For Sunday November 26th, 2017

Hello everyone, the preciousness of life doesn't change. We can have good days and difficult times. We can have personal glory and be made to feel a fool. But the preciousness of life remains.

There is nowhere else to get this schooling, nowhere else to learn such lessons as come to us, nowhere else to apply ourselves to such grace as in these three dimensions.

Let us sit this Sunday with the awareness of where we are, of what we've been given, and of what we've been challenged with; to bring the beauty of heaven into this world.

Thank you to all who bring good news,

Richard

A Thanksgiving prayer from Stanley Peele

I hope Stanley doesn't mind but I couldn't find any better way of saying this:

 

 (Picture courtesy of Joe Riley)

THANKSGIVING PRAYER

Dear God, as we give thanks to you,

Let us allow Your Love

To enter in.

In this time of turmoil and fear,

Let peace enter deep within our souls;

And pardon all insults.

Insulate us from hate Completely.

Help us to go to that place of serenity

Where judgment cannot enter.

Let love shine from us

Like sparking dew in the morning sunshine.

Let this prayer for peace be done

Every morning, at every meal, and every night.

 And when walking, with every step.

So that,

When we pray for peace on earth, then,

As it is within, so shall it be without.

Stanley

.

__,_._,__

For Sunday November 19th, 2017

Hello everyone, the Civil Rights marches of the 1960s, the 1989 Tiananmen Square protest in Beijing, the Arab Spring, and today's flush of sexual predators can all be seen under the same heading. While there have been differing levels of success, each comes from the position of, "I ought not be treated this way."

As people on the foundational levels of society find their voices, as hearts are opened to the awareness of mistreatment, humanity moves forward. While we don't know the length or curvature of this road, its outcome is Oneness.

May we sit this evening for further travels. May we sit for the shortening of this road. May we open our hearts that Oneness may make itself known.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday November 12th, 2017

Hello everyone, a high school student once asked Mr. Rogers what the greatest event in American History was. He answered, "I suspect that like so many 'great' events, it was something very simple and very quiet with little or no fanfare (such as someone forgiving someone else for a deep hurt that eventually changed the course of history). The really important 'great' things are never center stage of life's dramas; they're always 'in the wings.' That's why it's so essential for us to be mindful of the humble and the deep rather than the flashy and the superficial."

This matches what is learned by Near Death Experiencers in their life reviews, that it's the small things that really matter over time.

May we sit this evening for the forgiveness and the grace from which may spring the humble and the deep.

Reverently submitted,

Richard

For Sunday November 5th, 2017

Hello everyone, in his work A New Peace Paradigm 

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author Paul K. Chapell says we humans are born with many spiritual and psychological cravings. These healthy and appropriate cravings can become twisted when entangled in the chaos of personal trauma. A few he mentions are:

The desire for purpose and meaning in one's life turns into meaninglessness and nihilism when entangled in trauma.

The need for nurturing relationships is reduced to mistrust due to trauma.

The desire for personal or artistic expression is shut down or expelled as rage by the effects of trauma.

And trauma turns the spiritual need for belonging into alienation.

These can be easy to see as we look out into the world. And, we may find some of them on the inside as well.

May we sit tonight in hopes of seeing where trauma may have twisted our own spiritual cravings and of finding where our kindness may help untwist some of the trauma of others.

Thank you all,

Richard