Dr. Howell’s Daily Reflections
Everyday, Dr. Howell writes a reflection, a spiritual practice, an inquiry prompt, and a prayer.
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Self-Understanding Part 7
September 28, 2025
We all have wounds from childhood. This is normal and, for some, the wounds are deep. As innocent young children, we did not arrive here knowing the rules of our family, the neighborhood, school, or community. As very small and defenseless children, we did not know what to do when the voices told us that we were not “OK" the way we were and that we had to conform to expectations that ran counter to our natural self. We were not born knowing how to handle rejection and conflict with parents, siblings, or friends. We simply did what came naturally to us. Our unashamed soul had to learn to negotiate the world that inflicted shame. The overpowering pain of shame and rejection is why our soul child allowed our ego to cover it, protect it, and to strategize a way forward. The ego gave of the semblance feeling OK once again.
Self-Understanding Part 6
September 27, 2025
Mythologist and writer Joseph Campbell (1904-1987) wrote the now famous words, “Follow your bliss,” published in the classic volume, The Power of Myth. Campbell goes on to say, “Our life has become so economic and practical in its orientation that, as you get older, the claims of the moment on you are so great you hardly know where the hell you are or what it is you intended. You are always doing something that is required of you. Where is our bliss station? You have to try to find it.”
Self-Understanding Part 5
September 26, 2025
We understand ourselves when we know that we have two different levels of moving in the world. We live from the level of our ego mind or from the level of our soul. At their most intense state, our egos protect our interests above those of others and essentially set ourselves apart from the common good. The unhealthy ego obstructs our having true empathy for others outside our clan. Our egos cope with a tricky and demanding world by presenting an outward face that fits the situation and by strategizing ways to protect ourselves from harm even if we have to strike preemptively.
Self-Understanding Part 4
September 25, 2025
Enneagram-ers can do a simple thing that gives them a reading on how they are doing and, at the same time, receive a glimpse into self-understanding.
Self-Understanding Part 3
September 24, 2025
Human beings need to be held. We were held in our mother’s womb and then in our parents’ arms. In the years to follow, we are held in the arms of friends, loved ones, and of our beloved. Yet there is another type of holding that humans need. It is the sense of being secure in our home, our community, our nation, and our world. The arms of this holding provide assurance that all is well.
Self-Understanding Part 2
September 23, 2025
When remorse and guilt threaten to get the best of us, we can move through that rough spot more healthily if we are compassionate toward ourselves. Knowing our soul enables us to forgive ourselves, have mercy on ourselves, and care for our wounds.
Self-Understanding Part 1
September 22, 2025
We are complex creatures, so to understand ourselves in depth may be daunting. Not only are we continually changing, but we also have multiple aspects and layers within ourselves. Many of us know our outer self, yet do not explore our depths. But amazingly, in our depths are wondrous aspects we hardly know and therefore never enjoy or express.
Gratefulness Part 6
September 22, 2025
We are complex creatures, so to understand ourselves in depth may be daunting. Not only are we continually changing, but we also have multiple aspects and layers within ourselves. Many of us know our outer self, yet do not explore our depths. But amazingly, in our depths are wondrous aspects we hardly know and therefore never enjoy or express.
Gratefulness Part 5
September 20, 2025
In Christianity, the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Episcopal, Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed and Eastern Orthodox churches all use a variation of the phrase "it is right to give him thanks and praise" during the opening dialogue of the Eucharistic prayer. This dialogue between the priest and the congregation, is known as the Sursum Corda, an ancient part of the Christian liturgy.
Gratefulness Part 4
September 19, 2025
The gardenia bushes beside our back porch didn’t bloom in June, as always. I believe we trimmed them too much and too late. One of the large gardenia bushes comes from my home place in Mobile, where I grew up. I recall smelling the gardenia blossoms from that very bush as a little boy. Gardenias have a one-of-a-kind fragrance. It’s sweet, deep, mildly exotic yet earthy, creamy, and with a subtle layer of spice as you continue taking it in. In its own way, it is intoxicating. The scent becomes stronger in the evening.
Gratefulness Part 3
September 18, 2025
In Cherokee, the word for expressing gratitude is Otsaliheliga (pronounced oh-jah-LEE-hay-lee-gah), which means "we are grateful." The concept of thankfulness is deeply woven into Cherokee culture, particularly in ceremonies that honor the Earth and the Creator. All Native American tribes include gratefulness in their ceremonies and daily rituals. Not only native Americans but indigenous cultures around the world, from the aborigines in Australia, to tribes in Africa to the indigenous people in South America, all honor the quality of gratefulness, especially gratefulness to nature.
Gratefulness Part 2
September 17, 2025
Have you ever given a gift, but your gift was never acknowledged? Though you did not give it to be thanked, without the acknowledgment from the person who received the gift, the circle of giving is incomplete. Completing the circle of giving includes gratefulness. I believe this may be why in most religious traditions, thanksgiving to God is an important dynamic. It completes the cycle of giving. It is acknowledgment of receipt of a blessing.
Gratefulness Part 1
September 16, 2025
Like most of us, I tend to think of many things as “givens,” such as our body, family, and all people. Then, of course, there are the trees, skies, mountains, oceans, learning, and emotion, all of which have been there from the beginning. All this was here when I arrived, so why express gratefulness for it? The givens of our life can be compared to our table at a restaurant. We never question if there will be a table in the establishment, and we don’t express thanks for it; it is already there when we arrive, and it is part and parcel of being in a restaurant.
Who Do You Think You Are? Part 7
September 15, 2025
No one sees us exactly as we see ourselves. But as we live increasingly from our true nature, there is less of a gap between who we think we are, how others see us, and who we truly are.
Who Do You Think You Are? Part 6
September 14, 2025
Who do you think you are? It sounds like a simple question, yet it may be the most important one we ever consider. Some souls wander through life without ever truly knowing who they really are. They recognize they have a body, emotions, and a mind. Many even know that they have a soul. But few are consciously connected to many of their deeper qualities, so they cannot describe them.
Who Do You Think You Are? Part 5
September 13, 2025
Who do you think you are? It sounds like a simple question, yet it may be the most important one we ever consider. Some souls wander through life without ever truly knowing who they really are. They recognize they have a body, emotions, and a mind. Many even know that they have a soul. But few are consciously connected to many of their deeper qualities, so they cannot describe them.
Who Do You Think You Are? Part 4
September 12, 2025
I just listened to a great spiritual master leading a teaching to a global audience. This teacher is Daaji, the Global Guide for the Heartfulness movement based in Hyderabad, India. Today’s teaching was on meditation and human emotion. Daaji understands that regardless of how spiritually progressed we are, and how much meditation we have done over a lifetime, we are still human beings with human emotions. A common complaint of spiritual seekers is the following: “I have been working on myself for years and still let things upset me; I must not have developed as much as I think.” Daaji speaks to this common complaint:
Who Do You Think You Are? Part 3
September 11, 2025
I have noticed that most people feel they are good people. The research bears this out. Human beings think they are above average in being correct, honest, and reasonable (Alicke, 2005). However, research also shows that people feel less than others. Since the advent of social media, we can more readily measure how people stack up when they compare themselves to others. The results are that a large preponderance of people do not feel they compare well to others (Kayala, 2023).