COFFEE BREAK 340

+ updated at 1:00pm ESDT on Tuesday, July 10, 2012

+ I am reading an amazing book about an amazing NDE connected with an amazing healing.  I highly recommend DYING TO BE ME by Anita Moorjani and her website.  The insights and ideas and experiences she shares resonate with me a lot.  For example, I believe:

We are
intimately,
intricately,
infinitely
connected
by a matrix of
unconditional,
unlimited,
uniting
LOVE
which is
miraculous,
mysterious and
marvelous.

I found many, many thoughts which resonate with that belief. She calls the greater reality that we can access THE MAGNIFICENCE.  I like it!

+ The Abundancetrek Blog offers Joyful Wandering -- 38 with a magnificent Desmond Tutu quote which I found in "God's Dream," Barrett Lee's July 8 sermon.

COFFEE BREAK 273

+ updated at 4:04pm ESDT on Monday, April 11, 2011

+ The New York Times offers "Religion Does Its Worst" by Roger Cohen. Excerpt: "I see why lots of people turn to religion — fear of death, ordering principle in a mysterious universe, refuge from pain, even revelation. But surely it’s meaningless without mercy and forgiveness, and surely its very antithesis must be hatred and murder. At least that’s how it appears to a nonbeliever." Read it all. 

I put this link on my Facebook nwall with the following thought:

This is a Must Read because the Extremists in both Christianity and Islam must be exposed and challenged and changed. Other Religions too.

+ Must work on tax returns now!

+ Still delighted by the Red Sox victory last night: 4-0 over the Yankees at Fenway with Josh Beckett at the top of his game.  Maybe the Sox are beginning to recover from their terrible start.  They are 2-7 now.

+ TruthOut offers "Why the Right-Wing Bullies Will Hold The Nation Hostage Again and Again" by Robert Reich.

COFFEE BREAK 258

+ The Charter for Compassion is one of the most significant campaigns for world peace and justice now happening.  67,190 have signed as I write this at 12:48pm EST on Wednesday, March 2, 2011. I hope that number includes YOU.

+ As I often do, I am "attending" The Church of I Am in cyberspace.  Here's the wisdom I am dwelling on right now (1pm EST, Wednesday, March 2):

If I penetrate to the depths of my own existence to the indefinable AM that is myself in its deepest roots, then through this deep center I pass into the infinite I AM which is the very Name of the Almighty.
-- Thomas Merton

Go to The Church of I Am.

COFFEE BREAK 249

+ updated at 1:53pm EST on Wednesday, February 16, 2011

+ I have been gathering idea for what I am now calling THE NEW FAITH FOR THE NEW EARTH for many years.  I want to share these ideas as much as I possibly can and so I am now starting this new series of posts on THE NEW FAITH FOR THE NEW EARTH.  Your ideas are welcome.  Please share them in Blog Comments, on Facebook and Twitter, E-Mails, etc. I invite you to GO TO THE FIRST POST OF A SERIES ON THE NEW FAITH FOR THE NEW EARTH at The Abundancetrek Blog. 

+ EzineArticles offers "We Are Not Our Names, Our Titles, Roles, Religions, Bodies or Colors - We Are Spiritual Beings" by Maria Erving. Excerpt: To be enlightened is not reserved for only a few, it's for all of us; to connect with the light within and let it shine to the world.

I follow this wise woman on Twitter. Go to http://twitter.com/mariaerving

+ Inner Frontier offers Inner Work. This week's lesson is "Directed, Unitive Will: Love (Modes of Will: Part 6 of 11).

Excerpt 1: One form of actively directed will working with the unitive energy is compassion. We see another person or an animal suffering and we suffer with them, as if it were our own. We feel compassion. With the unitive energy, their suffering is our own. One natural response is the wish never to cause harm, because harming someone else feels like harming ourselves. That harmlessness radiates and elicits the same in others. When you meet someone whom you immediately sense as harmless, you more easily feel your natural kinship, your shared humanity. Harmlessness feeds back to compassion, because seeing another person’s suffering affronts your attitude of non-harming and invokes your compassionate response.

Excerpt 2: Self-acceptance opens the door to accepting others unreservedly. Aware of own inner challenges and struggles, we see the same in others. Aware of our own desires for meaning, fulfillment, service, peace, love, and fun, we see the same in others. We intuit that we are not as different as we appear. If I can accept my own challenges, limitations, and motivations, then I may be able to accept that in my neighbor. If I can accept who I am, then maybe I can accept my neighbors for who they are. Then acceptance can reach such a state that it disappears. The question of whether or not to accept vanishes. We just are, as we are: my humanity, your humanity, our humanity.

GO TO THE LESSON.

+ Spirituality and Practice offers THE 12s. So far, THE 12s features:

12 Spiritual Energy Boosters: When you have run out of energy and are feeling draggy and depleted, check out these spiritual practices. They are designed to boost your spirits and renew body, mind, and soul. GO TO THE 12s.

AND

12 Uplifting Quotes on Courage: Looking for some inspiration? Some encouragement in a challenging time? Here are 12 uplifting quotes about courage to help you step out into a fuller way of living. GO TO THE 12s.

COFFEE BREAK 248

+ Updated at 12:45 pm EST on February 15, 2011

+ Shuck and Jive offers "From Cosmos to Cosmogenesis," a sermon for Evolution Sunday by John Shuck. Excerpt: "It is time to get off the fence regarding one of the foundations of human knowledge. So six years ago, Dr. Michael Zimmerman, a biologist from Butler University started the Clergy Letter Project. The idea was to procure 10,000 signatures from clergy who affirmed evolution to counter the viewpoint of some religious people that evolution and Christian faith were incompatible. As of today, 12,711 Christian clergy have signed the letter. That number goes over 14,000 when Unitarian and Jewish religious leaders are included. In addition to the letter, churches have been asked to raise the level of discussion in their congregations regarding science."

+ Cloudbusting

+ I love Kate Bush.  Enjoy!

+ All That We Share: A Field Guide to the Commons by Jay Walljasper deals with the growing gap between the wealthy and the rest of us and how all of our wisdom traditions promote the common good rather than the competitive individualism embedded so deeply in current economic trends. Spirituality and Practice offers a book review by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. Here's an excerpt from this review: "Given the poor state of the American economy, the degradation of the environment, the confusion of the Internet, the disrepair of democracy, the decline of communities, the time is ripe for the newly emerging commons movement. Walljasper give us hope that it is taking hold as urban gardeners, hometown champions, Greens, whistle-blowers, health care advocates, defenders of libraries, fighters for water justice, and local artists are all involved in the creation of new forms of sharing. As Bill McKibben states: 'The commons is a crucial part of the human story that must be recovered if we are to deal with the problems now crowding in on us.'" Read the review.

COFFEE BREAK 246

+ updated at 2:37pm EST on Wednesday, February 2

+ I appreciate this post -- http://www.evolvingchristianfaith.net/2010/12/trinitarian-calling-unity-in-and.html -- and made a comment.  More recently, this blogger offered "Introducing Slavoj Zizek."  I made a comment not published yet.

+ a RETWEET: For the last week, Democracy Now! has covered the protests in #Egypt closely. View all of our reports in our archive: http://ow.ly/3P0O1

+ Spirituality and Practice is offering a course on InterSpiritual Meditation.  It began Sunday.  Not to late to sign up.  I wrote the following on the Introductions and Intentions pages:

I believe we must work on creating a new faith for a new earth. The planet needs a new narrative, a compelling story we can all hear and enjoy and sing and dance to the beat. It has begun. Actually it began a long time ago. But we still have a long way to go.

A course like this which brings together people from different wisdom traditions is essential. I wouldn't miss it, even though it overlaps with the other S&P course I'm taking.

Sign Up!

COFFEE BREAK 230

+ updated at 11:38am EST on Tuesday, November 23, 2010

+ My spiritual practice of the week is Solitude.  I have a web page devoted to this discipline which I am revising and expanding this week.  At The Abundancetrek Blog, I'm posting my latest finds on this important practice in "Joyful Wandering -- 6."

COFFEE BREAK 201

+ updated at 12:01pm ESDT on Monday, September 20, 2010.

+ There is now a new way of being Good News Ambassadors. The New Church for the New Age.  Something like the old church 4 the old age but really quite different. It is not restricted by worn out dogma and worn out buildings and worn out rituals. It is wide open to finding truth and meaning in all kinds of places.  The Abundancetrek Connections Galore page offers links to all kinds of places where people are discovering and sharing truth and meaning in all kinds of ways. 

+ Americans must make a much better effort to understand and appreciate Muslims.  Here is  a story of an effort being made by an American Muslim to reach out to those who are acting out of ignorance, fear and suspicion.

A PASSAGE FROM THE QU'RAN

O you who have attained to faith!
Stand firmly in your devotion to God,
bearing witness to the truth in complete fairness;
and never let hatred of anyone
lead you to make the mistake of deviating from justice.
Be just: this is the closest to being God-conscious.
And remain conscious of God:
truly, God is well-aware of all that you do.
[Surah al-Ma'idah 5:8]

COFFEE BREAK 197

+ updated at 3:57pm ESDT on Friday, September 10, 2010

+ I'm following Shuck and Jive closely as my prophetic and courageous friend John Shuck boldly advocates for a new investigation into what happened on September 11, 2001.  In other words, he is now a "Truther."  Does this mean my friend and hero is now a "kook?"  I don't think so even though I can't accept the theory he is now supporting that the attack was an inside job planned and executed by our government. 

I do believe strongly that the attack on September 11, 2001 was a crime committed by criminals who need to be brought to justice and it was NOT AN ACT OF WAR demanding a military response.  We are still fighting this misguided war and I believe we are losing and will lose a whole lot more if we continue down this mistaken road.  Yes, we are making a huge mistake.  The very wealthy and the very privileged and the very powerful are leading us to more and more violence, to the destruction of the environment and to a whole lot of poverty for more and more people. 

+ The Qu'ran is a great spiritual book with culturally-conditioned flaws just like the Bible and the sacred literature of other wisdom traditions. Please read portions of the Qu'ran on September 11 (or any other day) and please reach out in love and respect to our fellow human beings who adhere to the great wisdom tradition of Islam. There is probably more divinely-approved violence in the Bible than the Qu'ran.

COFFEE BREAK 152

+ updated at 5:30pm EST, Thursday, March 4, 2010

+ The Four Precepts offers "Preferences and the Presence of God" by Wayne Ferguson.  Excerpt: "Most of the time, it seems, we are tempted away from God's presence by inordinate desires of one kind or another. And all too often, such desires are rooted in feelings of fear and insecurity. As an elderly Christian lady once remarked to me, somewhat ironically, 'I guess it's easier to worry than to trust!'"

The article offers links to wonderful wisdom by Brother Lawrence and by Hazrat Inayat Khan.

+ Shuck and Jive offers "Sometimes You Gotta Take a Risk" by John Shuck.  It begins: I salute my colleagues at Dumbarton UMC in Washington. Here is the story:

A United Methodist congregation in Washington, D.C., has vowed to celebrate same-sex weddings, putting itself at odds with other Christian churches protesting the District of Columbia 's new marriage equality law.

The pastor and 12 other ordained clergy who attend Dumbarton United Methodist Church in Georgetown said they would conduct such ceremonies after Congress failed to override D.C.'s new law on March 3. The larger United Methodist Church does not permit same-sex weddings, and no other Methodist congregation in Washington has taken the same step.

In my seminary days, I served on the staff of Old West Methodist Church in Boston. In 1973, the Pastor, Bill Alberts, officiated at the wedding of 2 gay men. He did not last long in the United Methodist Church. But that was 37 years ago. I suspect that the clergy of Dumbarton will not be cast out like Bill Alberts was.

+ Ecumenical News International offers "Washington Cathedral hosts Christian-Muslim summit" by Chris Herlinger.

Excerpt 1: On its Web site, Washington Cathedral says, "As the global community continues to divide along the lines of faith and culture, Washington National Cathedral feels increasingly called to play an important role in relations between Christians and Muslims around the world, and is uniquely positioned as a convening authority to facilitate such a dialogue."

Excerpt 2: Still, the Washington-based Institute on Religion and Democracy, which is often critical of "liberal" stands taken by ecumenical institutions, said that the summit had the potential for leading to "appeasement to Islamists".

Sadly, most of the ENI article focuses on the IRD criticism.

COFFEE BREAK 149

+ Here's some Hindu Wisdom shared by our Hindu Teacher in the InterSpiritual Wisdom e-course:

True humility is transparency. True surrender is a heroic act of self-transcendence. True unselfishness is identification with the whole world as our self. True patience is self-conquest. True interdependence is love.
– Swami Atmarupananda

COFFEE BREAK 135

+ updated at 3:20pm EST, Monday, February 1, 2010

+ Vera's Unpopular Opinions offers "Five facts that every American should know." Here are 2 of them:

• Straight-identifying men are statistically far more likely to molest a child, boy or girl, than gay-identifying men. In fact, straight-identifying women are statistically more likely to commit a sex act with a child than out (sic) gay men.
• Americans who identify as Republicans/Conservatives give far more to charity than Democrats/Liberals, despite the fact that liberal households tend to earn 6% more. Conservatives also donate more time and blood.

+ At The Abundancetrek Blog I have begun a series of posts on the current Spirituality and Practice E-Retreat on InterSpiritual Wisdom which began yesterday.  It's never too late to sign up for any of these fabulous opportunities for spiritual growth offered by Spirituality and Practice.

COFFEE BREAK 132

+ updated at 1:18pm EST, Thursday, January 28, 2010

+ Spirit of a Liberal offers "Are American evangelicals complicit in the Uganda anti-gay movement?" This article is thorough, thoughtful and disturbing.  Gays need to be treated better here, there and everywhere.  Homophobia runs deep and needs to be challenged with all our heart, soul, strength and mind.  Here's an excerpt:

Exodus International is a well-known organization that promotes reparative therapy. Reparative therapy is a discredited theory and practice of transforming gays to straight. In August, 2009, the American Psychological Association issued a hard hitting condemnation of reparative therapy and its adherents.

"The American Psychological Association concluded Wednesday that there is little evidence that efforts to change a person’s sexual orientation from gay or lesbian to heterosexual are effective. The report looks at 87 studies conducted between 1960 and 2007. In addition, the 138-page report — covering 87 peer-reviewed studies — said that such efforts may cause harm."

Of course, Exodus won’t allow the facts to inform their opinions, and they continue to inflict their “cure” on troubled gays who already doubt their human worth.

+ Howard Zinn, the brilliant Historian who wrote A People’s History of the United States, has died. The New York Times offers an obituary. I remember him gratefully for confronting the Silber regime at Boston University before, during and after my days at Boston University School of Theology.

+ 11am weather update: Winter has returned to the Mohawk Valley.  A band of Lake-effect snow has arrived.  4 to 11 inches of Lake-effect snow is predicted for the Utica area by tomorrow afternoon with the temperature dipping down toward Zero F. by tomorrow morning.

+ Spirituality and Practice is offering an E-retreat on InterSpiritual Wisdom beginning this Sunday.  It will be led by Shaikh Kabir and Shaikha Camille Helminski, Rabbi Rami Shapiro, Swami Atmarupananda, Dr. Ed Bastian, Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault, Spiritual Paths Institute; Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality & Practice.  I'm signed up.  How about you?

+ I read Viola Larson's comment responding to mine at http://naminghisgrace.blogspot.com/2010/01/elephants-and-gods-writing-about.html.  She is sure she is right and I am wrong.  I have been open to listening to the people who cling to a narrow interpretation of orthodoxy all of my life and I have found their brand of Christianity to be Bad News and not Good News.  Maybe that's too harsh but that's how it often feels to me.  I guess I wrestle with their approach from time to time in order to clarify my own beliefs and values and also to invite them to a more open, inclusive and compassionate Christianity.

COFFEE BREAK 130

+ updated at 3:07pm EST, Tuesday, January 26, 2010

+ Shuck and Jive offers "Being A Sermon -- A Sermon" by John Shuck.  I preached on the same texts last Sunday with the exception of the Bhagavad Gita selection.  John's sermon is profound and there are some delicious comments including a couple by me.
Excerpt from the sermon: "I have heard a lot of horror stories in my ministry from people who believed what they heard from a pulpit. What they believed about themselves or others or what they were supposed to do often didn’t turn out so well. It is frightening the power that interpreters of sacred texts can have over people."

+ The Diane Rehm Show offers Shankar Vedantam: The Hidden Brain. Guest host: Susan Page. The power of our hidden brains: How our unconscious minds elect presidents, control markets, wage wars, and routinely, but imperceptibly, influence our daily lives. Guest: Shankar Vedantam, author of "Department of Human Behavior," featured in "The Washington Post" from 2006-2009, and a Nieman Fellow at Harvard.

+ The The Diane Rehm Show offers Debt and joblessness. Guest host: Susan Page. Debate over the role of the Federal government and Federal Reserve in steering the U-S economy out of recession, addressing the deficit and improving the outlook for jobs. Guests: Alice Rivlin, senior fellow, Brookings Institution, vice chair, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System (1996-99); director, White House Office of Management and Budget (1994-96); and founding director, Congressional Budget Office (1975-83). Kevin Hassett, director, economic policy studies, American Enterprise Institute. James K. Galbraith, economist; Lloyd M. Bentsen Jr. chair in government/business relations and professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin's Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs; author of "The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too."

+ The Witherspoon Society is offering "Big money and democracy: a fair contest?" So far there are four articles responding to the recent Supreme Court decision allowing corporations unlimited access to our political campaigns.

+ Winter has returned to the Erie Canal.  Almost all of the previous snow was washed away in heavy rains yesterday as the temperature soared into the 50s.  But now the long January thaw is over.  Snow is falling now but will end soon ... just a dusting.

COFFEE BREAK 126

+ updated at 5:21pm EST, Tuesday, January 19, 2010, another anniversary of my day of birth.

+ Democracy Now! offers “Haiti is Shaken to the Core”: Amy Goodman Reports from Port-au-Prince.  Excerpt: "And what we did yesterday is what few journalists have done: we left Port-au-Prince, and we went along the coast to Carrefour and to Léogâne. This is the epicenter. This is where the United Nations issued its statement, saying they acknowledge 90 percent of the buildings were down, that thousands of people were dead. But, they said, unless they could ensure security, they would not be providing aid there. Now, this is tremendously frightening. As we passed through the epicenter, a young man hailed down our car, and he said, 'Please, we see some helicopters overhead, but they don’t stop here. We have no aid. We have no food.'"

+ The thaw which began last week continues.  Most of the snow which fell in early January has now disappeared along much of the Erie Canal.

+ Sufi Wisdom:

My Sufi master once said: If you put the world between you and God, the world becomes a spiritual obstacle; if you use the world to remember God, the world becomes your spiritual friend. — Robert Frager in The Wisdom of Islam

"To Practice This Thought: See the world around you as evidence of God's presence." This is The Spiritual Practice of the Day at Spirituality and Practice.

COFFEE BREAK 113

+ updated at 3:52pm EST

+ The snow keeps on coming.  And it's very cold.  This Lake-effect snow has rarely been anything but light but it has been falling most of the time for the past 30 hours or so.  Perhaps 10 inches so far and more to come tonight and possibly tomorrow.  I love it!

+ Thanks to the Spirituality and Practice Living Spiritual Teachers Project I discovered that On Faith offers "Christianity's Record Not Blameless" by Karen Armstrong. Excerpt: "Christians can only help to bring peace to the world if they first confront their own faults. Christianity has a long record of intolerance, inquisition, crusade and persecution. The way forward is to promote the ideal of compassion and loving kindness rather than making inflammatory and exaggerated remarks about another religious tradition, which will simply exacerbate the situation."

COFFEE BREAK 110

+ updated at 2:01pm EST.

+ Hermitary offers "The Way of a Pilgrim: a Russian Orthodox Hermit's Path." It begins:

Readers of The Way of a Pilgrim quickly discover two levels of narration in this simple and unassuming nineteenth-century religious classic. The first level presents a heartfelt apologia for silent prayer in the Orthodox Christian tradition, namely, the "ceaseless" prayer or the so-called Jesus prayer. Cited as the authority for the Jesus prayer is the Philokalia, a literary collection of writings of the Greek-speaking Church Fathers supporting the tradition of hesychasm. Yet The Way of a Pilgrim does not pursue theological argument. It is imminently practical in its advice to simply start praying.

But if this level of presentation were the only one, The Way of a Pilgrim would not be of interest as more than a classic of spirituality. The second level of narration, which underlies the entire work and arguably is the main reason for the work's simplicity and attraction, is the literal but subtle presentation of the hermit life. The narrator is a solitary and a wanderer calling himself a pilgrim. The wandering hermit's example is presented as the model existence for those who would truly lead a spiritual life.

The interplay of these two levels of presentation, always overlapping and concurrent, makes The Way of a Pilgrim a wonderful book: simple, edifying, and of universal spiritual appeal.

+ It is 10:50 am and it has been snowing for about an hour.  Perhaps we will have another inch or 2 of the glorious white stuff before this is over.

+ I'm about halfway through The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, the famous author of The Da Vinci Code.  Like his previous thrillers, this is gruesome, gripping, fascinating and controversial.  I am sure there is misleading or erroneous information about the Masons and other organizations.  Nevertheless, one can learn a lot about symbols and quests for meaning in this and other books by Dan Brown.

+ Gita and Jive offers a summary of the Bhagavad Gita, The Song of God, one of the most important sacred texts of Hindus.  I have offered the first comment on this post including my reaction to Viola Larson's post on the BG, "The Bhagavad-Gita, the Bible: grief and being human".  Here is my comment:

Great summary, John. There is amazing wisdom in this Holy Book and I'm looking forward to the sharing here. I see our friend Viola Larson has already decided to share and completely discount and totally misunderstand the BG in her post "The Bhagavad-Gita, the Bible: grief and being human".

As you know, John, I am acquainted all too well with grief and I find Viola's critique of the BG to be far off the mark. Without ways to attain detachment from worldly things and devotion to the Eternal, I could easily be stuck in grief. I have seen all too many people stuck in grief and all kinds of other emotional dead ends. A Christian classic which deals with getting on with life after a period of grief is The Way of a Pilgrim. This hermit finds a new and wonderful life through following a spiritual path centered in the Jesus Prayer: "O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me, a sinner. Amen" or just "Lord Have Mercy."

Liberation is a major theme of all of the planet's great wisdom traditions. Nobody should discount or deny the wisdom of Hinduism. It is enormous. Thanks again.

+ Love + John A Wilde + Whitesboro NY + The John A Wilde Blog + We are intimately, intricately and infinitely connected by a matrix of unconditional, unlimited and uniting love which is miraculous, mysterious and marvelous.

COFFEE BREAK 108

+ updated at 5:42pm EST

+ "When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flock, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among others, to make music in the heart." — Howard Thurman + found this in current Bread for the World appeal for donations

+ At http://presweldevotional.blogspot.com/ the question remains: How will In know when the Kin(g)dom of God has arrived?  Great answers continue to be offered.

+ Forecasters said we would get anywhere from 2 to 10 inches of Lake-effect snow last night.  We got an inch.  It is now bitterly cold and windy.

+ Naming His Grace offers "Islam's connection to Christianity versus Judaism's connection" by Viola Larson.  I have been involved in the discussion responding to this post. 

COFFEE BREAK 90

+ We have a lot of work to do to promote mutual respect between the 3 Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, Islam. Here are two articles dealing with the lack of respect which, sadly, seems to be growing:

• The Jerusalem Post offers "Mouths filled with hatred" by Larry Derner
• Naming His Grace offers "Anti-Jew and Israel, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant-be careful" by Viola Larson

Let us pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for a huge increase in mutual respect.