We've all heard the warning: if spouses aren't aligned on money, the marriage is headed for trouble. It's a valid concern, but it begs a deeper question—one I've unknowingly pursued for the past five years: Why are love and money so inextricably linked, far beyond mere practicality? On the surface, money seems essential for survival (though that "seems" is worth examining). When abundant, it sparks suspicion: Does my partner love me , or my resources? When scarce, it tests endurance: Can love survive financial strain, or does it hinge on skillful management? In either case, love becomes entangled with provision, turning intimacy into something transactional. For some, this entanglement runs deeper—love conditioned on compliance. "If you behave, I'll buy the toy." "If you align with my views, I'll provide." "If you surrender control, I'll secure your future." What begins as a parent's attempt to instill discipline o...

Recently, I came across some videos speaking of the years of prosperity and years of tribulation. Though not quite a prophecy forecasted by biblical verse, this idea stems from Genesis 41 where Joseph interprets the pharaoh's dream stating that Egypt would have 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine. Every interpretation I have heard regarding these prophecies speaks of wealth, food, and survival. But, what if our interpretation is off? I woke up the other night from a dream revealing a different perspective that had me feeling a little awed and discombobulated all at once.  What I was shown was that the years of "plenty" referred to that which we build up within ourselves. This can be anything - wealth, righteousness, faith, sin, hate, love, etc. In a sense, we are hoarding up things within, depending on our beliefs, motives, and desires. The years of being in "famine" then refer to those things we've been storing up being called to account. All w...

First a brief story in quotes: “I want to write a novel about Silence," he said; “the things people don’t say.” [Virginia Woolf, The Voyage Out] "So, the sounds emerging from us are ultimately a manifestation in our physical experience of the thoughts we are having. These thoughts are coded through symbols by way of our past experiences and memories. That coding is produced from something, for how else do we translate language into symbols? Therein lies the truth: we are the coding." [Jarrod Byrne Mayer, The Architecture of Sound and the Alchemy of Transcendence] "If you do not run your subconscious mind yourself, someone else will run it for you." [Florence Scovel Shinn, The Complete Works of Florence Scovel Shinn] “When you connect to the silence within you, that is when you can make sense of the disturbance going on around you.” [Stephen Richards] First off, if you want to read a story of sound and/or silence, I cannot say enough about J...