For Sunday, August 29th, 2010

Hello all, the political concept of creating a distraction, perhaps the perception of a common enemy, or enhancing an uncertain fear, in order to avoid focusing on more immediate problems while still gaining a political foothold, is not new. It has been practiced across the globe and through the years, often leading to holocaust, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. Crafted by a few, for their personal gain, the suffering is shared by millions.

 

This Sunday may we sit for those who craft such plans, for those willing to be swept up in the fervor, and for the innocent. May the Light come down upon them. May they seek a higher calling. May we see ourselves as one human family.

 

Thank you,

 

Richard

For Sunday, August 22nd, 2010

Hello all, have you seen the bumper stickers which spell 'coexistence' with religious symbols? In a dream last night those symbols were gladly annointing one another. How is this achieved in the physical world? Compassion in a common cause may be one way. This Sunday may our common cause be the plight of those caught in the flooding in Pakistan and the leaders who are involved in decision making around that event.

 

So, may we sit for human compassion, for all those who suffer, and for spiritual completion in the world as we join our hearts, as with the One.

 

Thank you,

 

Richard

For Sunday, August 15th, 2010

Hello all, my feeling is that the situation being played out around the Korean Peninsula is an ongoing thing which we may revisit many times. Let us sit once more for the Grace, the Beauty, the Love which is available from Above to come down upon those involved in the political posturing, financial finageling, and redundant rhetoric. May they listen within and hear a higher call, alliterative or otherwise.

Thank you,

Richard

For Sunday, August 8th, 2010

Hello all, I find I'm still concerned about the situation being played out around the Korean Peninsula. I would like to ask that we focus on the leaders, the decision makers, those whose plannings affect many. May they listen Above and may The Light come down within their reach.

 

Thank you,

 

Richard

For Sunday, August 1st, 2010

Hello all, a recent newspaper article brought my attention once again to the amount of saber-rattling occurring around the Korean peninsula. With each side taking a show-of-force stance there can little room left for exploring other options. Open mindedness is lost when the focus becomes a demonstration of resolve.

 

This Sunday may we sit for God's Light to come down on those involved in the situation. May we sit for Thy Will Be Done. May we sit for the highest and greatest good for all concerned.

 

Thank you,

 

Richard

For Sunday, July 25th, 2010

Hello all, there is an Edgar Cayce quote which goes something like this "There is so much good in the worst of us, and so much bad in the best of us, that we ought not judge anyone." I am inclined to extend this to include situations. It's easy to assume that when we are at our 'best ever goodness' there is still more purity and more beauty available, yet to be attained. Also, even in the most humanly tragic of times we may miss that which is being served, being attended to and toward completion.

Even with an intellectual understanding that life on this big blue marble, our Mother the Earth, is for learning and graduating beyond, we may still deal with our human sense of sadness and loss.

This Sunday may we sit for the grace, the courage, the insight which sustains us in difficult times. May dis-comforts and dis-ease be seen through the eyes of a Loving higher perspective.

Thank you,

Richard

For Sunday, July 18th, 2010

Hello all, the phrase "the teachers shall be known by the fruits of their labors" came to mind recently. It's useful when looking for gurus, mentors, helpers, like minded friends, and trusted acquaintances. But more personally, it's useful for checking our own efforts and progress.

The common human frailties of ego, fame, greed, and plain old showing off to impress someone, even internally showing off to impress ourselves, can be obstacles for us. When we reach out to help someone we can have many hidden agendas riding right alongside of the desire to be of assistance. The more pure our desires, the more altruistic, the more pure may be the assistance. Self-honesty is tantamount here, along with feedback from trusted friends.

When done right the process of recognizing our own frailties allows us to see those same frailties when present in others, and it allows us to see their true strengths as well, their inner beauty.

I've just realized that the acronym for 'fruits of our labors' is FOOL. While it's wonderful to be a fool in the world, let's not fool ourselves. This Sunday may we sit for that purity, that clarity which comes from Above when our humanness is not in the way.

Thank you,

Richard

For Sunday, July 11th, 2010

Hello all, I know of a couple in their late 80's, married for 60-some years, who live separate lives inside of the same house. Indelibly married, inexplicably split, they recycle their days and years with little growth. How their situation may fit into the vast karma and chaos of a grand overall plan is not for me to say. I will leave that to God, spirituality, and their individual life reviews.

However, the concept of 'learning from what I see' falls within my personal domain. What is my relationship to those closest to me? Those nearby? Those who share our house the Earth? My hope is to be loving and beneficial.

Doing so requires the excising of personal foibles, the internal growth of what is loving, and a beneficial balance between personal and outward care. This Sunday may we sit for that simple, complex beauty of actions, and their tightly linked attitudes, that are loving and beneficial to all.

Thank you,

Richard

For Sunday, July 4th, 2010

Hello all, this week I was stumped for what to write about until I saw the date. The celebrated anniversary of the birth of something new. Birth is to wrest ourselves from the usual and to launch into the unknown. Sometimes we go with guidance. Sometimes we just go.

This Sunday let's drop everything and "just go". Let's put our trust in providence that it'll all be here when we get back - and it'll all be right. For a simple twenty minutes, not very long in the course of a week, or a life, just let go.

Thank you,

Richard

"The Natural Soul" video trailer

Hello all, Barbara Whitfield has created a new trailer for her book "The Natural Soul". I enjoy her book deeply and recommend it easily. It provides an opportunity, warm encouragement, and a pathway to melt into your heart, into spirit, into something beyond comprehension.

You can find her video trailer here: http://barbara-whitfield.blogspot.com

Thank you,

Richard

For Sunday, June 27th, 2010

Hello all, if we look at the entire course of human history as if it were the life of a single individual we might see correlations in the growth of maturity. The millions of early known years could be seen as a childhood, where simply existing here was satisfactory and sufficient. The advent and growth of technology, from tools to metallurgy to steam to nuclear and communications, could be the teenage years where we have seen our strengths and realized we can change and adapt our environment to our desires, often without regard for consequences.

The next step, to the mature use of our strengths with restraint and consideration for others and the future, seems to be long in coming. If it's true that we stand teetering on the brink of our 21st birthday, balanced between single-minded selfishness and compassionate cooperation, perhaps it will take only a breeze to tip the scale, perhaps a gale.

This Sunday may we sit for that breeze, for the desire to conduct ourselves maturely, for the loving growth into spiritual adulthood.

Thank you,

Richard

For Sunday, June 20th, 2010

Hello all, Dr. Masaru Emoto is a Japanese Scientist who has done extensive research on how the energy of love changes the molecular structure of water at the quantum level.
You can check out his web sites: http://www.hado.net/ or www.masaru-emoto.net/english.

He has proposed a simple prayer for the Gulf of Mexico:
To whales, dolphins, manatees, pelicans, seagulls and all aquatic bird species, fishes, shellfish, planktons, corals, algae and all ion creatures in the Gulf of Mexico,

I am sorry.
Please forgive me.
Thank you.
I love you.

Unity Church of Venice, in Venice, Florida, is inviting Churches to gather their spiritual communities on Sunday, June 20, 2010 and surround the Gulf of Mexico waters in love and prayer at 3:00 pm Eastern time. I pass this on as an offer to join in the 3pm prayer and our own 9pm link-up as well.

Humbly offered,

Richard

For Sunday, June 13th, 2010

Hello all, as I understand it ship builders had fairly denuded European forests around the time of Columbus and his travels. The invention of steel ships, creosote to make railroad ties last longer, and the mining of coal for heating, took much of the burden off the forests of the New World.

The whaling industry started with off-shore jaunts of three weeks and became three to four year trips, searching for whales all over the world. By the mid 1800's the petroleum industry stepped in to replace an insatiable consumption of whale oil.

The advent of new technologies has fed our desire for consumption so often, in recent history, that it has become an expected promise. However, we live on a ball floating in space, with enormous distances between us and the next available thing to be consumed. Perhaps it would be wise to treat our resources, and indeed our home, with a bit more respect, or even reverence.

This Sunday may we sit for the care of Mother Earth, our home, our sustainer. May we treat what we find here kindly, lovingly, for ourselves and for those who come after us.

Thank you,

Richard