Soul Matters

Infidelity and deceit threaten a Christian family when they are forced to face the lies that are creating mistrust, disorder, and tension in their lives.

In recent years, many have come to believe that Western medicine has lost contact with 'holistic' conceptions of health as encompassing physical, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual dimensions. 'Spiritual' may imply religious or faith-based values or experience, but also non-material factors such as an appreciation of natural beauty, art, music, moral values or beliefs from which a person draws meaning and a sense of transcendence. Equally, many people are unaware of a spiritual dimension to life and health until illness or trauma strikes. However, coming to terms with life events, deriving meaning from them and incorporating them into their life philosophy may then be experienced as a deep spiritual crisis, with ramifications in their wider health, and implications for the health professionals who treat them. This book considers the meaning of holistic health care, and explores the spiritual dimension of health through the narratives of fictional and non-fictional patients. It discusses how to discern when a patient's distress has a spiritual dimension, the implications of this for health professionals, and ways in which spiritual factors can be addressed and discussed within healthcare. 'When it comes to questions about meaning and purpose, such as what is the point of all this?A", or why is this happening to me?A", when we meet patients in the depths of despair at the prospect of imminent death, when we ourselves feel hopeless and overwhelmed in the face of an avalanche of human suffering, then we begin to struggle. We do not know what we could do, nor even what we should do. Our professional training doesn't help. We are stuck. With this beautiful book, Mabel Aghadiuno comes to our rescue.' - Christopher Dowrick in his Foreword

Platonic discourses concerning the soul are incredibly rich and multitiered. Plato's own diverse and disparate arguments and images offer competing accounts of how we are to understand the nature of the soul. Consequently, it should come as no surprise that the accounts of Platonists who engage Plato’s dialogues are often riddled with questions. This volume takes up the theories of well-known philosophers and theologians, including Plato, Plotinus, Proclus, the emperor Julian, and Origen, as well as lesser-known but equally important figures in a collection of essays on topics such as transmigration of the soul, the nature of the Platonist enlightenment experience, soul and gender, pagan ritual practices, Christian and pagan differences about the soul, mental health and illness, and many other topics. Contributors include Crystal Addey, Sara Ahbel-Rappe, Dirk Baltzly, Robert Berchman, Jay Bregman, Luc Brisson, Kevin Corrigan, John Dillon, John F. Finamore, Lloyd P. Gerson, Dorian Gieseler Greenbaum, Elizabeth Hill, Sarah Klitenic Wear, Danielle A. Layne, Ilaria L. E. Ramelli, Gregory Shaw, Svetla Slaveva-Griffine, Suzanne Stern-Gillet, Harold Tarrant, Van Tu, and John D. Turner.

In shamanic understanding, trauma signifies soul-loss. To restore a person to wholeness, the shaman journeys into non-ordinary reality to retrieve the person’s lost soul essence and restores it to the client in ordinary reality. Shamans knew intuitively that existence is a product of consciousness, and that soul requires body to enter physicality, and body requires soul to express life. Yet, there is only a set amount of physical pain and mental/emotional disturbance that an embodied soul can tolerate. Out of self-preservation, a part of the soul leaves just prior to the trauma impact, and retreats - unharmed - into non-ordinary reality, away from physical ordinary reality. This book presents the author’s unique and creative research into the millennia-old shamanic healing modality of Soul Retrieval. Dr. Salomon found that the fundamentals of the shamanic healing method are aligned with quantum principals and that the phenomenon of soul-leaving and soul-returning happens on the quantum-level of existence. The results of her study confirm the relevance of quantum physics’ tenets of non-locality, tangled hierarchy and discontinuity inside shamanic healing. “Shamanism is not well understood by most people. Dr. Salomon has the intelligence and willingness to do the hard work to bring the validity and reliability of good science to the public. Her thoroughness of a difficult subject is clear and understandable. A must read for anyone interested in learning about the laws of the universe and how it affects each of us every day.” – Jeffrey L. Fannin, Ph.D.

In recent years, many have come to believe that Western medicine has lost contact with 'holistic' conceptions of health as encompassing physical, emotional, intellectual, social and spiritual dimensions. 'Spiritual' may imply religious or faith-based values or experience, but also non-material factors such as an appreciation of natural beauty, art, music, moral values or beliefs from which a person draws meaning and a sense of transcendence. Equally, many people are unaware of a spiritual dimension to life and health until illness or trauma strikes. However, coming to terms with life events, deriving meaning from them and incorporating them into their life philosophy may then be experienced as a deep spiritual crisis, with ramifications in their wider health, and implications for the health professionals who treat them. This book considers the meaning of holistic health care, and explores the spiritual dimension of health through the narratives of fictional and non-fictional patients. It discusses how to discern when a patient's distress has a spiritual dimension, the implications of this for health professionals, and ways in which spiritual factors can be addressed and discussed within healthcare. 'When it comes to questions about meaning and purpose, such as what is the point of all this?A", or why is this happening to me?A", when we meet patients in the depths of despair at the prospect of imminent death, when we ourselves feel hopeless and overwhelmed in the face of an avalanche of human suffering, then we begin to struggle. We do not know what we could do, nor even what we should do. Our professional training doesn't help. We are stuck. With this beautiful book, Mabel Aghadiuno comes to our rescue.' - Christopher Dowrick in his Foreword

Few pastors or Christian writers have dared to approach the subject of how proper eating and an active lifestyle can affect how we serve God. Author Gary Thomas does just that. And he reaches all the way back to the apostle Paul, who wrote that we need to prime our bodies to become, "an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work." To illustrate the body/soul correlation, Thomas presents engaging and diverse stories that include a young mom who got fit through volleyball and reaped spiritual rewards in her marriage, a 300-pound pastor who realized his obesity was eroding his ministry impact, and a woman who gained the spiritual strength to survive a contentious divorce by training for a marathon. In every instance, Thomas makes a direct connection between the physical challenge and its spiritual consequence.This book is a must read for anyone seeking new and compelling motivation for strengthening their bodies and fortifying their souls.

A unique devotional for mothers, providing encouragement and renewal of the soul. The demands on a mother can be enormous. The physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of her children are constant and can seem never-ending. Much-needed support and encouragement can, at times, be in short supply. Soul Matters for Mothers, part of the popular Soul Matters series, is the perfect devotional for refreshing the mind and uplifting the heart of any mother, no matter the age. A wide variety of topics are presented in a format that's easy to follow and fun to read. Each devotional includes a quote, Scripture, "To Think About" and "Life Lesson" sections, followed by a "Real Life Story," an action step, and finally, a prayer. It's a wonderful way to help mothers be the best they can be, doing one of the hardest jobs in the world!

During the creation of the Psychomatrix Spirituality Inventory (PSI) at Harvard, Dr. Wolman found seven factors that comprise the spectrum of spiritual experience. By completing the PSI included in the book, readers will learn about their spirituality in each of these areas and how to improve their spiritual lives.