Free Republic

Vienna, Va., July 23--(RNS) Leaders of the New Thought movement used their annual conference as an opportunity to encourage a nontraditional spiritual quest. At a morning session of the 89th Annual Congress of the International New Thought Alliance, held July 18-23, speakers suggested new ways to approach the metaphysical path on which they walk. In a speech titled "Thinking With NewER Thought," the Rev. Noel McInnis of Wilsonville, Ore., supported the congregational singing of a revamped version of "Let There Be Peace on Earth." "We just need to make over the old song," said McInnis, an ordained minister of Religious...

Act as if you will. Act as if you are serious about attaining your dream. Walk, talk, and act enthusiastically, creating a single-minded attitude of success toward the results you desire. One of America's pioneering psychologists, William James, said that the greatest discovery is that man can alter his life simply by altering his attitude of mind. What he advocated was that if you act as if you are what you want to be, then you will become that. This "act as if" principle is a powerful method of converting your consciousness from conditioned habits into specific positive behaviors that...

Preaching abundant living The Rev. Della Reese Lett teaches lessons of material success and personal empowerment in her own church. Della Reese, who played a down-to-earth heavenly being on "Touched by an Angel" isn't acting as she stands in front of a congregation on Sundays in West Hollywood. She's preaching — in her own church. And her message has no mention of sin, no mention of good and evil and no endorsement of sacrifice if it means doing without. She talks about abundant living, not in the hereafter but in the here and now.

NEW THOUGHT is not, as many believe, a name or expression employed to define any fixed system of thought, philosophy, or religion, but is a term used to convey the idea of growing or developing thought. "New Thought" is the result or creation of perpetually advancing mind. Change and growth are the silent mandates of divinity. Back of all, unseen yet all powerful, is the one universal law or cosmic urge, forever pushing and projecting man forward into higher physical, mental, and spiritual development. "Through spiritual evolution are we led to God." No two individuals are alike or think alike....

ICONOCLAST EXCLUSIVE!! FIRST-PRIZE WINNER OF THE JOINT NPR/CBC GILDERHOSEN LITERARY AWARD! "THE DIFFERENTLY ABLED SUICIDE BOMBER" by Shinaz Nasreen Damaj HijajTranslated by Marni Soupcoff My name is Shinaz Nasreen Damaj Hijaj. I am a paraplegic. I am a lesbian. But foremost, I am a Palestinian suicide bomber. When I was growing up, people told me that I could not do things the other children could do. When my friends were out throwing large rocks at the Israeli soldiers, trying to get them to shoot so that the Western reporters could take pictures, I was told to stay at home. I...