Roger K. Allen's Blog, page 23

Most People Want to go to Heaven, but They Don’t Want to Die to Get There

Most people want to go to heaven, they just don’t want to die to get there.  I chuckle every time I hear this phrase. We want the reward but fear the price.

This is in so many areas of life. For example, I may want:

to be lean and physically fit, but don’t want to eat a healthy diet or spend time in the gym; a better paying or more fulfilling job, but can’t motivate myself to get more training or education; a loving and satisfying marriage, but certain things about my partner make it hard;...

The Power of Deep Relaxation

Recently I began a serious practice of deep relaxation as part of my heart rehabilitation through the Dean Ornish Lifestyle Medicine program. I’ve followed other spiritual programs in the past including yoga, deep breathing, visualization, and some meditation but have not found the results to be as powerful as what I’m experiencing now. In part this is due to my commitment and consistent practice and in part due to the nature of deep relaxation.

My usual daily practice is a voice-guided, hou...

Give What Others Want Most

Cavett Robert, founder of the National Speakers Association, told a storyabout watching a young boy going door-to-door selling books. As the boy headed for his house he said to his wife, “Watch me teach this kid a lesson about selling. After all these years of writing books about communication, lecturing all over the country, I might as well share some of my wisdom with him. I don’t want to hurt his feelings, but I’ll get rid of him before he knows what’s happened.”

Mrs. Robert watched as t...

How to Handle Your Disappointments

I think of disappointment as a situation or event when reality does not match our hopes or expectations. It is when things don’t go as we’ve planned or at least would like them to go. It’s a common human experience. We’ve all been disappointed—lots.

For example I was disappointed to learn, recently, about my heart disease. But frankly, this is just one disappointment in my life. There are so many more—some daily disappointments which could be considered minor and other big disappointments th...

Coming to Grips with My New Reality Following My Angioplasty

Although India has been quite an emotional roller coaster during our last nine months, I never expected it to include a trip to an emergency room and four day stay in ICU.

I have been concerned for some time about pressure around my lower chest, shortness of breath, tiredness, even some hoarseness. So back in late June I visited a doctor who sent me for a series of tests.

Reports, here in India, are not sent to doctors but to a “report department” where they are given directly to patients. S...

Marriage-Turning Risk into Friendship

For many couples marriage is a difficult journey. Since the early 1970’s close to 50% of all marriages in America have ended in divorce. An even higher percentage of second marriages end in divorce. And many of those couples who stick it out express dissatisfaction and, at some point, seriously consider ending their relationship. Indeed, it has been said that marriage may be the most risky adventure routinely undertaken by the majority of people in our society today.

Some people see these nu...

Hiking as an Analogy to Life

My husband and I love to hike! We have recently been traveling to some of our National Parks to see the incredible scenery there. We live in beautiful Colorado, and the trees, shrubs and other vegetation at this elevation along the hiking trails here are not the same as we have experienced in Washington, Oregon and Tennessee. Wherever we hike, we’ve discovered that there are many “life lessons” that correlate to hiking. Here are a few I have noticed. Perhaps you can think of others.

Pick you...

The Real Reasons You Are Late (And What You Can Learn From It)

In my last blog post I wrote about people who are late. I want to continue exploring this theme today.

Of course, all of us are late sometimes. And some of us are late much or even most of the time. Although some may consider this to be a minor problem, I think it is significant, in part because we can learn a lot about ourselves by understanding some of the “reasons” we are late.

So here’s my list. Which fit you?

Lack of consequences. This is a big one. Most of the time there are no rewards...

Late Again–How do I Respond?

A number of weeks ago my wife and I arranged a meeting with the president of the local religious congregation we are serving. We were to meet at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon to plan some upcoming meetings with his presidency and other leaders of the congregation.

Wearrived at the church just before the appointed time and found we were first there. We opened the doors and waited. After a few minutes we decided to do something constructive and so went to work sweeping and dusting. We worked...

Bringing Love to This Holiday Season

This black and white sketch was drawn for us by Dave, a new friend in India. I love it. For Christians, it represents one of the most important events in history—the birth of the Christ child. But whether you are Christian or not the painting embodies the tender love of family—the sweet innocence and radiance of a newborn child; the pride and gentle affection of a mother; the strength and encircling protection of a father. Love is the magnet which magically draws them together.

Of course, su...