Late Teen Rebellion

I have been a stay at home mother for the last 23 years. I love my kids with a passion and want everything for them: health, happiness, love, success. Out of the 3, I have one child who is very rebellious and has acted out in ways the other 2 have not. He is an older teenager- he experiments with drugs, is arrogant , self centered and immature. When he is around us, he causes strife because he breaks rules of the household. My husband is apathetic and is tired of raising a rebellious kid. I feel guilty, but I am very anxious when he is home from college. He tells me I am a mean spirited person who doesn’t take him as he is. I am emotionally and physically exhausted and feel terrible about our relationship. Everyone tells me to “let go” but to me letting go means I don’t care anymore. Please advise.

The Paradox of Faith

Chelsea Clinton, raised Methodist, and Marc Mezvinsky, Jewish, will wed this weekend. Statistics show that 37 percent of Americans have a spouse of a different faith. Statistics also show that couples in interfaith marriages are “three times more likely to be divorced or separated than those who were in same-religion marriages.” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/04/AR2010060402011.html) Is interfaith marriage good for American society? Is it good for religion? What is lost -and gained -when religious people intermarry?

Traditionally the various faiths of the world have been suspicious of each other, so it’s not really a surprise that interfaith marriages have high divorce rates. Just because you love someone doesn’t mean that you don’t harbor distrust at some level, in a secret compartment of the heart. If your family has conditioned you to believe that yours is the only true faith, a second element is added. Who wants to sacrifice part of themselves to please another person? When parents advise their children not to marry outside the faith, they aren’t passing on wisdom; more likely they are reminding their children not to stray from us-versus-them thinking. (more…)

The Year 2012

I am very concerned of how our future will be affected in 2012 and the welfare of the world as a result. I am very aware of laws of Karma and the power of belief, especially collective belief, which leads me to my concerns and my questions. Which I would love your perspective, for I greatly respect your wisdom.

With all the negative collective beliefs for thousands of years on Armageddon /the end of days, the coming of the messiah, and the more recent, negative media focus on the Mayan predictions and changes to our planet’s climate, not to mention the accumulation of negative karmic actions (i.e. war.) Will this cause a catastrophic outcome? And if so, can we circumvent this? If so how? Would pouring out massive amounts of positive collective belief energy help to change the future?
What is your over all opinion of what may happen in 2012?