I'm grateful to be a part of this site and the local spirituality book club. I'm grateful to have a number of roles in life too. I am ordained as a minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA). I have been a pastor in churches in Springfield, Peoria, and Rochester, Illinois. I am currently a parish associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Normal, Illinois and have been active in our Presbytery’s partnership with churches in north-eastern Brazil (Brasil).
I write daily in a number of forms; whether its sermons, essays, or poetry. My writing, besides being plastered on the refrigerator as grocery lists, has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Spirituality & Health magazine, Writer’s Digest magazine, Church & Society, denominational publications, www.rhinopoetry.org, and in anthologies by Outrider Press.
Julie Baller Biever
Co-founder
Julie is the brains behind the operation. She keeps this site moving forward by putting forth new ideas and ways to expand the vision, while keeping the heart and soul in the whole thing.
Spirituality Book Club
a truly fine group of people
Of course, a spirituality book club is nothing without people... Our local spirituality book club has been meeting since August 1999, eight great years so far! We have some people who have been a part of the group since its inception, some who have joined later, some who travel quite a distance to join us each month, and some who follow our reading list on-line. We have covered some incredible distance in our reading, but most of us are struck by the common threads between religious and spiritual traditions, and the desire in human beings to look for meaning in life and/or to seek the divine. It's been an amazing journey, and many, many thanks for these fine folks who lead the way!
Vijayasanker
Eastern Spirituality Advisor
I am an engineer by profession, married with a 4 year old son. Before coming to the U.S. to live, I had the opportunity to work in India and the Middle East. I have an underlying belief in the greatness and nobility of all religions and it is my firm conviction that great men and women have come from all religions and races. Training in technology has helped me to weed out lots of "extra stuff" in religious studies and get to the core. Spirituality, God and religion have always been topics of great interest to me, since my early youth. In my opinion, a true understanding of any religion would help the practitioner to lead a more meaningful life. Again, some of us might be even lucky to climb greater heights in spirituality, by practicing certain spiritual techniques. I'm particularly interested in New Age and Messiah spirituality (as expected by several major religions), Breathing exercises(Pranayama) ,Yoga, Meditation, and Non-allopathic healing techniques. My own spiritual guide of ten years is Tathata. http://sritathata.org/ Also, I recommend these sites: Swami Vivekananda www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/complete_works.htm and www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info Amma: http://ammachi.org Eknath Easwaran's site www.nilgiri.org/nilgiri.cfm?pageid=79 Mahesh Yogi and Transcendental Meditation http://maharishivediccity.net/visitors/index.html Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi www.arunachala.org Yogananda www.yogananda-srf.org/py-life Sai Baba www.sathyasai.org Aurobindo www.sriaurobindoashram.org Brahma Kumaris www.bkwsu.com Sahaj Marg www.srcm.org Ravi Shankar www.artofliving.org/v2/index.asp
