We’ve had an influx of newcomers this year, so I’m spending a bit of time recounting the things that have made the experience of our community precious to us so we can continue to share those things together as more people become part of us. Have a listen.
Doug
Streaming Audio:
This is such an important practice. I hope you have a listen. When our view of God changes, our view of prayer changes. Many simply stop praying… stop having a devotional habit. But that’s just not good for our souls. Better is to go back through history and find ways of “prayer” that feed us in our newly-emerging way of thinking about God. Examen is one of those ancient ways.
examen of consciousness bookmark
Have a listen,
Doug
Gratitude changes us. It makes us happier, healthier, and better people. In this lesson we cite both the ancient wisdom, and current double-blind studies. You’ll be convinced that gratitude will make your life better. However, it’s not easy work. It’s tough! So, we’ll talk about some practical ways to stir thankfulness in our hearts.
Have a listen,
Doug
A special message by Robin Camu
Our personal stories influence how we interpret scripture. We need to get rid of our first (false) identity, good or bad. In fact, our “good identity” may be more detrimental because it takes us longer to get to the end of ourselves (our flesh). When these identities die (at the cross), we must draw strength from our “transformed identify” as one who is loved by God.
The third ancient practice that helps us defy the crazy-making power of money is community making. The link between community-making and being free of money’s crazy-making power is not immediately obvious, so it requires some background. This lesson may stretch your patience with all this background-laying, and it’s sure to offend people who are both politically Left and Right. I think it’s fascinating stuff, but even so…
We’ll get to the spiritual heart of the matter next week.
Have a listen,
Doug
Giving as a means to receiving…
Sounds like it misses the point, doesn’t it?
But that’s what we’re saying in this lesson. The proscription of the ancients to be givers has a way of rewiring our instincts; breeding humility and self-forgetfulness, and guiding us, over time, to a deep interior freedom.
It’s counter-intuitive at first, so have a listen.
Doug
I’ve heard sermons all my life about giving. It’s one of the better-known spiritual practices. However, I usually heard the sermon in pretty concrete terms. Give and you will receive… in kind. Give money, and you’ll see how God or the universe is generous with your needs. Give time, and you’ll find that your time is more efficient. It’s a good sermon. What goes around does tend to come around.
However, this lesson comes from a different angle. It talks about how giving rewires our instincts, and can save us from a painful soul-trap; a meaningless life.
Have a listen,
Doug
About 1000 years ago, the Christian Church split into the Eastern Orthodox church and the Western, Latin church. There were a lot of political squabbles behind the split (called The Great Schism), but the main reason had to do with two fundamentally different approaches to spirituality. In simplified terms, the West had a cerebral, philosophical approach to the spiritual journey, while the East had more of a heart approach.
It was a tragic divide, because we need both. It was akin to splitting the human brain into one hemisphere or the other. We need them both!
We in the West need to hear what our Eastern brothers and sisters have to say about spiritual practices… particularly abouthe spiritual discipline we introduced last week; “watchfulness of thoughts.”
Have a listen,
Doug
We’re still on the lesson “Defying the Crazy-Making Power of Money,” but we’re moving now to the practices the ancients have given us to defy that crazy-making power.
Today we begin looking at the ancient discipline of “watchfulness of thoughts.” It’s the means by which we catch our thoughts before they start a chain of events that create the lives we live.
It’s not a difficult practice to do… it’s very difficult to remember to do.
Have a listen,
Doug