A Year of Grace

When I was a kid I adored the Little House on the Prairie books. The last book is called The First Four Years, and it details the ups and downs of the beginning of Laura Ingalls’ marriage to Almanzo Wilder. At the start of their life together, the newlyweds decided to try farming for three

Ethnic Mormon

I still think of myself as Mormon, even though I’m no longer a member of the LDS church. I didn’t at first. I once attempted to yank the plant of Mormonism out of my life, but as I did I felt the entire garden of my life—including many things I had no desire to uproot—coming

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Top 5 Regrets of the Dying

The famous Tibetan poet Milarepa once said: “My religion is to live – and die – without regret.” I remember writing that quote down in my journal with a big star next to it that said, “me too!” It’s been almost 4 years since I wrote that down. I recently came across a book called

Meditation: A Beginner’s Guide

Over the past several years, scientific research has confirmed that meditation improves the brain in several significant ways.  One of the most surprising discoveries is that the benefits of meditation are not limited to intangible, subjective ones reported by test participants, but that meditation also produces physical improvements in brain structure that have been confirmed with fMRI