Tell us a story: praying outside the lines

Tell us about a time that you attended a ceremony for a religious or spiritual tradition other than your own.

Food

Are there any foods that you flat-out will not eat? Why don't you eat them? Is it because of allergies, religious restrictions, medical issues, or just because you don't like them? How has your life been affected by these "do not eat" foods?

This week's theme is food.

Your own personal deity

If you could choose one person, being, or animal to be your own personal guiding spirit, who or what would you choose?

This week's theme is a higher power.

The where and the when of Spirit

Do you feel your higher power or divine spirit all around you all the time, or only in certain places and particular times?

This week's theme is a higher power.

The many faces of God

How does your higher power appear to you? Young? Old? Male? Female? Strong? Brainy?

This week's theme is a higher power.

My invisible friend

When you were a child, did you sometimes feel you were being helped, or watched over, by an invisible presence? Did you think this was God, or something else? Did you have a name for this invisible presence? If you stopped experiencing this being, when did you stop, and why?

This week's theme is a higher power.

A higher power

Are you a religious person? Do you currently believe in God, some other god(s), or any deity or supernatural being?

This week's theme is a higher power.

Thou shalt not be evil

If you were going to start your own religion, what would be its fundamental principles and central beliefs?

This week's theme is "what if...?"

The official party line

Does most of your family subscribe to a similar belief system? Are there members who don't follow the same faith? Are they accepted, merely tolerated, or shunned by the rest?

This week's theme is family.

Arguing on the side of truth

Do you sometimes find yourself in sharp religious/spiritual/philosophical disagreement with someone who is entirely wrong in his/her position? Is this kind of disagreement between people inevitable?

Why do people sometimes actively propound ideas that they know are incomplete, misleading or entirely untrue? What can people gain by deliberately distorting or muddying the truth?

This week's theme is spiritual beliefs.

Learned and unlearned

What are some things religious leaders taught you that you later re-examined and rejected?

This week's theme is spiritual beliefs.

Please don't change my mind

Do you hold beliefs that you are simply unwilling to examine, because you wouldn't know what to do if they turned out to be incorrect?

This week's theme is spiritual beliefs.

The possible, and the impossible

What is an example of something in your spirituality or religion that you know for sure? What is something that you know is true, even though you may not be able to prove it to other people?

What is one spiritual or religious theory that you know is wrong, even though you never studied it in detail? What is one possibility that you know is impossible?

This week's theme is spiritual beliefs.

Spiritual beliefs

Whether or not you identify with any specific religion, you probably believe something about the world and your place in it. You might place your faith in a pantheon of deities, the small voice of inner wisdom that advises you when you most need it, or your own personal strength and will. This week, we'll look at your spiritual beliefs as first taught to you in childhood, and how they've developed as you've walked the path to your grown-up life.

What are your beliefs? What are they based on?

This week's theme is spiritual beliefs.

Believe It Or Not

Have you ever had your beliefs directly challenged, in a face-to-face confrontation with another person? How did you defend yourself?

Shaggy dogma

What is one element of your religious practice or religious dogma that you have found hard to swallow? If you don't follow any religious practice now, think of something from the religious practice of your childhood.