Universal Family

This is a 3-minute appeal to strengthen our bonds with our siblings everywhere by giving thanks for blessings that we all share.

Jesus' last discourse in the temple, as we have it reported in Matthew 23 has two parts, the first of which reaches out in mercy with the universal truth of the Fatherhood of God and the siblinghood of humankind. The second is like the July 4, 1776 Declaration of Independence, enumerating a list of grievances against a particular group of religious leaders. Read well, this speech shows the coherence of mercy and justice.

The questions are designed to direct reflection on the listener's coming to know God, the gospel of Jesus and how its expression changes from one generation to another, diverse problems and practices of sharing and proclaiming in thought, word, and deed.

Why do we fall asleep when we hear these familiar teachings? What can prepare us to receive the divine affection? Are we ready to ask anew what does it mean to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength? And what difference does this make in loving others? The Mount Everest ideals are not what God helps us to attain now.

This first in a new sermon series draws on history, psychology, neuroscience, and truth. Revelation in Jesus in dialogue with evolution in the form of insincere critique.

If you believe that God loves you but are not able now to experience it, here is a simple  experiment that you may want to try. 

Beauty is a quality of divinity, experienced in the spirit that dwells within. Like a chauffeur who drives a dignitary around here and there, so that the dignitary may function and manifest, our first duty and privilege is to facilitate the entry of this spirit into action.

Looking for a safe space? Here's a dialogue about problems, satisfactions, and promises relevant to that quest. The dialogue is followed by a story of a soul-satisfying experience of the presence of divine love, which raises a question of how a person becomes aligned in such a way as to be ready to receive such a gift. Each person's journey is unique, thinking, feeling, and doing interweave, enabling one concept to ripen and then another, until the person is ready for a larger insight. The beauty of it all is that one person's path through the logic of interconnected spiritual concepts and their spiritual realization cannot serve as a pattern for someone else to imitate. 

Here are two stories of prayer. The first tells prayer rising spontaneously into worship as the mind-soul entertains high meanings and values. The second tells of praying for a list of individuals, with some of whom there had been some difficulties in relationship . . . and how in very short order that roughness was transformed. Closing: a Good Friday coda.