Dr. Howell’s Reflections
Everyday, Dr. Howell writes a reflection, inquiry prompt, and a prayer.
To receive Dr. Howell’s reflections everyday in your inbox, please sign up for our mailing list using the form at the bottom of the page, and begin your journey into who God has made you to be.
Make peace with your ego and discover your true path today. The path to wholeness starts now!
Judging Books by Their Covers
February 8, 2024
People talk a good game and make all kinds of promises. Also, we see many photos that portray things in a particular manner. However, we can be disappointed and hurt if the reality is not as pictured or described.
Judging Books by Their Covers
February 7, 2024
If we do not want to live as only the cover of the book about us, we must discover the soul who lives in our depths. Then we re-embody this soul and all its divine qualities.
Judging Books by Their Covers
February 6, 2024
Just as we may judge a book by its cover, we can do the same to ourselves. We can use only our surface characteristics to evaluate ourselves.
Judging Books by Their Covers
February 5, 2024
Recently, I was the target of a scam. Even though scammers are criminals who have been around for thousands of years, they continue to manipulate by using our blind spots against us.
Judging Books by Their Covers
February 4, 2024
Another source of information when judging a 'book' is direct experience. Direct experience is our personal encounter and involvement with a person, idea, circumstance, or thing. The knowledge received from direct experience is not the knowledge we receive from a third party's experience.
Judging Books by Their Covers
February 3, 2024
If you can't judge a book by its cover, what do you judge it by? This question prompts us to inspect how we judge people, things, ideas, and circumstances. Some of us go only by external appearances, which is a mistake because appearances can be very deceptive.
Judging Books by Their Covers
February 2, 2024
We all make various hunches about people and circumstances. Our hunches frequently turn into judgments, and judgments turn into actions.
Rocks
February 1, 2024
Many years ago, a lovely lady, dear soul, and patient appeared for her regular therapy session with me. A very bright person, Elizabeth, I will call her, was in the throes of leaving a loveless marriage and seeking her true self. Her children were grown with their own lives, and her husband didn’t care about her.
Rocks
January 31, 2024
If you have ever been to Sedona, Arizona, you have probably experienced the energy of the massive red rock formations. And if you have been to any ancient Native American sacred site, you may have felt energy in certain spots. If you have ever been to Stonehenge, the Acropolis, or the Egyptian Pyramids, you will likely have experienced the energy there.
Rocks
January 29, 2024
We may want to go somewhere, but stepping stones may do the trick if water, marsh, or other obstacles prevent us from getting there. Walking on stepping stones, we are higher than the water and other obstacles; therefore, we do not risk getting wet, falling, or getting bogged down. Then we reach our destination.
Rocks
January 28, 2024
Everywhere we go, there are rocks, and in most places, small rocks are free for the taking. Rocks and stones make great souvenirs. I have been collecting them since childhood. So, in my office, there are a lot of small rocks on desktops and bookshelves, each reminding me of where I found it.
The Phenomenal
January 25, 2024
There are only four sources of our suffering — other people, ourselves, God, and circumstances. Other people can be our primary cause of suffering when they don’t do what we want them to do. We suffer when we make mistakes, harming ourselves and others. God causes our suffering when we blame God for whatever may go wrong. Finally, adverse circumstances cause suffering.
The Phenomenal
January 24, 2024
Something phenomenal must have occurred for Jesus to be considered the son of God. Maybe it was his miracles that made people believe in him. However, one thing is sure: people were so profoundly affected by and believed in what he did and said that many were willing to die for their beliefs. Christ’s ministry so transformed the eyewitness believers that his ministry continues today.
The Phenomenal
January 23, 2024
Heartfulness meditation begins by sitting in a comfortable position and then relaxing the body. Relaxation is vital because tensions indicate a disturbance on some level that can distract us during meditation. So, loosening the tightness in our body overrides potential distractions. Once relaxed, the body is a vehicle in which we enter a new state of consciousness.
The Phenomenal
January 22, 2024
It is phenomenal that we can live rich and exciting lives. Of course, we all have troubles; these are part and parcel of life. However, none of us are doomed to live dull, boring, unsatisfying, or monotonous existences. When we live "the spiritual life," as Henri Nouwen calls it, we are on an exciting journey, but what makes it so?