For Sunday September 1st, 2019

Hello everyone, it is possible to love a spiritually lost perpetrator of dis-ease, someone who lives in a state of fear and anger. It's even possible to love someone if they have hurt you personally. Doing so is an essential step toward unconditional love, loving outwardly to others. 

And, it's essential to do the same for ourselves.

The self-honesty which brings an awareness of our own internal difficulties is also an invitation to love others despite their human frailties. The forgiveness we wish for ourselves can be extended from us to all others.

May we sit this evening for our own forgiveness. May we extend it to all of humanity. May we begin to touch upon Unconditional Love.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday August 25th, 2019

Hello to all, the Dalai Lama tells us that our enemies are our greatest teachers because they show us the places where we are less than loving. We do not have to agree with nor approve of their words and actions, but an understanding of Oneness propels us to view them spiritually. 

In this way we can pray for them. In this way we can see them as part of the entirety. In the way of 'the last shall be first and the first shall be last' we can see them equally. 

Thank you,

Richard

For Sunday August 11th, 2019

Hello everyone, a belief in the use of external power and an imagined sense of superiority are a dangerous combination. It can lead a lost soul to commit horrid crimes against their fellow human beings. On the other hand, one of the guidelines for discerning the depth of spirituality in a life is how satisfied and content the person is.

How we view horrid crimes tells us something about ourselves. Does our initial anger and outrage dissolve into prayers for the victims, quite naturally, but also for the lost souls who perpetrate such things?

The biblical phrase 'the first shall be last and the last shall be first' can be seen to indicate that in the realms outside of time everyone will return 'home' in the same moment.

May we sit this Sunday for the perspective that we're all in this together, that whatever happens to a single person also happens to all humanity, that whatever is expressed by a single person also comes from all of humanity. Ho'oponopono.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday August 4th, 2019

Hello to everyone, self-awareness is a difficult and often painful path. Our inner conflicts can be embarrassing to discover, to uncover, and to share. One way of avoiding this inner and seemingly torment filled route is to follow some image of authority, by relinquishing our necessary and challenging inner work to follow preset rules we trade true happiness for temporary comfort.

But authority creates power which corrupts the leader and blinds the follower. It leads us away from the matter of our inner issues and gives a balm which fades over time.

May we sit this Sunday for the courage to dig in. May we see ourselves clearly and lovingly. May such love fully 'be' on this Earth.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday July 28th, 2019

Hello to everyone, many generations ago a Chinese sage named Chaung Chou dreamed he was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes fully a butterfly. He was conscious only of his happiness as a butterfly, unaware that he was Chou. After awakening there he was, fully himself again. At that point he did not know whether he was then a man who had dreamed he was a butterfly, or whether he was then a butterfly dreaming of being a man.

In this life we often find it difficult to understand the thinking and opinions of other people. Yet here is anecdotal evidence of fully becoming a completely different species. Perhaps this indicates the level of connection which actually exists in the our world, but we typically fail to attain.

May we sit this evening with awareness of a grand underlying connection. May we see how we block ourselves in, holding ourselves away from each other. May we open ourselves to the foundation of our universe.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday July 21st, 2019

Hello everyone, 'the overview effect' is NASA's name to describe the cognitive awareness change that many astronauts have experienced. 

"It is the experience of seeing firsthand the reality of the Earth in space, which is immediately understood to be a tiny, fragile ball of life, "hanging in the void", shielded and nourished by a paper-thin atmosphere. From space, national boundaries vanish, the conflicts that divide people become less important, and the need to create a planetary society with the united will to protect this "pale blue dot" becomes both obvious and imperative."

"It's hard to explain how amazing and magical this experience is. First of all, there's the astounding beauty and diversity of the planet itself, scrolling across your view at what appears to be a smooth, stately pace... I'm happy to report that no amount of prior study or training can fully prepare anybody for the awe and wonder this inspires." ~Kathryn D, NASA Astronaut (cited in Robinson et al., 2013, p.81)

"The thing that really surprised me was that it [Earth] projected an air of fragility. And why, I don't know. I don't know to this day. I had a feeling it's tiny, it's shiny, it's beautiful, it's home, and it's fragile."
— Michael Collins, Apollo 11

"If somebody'd said before the flight, 'Are you going to get carried away looking at the earth from the moon?' I would have say [sic], 'No, no way.' But yet when I first looked back at the Earth, standing on the moon, I cried." ~Alan Shepard, NASA Astronaut (cited in Nardo, 2014, p. 46)

Let us sit this Sunday for the beauty we all can experience when we are open.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday July 14th, 2019

Hello to everyone, the truth of unconditional love lives within us – we have covered it over with self-based biases, judgements, and attachments – but it is the unmistakable core of our being.

Returning to that core is essential, the Earth and humanity depend upon it.

May we sit this evening for even a glimpse of our cores. May we share the good we find. May we be a benefit to all by our very existence.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday June 7th, 2019

Hello to all, Loreena McKennitt's version of the ancient song Bonny Portmore is a cry for ecological wisdom.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hleg0nrh4x8
It tells of the selling off of all the trees on the 'bonny' isle of Portmore to England's shipping industry, and the deep sadness of that choice. 

As we can see in our own time, the headlong rush toward money and commerce can have irreversible effects.

May we sit for wisdom on Sunday night. May we find the strength and the courage to act with compassion. May the greater 'we' learn this lesson well.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday June 30th, 2019

Hello everyone, in this time of social and political discord it is well to maintain a greater perspective. All trees are different yet they work together to feed and protect each other, because nature is based on cooperation.

The essentials of life are the same all over; food, shelter, love, respect. To withhold these is to deny a natural order. 

May we sit this evening for the inner Light which illuminates our steps. May we have the courage to follow. May our choices be our blessings to the world.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday June 23rd. 2019

Hello all, the term 'coddiwomple' means to travel purposely toward an unknown destination, to embark on a journey without being sure of its end. We are told our spiritual journey is toward Oneness. But, not having been there we travel on faith. The future holds whatever it may hold and on we go.

May we sit this Sunday for the willingness to travel when our steps are unclear. May we be guided from our hearts, no matter how little we can see. May little beauties give us strength to move on to the greater Beauty beyond.

Thank you,

Richard

For Sunday June 16th, 2019

Hello everyone, when there is dissension within a family group it's the overall greater family love which keeps the difficulties from going a step too far, from breaking the bonds of the family. In 1861 the difficulties overwhelmed the love of family, and of country. The bonds were broken and war occurred.

What bonds need nurturing today?

May we sit for bonding that may occur when people are open. May we sit for bonding that can still be made with those who are un-ready to listen. May we strengthen the bonds we already have.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday June 9th, 2019

Hello to all, those whose desire is to love outwardly may well find the turmoil of the outward world distressing. Those who cling to external power as a way of fulfilling selfish desires have yet to learn a simple truth – the fruits of the spirit never spoil because love is the only true power.

Loving kindness, compassion, and harmlessness will secure the future for us all.

May we sit this evening for the personal strength and courage to be good shepherds during this spiritual transition.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday May 2nd, 2019

Hello everyone, to purposely choose someone who has done you harm, who has wronged you in some manner, and then decide to love them anyway, is to take a step toward Unconditional Love.

You cannot know the beauty that comes from such a decision without experiencing it first hand. To deeply, honestly, actively be loving to them is to bring a bit of God to Earth.

May we sit for the forgiveness which allows such love. May we forgive ourselves for any time we may have missed the mark in the past. May we love each other as ourselves.

Thank you all,

Richard