Learnings

Though my life is quite good these days, I had a pretty rough time of it as a kid. I was awkward—really bad at things that required any hand-eye coordination (read that as most games kids play). I loved puzzles and reading, and my parents learned that puzzle books were a great present for me. I have often thought that this played a significant role in my eventual profession as a psychologist—people would bring their puzzling and hurting lives to me, and we would work together to accomplish the healing that was needed.

In junior high and high school it became terrifyingly real to me that I was probably gay, though I didn't know at the time if that was permanent or changeable. I won't go further with the story of my life...you get the idea. It was complicated and difficult, though with lots of really good things happening for me also. Christianity became important to me in my senior year of high school, and I think I've managed to become a follower of Jesus in a healthy way over the years. Overall, I consider myself fortunate in life.

I have been a collector of thoughts for a long time. Probably like you, some of what I've read has offered a great deal of insight toward growing to be a healthier and happier person. I decided to post this page on the web as a kind of garden where others could drop in, pick something to eat, and be the better for it. Though the material is from wide-ranging philosophies, a piece from a particular viewpoint does not mean that I adhere to that religion or philosophy as a whole. However, it does mean that I believe the article has something good to offer. A great deal of the material is about spirituality. I hope you enjoy it.

David Bissette

What if LOVE is the REAL CHOICE? This is a must read. It addresses suffering in a way that left me speechless.

Father Tim's sermon This is an excerpt from a delightful series of books by Jan Karon about an imaginary town called Mitford (modeled after Blowing Rock, NC). Through some very lovable characters the author skillfully portrays the lighthearted side of being a Christian. This is a sermon preached by the main character, an Episcopal priest named Father Tim, after a hurricane while on a temporary assignment to a church on the coast of North Carolina.

Prayer and Revival This article describes an amazing spiritual history of awakenings around the world.

My thoughts about homosexuality Because so many Christian groups malign gay people for being gay I wrote a website about the topic years ago. I recently updated and reposted the site, and this link is the entire website as a PDF. It's comprehensive and thought provoking. The site itself is at AboutHomosexuality.org.

The Four Stages of Spiritual Growth

Gender Formation—enlightening information regarding the nature of gender and transsexual and other gender matters

Authoritarianism, Social Dominance, and Prejudice

The Reunion  This is a very interesting account of a near death experience from someone in my field who presented it to a group of 15 therapists at a meeting in my office suite. It points to how much more there is beyond our day-to-day experience, including the afterlife. This talk stimulated my curiosity, and after hearing it I read about near death experiences a bit. I also heard another account in person from a physician who had one—it's a complicated topic.

Listing a book here doesn't mean that I think the author got everything "right" in the book, or that they didn't experience spiritual failures later in their life. I've read books where I think one chapter is amazing, and the next kinda weird. However, it does mean that the author made a significant contribution to my life in the book listed. For most of us our understanding of theology changes with time and experience. As we mature, that's probably a good thing.

Hinds Feet on High Places, by Hannah Hurnard. This relatively small book is devotional in nature, and is a classic about Christian growth that you will enjoy and probably try to get your friends to read. :)

The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer, contains a chapter about the nature of faith that is worth the price of the book all by itself.

The Healing Light and some of the other books by Agnes Sanford. The Healing Light can be found online as a free PDF file if you google "Healing Light Sandford PDF". Currently you can find a version that can be saved to your computer at: http://www.ezytough.com/The_Healing_Light.pdf

The Life of D.L. Moody by A.P. Fitt. Moody's home was in Northfield, MA, not far from where I lived for several years. Dwight Eisenhower was named after him. He was a remarkable person, and his contributions to Christianity in the U.S. and many nations cannot be overstated. Years ago there was a museum in his home which I visited when I attended a meeting there. It was fascinating to sit in his desk and thumb through his old dictionary and read a list of past famous Christian leaders who spoke behind the podium there.

The Spirituality of Imperfection by Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham. An intereting book about spirituality from the wisdom of AA using stories from all spiritual cultures. My Sunday School teacher said he hadn't underlined a book for 30 years, but while reading this he had to hunt for his highlighter. It is a delightful book and often profound--lots of short, often funny, very human stories.

At Home in Mitford and the other books in this series by Jan Karon. In this series I think I learned that if ones Christianity doesn't have some lightheartedness in it, something is wrong somewhere.

There Is Nothing Wrong with You: Going Beyond Self-Hate by Cheri Huber. This Buddhist author has some very useful ideas about how we think and act toward ourselves. Her ideas are simple, but very helpful. Available at Amazon.

Thoughts for a Healthy Mind

Bill's Prayer—a prayer that gives a lot of hope when things seem to be going wrong

The Touch of the Master's Hand—an old and classic poem about the worth and value of every living person

A brief biography of Agnes Sanford—a quite remarkable woman who came along at a unique time in Christianity. Her books have been very inspiring to me. She seems to have had one foot firmly planted in heaven, and the other equally firmly planted on earth. Her work involved both spiritual and physical healing, and her Christianity was gentle, but powerful. I had lunch with her son once, and he agreed that she was indeed a special person. This article lists all of her books.

Quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr.  I found these sayings online after a visit to Atlanta, where I was stirred by visiting the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial and its associated historic buildings operated by the U.S. National Parks Service.

Blog entries—the contents of a blog I wrote as part of my psychology practice from 2011 to 2016 (60+ postings).

A Firm Foundation

Summary of notes - updated weekly from previous course

Part 1 - Awakenings and Wesley

Reading: Intro & chapter 1 of text

Part 1: Awakenings and Wesley

Material from Adam Hamilton:

        Video about John Wesley (10 min)

        Blog on opposition to John Wesley

        Video about John Wesley's chair (1 min)

Part 2 - The Bible

Reading: Chapter 2

Part 2 notes

Part 3 - Grace and discipleship

Reading: Chapter 3

Part 3 notes

Part 4 - Early steps toward becoming a Christian

Reading: Chapters 4-5

Part 4 notes

Part 5 - About justification

Reading: Chapter 6

Part 5 notes

Part 6 - Our identity in God's family and Heart and life discipleship

Reading: Chapters 7-8

Part 6 notes

Part 7 - Our social faith

Reading: Chapter 9

Part 7 notes

Part 8 - Continuing to grow

Reading: Chapter 10

Part 8 notes

Suffering

All session notes and handouts in one file

Extra readings (two articles)

Session 1 - The Great Dilemma

Reading: Intro to text Where is God in All the Suffering?

Session notes

Session 2 - God and Tragedy

Reading: Chapters 1-3 of text

Reading: Why does God allow tragedy?

Session notes

       Quotes from Elisabeth Kübler Ross

Session 3 - God Uses Suffering for Good

Reading: Chapters 4-6 of text

Reading: What if LOVE is the REAL CHOICE?

Session notes

       AA slogans

       For your mirror

Session 4 - Our Response: Feeding Your Faith

Reading: Chapters 7-Conclusion of text

Session notes

        My wailing wall

Session 5 - Our Response: Fellowship and Self Care

Reading: James 1 and Romans 8

Session notes

       James 1 study page

       Romans 8 study page

       Creating Moments of Joy

       Bonus: Thoughts for a Healthy Mind