Dr. Howell’s Daily Reflections
Everyday, Dr. Howell writes a reflection, a spiritual practice, an inquiry prompt, and a prayer.
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Energy and Will - Part 1
April 1, 2025
It takes energy to do anything, and that includes getting up in the morning. But have you ever thought of what gives you the energy to WANT to get up in the morning? Honestly, on many mornings I would like to languish in bed instead of facing the day. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a demanding or stressful day, but in bed, the warm covers seem much more enticing than anything else, so I ask myself, “Why get up?”
The Work - Part 7
March 31, 2025
Many spiritual practices increase our level of serenity. But perhaps the most effective spiritual practice is meditation. In meditation, we are grounded, still, and open to our higher mind. Simply quieting our mental activity and external stimulation reshapes our neuropathways and emotional response patterns. In settling our minds, we move past the chatter, and extraneous thoughts pass. The condition we achieve in meditation can remain with us after our meditation formally ends. If we notice that condition and work to keep it, we move through the world with tranquility. Negative emotions cannot readily take over in serenity and tranquility, negative emotions cannot ready take over.
The Work - Part 6
March 30, 2025
Saying what we think sometimes hurts others’ feelings and causes problems. This happens especially if our emotional center is running rampant. It is hard spiritual work to control emotions enough to consider what we say before we say it.
The Work - Part 5
March 29, 2025
Sometimes, the answer doesn’t come. Sometimes, the insights, ritual, or guidance don’t bring a resolution. Nothing works; however spiritual it may be. This situation calls us to do something that most of us resist doing at all costs. It’s the hardest spiritual work of all: surrender.
The Work - Part 4
March 28, 2025
Many of the circumstances and relationships on our journey of spiritual growth require hard work. For example, someone wants to take something from us or control us. Maybe they want to take advantage of the relationship or diminish us. Possibly they will not give us what we need or deserve. Maybe their intentions are good as far as they are concerned, but they are blind to the repercussions of their actions. Such scenarios happen all the time in marriages, families, businesses, organizations, political parties, cities, states and countries.
The Work - Part 3
March 27, 2025
Spiritual work is not confined to the academic study of spiritual ideas and their application. If that were true, then people who can’t read or study would be limited in their spiritual growth. We know from experience that spiritual growth happens in all lifestyles, regardless of culture, educational status, or the ability to study. Often, I think of the enslaved people in our country and the spiritual strength and wisdom that many of them must have achieved to exist in the most horrendous circumstances imaginable. They had no formal education, but they learned and grew spiritually.
The Work - Part 2
March 26, 2025
We have to swallow our pride to do the work. Our unchecked ego doesn’t want us to admit we were wrong or entertain other ways of being. But spiritual work calls for just that. It calls for us to let go of our unchecked ego and open our eyes to the higher things. Many spiritual searchers I know tell me that their spiritual journey began when their ego failed them. That’s when they swallowed their pride and started to do the work of study and practice.
The Work - Part 1
March 25, 2025
In graduate school, I read the book Siddhartha (1922) by Herman Hesse and discussed it with a fellow student. He was in a group who studied its teachings and other teachers such as George Gurdjieff. I will never forget my friend's words in explaining his group and what they studied. He said, “The group doesn’t just study the works of teachers; they do the work.” The words “the work” stood out to me. I had never really associated study with “work.”
The Little Things - Part 6
March 23, 2025
The anchor of any seacraft is only a fraction of its weight. Yet, it is one of the most vital parts of any boat. Anchors stabilize and keep the craft in place so that changing tidal or weather conditions do not affect the vessel. All ships entering a port of call are required to have anchors.
The Little Things - Part 5
March 22, 2025
She was only 17 and every day saw thousands of heavy body bags unloaded from planes. She asked, “Why?” But no answer was ever given…
The Little Things - Part 4
March 21, 2025
The infinitesimally small atom is made of even smaller subatomic particles, the smallest of which are its non-reducible quarks. Isn’t it amazing that when split, the tiny atom and its tinier subatomic particles unleash the most powerful energy known to humankind? It’s a paradox but the smallest creates the greatest.
The Little Things - Part 3
March 20, 2025
Hospitality is one of the beautiful parts of life and it falls under Point Six on The Enneagram of Soul. Sacred Kinship is the energy of shared values and goodwill among people. When a guest is at someone’s home, it is often the little things that create hospitality. The small gestures, lively conversations, comforting words, heartfelt inquiry, the way we give food and drink to our guests — these may be little things, but they convey the all-important thing: caring, safety and honoring.
The Little Things - Part 2
March 19, 2025
Some things are so small and inconspicuous that we can’t see them. Some things are microscopic and require magnification; other things are readily seen but are very small. In my experience, there is something precious about little things. I like seeing miniature horses and dogs, miniature houses and furniture, scale models of airplanes, and scale replicas of architectural buildings.
The Little Things - Part 1
March 18, 2025
All Creatures Great and Small, the acclaimed book by Alfred Wright, (James Herriot) is now a PBS television series. Set in the Yorkshire Dales of Northeast England, it is about a country veterinarian and his family from the 1930s to the 1950s. The heart of this story is how the veterinarian's practice of treating all kinds of animals brings him and his family closer to each other and to the people in the area. But more than that, it is about values, community, family, and the dignity of all living things. Over 80 million copies of this amazing story have been sold worldwide.
Meetings with Remarkable People - Part 7
March 17, 2025
What remarkable persons will you meet in the future? Who will come into your life to provide the guidance, words, insight, inspiration, and opportunity you need at that specific time? We cannot know who it will be, but we have some leverage in determining when and how it happens.
Meetings with Remarkable People - Part 6
March 16, 2025
We value the remarkable people who have come into our lives. They guide, protect, and influence us. Many embody our ideals, hopes, and aspirations. Some open up worlds of thought and activities that we would never have experienced without them. Some of these dear people have always been in our lives, and some for only a brief encounter. Yet their contributions to our soul are invaluable.
Meetings with Remarkable People - Part 5
March 15, 2025
Sometimes, the truth is very simple. But it takes just the right person to get it across.