For Sunday October 27th, 2019

Hello to everyone, as long as a sense of separation remains within us we will continue to have the problems we now face in the world. There is a deep 'knowing' available, to all of us, of the interconnectedness of all people. It is our long-prophesied hope.

Practicing forgiveness, compassion, and gratitude brings us closer to knowing that connection.

May we sit this evening for the fullness for which our hearts yearn. May our many connections become clear to us. May Divine Will be done.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday October 20th, 2019

Hello to all, history shows that humanity is moving away from the acquisition and application of external power – from the divine right of kings, to the signing of the Magna Carta, to the end of slavery, to suffragettes, to civil rights, to Tiananmen Square, to the Arab Spring; and toward the authentic power of the heart, with the acknowledgement of the sacredness of human life. 

There are still hold-outs, desperately clinging to money, political influence, and military might. But the arc of history will complete itself. The human heart will shine through because compassion is not a luxury, it is a necessity for life. Compassion may well begin from pain, but achieves its fullness in joy.

May we sit this Sunday the 20th for the opportunity to engage compassionately with others. May we bring forth the best of our hearts - to someday arrive at joy.

Thank you,

Richard

For Sunday October 13th, 2019

Hello everyone, it is possible to love someone who is in a state of fear, and if they are angry. It's even possible to love someone despite whatever 'wrongs' they may have committed.

Doing so can be called the beginnings of unconditional love, reaching out to others. It's also essential to do so for ourselves. 

The self-honesty which brings an awareness of our own internal difficulties is also a loving doorway for viewing the same difficulties in others. Then the forgiveness we wish for ourselves, once given, can be extended.

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

Thank you all,

Richard

Re: For Sunday October 6th, 2019

Hello to all, the following quote was written in 1921, after WWI; published in 1946, after WWII; and still holds true today:
"The world has not been prepared to accept or even comprehend the new cosmology until now... The world needed to suffer to in order to understand the simplest of universal principles, the unity of man with man and with God. The world of men had to reap the harvest of its seeds of hate, selfishness, and greed it had been sowing for centuries. It had to reap this harvest in order to learn that universal law is inevitable and inescapable."

So we are teaching ourselves, apparently through the process of elimination, that nothing else works.

May we sit this Sunday for what is variously known as Universal Law, Ultimate Truth, connection to Source, the One way, Oneness, and many other cultural names. May we connect within ourselves. May we bring it forth on Earth.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday September 29th, 2019

Hello to everyone, no kindness is ever wasted however small it may be. Even the effect of a simple honest smile, given once, lives on within who is smiled at. 

Imagine for a moment a straight line running from now into the distant future. Now imagine another line starting from exact the same place but angled just a tiny bit, only a fraction of a degree. In the years of our lives the final outcome of those two lines can be far, far apart. 

That's what a simple honest smile can do over the course of a lifetime. You don't know until the end how much change you've actually made with it. 

May we sit this Sunday for the smiles we give and share, for laughter which may come, and for the tender lives we touch in loving ways. 

Thank you, 

Richard

For Sunday September 22nd, 2019

Hello to everyone, weather intensity is increasing around the globe and lava has erupted in urban areas of Hawaii. Is this only a scientific phenomenon or is Gaia trying to scratch an itch?

The phrase 'minimum level of spiritual glue' refers to the lowest amount of human compassion required to keep the planet operating smoothly. If we see Earth as a living thing, capable of experiencing a degree of irritation; and we see human compassion as a healing force – then we have a responsibility in this world.
Prior generations may have described this concept as 'punishment or reward from God' but a more enlightened view carries less victimship and more of a call to action. 

May we sit this evening for the value of honest, heart-felt compassion.  May we see the lost souls of the world as brothers and sisters. May we be the Light we were born to be. 

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday September 15th, 2019

Hello everyone, a sebaceous cyst can be growing beneath the surface of skin without causing discomfort. It can grow quite large before some discomfort is noticed. It's when the cyst begins spewing it's contents that it really gets attention. Ironically, this messiness is an essential piece of the healing process.

A similar healing process may be at work in our society today. We are seeing a lot of messy, disgusting spew-age as old angers, frustrations, and biases are brought to the surface and being exposed. 

Our job is to acknowledge the expression and be the anti-biotic. We won't be able to 'Pollyanna' our way out of this. It will take work as our own angers, frustrations, and biases are triggered. Again, we must acknowledge the process and apply the anti-biotic of self-honesty and spiritual growth. 

May we sit tonight for the strength and courage to face others gracefully. May we face our own shortcomings gracefully. May Grace be attained and endure.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday September 8th, 2019

Hello to everyone, Confucius said:
If your plan is for 1 year, plant rice.
If your plan is for 10 years, plant trees.
If your plan is for 100 years – educate children.

To look at this in spiritual terms we must look deeper and deeper into what spirituality actually is. We may well know that the standard 'church' model of God being a punisher is insufficient. And, that's it's all to easy to become fascinated with the 'gee-whiz' of psychic phenomena. In truth, the closer you move toward pure spirituality the closer you are to loving unconditionally. This is what we must bring to all we touch.

May we sit this evening to set aside the myriad distractions of life. May quietness come to us. May love grow.

Namaste`,

Richard

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