For Sunday July 31st, 2022

Hello, and a gracious good day to all of you. As we sit in meditation we may wonder what we're trying for. There are various explanations ranging from 'watch your breath' to 'don't fall asleep.' About our desire to quiet the mind J. Krishnamurti writes, "Meditation is the understanding of desire, not the overcoming of one desire by another." Food for thought right there, eh?

But an anonymous 14th century mystic explains that ordinary thoughts and earthly concepts must be buried beneath a "cloud of forgetting," while our love must rise toward a God hidden in the "cloud of unknowing." The idea that we must peer through a "cloud of unknowing" in order to more fully connect with our Source seems appropriate and relatable.

May we sit this evening with the awareness of this cloud and the need to peer through it. May our progress be well-suited to our lives. May the world benefit.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday July 24th, 2022

Hello all, the writer Martha Beck has mentioned the phrase 'extinction burst' in her blog <https://marthabeck.com/2022/07/outlasting-the-extinction-burst/>
It details how when previously learned behaviors no longer provide the expected rewards they can intensify before finally ending, much like a child's tantrum.

As the world moves toward the authentic power of the heart and people realize their own sacredness, as well as of the Earth, it frustrates those who seek to serve themselves through external power; financial, military, political, psychological. They may increasingly employ the old patterns of external power to achieve their goals in a classic extinction burst. Ms. Beck suggests that we have to outlast them. We do so by holding our center, being compassionate and observant.

 
May we sit this Sunday evening in our loving selves, compassionate, observant, engaged but not enraged. May we hold a steady love amongst the storm. May the future be held in all our hearts.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday July 17th, 2022

Hello and a gracious good day to all, we're told by many sources that we must love God with all our heart and soul. And, since God is One, everything which exists materially, from the tiniest subatomic particles to the farthest galaxies, and even our favorite belly button lint, is an expression of God. This brings up the question from the song, "What if God were one of us?"

Recognizing the heady thrill of our human tendency for judgement, can we really, even if only for a moment, love all? It could be life-changing.

May we sit this evening to drop all judgements in favor of love. May we take a look beyond ourselves – and truly see us.

Thank you all,

Richard

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USR3bX_PtU4 

For Sunday July 10th, 2022

Hello to all, as we navigate the currents of life, the storms and the tides, remember to bring forth the pearls.

 
We may find ourselves easily buffeted by the political and social upheavals of our time, as well as personal trials and tribulations. But if we peer clearly into our calmer depths, we can find beauty growing amongst the weeds.

This evening may we find some calm, ask the Benevolent Universe for guidance, and see what comes into view. Perhaps it will be a thing of great value.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday July 3, 2022

Hello everyone, we clearly face myriad political, financial, and environmental challenges in this life. The solutions to all of these share a common facet – compassion – as in 'what is best for all concerned?'

We can't all have every solution but we can ask, "How would I live if I was exactly what was needed to heal the world?" This brings the personal responsibility for being loving right up front.

 
For this evening let us focus on that which is available to us all, being loving. May we take on the challenge of loving everyone we meet, if only for one hour, or one day. Releasing our typical judgments, we may simply love them as they are, knowing they are on their path, as we are.

Xapis,

Richard

For Sunday June 26th, 2022

Hello everyone, in these few days when five visible planets are aligned in the sky, science tells us that all the planets, stars, and galaxies are in their exact positions because all of the others are in their own exact positions. It is the great harmony of nature, the great balance inherent within Universal Consciousness.

Humans, having been given free will, can separate ourselves from Universal Consciousness, draw ourselves out of balance with a love of power, wealth, and the various attractions of the material world.

Yet the connection to Universal Consciousness still exists. It can be found in an appreciation of nature, the laughter of a child, and in meditation.

May we sit this evening for our own connection. May we find our internal balance. May we 'set things right' within our own hearts.

Thank you all,

Richard

For Sunday June 19th, 2022

Hello and Happy Father's Day to all, J. Krishnamurti chides us that if we truly knew the depth of karma, that what we sow we will reap, we wouldn't tolerate for a single second the ugliness within our own hearts and minds. We would instantly drop it. Not practice dropping it. Not try to quit. But instantly drop it all.

 
So a fuller grasping of karma is essential.

 
May we sit this evening for total forgiveness, of others, of ourselves, even of God if needed. It is the only way forward.

Thank you and Bless you all,

Richard

For Sunday June 12th, 2022

Hello and a graciously summery good day to all. Kahlil Gibran's poem The River Cannot Go Back speaks to the human fear of death:

It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.
She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.
And in front of her, she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter there seems nothing more than to disappear
forever.
But there is no other way.
The river can not go back.
Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.
The river needs to take the risk of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that's where the river will know
it's not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.

It also emphasizes what the ancient prophets tell us about meditation; in the deepest and most loving union, far from losing ourselves, we discover our deepest selves at the core of our being.

May we sit this evening for the 'becoming' which we are promised, finding our deepest selves, and fulfilling our journeys.

Thank you,

Richard

For Sunday June 5th, 2022

Hello to all and sundry, I don't know who the author of this is:

Dear God,
Let me be the pen that you use to write the beautiful stories that touch the hearts of my brothers and sisters and guide them on the path,
the brush that you use to paint the grand canvas of nature, or a flower like a rose with a scent that reminds everyone of their source,
a note in the sound of creation, a single note that will vibrate in the ears and bring to the soul memories of heaven,
a simple word, which once heard reveals Your presence and can never be forgotten,
a spark of love that will create friendship between all men and women,
a point of light somewhere in the universe that will shine for eternity and bring hope to someone in the dark,
God I release myself to Your hands to be the instrument of Your plan.

May we apply ourselves in kind.

Thank you all,

Richard

Bishop Desmond Tutu & His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama

Hello everyone, if you're interested, I'm hoping you'll be able to open this. It's a film of the last meeting of these two spiritual giants, inspired by the book The Book of Joy. 

Enjoy

https://www.facebook.com/missionjoyfilm/videos/796885237968544/?notif_id=1654214664928337&notif_t=live_video_schedule_viewer&ref=notif

Connection...

Hello all, this just popped up for me. It's completely out of season but speaks to the sense of connection we all need in these times. When the time is right, you might have some friends quietly hum Silent Night as you read the words out loud. 

Bless you all,

Richard

Christmas Evening, by Paul Stookey

And it came to pass on a Christmas evening
While all the doors were shuttered tight
Outside standing, a lonely boy-child
Cold and shivering in the night.

On the street every window
Save but one was gleaming bright
And to this window walked the boy-child
Peeking in saw candlelight.

Through other windows he had looked at turkeys
Ducks and geese and cherry pies
But through this window saw a gray-haired lady
Table bare and tears in her eyes.

Into his coat reached the boy-child
Knowing well there was little there
He took from his pocket his own Christmas dinner
A bit of cheese, some bread to share.

His outstretched hands held the food and they trembled
As the door it opened wide
Said he "Would you share with me Christmas dinner?"
And gently said she "Come inside."

The gray-haired lady brought forth to the table
Some glasses two and her last drop of wine
Said she "Here's a toast to everyone's Christmas,
And especially yours and mine!"

And it came to pass on that Christmas evening
While all the doors were shuttered tight
That in that town the happiest Christmas
Was shared by candlelight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLrKJH-ACas  

For Sunday May 29th, 2022

Hello all, Tom Sawyer once asked, "Where do you use a flashlight?" The answer is of course, "You use it in a place which needs more light." So here we are, stuck between the material world, that great amorphous cloud of what we know, and spirituality, that grand mysterious cloud of the unknown. Our job is to take what we do know of spirituality on one hand, and bring it into the material world on the other hand – cloud to cloud lightning so to speak.

We've been born into this time and location for exactly that purpose, willing to take on the chaotic, tumbling storm of life in hopes of bringing light.

May we be willing to accept our fears, frustrations, and frailties as the price of admission. We need only to realize the difficulties we all face and smile honestly at least, and sometimes that's the best.

 
Thank you all,

Richard

Prayer Request for May 25th, 2022

Hello and a huge, tearful hug to all of you. It's been 23 years and 554 dead children since the first school shooting in Columbine HS. How much can anyone's heart break? What might open people's hearts if not the unneeded deaths of innocent children?
Throughout all of it I've heard from my own relatives, who I know to otherwise be good decent people, the parroting of the cold, self-serving comments of some politicians. 

Nothing that has happened, nothing I've ever said, has ever gotten through. It can be so incredibly difficult to bring someone to their own heart.

But we try.

 
The world depends upon getting people out of their heads and into their hearts, and we keep being presented with opportunities, more and more horrible as we go along.
May we find some time to pray that God's will be done, for the children, for their families, for all who are lost.

Thank you all,

Richard