Anna Marie Martin

I am not going to touch this Viewpoints question with a 10-foot pole, except to quote from the Pilot of Firefly, one of my favorite TV shows of all time:

When I was at Union Theological Seminary, a fellow student of mine was a founder of a nonprofit, Educating for Justice, which pointed out the injustices at Nike factories in Third World countries. (You can see their documentary here.)

I admit I was ignorant up until then, that workers in Third World countries make the clothes and products we buy at cheap prices, in terrible, debilitating conditions, for pittance wages.

Stewardship is the maintenance and preservation of the gifts you have been given. Gifts in the broadest sense:  we are called to be good stewards of the universe we live in — which means we should advocate for the rights of the earth, the water, the creatures and wild animals and the people on earth.

I’ve had some great therapists over the years, and that’s almost reason enough to have endured the things that made me seek out therapy. One of my therapists said, “Where you feel anger towards another person, there is still a desire for a relationship. If there’s indifference, the relationship is done.”

This is a great question. There were lots of humbling experiences and spiritual lessons in 2012, not the least of which were "getting married," and "turning 40."  May I rephrase: The combination of turning 40 and then getting married, made it so clear to me that this life I have now, while, not necessarily the life I'd imagined for myself, is also real, and so beautiful.

If I wanted to make a resolution (and I do, but they don't usually keep the whole year), I would say: "discipline in prayer." So much of my spiritual life is, like the rest of my life, filled with chaos and unpredictability.

What a great question.

I think the world we live in is incredibly complex, and that it's possible for people to adhere to tenets from many religious traditions.