For Sunday August 28th, 2016

Hello everyone, it has often been said that extreme times call for extreme measures. Or stated in other words, the more intense the difficulty we find ourselves facing, the more intently we must search for a loving response. Whether we're staring at an unwanted election outcome or a life-changing medical issue, our spiritual responsibility is to respond from an honestly loving intention. 

To do so requires a deep self-honesty and a true compassion for others. The ability to love outwardly - no matter what - rather than become absorbed in and distracted by our own internal processes is essential.

May we sit this Sunday for the strength and courage to see our own frailties clearly, and set them aside. May we sit for the ability to focus intently on the depth of compassion, and allow its true expression. May we ask that Divine will be done within us and outside of us. And may we find the Grace which carries us through.

Reverently submitted,

Richard

For Sunday August 21st, 2016

Hello everyone, watching people as we approach our national election we find anger, mean spirited humor, unyielding beliefs and attitudes, and massive mistrust. Not only would this election benefit from media literacy that we may see through the numerous spin tactics in use but it also cries out for the ancient phrase "Blessed are the Peacemakers."

Those who speak quietly, who search for wisdom, who see a human family artificially divided by itself are too often lost in the din of rolling, tumbling, ambitious political rancor. 

May we sit this Sunday for the peacemakers. May we give them our hearts. May we give them our time. May we find them to be ourselves.

As Above, So Below,

Richard

For Sunday August 14th, 2016

Hello everyone, all of our lives, the difficulties, the wonderfulness, the chaos, the charming, every minute and second of our lifetime is intended to be a pathway toward rediscovering the truth of Love and the beauty of our spiritual origin.

May we sit this Sunday the 14th for ourselves. May we find our inner beauty. May we connect with our Source. May Divine will be done within.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday August 7th, 2016

Hello to everyone, as has been taught for thousands of years, this life is a temporary flickering image, a thin shadow of a far greater reality. What are casually sown seeds in this life become a harvest of intensity later on. As we watch political dramas unfold we can see that those who strive for tremendous responsibility are often the least aware of this lesson.

May we sit this Sunday for their hearts to open beyond the distractions of their positions. May they see a greater plan at work. May their Divine connections be strengthened, and ours as well.

Thank you,

Richard

For Sunday July 31st, 2016

Hello everyone, here's a quote from Edgar Cayce - "Unless each soul entity makes the world better, that corner or place of the world a little better, a little bit more hopeful, a little bit more patient, showing a little more of brotherly love, a little more of kindness, a little more of long suffering – by the very words and deeds of the entity, the life is a failure; especially so far as growth is concerned. Though you gain the whole world, how little ye must think of thyself if ye lose the purpose for which the soul entered this particular sojourn."

May we sit for the honest exploration of ourselves and our motives in our lives. May we sit for the betterment of ourselves. May we sit for the betterment of all with whom we interact. 

Thank you,

Richard

For Sunday July 24th, 2016

Hello everyone, political seasons have a tendency to lean our society toward being drunk on emotion. In our desire to possess and control political outcomes maturity and balance, i.e. humility, the key to emotional sobriety, gets lost.

So our current situation is to be drowning in information, gorging on emotional rhetoric – and starving for wisdom.

Therefore, may we sit this evening for what may be termed as 'love outgoing' or 'loving outwardly' no matter what the end result may be. May we petition God for divine guidance. May divine will be done for all.

Humbly thankful for each of you,

Richard

Addendum for Sunday July 17th, 2016

Hello everyone, it seems one doesn't know in which direction to pray sometimes, with a political convention coming up and shootings happening at an alarming rate. Still, cry if you must - then pray - then act, as in the ancient decree, "Love one another." 

In difficult times can you find the true depth of, "Be the change you want to see in the world"?

In Reverence,

Richard

Lifetime happiness, a TEDx talk

Hello all, Barbara Whitfield just sent this out and I thought I'd pass it along. I found it quite beautiful.

https://youtu.be/8KkKuTCFvzI

For Sunday July 17th, 2016

Hello everyone, the recent killings of black people at traffic stops; white cops at a peaceful march; and party-goers in Nice, France bring to mind a comment from Tom Sawyer, who was the inspiration for this list. He had been talking about a book, "The Works of Invisible Helpers" by Amber Marie Tuttle. The book details incidences of disembodied entities, or invisible helpers as she calls them, coming to the aid of living humans. 

The psychic interventions she describes by these invisible helpers are surprising, loving and numerous. If you read the book you need to make some concessions for her rural, agrarian background but Tom validated the instances and championed her loving, sensitive abilities. 

So where's the connection? After a lengthy talk about the book Tom gave one last, brief comment, "Now is the time for 'visible helpers' to be at work."

The implication being; there are people living today who have the potential to do the same work. 

May we sit this Sunday for Nothing. May we release all thoughts, emotions, reactions, and beliefs. May we simply Be. And may God's will be done.

Thank you,

Richard

For Sunday July10th, 2016

Hello everyone, while overall violence in the world has decreased, awareness of and outrage over violence has increased. It may be that we are slowly, quietly becoming more peaceful and tolerant, which makes the violence feel more distressing than it used to. 

Meanwhile, media has found there's a lot of money to be made in sensationalism and constantly throwing events up for exposure. Are we outraged, distressed, and saddened over events? Certainly. But we ought not give up on ourselves as a community of humans.

As the mother of children's television icon Mr. Rogers told him when he was a child himself, "Whenever something bad happens - look for the helpers." Sadly, there are lost souls who commit terrible things but, beautifully, there are many, many more who are helpers who jump in to assist. They are the true measure of humanity.

May we sit this Sunday in appreciation for the helpers. May we give love to those who are lost. May all come together as One.

Reverently submitted,

Richard

For Sunday July 3rd, 2016

Hello everyone, as has been said many times - we are powerful beings. A desire of knowledge inherently creates its own vortex and therefore becomes whatever it is which fulfills the desire. 

Today, much of humanity is deeply involved with material desires. And, since the universe obliges selfish desires as easily as it does spiritual ones, and we carry the responsibility for them, it behooves us to view our desires with great wisdom. 

May we sit this Sunday for that quiet little voice of truth which speaks within. May we discern our innermost desires. May we find them to be aligned with the highest good for all.

Thank you,

Richard

For Sunday June 26th, 2016

Hello everyone, as humans we have many distractions which pull us away from a spiritual path. We divide ourselves up through any number of arbitrary walls, from economics to geography to skin coloring and more. Yet the return path is always the same, through the compassion of "Namaste."

May we sit this evening for the deepest meaning of Namaste which we can attain. As each of us is a tiny piece of the whole, so also can the entire whole be seen in any one of us. 

Thank you,

Richard

For Sunday June 19th, 2016

Hello everyone, tragedies are often stern teachers. The recent events in Florida come under this heading. Following a tragedy there is typically an outpouring of compassion; a cleansing of the separations and divisions which we so easily fall prey to. This can be seen in the one-mile-long waiting line outside of a blood donation center. People stood in that line, in the Florida heat, for up to 6 hours while others began an impromptu support mission of bringing them food, water, and umbrellas for shade. 

This is a truth of the human condition; while only one lost soul caused the tragedy, hundreds if not thousands interrupted their daily lives to step up, come together, and contribute something from their own innate compassion.

And, in a sad demonstration of another side of the human condition, our leading politicians used it as an opportunity to separate themselves from each other, attack their opponents, and promote their own agendas.

"God enters our lives through the wounds in our hearts." 

May we sit this Sunday that we may respond spiritually to the tiniest of wounds; that we may not purposely cause wounds; that we may all come together.  

Thank you,

Richard