Portland Center for Spiritual Living Podcast

The Lakota People, as well as other Indigenous Peoples, celebrate Sun Dance during the hot summer months. It is a profoundly sacred time of prayer, community, and healing. In honor of Sun Dance, Rev. Bridget shares what she has learned from Lakota elders about prayer, generosity, respect, wisdom, and humor.

It’s so easy, isn’t it? We all do it – judge others for actions we believe are wrong. Sometimes we simply cannot imagine any circumstance under which the action taken could ever be the right thing to do; it’s wrong, period, end of story. But, what if there really is more to the story?

Joy simply IS, it’s a Universal Truth. It has tremendous benefits for our overall health. Yet, when facing adversity, or when simply caught up in the busyness of life, it can be difficult to find and experience Joy. But, it is there, and we can find it.

Freedom has many expressions, such as freedom from persecution, violence, and lack, and freedom to learn, thrive, and be one’s self. This week, we celebrate July 4th by exploring how freedom of different sorts has changed the lives of three young immigrants to the United States.

Devotion guides our actions on behalf of something we love. An author is devoted to the characters, feeling responsible for letting each one express itself. In spiritual community, we write our current chapter by being devoted responsible stewards of the past we have inherited from our predecessors and the future we borrow from our children.

Community is one of the most powerful forces in our lives. Writing workshops provide community for authors, a place of mutual support and upliftment. Loving spiritual community supports each individual and, at the same time, creates a force that is greater than the sum of those individuals.

Life wants to express, all the time, everywhere. Great authors often say that the book comes through them, the characters and the story are already there, wanting to be expressed. Likewise, everything we need to write our next chapter for Portland CSL is already available. We access it with faith, faith that God’s Got This!

There is a sacred knowing deep within us that always supports and guides us. When we learn, know, and understand this principle, then we can name, claim, and declare our good and the good of all in all our words and actions. Rev. Ruth Miller reminds us that Love, Peace, Beauty, Comfort, and Well-being for all is what we’re called to experience and express, and invites us to follow the call into it.

As we prepare to welcome Rev. McCann as our new Senior Minister, we will recognize and celebrate our use of Living Under Cosmic Knowledge to actualize our individual and collective heart’s desire.

The path of self discovery brings us closer to our own authentic expression, moving from Good to Great to Grand.