The kind of prayer I am talking about is a detached kind of prayer in which you are not looking for anything, just putting yourself in God's presence and sharing with him what you are feeling or what you are suffering. It is the kind of prayer in which you just open your heart to God and say, "God, I'm here. I'm not asking for anything, God. I just want to be near you and open my heart to you."

Religion would certainly be more relevant to the hurting masses of humanity if people could express their hopes and dreams and pain and anguish to one another in the context of religious worship. As it is now our services are so antiseptic and sterile that people gathering for worship relate to others at only the most superficial level, and hardly ever get to know one another. . . . Maybe that is one of the reasons why people feel religion is irrelevant, because they cannot find support and solace during times of crisis and pain. That is when real religion should be at its best.

The poor never have enough for themselves ... but always have enough to give away.

Only the individual knows to what God is calling him.

Unfortunately, many people do not feel comfortable with freedom. They must find for themselves a leader, a guru, or a mentor to take over the direction of their spiritual lives and who will tell them what to do and how to think. A guide or a counselor is understandable, as in sports or music or in any pursuit, but that is not enough. Many mistakenly believe they have to be led each step of the way.

One of the problems we have is that we cannot just be content to admire and enjoy, we have to possess and feel we own what we see. That can become for many of us an addiction which adds a complication to our life and takes away our peace of mind. Craving things becomes after a while a serious distraction and an obsession.

Joshua chose the simple life ... because it gave him the freedom to expand the breadth of his inner life.