Faith in goodness leads to serenity, where peace with quiet flows. With faith I can cease being a hostage in the jail of fear and grief, and escape the prison of what went wrong.
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THOUGHTS FOR REFLECTION
1. Evolution is a law of life not just of biology.
2. Only the mystery is permanent. All other apparent permanence is illusion.
Yes, we all will one day die; but not even death can bury the love and peace we have shared. Our acts of kindness, strivings for justice, and practices of compassion are the eternal verities that give our life meaning and purpose, and will put our death in the context of a life that cannot be denied.
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1. Easter is the festival of the irrepressible God whom not even death can contain.
2. Most of us would prefer a cozy God to a God who shatters our complacency. Yet Easter is about a God who bursts tombs of the familiar, the ordinary and the mediocre.
Jesus was very clear in a variety of passages that if we want to experience this Realm of the Infinite Mystery or have a direct experience of the Divine Presence, we will need to reach out and take risks on behalf of those who suffer. “Pick up your cross if you want to follow me,” he was supposed to have said. So he talks about the Good Samaritan who risked his life to help the wounded Jew lying on the side of the road. He models with his own life a willingness to turn the tables in the Temple because of the unjust exchange rate the money changers were charging the poor Jews who had no perfect animal to sacrifice. He eventually showed us we should not even fear death when we are seeking justice for those who have no hope. And he went into Jerusalem to protest the injustices of the Roman and Priestly treatment of his people.
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There is no Easter without making one’s peace with the dead and with the forces of destruction that lurk within the human psyche.
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How do you account for / explain the different versions of the same event? To what extent does it matter in your understanding and experience of Jesus that the details that describe such a fundamental event in his life are not an agreed Gospel record across Mark, Matthew and Luke? Why did John ignore all the details of the baptism of Jesus?
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THEME The Vision that Transforms
THOUGHTS FOR REFLECTION
1. To see Christ in another human being is illumination. To see Christ in all human beings is transfiguration.
Visionary teacher Michael Bernard Beckwith delves deep into practical methods for manifesting prosperity and health, living a rich and fulfilling life, understanding universal laws and gaining greater self-awareness, courage, and self-reliance.
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When our spiritual journey is authentic, it opens us to a depth of wisdom we are unable to imagine when we take those first steps on the journey to a deeper life. I have learned that our individual spiritual journey is often very similar to those who walked the spiritual path ahead of us. Because of that simple reality, they have much to teach us if we are willing to empty our personal ego and listen to their wisdom with an open mind.
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“The nine Beatitudes reflect diverse parts of a harmonious unity which I endlessly reflect and touch each other as we go through our lives. At the very heart of Jesus’s teachings, their practice opens us to compassion. If we are able to place these on our hearts, walk with them on our feet, hold them in our hands, and seal them in our thoughts, we will have more insight along our journey. They will become our walking staff and guide for the arduous times we will face.
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1. I will live in the present moment. I will not obsess about the past or worry about the future.
2. I will cultivate the art of making connections. I will pay attention to how my life is intimately related to all life on the planet.
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The sheep were always docile—-not unlike my more conservative classmates who seemed intent on doing what was expected of them and following the rules. Compliant and openly accepting of church theology and doctrines, they seemed focused on being perfect Christian’s. Like the sheep from my homesteading days, compliance and obedience seemed to be important values for them. And being right often seemed more important to them than love and compassion.
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In the northern hemisphere, this solstice occurs during what is typically the coldest season of the year. Throughout history winter has been regarded as the season of hibernation, stillness, melancholy, famine, dormancy, darkness and cold. The symbolism of the winter solstice to-date represents the coming of lighter days and potentially elevated optimism, energy and hope.
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THEME: The Interplay Between the Inner and Outer Worlds. The Journey to the place where we once began
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If we allowed ourselves to meet God everywhere, each day would become a Christmas.
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This liturgy invites participants into a time of rest and reflection that counters the frenetic pace of the secular Christmas season.
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Christmas is a time to move into the world of
images and dreams, a time to allow the ‘make
believe’ happen. Let us be still and reflective.
