For Sunday January 7th, 2018

Hello everyone, Wendell Berry wrote, "When the people make dark the light within them, the world darkens." 

And here is a poem of his called The Peace of Wild Things

"When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free." - Wendell Berry

May we all find the peace of wild things, that we may light the world. 

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday December 31st, 2017

Hello everyone, the Oneness we seek is the ultimate connection. But our current social structure is rife with division, where cracks are often wedged into chasms and then hardened with angry rhetoric. 

People caught up in the recent floods and hurricanes react naturally by reaching out to each other, instinctively responding to an inner knowing of human connection. We need not wait for disasters to bring this out.

May we sit this evening for that knowing connection. May we step past our social/political thinking and find a deeper truth. May we take a step toward the Oneness we seek.

Thank you all,

Richard

Birthday of Mother Meera

Just a quick note to say that today, December 26th, is the birthday of Mother Meera who was born in 1960. She is one of humanity's spiritual anchors, currently living on Earth. 

For Sunday December 24th, 2017

Hello everyone, a lot has been said about the birth which will be celebrated tomorrow, and there's a lot more which can be said. For now, let's allow that the birth was meant to show us how to be, to show us the way Home.

May we sit this evening for that guiding Light. May our sight be clear. May our hearts be open. May our will be Thine.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday December 17th, 2017

Hello everyone, if we can indeed and truly release our fears and angers we'll find we have opened ourselves to another voice. With the circular chattering of the mind out of the way our hearts become free to speak, sometimes with surprising wisdom. 

It may require some effort over quite some time before finding a moment of peace. But from that peace can come a voice at once familiar, seemingly new, and greatly needed in this world.

May we sit this Sunday for that quieting of mind which allows so much more than thought could ever produce to come lovingly through.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday December 10th, 2017

Hello to all, the phrase, "I release my fears and angers, dear God," is deceptively simple. Looking honestly into it's depth you can find; a statement of intention, a declaration of personal purpose, a promise for the future, a petitioning of the Divine, an awareness of the foibles of the lower self, a desire to change, a love and prioritizing of the higher self, a vision of and commitment to a greater world, humility to let go of the familiar, courage to face the unknown, and faith in the power of connection to Universal Source.

Yet none of this is in the words but rather in yourself, in the honesty and depth of meaning you bring to the phrase.

May we sit this Sunday for that which is within our grasp, for that which we can control, that we may be the change we wish to see in the world. 

Thank you all,

Richard

Special Request for Tuesday December 5th, 2017

Hello everyone, Stanley Peele has asked that we honor a friend of ours who passed on this summer, after 101 exceptional years on Earth. Like all great teachers Vaughn Boone was a friend to all who met him, and an astonishing healer. I'd like to turn this Tuesday's meditation over to Stanley who has written the following:

Massive acts of violence are on the increase.  We can change this tendency if we respond to the violence by extinguishing the violence within ourselves.  Each time we exhibit kindness, each time we practice forgiveness, each time we pray for others – each of these acts will ricochet around the world.   And bring us peace.

 

Vaughn Boone lived the kind of life we aspire to – a dedication to love and peace.  His spirit will continue to have an effect on us. 

 

By taking time to honor him, we can renew our efforts to remove all feelings of hate from our hearts.   And replace them with love!!

 

Yes, acts of violence are present.  Yet, let's remember that acts of kindness and love are far, far more prevalent!

 

"I feel so thankful that God has provided such a way

By which we can rise above this house of clay

To experience in rarified realms beyond our dreams,

As we soar in endless space following His light beams."

 

Vaughn Boone

 

You are warmly invited to join a meditation to honor Vaughn Boone and to re-dedicate ourselves to the ideals he lived by.

 

This will occur on Tuesday, December 5, 2017 at 9 PM.  Each person can stay in their own homes or where ever they might be.  (No central gathering is planned at this time.)

For Sunday December 3rd, 2017

Hello everyone, comedy guru Swami Beyondananda talks about changing the world, "...when it comes to healing our lives - or the world - the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. The heartless minds that value money over all else have tried to convince us that their inhuman nature is our human nature. I say if we want the Golden Rule to overrule the rule of gold, we have to embody the heart core values of truth, beauty and goodness."

I don't know how to say it better. This Sunday may we sit to see ourselves clearly, laugh at what we find, and love beautifully.

Thank you all,

Richard

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