different reasons for looking ahead. The ego's strategy is ego-planning, the fixation associated with type Seven. However, all ego types have seven energy. And because of that, our ego plans for things that will satisfy our desires and quell our fears. Bottom line: the ego has a preconception of how it wants life to go, so it plans to make that happen.
Christmas Day
December 25, 2023
Amid the celebration and haste, we consciously take time to reconnect to the Divine. In this Holy Pause, we center on the peace of God, which is deeper and more substantial than the peace our egos manufacture. God's peace takes us out of egocentricity … the thought that things and people should be the way we want them to be.
Christmas Eve
December 24, 2023
As we prepare for tomorrow's festivities, our thoughts turn to the reason for Christmas. A child was born who changed the world by providing a path of love.
Transformation
December 20, 2023
Two dear friends of ours are always looking ahead. This couple are the consummate journeyers who’ve traveled to all seven continents, including Antarctica. When asked about their adventures, they usually give the highlights of their most recent journey. Then they remind us that the cultures and landscapes of all countries have their own flavors, but people everywhere are more alike than different. They say that travel is work and that life is much better when you have a journey to look forward to.
Transformation
December 21, 2023
Why would we ever want to change …. to transform? … The bottom-line answer is that we all want peace and happiness but are disconnected from it. At our creation, peace, and happiness were placed in our souls, but we disconnected from them when our egos took control. So, our egos find their own ways to restore that peace and happiness. There are nine major ways that the human ego tries to restore the peace and bliss we were born with.
Transformation
December 18, 2023
Transformation of our entire being requires dismantling and replacing our ego structure with another. The ego structure saves us from its fears and attains its desires. Our ego influences our decisions, thoughts, feelings, and behavior. It is an expert because it’s had decades of practice. It anticipates the future according to its perceptions and preoccupies us with its needs.
Transformation
December 17, 2023
I like to watch TV and YouTube presentations about fixing up and flipping houses. Decorators magically transform houses from dowdy, outdated dwellings to sparking, trendy living spaces. But some of these TV shows present house restorations that are more than a face lift. They show transformation, not only in interior decoration but in basic construction.
Transformation
December 16, 2023
I remember how excited I was one Christmas, to find my electric train under the tree. My father taught me how to handle the transformer, a black electric box that controlled the train’s speed. The large dial on the transformer regulated the train’s speed. Nothing would happen without the electricity being transformed into a charge in the tracks.
Transformation
December 15, 2023
How will you deal with this highly stressful holiday season? Will you let it run you ragged? Will you shut down? Will you drive yourself into exhaustion? Will all the duties and obligations hijack your joy?
Transformation
December 14, 2023
Transformation comes from its Latin roots, which means “change of form.” Many of us use the word transformation to mean growth in our spiritual life, as a seedling grows into a tree.
The Power of Hope
December 13, 2023
What do we do when told that there's no hope? Do we believe it? Do we deny it? Do we rebel against it? Do we succumb to it?
The Power of Hope
December 12, 2023
There is a town on Mobile Bay in South Alabama called Fairhope. What a positive name for a town. All my life, I have been going to or through Fairhope. Growing up, it had a plain downtown full of typical storefronts. It was primarily agricultural and also a haven for intellectuals and artists.
The Power of Hope
December 11, 2023
When a child is brought to a psychologist’s office for evaluation, the parents and the child are usually evaluated. To that end, noted psychologist Richard Abidin developed a psychological test for parents of children.
The Power of Hope
December 10, 2023
The opposite of hope is despair. In prolonged despair, we lose contact with inner light and instead focus on the pain of a seemingly unending condition. Our peace is hijacked by unsolvable circumstances which make us anxious, depressed and helpless. These conditions extinguish our living daylight and the hope born with us.
The Power of Hope
December 9, 2023
The mentality of scarcity promotes hoarding because, in that state, we constantly anticipate a looming disaster. Stockpiling our goods may be prudent, and we do need to save for a rainy day. But when our prudence becomes stinginess, we end up too fearful to hope.
The Power of Hope
December 8, 2023
The hope that we will survive death is universal. Those few who do not believe this believe that their existence ends at their death. The only hope they have is for the temporal.