The Abundancetrek Blog

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 34

2012-02-16T18:12:00.000-05:00

+ My friend Barrett Lee has been offering some great posts on his blog, The Theological Wanderings of a Street Pastor, as he is contemplating the profound wisdom of Diarmuid O'Murchu in his book, Evolutionary Faith. Today's post is an excerpt from the book which I am offering here as well:

It is time to outgrow…
our own tendency to exonerate the past with certainty and security, to dogmatize its definitive, unchanging nature, often turning tradition into an unwieldy ideology of oppression and encrustation.
It is time to embrace…
the future thrust of evolution toward increased complexity and renewed creativity, a future endowed with hope and promise as new possibilities unfold unceasingly and the innate mystery becomes more transparent to human intelligence.

-Diarmuid O’Murchu, Evolutionary Faith, p.36-37

And here is another excerpt from the book which Barrett offered yesterday:

It’s time to out grow…

the narrowly defined, competitively driven understanding of evolution, favoring the triumph of our successful biological species, with a tendency to overshadow the significance of cosmic and planetary unfolding over the vast aeons of inorganic evolution.

It’s time to embrace…

the grandeur, complexity, and paradox that characterize evolution at every stage, a story that continues to unfold under the mysterious wisdom of our cocreative God, whose strategies always have, and always will, outwit our human and religious desires for neat, predictable outcomes.

-Diarmuid O’Murchu, Evolutionary Faith, p.23

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 33

2012-02-06T11:49:00.001-05:00

+ I just added the following quote to the Abundancetrek page on Abundance:

Too often we believe that if we had "a little more of this" or "a little more of that," our lives would be better. But would they really? Real abundance comes not from without, but from deep within. Recognizing that we are already rich—rich in spirit—is where genuine abundance dwells.
– Laura V. Hyde < http://getmotivation.com/prosperity/abundance-lhyde.htm

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 32

2012-02-05T09:49:00.000-05:00

+ Wecan live in heaven even while we live on earth. No doubt about it. Enjoy! Be glad all over!

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 31

2012-01-30T12:12:00.000-05:00

+ updated at 2:52pm EST on Friday, January 27, 2012

+ Devotion is one of the twelve heavenly practices on the amazing journey to sustainable abundance. I have collected a few of my favorite resources for this practice. Here goes:

+ The Mindfulness Bell can be set toremind you to take Mindfulness breaks.

+ Gratefulnessoffers a Gratefulness Word for the Day.

+ Spirituality and Practice offers a wise and insightful DailyPractice.

+ Spirituality & Practiceoffers a great guideto the spiritual practice of devotion by Frederic & Mary Ann Brussatwho also cover many other practices at their amazing website. Theyhave written thousands of book reviews, movie reviews, compilations of engagingquotes and educational guides.

+ InnerFrontier offers JosephNaft on the Practice of Devotion.

+ Inner Frontier offers Joseph Naft on thePractice of Prayer. It begins: "Prayer is the heart of the spiritualpath. When you ponder why this universe exists, you might speculate that theCreator needs beings who can pray, that in prayer a necessary exchange ofenergies and will flows between the created and the Creator."

+ Inner Frontier Weekly Work

+ The Church of I Am

+ Daily Word-- Unity's DAILY WORD is a devotional booklet used by millions. You can be apart of a global community united for peace and healing.

+ Daily Zen-- Zen Buddhism is closely associated with the Chinese TAO TE CHING. I havefound enormous inspiration and guidance by turning to this source often.

+ The Lectionary -- TheLectionary is a great way to read through the Bible on a daily and/or weeklybasis. Many Christian churches use the Lectionary.

+ Hymns -- While this particularwebsite is Presbyterian, it connects to other hymn websites. Start singing asyou listen to the audio accompaniment which is often provided!

+ Centering Prayer & Lectio Divina -- Father ThomasKeating has brought new life to ancient practices of the church.

+ A Course inMiracles -- I have found ACIM to be a fantastic and very challeging course developing a heavenly way of thinking beyond any ego attachment. I have been working on the text and the 365 lessons since 1989. ACIM is definitely not for everybody although a course in miracles in one form or another is a required course. Mary Ann Williamson applies many of theprinciples of ACIM in her books, lectures and website. For many, she makes ACIM comprehensible!

+ WahiduddinNet offers A Daily Bowl of Saki, a wonderful devotional tool on the Sufi practice of love.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 30

2012-01-23T09:27:00.001-05:00

+ Inner Frontier offers another weekly installment in the Inner Work series on Sacred Impulses by Joseph Naft. This week's offering is on Joy. Here's an excerpt:

At the level of being conscious and fully aware, we rise into a natural, un-caused joy. We are suffused with joy in our awareness itself. Our very presence is joy. Sharing moments with friends and loved ones brings us joy. Taking actions that serve others brings us joy. Being useful, creative, or spontaneous brings us joy. Doing something well brings us joy. Dropping the burdens of egoism, dropping the defense of our pretenses, dropping our clinging, we are released into joy. We even feel empathetic joy in others’ joys. Our joy is no longer limited or in any way dependent. We live in joy.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 29

2012-01-17T15:58:00.000-05:00

+ Inner Frontier offers "Acceptance" which is Facet 4 in the current Inner Work series on Sacred Impulses by Joseph Naft. Excerpt: “At the level of consciousness, acceptance means just being, non-doing. We let all our sensory and thought and feeling impressions come and go without clinging or identifying. We let it all be as it is. And in that being, we rest in stillness, in awareness itself. The conscious energy gradually collects in us, reintegrating from its dispersed state. And we come to peace and equanimity in the vast hall of cognizant stillness, in the field of consciousness that we all share. Indeed self-acceptance and learning to be enable us to drop our barriers to accepting other people as they are.”

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 28

2012-01-16T11:07:00.000-05:00

+ updated on Saturday, January 21, 2012 at 4:19pm EST.

+ As promised, more blogging!

+ In late February and early March, Mary and I will be visiting Rome and Assissi for a week after a conference in Paris. Comments on Rome, Assissi and Paris are welcome.

+ I am working on a chapter on STILLNESS which will soon find its way to my STILLNESS web page. Here is what I have so far (as of January 21, 2012 ... so look for updates to this post):

"Be still and know that I am God.”

"You do not need to do anything; you do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. You do not even need to listen; just wait. You do not even need to wait; just become still, quiet and solitary and the world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet." -- Franz Kafka

"Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at anytime and be yourself." -- Herman Hesse

“Yoga is a way of moving into stillness in order to experience the truth of who you are.” ~ Erich Schiffmann.

When we learn how to be still, really still, then we can truly know and experience the pervasive Love which is everywhere at all times. It’s here right now, at this time. Let this amazing Love be unmasked. Let ecstasy reign.

Stillness is the path which leads to awakening and awareness. While it is OK to sleep on the journey, you do miss a lot. So let’s wake up and become aware through the magical practice of simply being still.

Being still simply gives us a point to become aware of the movement, the flow, the dance. We become still and appreciate movement. Life is impossible without movement. But in stillness we learn how to move better, how to respect the whole creation more fully, even how to control movement for useful purposes. Of course our control is always quite limited and elusive. We think we have things under control only to find out that nothing is going as planned. That's OK! God has everything under control and that's all that matters. God is mysterious, elusive and holy. We are intimately, intricately and infinitely connected to God and everything God has created and is creating. It's wonderful. It's real.

The importance of this practice cannot be over-emphasized. It is the foundation upon which all of the essential spiritual practices are built. It is both extremely easy and extremely difficult.

Since this practice is so important we will be staying here for a while and cover a lot of ground. It is life-giving ground. Let us thoroughly enjoy the ground here.

BREATHE

Breathe deeply. Breathe fully

Be still. Be silent.

Be centered. Be grounded.

Lighten up. Loosen up.

Let go. Let God.

Celebrate. Enjoy.

Be glad all over!

Breathe! Breathe deeply! Breathe fully! We need to become completely aware of this life force within us. We need to be constantly grateful that we live, that we breathe, that we can enjoy the abundance of creation breath after breath after breath.

YOGA

Yoga is a very powerful way to practice stillness. Doing Yoga, we learn to move our bodies in a rhythm connected to our breathing which promotes stillness. This is taught wisely and gently by the well known Yoga teacher, Erich Schiffman. In a great video -- Ali MacGraw - Yoga Mind & Body (2003) -- he guides us through the basic Yoga positions. In conjunction with this video, he wrote a book, Moving Into Stillness, which is illuminating, inspirational and comprehensive. You can find this book in print and it is free on the internet.

Yoga isn’t for everyone. There are other ways to enter the wonderful realm of stillness.

MEDITATION OR CENTERING

Meditation isn’t for everyone but most of us can benefit immensely if we find a way to establish some kind of mediation practice. If you want to begin this practice, I would suggest simply sitting in a relaxed and upright position, breathing deeply and fully, perhaps focusing on an object visually or listening to music or chants or your own sacred word or mantra. There are many methods. Explore on your own and see if one works for you.

Here are some of my favorite books for developing this practice:

A COURSE IN MIRACLES

INTERSPIRITUAL MEDITATION by Edward W. Bastian
LIVING SIMPLY THROUGH THE DAY by Tilden Edwards
THE OTHER SIDE OF SILENCE by Morton Kelsey
HOW TO MEDITATE by Lawrence LeShan
THE SEEKER'S GUIDE by Elizabeth Lesser

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR HOLIDAY

2012-01-16T10:10:00.001-05:00

+ It is the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. Here is a powerful statement he included in several speeches:

"Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice."

APOLOGY TO MY FOLLOWERS

2012-01-12T12:33:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted much lately on my 3 blogs. I apologize to anybody who has come to read my blog posts with some regularity. You deserve better. I guess I have been distracted when I get in front of the screen by my Twitter and Facebook activities which I do find useful but I don't want my blogs to suffer.

So, I do intend to make a new effort to restore my blogging as a priority in my life. I would love to see my number of followers increase. That will depend on some consistency on my part in both quality and quantity.

I do think I have something unique to offer as we trek together toward more compassion, peace, justice and sustainable abundance on this planet.

Here goes!

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 27

2012-01-11T13:38:00.000-05:00

+ I intend to get a book devoted to COMPASSION, PEACE, JUSTICE and SUSTAINABLE ABUNDANCE published so I better get on with it, make it a priority. Any help YOU can give me would be appreciated. I will share my efforts right here in this series of posts. Here is an Intro I wrote recently:

Let’s take a journey. We might want to categorize this journey as a SPIRITUAL JOURNEY but that does not thoroughly describe what’s happening here. Oh well. Let’s go!

Here are some of the destinations we will explore:

LOVE. Since Love is everywhere at all times, this is not really a destination but the pervasive presence always guiding us and surrounding us everywhere we go.

THE NINE CHARACTERISTICS OR ATTRIBUTES OF HEAVEN (and Heaven is not to be understood as some far off place but as a here and now reality which can be reached instantly by means of the amazing grace of God) . The Nine are Abundance, Joy, Wisdom, Beauty, Love, Truth, Peace, Justice and Freedom. Love is at the center and all of the others are aspects of Love.

THE TWELVE SPIRITUAL PRACTICES we will use as we take this journey. They are Stillness, Silence, Solitude, Simplicity, Detachment, Discernment, Devotion, Delight, Humility, Healing, Holiness and Heavenliness. We will visit these “destinations” first since the success of the journey ultimately depends on these practices.

GREAT WISDOM TRADITIONS OF THE PLANET including (in alphabetical order) Buddhism, Celtic Spirituality, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Shamanism and more. All of these wisdom traditions can lead people to more and more Love. Mysticism, or the Perennial Philosophy, is always at the heart of any genuine wisdom tradition. Since I am a Christian, much of the journey may tend to emphasize my heritage and my experiences. I am the guide of this journey and that’s the way it is. Christianity is NOT better than other wisdom traditions. Christianity at its best offers most of the great truths. So do other wisdom traditions.

GREEN FILM SERIES -- 1

2012-01-10T11:44:00.000-05:00

Please mark your calendar for the GREEN FILM SERIES which begins on Wednesday, January 25 with the first in a 4 film series. The first 3 will be at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 10 Higby Road in Utica. The other film dates are February 22, March 28, and April 25, 2012. All films start at 7 p.m. and are free and open to the public. GreenLocal175 is sponsoring this series.

The first film will be PLAN B: A PLAN TO SAVE CIVILIZATION which was aired last spring as part of the highly acclaimed PBS series, JOURNEY TO PLANET EARTH. This film includes clips of speeches and interviews with Lester Brown and other environmental experts. It is narrated by Matt Damon. After showing us many of the potential ecological disasters, PLAN B offers a plan which is feasible focusing on population control, eradicating poverty, drastically reducing carbon emissions and restoring our land and sea.

John Wilde will lead the discussion following the film. He says: “Future generations can and should enjoy the fruits of this plan and therefore it is important to get behind this plan to save civilization.”

love, john + www.abundancetrek.com + “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” -- Howard Thurman

STILL WAITING BUT GOD IS HERE AND I AM SEEKING AWARENESS

2011-12-24T14:34:00.000-05:00

God is with us. Right here. Right now.

Light overcomes darkness at all times, at this time, all the time.

It doesn't always seem that way. We live life sometimes as if we are separated from God and from each other. Christmas changes that. We become aware of our unity with our creator and all creation.

This awareness is a gift from God. Sometimes it comes as a result of our spiritual practice. But there is no guarantee that any particular method will bring about this awareness. So, there are times when the only thing left to do is wait for God to give us this awareness. It comes in the fulness of time and we have no control over that.

Some people believe that the fullness of time has something to do with the calendar, the clock. On such and such a day Christ will come again. We have waited a long time for that to happen. It was supposed to happen this year according to some of the faithful. I see the fullness of time in a different way. Christ comes, awareness comes, unity comes, whenever the gift of love is given and received. This happens at all times, all the time, at this time. May we experience this amazing love today, tomorrow and all days.

love, john + www.abundancetrek.com + If there is anything I have learned about men and women, it is that there is a deeper spirit of altruism than is ever evident. Just as the rivers we see are minor compared to the underground streams, so, too, the idealism that is visible is minor compared to what people carry in their hearts unreleased or scarcely released. -- Dr. Albert Schweitzer (thanks to www.peterrussell.com - a quote of the moment)

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 26

2011-10-26T16:49:00.000-04:00

+ This post is incomplete. I am working on it today, 11/28/11.

+ I thought that I would see where I have been so far in this particular form of Joyful Wandering. I began the Joyful Wandering series of posts on May 21, 2010 so I have averaged about one and a half per month.

+ I have explored ideas such as:

THE UNIVERSE IS A FREE LUNCH (post 1)

WE ARE ENJOYING ABUNDANCE RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW (post 1)

TWO MINDS ARE BETTER THAN ONE (post 1)

WE ALL SHARE ONE CONSCIOUSNESS (post 2)

MYSTICISM, THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY, IS AT THE HEART OF ALL WISDOM TRADITIONS (post 2)

WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS COMPASSION, PEACE, JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABLE ABUNDANCE (post 2)

I AM, YOU ARE, A FANTASTIC AND WONDERFUL PERSON (post 2)

THE POWER OF PRAYER (post 3) (also post 10)

BREATHE DEEPLY. BREATHE FULLY. BE STILL. BE SILENT. BE SOLITARY. BE SIMPLE. BE CENTERED. BE GROUNDED. LIGHTEN UP. LOOSEN UP. LET GO. LET GOD. CELEBRATE. ENJOY. BE GLAD ALL OVER. (post 4) (also post 8)

BE HUMBLE AND BE DETACHED (post 5)

BE SOLITARY (post 6)

THE CHARTER FOR COMPASSION (post 7)

THE CHURCH OF I AM (post 7)

JOSEPH NAFT ON WILL (post 9) (also post 10 and post 11)

JOSEPH NAFT ON SPONTANEITY, CREATIVITY AND ECSTASY (post 9)

JOSEPH NAFT ON PASSION, FAITH, GRACE AND AWAKENING (post 10)

WE ARE INTIMATELY, INTRICATELY AND INFINITELY CONNECTED BY A MATRIX OF UNCONDITIONAL, UNLIMITED, UNITING LOVE WHICH IS MIRACULOUS, MYSTERIOUS AND MARVELOUS. (post 12)

FALLING AWAKE (post 12)

JOSEPH NAFT ON THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH OF BUDDHISM (post 13)

JOSEPH NAFT ON MEDITATION, AWARENESS, RELAXING, STILLNESS AND INNER PEACE (post 13)

ECONOMIC JUSTICE (post 14)

HONORING THE EARTH (post 14)

JOSEPH NAFT ON THE PATH OF LIBERATION (post 14)

+ I have linked to some great music including:

NEW SOUL (post 1) (unfortunately this link no longer works as of 11/28/11. Hopefully I can find a new one for this great song,)

+ I have cyber-explored some places on the planet including:

ROCHESTER (post 8)
FENWAY PARK (post 13)

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 25

2011-10-19T10:00:00.002-04:00

+ A Joyful Wandering post can go anywhere. This series of posts is intended to be playful and not for the purpose of promoting any agenda of mine. I definitely do promote agendas (hopefully in a somewhat organized manner) in several other series of posts such as the one I have just began on Sustainable Abundance. Of course, I might promote an agenda here but, again, that's not the main intention of the Joyful Wandering series of posts. Indeed, as I look back at this series I see that I definitely do promnote some of my agendas. So, Joyful Wandering does not exclude that possibility. Anything goes. Anything!

So, I have no idea at this moment what might happen here.

Today, I have begun my latest Coffee Break post at the John A Wilde Blog. A Jon Stewart interview with the author of The Retirement Heist caught my attention. I definitely do promote agendas in that series of posts most of the time. One of the most important agendas is Economic Justice. Recently I have linked to places supportive of the Occupy Wall Street movement. I support it. The greed at the top has gone too far. We must speak truth to power, We must get their attention. Capitalism itself is not the enemy. Greed is the enemy.

So, once again, I have promoted an agenda.

Let's be clear about this. I am not saying I won't promote agendas in this series of posts. I will. Often! It just won't be organized in any systematic or categorical way. And, hopefully, the emphasis will be on Hope, Joy, Love, Peace, Wisdom, Fun, Music, Art, Travel, Nature, Beauty and things like that.

What's Next?

Another cup of coffee!

And Mindfulness. The Mindfulness Bell is useful. I am now going to set the bell for eleven minutes and be still. Right now.

SUSTAINABLE ABUNDANCE -- 1

2011-10-13T14:06:00.003-04:00

+ I am now teaching a course on Sustainable Abundance by email and in several group sessions in the Utica area. The three major sources for this course are:

And the Leaves of the Tree Are for the Healing of the Nations. This is a powerful, comprehensive and short guide to the Bible’s emphasis on Eco-Justice. It is available online and in print for $3. There is a Presbyterian Church (USA) 5-unit course on this resource and a Presbyterian Church (USA) 1-unit course on this resource. They are available online and I will be using these excellent resources.

Plan B by Lester Brown (book and video). An online copy is available for free at http://www.earth-policy.org/books/pb4. Brown started the Earthwatch Institute. A useful web page promoting Brown’s Plan is found at ChasingCleanAir.com.

Wrestling Until the Dawn by John Preston. John, a Presbytery of Utica Retired Pastor, poured his heart and soul into this book. He has a passion for the emerging church and for restoration of the environment.

Other sources include:
Presbyterian Church (USA) Eco-Justice policies and resources | Presbyterians for Earth Care Eco-Justice resources | Eco-Justice Ministries | National Council of Churches Eco-Justice resources | Green Faith | The Tao of Abundance by Laurence Boldt | The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield

COMPASSIONATE POLITICS -- 2

2011-09-16T11:19:00.000-04:00

+ Spirituality and Practice offers "Praying the News: For Americans Living in Poverty" as we deal with the highest poverty rate since the Census Burea began collecting data 52 years ago. Excerpt from a prayer by Mimi A. Simpson:

Our Loving Creator God,

We bring before you this day

the burden the whole world carries

as it endures extreme poverty and hunger

in every land.

COMPASSIONATE POLITICS -- 1

2011-09-14T11:25:00.001-04:00

+ The current homepage of Spirituality and Practice features a new book by Parker Palmer: HEALING THE HEART OF DEMOCRACY: THE COURAGE TO CREATE POLITICS WORTHY OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT. The Brussats write:

Anyone awake in contemporary American knows that something is desperately wrong with democracy and the political system. The list of messes and miseries is long and lamentable. What can we do? Parker J. Palmer urges us to practice politics from the heart. In this prophetic and practical book, he shows us how.

GO TO THE REVIEW | GO TO AN EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK ON HOSPITALITY

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 24

2011-08-05T11:17:00.001-04:00

+ updated at 11:30am ESDT on Friday, August 5, 2011

+ Here is a really good take on the basic wisdom of Christianity > http://johnshore.com/2011/08/04/nobody-trips/

This take reveals that the basic truths of Christianity parallel that of other wisdom traditions. The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism comes to mind particularly.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 23

2011-07-19T12:46:00.008-04:00

+ updated at 10:48am ESDT on Wednesday, July 20, 2011

+ I like I AM affirmations. When you say I AM, you are connecting with the All in All, the Source, the Creative Process, the Mystery, the Oneness, the Unity, the Way, the Truth, the Life. I often say "I am awake, aware and connected." ... and I AM! ... and YOU ARE! ... WE ARE ... GOD IS ...

The Church of I AM (CIA!) offers some very wise sayings about this essential affirmation. Here's One: "Those wise ones who see that the consciousness within themselves is the same consciousness within all conscious beings, attain eternal peace." -- Katha Upanishad

+ Wisdom a la Carte offers "How to Keep Your Awareness: Seven Steps to Staying Alert and Engaged" by Patricia Lapidus.

+ Envy is the obstacle Joseph Naft confronts this week in his series on Obstacles on the Way. Excerpt: "The source of envy, as with greed, is our inner lack, the hole at our center that erupts into feelings of inadequacy and self-rejection. That hole can only be filled from within, by the spirit. And a prime road toward that consists of spiritual practice: presence, meditation, and contemplative prayer."

+ Spiritual Literacy Blog offers "Top 10 Reasons Why Mindfulness Is Cool" by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. It begins: "In his blog at PsychologyToday.com, Jonathan Kaplan reviews some mindfulness basics. He quotes Jon Kabat-Zinn who defined it as 'nonjudgmental awareness,' adding that 'mindfulness allows us to recognize our own thoughts, feelings and behaviors as they arise without getting stuck in our usual automatic reactions.'"

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 22

2011-07-11T09:41:00.005-04:00

+ Greed is the next obstacle Joseph Naft deals with in his Inner Frontier series on Obstacles on the Way. It begins: "How much is enough? Where is the appropriate line between needs and wants? What do we need? When does external work pass from contributing to society and earning our living to taking more than we should? These questions matter to us both personally and collectively, yet they fall into a gray area of personal judgment." Keep Reading!

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 21

2011-07-05T14:19:00.005-04:00

+ updated at 9:50am on Friday, July 8, 2011

+ 4 of the major emphases of my journey and hopefully yours are Compassion, Peace, Justice and Sustainable Abundance. A great source book for Sustainable Abundance is the Bible and http://www.pcusa.org/resource/and-leaves-tree-are-healing-nations/ makes that totally clear. I highly recommend that you read http://www.pcusa.org/resource/and-leaves-tree-are-healing-nations/

Here is what the blurb at the PCUSA environmental Ministries website says about it: "This concise booklet explains biblical and theological foundations for cherishing God's creation. Focuses on Genesis, Psalms, Pauline writings and the life and teachings of Jesus Christ."

Amen!

The PCUSA Environmental Ministries Office offers Eco-Journey, a blog keeping us informed of the efforts of the church to promote sustainable abundance, or eco-justice.

+ Inner Frontier offers Week 5 of Joseph Naft's Inner Work series dealing with Obstacles On The Way. It begins: "To have created a species with the ability to think is perhaps the crowning achievement of evolution so far. So why do we include thoughts and opinions among the obstacles on the spiritual path?" Read On!

2011-06-29T16:15:00.001-04:00

+ This is the day the Lord has made. Let us be glad and rejoice in it.

+ Taste and see that the Lord is good!

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 20

2011-06-26T21:55:00.003-04:00

+ updated on Wednesday, June 29 at 5:11 pm ESDT

+ Dreams did not become a major theme of the retreat but that's all right because it was fabulous anyway.

I was particularly moved by the beautiful garden, the music, beading, painting, singing, group spiritual direction, silence, solitude, mutual respect and enthusiasm and compassion.

+ Shift Your Life offers "5 Obstacles to Meditation: The Veils That Prevent the Natural Radiant Luminosity of the Mind" by Tracy Latz. I follow Dr. Marion Ross on Twitter: http://twitter.com/docmarion

+ I am at a Spiritual Retreat with colleagues of the Presbytery of Utica here in Syracuse. The theme is "Hear the Heart Speak." It began tonight and continues through Wednesday morning. One of the emphases is Journaling. We were instructed to journal on Silence. Conversation centered on Dreams. Tomorrow we will engage in Group Spiritual Direction. I wonder if our Dreams will become an important theme of the retreat.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 19

2011-06-21T14:07:00.001-04:00

+ Laziness is the obstacle Joseph Naft is confronting this week at Inner Frontier.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 18

2011-06-15T10:39:00.000-04:00

+ A new Inner Frontier Inner Work series has begun. It's Week 2 and we are called to work on our Aversions.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 17

2011-05-10T12:52:00.003-04:00

+ This post is open for editing and additions. So come back! Last updated at 1:15pm ESDT on Tuesday, May 10, 2011.

+ Inner Frontier offers "Be Attention Now" by Joseph Naft.

+ It is very likely that the Presbyterian Church (USA) will finally end its ban on ordaining openly GLBT folks to the office of Pastor or Elder or Deacon. 86 Presbyteries have voted to end the ban. We need 87 Presbyteries. IT WILL HAPPEN TODAY, probably when the Twin Cities Presbytery votes tonight.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 16

2011-05-03T11:06:00.002-04:00

+ updated at 12:05pm on Tuesday, May 3, 2011

+ Thanks to Spirituality and Practice, I discovered that Sojourners offers "How Should We Respond to the Death of Osama bin Laden?" by Jim Wallis. Excerpt: "We didn’t get bin Laden as a casualty of bombing raids or drone attacks on the city that harbored him; instead, this was the result of careful intelligence and a laser-like focus on the man most responsible for 9/11. Some of us believe that should have been the U.S. strategy from the beginning." Read it all.

+ Inner Frontier offers "Freedom in Presence" by Joseph Naft. This is the sixth in his series on The Path of Liberation. It begins: "Having exposed the illusion of self, our former false belief that we are our personality, and having thereby awakened to a measure of freedom, we turn now to consolidating that freedom and living it. In the practice of presence, we find the primary path to living in freedom. Just as presence helps awaken us from the illusion of self and slavery to our personality, it can help us stay free and live without falling back under the illusion." Read it all.

MORE LIGHT -- 1

2011-04-27T09:46:00.000-04:00

+ More Light Presbyterians offers "An Open Letter to the Presbyterian Church From One of Your Baptized Kids" by Michael Adee. I am including this in its entirety as the Presbyterian Church (USA) gets closer and closer to realizing the vision of More Light which so many of us have desired for so long:

Grace and peace to all of you. I was baptized as an infant at First Presbyterian Church, Billings, Montana. I was taught faith, Scripture, the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and confirmed at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Sulphur, Louisiana. As a kid and teenager, I loved going to church and being part of a church family. I sang in our church choir with my Dad, loved our youth group of four and the all-church potluck dinners. I had Jesus' bumper stickers on my 1963 VW bug when I was in high school. I probably annoyed some of my friends in high school and college with my Christian zeal.

When I affirmed being gay in my late twenties, the Church was no longer a safe or loving place for me, so I left the Church. I give thanks to God for being loved back to faith by Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati, Ohio. I was ordained and installed as an Elder there. I've served as an Elder at Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati and First Presbyterian Church, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

I began serving as a volunteer with More Light Presbyterians in 1991 and on staff since 1999. I would not be in the Presbyterian Church, or in any church, if not for Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church and their unconditional welcome and invitation to serve God with them.

I believe the 219th General Assembly's Ordination Amendment 10-A offers this kind of unconditional welcome and invitation to faith, grace, salvation, church membership and ministry to all of God's children, not just some.

I've put a lot of my heart, thought, reflection on Scripture, prayer and my life experience into why I wholeheartedly support 10-A and believe it is a gift for God for our Church right now. Our Church will more lovingly and accurately reflect God's heart with the approval of 10-A.

My Top Ten Reasons to Support Amendment 10-A

1. This amendment returns our Church to the historic Presbyterian way of focusing upon faith and character as qualifications for ministry, not martial status or sexual orientation.

2. This amendment honors God's call to ministry and the recognition of gifts for ministry given by God to people regardless of gender, race, marital status, sexual orientation or other human differences.

3. This amendment allows for local congregations to call ministers, elders and deacons who can best meet the needs within their own communities.

4. This amendment affirms the moral equality of all persons and ends discrimination based upon marital status or sexual orientation.

5. This amendment affirms God's diverse creation that we can see in Scripture and in our life together in community.

6. This amendment affirms the gift of love by God to persons not limited by gender or race; and it provides support for the beautifully diverse and sacred reality of love and faithfulness experienced by couples and families in our world today.

7. This amendment allows our Church the chance to shift from 37 years of debate, legislation and judicial cases about sexual orientation and to place our energies on mission, service and a hurting world that needs our care and ministry.

8. This amendment is a helpful solution to the 14 years of departure from the historic Presbyterian standards for ordination. It's time to be honest, G-6.0106b has failed our Church. This "fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness" requirement has brought nothing but hurt, suspicion, division and driven people away from our Church.

9. This amendment affirms that God's creation, God's love, God's grace and the Gospel of Jesus Christ are available for all persons, not just some.

10. This amendment affirms Jesus' commandment for us to love God, neighbor and self; and to recognize as Jesus' taught that all persons are neighbor in God's world, no exceptions.

Imagine, dream, pray and work with me for a new way of being Church and serving in our world with the passage of 10-A.

with hope and grace,
Michael

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 15

2011-04-26T08:34:00.007-04:00

+ updated at 9:44am ESDT on Thursday, April 28, 2011

+ Spirituality and Practice offers an excerpt from The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle. Here are two excerpts from the excerpt:

The reason why some people love to engage in dangerous activities, such as mountain climbing, car racing, and so on, although they may not be aware of it, is that it forces them into the Now — that intensely alive state that is free of time, free of problems, free of thinking, free of the burden of the personality. Slipping away from the present moment even for a second may mean death. Unfortunately, they come to depend on a particular activity to be in that state. But you don't need to climb the north face of the Eiger. You can enter that state now.

The whole essence of Zen consists in walking along the razor's edge of Now to be so utterly, so completely present that no problem, no suffering, nothing that is not who you are in your essence, can survive in you. In the Now, in the absence of time, all your problems dissolve. Suffering needs time; it cannot survive in the Now.

Read it all.

+ ChurchLeaders offers "The Popularity Of The House Church (Nearly 4,000 In The U.S.)" by Andrea Bailey Willits. Excerpt: "'Generally speaking, what today’s Church is doing isn’t working,” claims John White, a house church coach in Denver. 'According to recent Barna statistics, during the last 50 years, there has been more Christian activity than any time in history, and yet the church’s impact on the culture and quality of discipleship in the churches has continually declined. There are certainly exceptions, but overall, the system is broken.'" Read it all.

+ Inner Frontier offers "Exposing the Illusion" by Joseph Naft. This is the fifth in his series on The Path of Liberation. It begins: "Eventually we reach a tipping point, where enough moments of directly seeing and accepting the truth about our identification with personality, about its illusory nature, have accumulated and purified our view of ourselves sufficiently to prepare us for that singular moment of particularly clear seeing and letting go, the moment when freedom, permanent freedom, dawns." Read it all.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 14

2011-04-19T12:31:00.003-04:00

+ updated at 11:06am ESDT on Friday, April 22, 2011, EARTH DAY and GOOD FRIDAY

+ EARTH DAY UPDATE: Spirituality and Practice offers "12 Spiritual Practices to Honor the Earth" by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat.

+ GOOD FRIDAY UPDATE: Spirituality and Practice offers "Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%" by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. This is a Spiritual Literacy Blog post commenting on an article by Joseph Stiglitz in Vanity Fair.

Yes, this is a Good Friday message.

I really appreciate the emphasis on Justice and Fairness Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat continue to offer. Spirituality without genuine efforts on behalf of compassion, peace, justice and sustainable abundance is no spirituality at all.

+ Inner Frontier offers "Coexistence" by Joseph Naft, important Inner Work in his series on The Path of Liberation. Naft urges us to keep pressing on for our true freedom: "Stranded between the taste of freedom and our inability to stay free, we constantly renew our inner work. For this week, notice when you are free and notice when you are under your personality, believing it is who you are. Each moment of such seeing adds to the account by which you buy your freedom."

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 13

2011-04-11T10:46:00.009-04:00

+ updated at 3:29pm ESDT on Tuesday, April 12, 2011

+ so many possibilities + infinite + endless + abundant + overflowing + real + delightful + enlightening + glorious + profound + YOUR TURN!

+ Last night's joyful wandering took me to Fenway Park. Well, not really. Only through the magic of television. The Red Sox beat the Yankees 4-0. Pitching ace Josh Beckett allowed only 2 hits as the Red Sox won their first series of the year. I love Baseball. Especially when the Red Sox win. Or the Giants as in last year's World Series. The first time the Giants won that fall classic since moving to San Francisco in 1958.

+ Inner Frontier offers "The Eightfold Path" by Joseph Naft. This is one of the best in his Weekly Inner Work series of lessons.

+ Inner Frontier offers "The Peace of Meditation" by Joseph Naft. This is the third lesson of 11 in his The Path of Liberation series.

Excerpt 1: "To see our thoughts as thoughts, as self-generating, automatic thoughts, to see our emotions as emotions, as self-generating, visceral responses and reactions to inner and outer events, we need some space, we need a place to see from, a place to gain some perspective on our inner world. That is one of the primary purposes and powers of meditation: to find the spacious inner peace of cognizant stillness, the true consciousness."

Excerpt 2: "Meditation shows us the possibility of living in awareness itself, rather than in thoughts and emotions, attitudes and reactions. Relaxing into awareness, into the cognizant substrate beneath our thoughts and emotions, takes us out of that busy stream."

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 12

2011-04-05T10:35:00.004-04:00

+ updated at 12:39pm on Tuesday, April 5, 2011

+ AwareSilence offers many videos with spiritual wisdom by contemporary sages. "It's all about falling awake" says Joe Miller in "An Evening with Joe." Several videos on Working with Light taught by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee are offered. Watch one.

+ Inner Frontier offers "Cracks in the Illusion" by Joseph Naft. This is the second part in his weekly Inner Work series on The Path of Liberation. I have found so many of these weekly offerings valuable so I can't really say that this one outshines others. BUT ... I think this one really does get to the heart of the matter: We spend far too much time thinking, feeling, saying, doing out of our illusory self. We can find cracks in the illusion which liberate us to be our real selves, the part of us that knows with certainty that ...

We are

intimately,

intricately,

infinitely

connected

by a matrix of

unconditional,

unlimited.

uniting

LOVE

which is

miraculous,

mysterious,

marvelous.

WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW -- 1

2011-04-02T16:05:00.003-04:00

Imagine a planet where all of us are enjoying the fruits of the multitude of technical advances we have gained in recent years. “You may say I’m a dreamer, BUT I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE!” as John Lennon put it in “Imagine.” Let us join together and create this glorious new earth. It can be done. It will be done.

What the world needs now is Compassion, Peace, Justice and Sustainable Abundance for all. We have a long way to go. But we have come a long way and we can GO THE DISTANCE if we put our mind, heart, body and soul into it, all of us. If we are to believe Lester Brown and other experts, our civilization is in peril. We must act and act NOW. We can pray our way through this crisis. Prayer embraces thinking, feeling, saying and doing.

Prayer! Perhaps you are uncomfortable with that word. Well, then, call it what you will: Mindfulness, Meditation, Intention, Will, Desire, Hope, Consciousness, Determination, Blessing, Creation, Power, Joy, Decision, Confidence, Belief, Gratitude, Thanksgiving, Unity, Oneness, Centering, Aligning, Sustaining, Evolving, Loving, Connecting, Learning, Teaching, Inspiration, Illumination, Integration. What I am calling Prayer includes all these things and more.

We become one in prayer or mindfulness. We become one in our intention to create a new earth overflowing with compassion, peace, justice and sustainable abundance for all. Or, perhaps it is even more accurate to say that we come to realize our oneness. That’s because:

We are

intimately,

intricately,

infinitely

connected

by a matrix of

unconditional,

unlimited.

uniting

LOVE

which is

miraculous,

mysterious,

marvelous.

God is Love. (1 John 4:7)

Each person on the planet needs to acknowledge personal responsibility for the outcome of our thinking, feeling, saying and doing. Every thought counts. Every feeling counts. Every word counts. Every deed counts. YOU ARE ESSENTIAL. So am I. So is everyone else.

For many of us, prayer is done in the name of Jesus Christ. Others pray through other sacred names. As long as compassion, peace, justice and sustainable abundance are the goals, I am not at all concerned that your Holy Name be the same as mine. I do believe strongly that you and I must believe that these goals can and must be achieved with all of our mind, heart, body and soul.

I have been developing a prayer practice which is based on the four categories of MIND, HEART, BODY and SOUL. Recently, I added a chart to The Abundancetrek homepage which merges these 4 spiritual "landscapes" as Elizabeth Lesser calls them, with my 12 practices. Scroll down the page a little ways. GO!

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 11

2011-03-30T11:06:00.002-04:00

+ Inner Frontier offers "The Illusion of Self" by Joseph Naft. This is the first of 9 in The Path of Liberation Series which will be offered over the next 9 weeks. Here are the next 8: Cracks in the Illusion; Peace of Meditation; Coexistence; Exposing the Illusion; Freedom in Presence; Not Making Something of Nothing; Be Your Attention; I Am.

Excerpt: "Because one or another of our programs is always running, with others waiting, clamoring, in the wings, because the computer, in this case our body, exhibits stability, and because we are so familiar with the more frequently running programs, we believe this is who we are. We believe this set of programs, this personality, this mask, is us. And remarkably, insidiously, that is a self-fulfilling belief, because it moves us to allow our I, our will, to be controlled by whichever program happens to be running. We buy into our personality, our program of the moment, and let it run the show, which it does by usurping the power of will from the true I that we have surrendered to it."

Read it all.

JOYFUL WANDERING - 10

2011-03-23T10:01:00.016-04:00

+ updated at 2:36pm ESDT on Friday, March 25, 2011

+ Joseph Naft offers important wisdom and creative ideas on PRAYER. Excerpt: "Prayer engenders a dialogue between an individual or a group and the Divine, ultimately transforming into a monologue of God (through us) praying to God. The quality of this dialogue ranges enormously from the perfunctory blessing over food to the utter surrender of the saint in mystical union. Four factors determine the power of our prayer: the degrees of our faith, humility, awareness, and intention."

Here's an excerpt on Faith: "The fortunate few attain to the all-consuming faith that emerges from direct and ongoing contact with Divinity. But if you look for the source of faith, you cannot see it. Neither thought nor emotion, faith springs from deep within the will."

Read it all.

+ Inner Work for the week: "Non-Directed, Unitive Will, Passion, Grace, Union" by Joseph Naft. This is the eleventh and last lesson in his powerful Modes of Will series which is now available in its entirety.

Excerpt 1: "While desires may be more or less satisfied, passions pursued lead to greater passion, inexhaustibly, for they flow from the infinite world of the Unitive energy, of Love, a world where Oneness is the reality. The will that flows down to and through us from that world carries in its very nature that inherent unity. One result of letting this into our hearts is that we feel our separateness as incompleteness, with the consequent arising of a need, a longing, a passionate wish for completion, for unity, for love. That precious wish drives our inner work along the path to the sacred. Spiritual practice, rather than assuaging that wish, increases it, until that longing in our heart becomes a constant reminder of what matters. That wish, that longing, that warmth of heart, reshapes who we are."

Excerpt 2: "Receptivity to the Unitive energy brings grace, the grace of a moment of awakening, the grace of freedom from self-centeredness, the grace of objectivity in seeing and responding to the needs of our neighbor, the grace of accepting ourselves and others utterly, the grace of opportunities and temptations, the grace of purifying situations, the grace of seeing our life as our teacher. Enabling us to rise above our usual mixed motives, moments of grace come unexpectedly."

Read it all.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 9

2011-03-15T11:26:00.005-04:00

+ updated at 11:46am ESDT on Wednesday, March 16, 2011

+ Inner Work for the week: "Non-Directed, Creative Will Spontaneity, Conscience, Opening (Modes of Will: Part 10 of 11)" by Joseph Naft.

Excerpt 1: "Just when we’re not looking, the creative energy slips the new into our life. In whatever way we come to it, when we do set aside, at least temporarily, our attachment to what we already know, to our habits and beliefs, to our established patterns of thought and action, to our tensions and defenses, then gaps appear within us, through which the new may enter."

Excerpt 2: "Spontaneity liberates not only outward actions, but also our inner work, for much of our inner world remains to us terra incognita and an attitude of exploration and spontaneity helps illumine our inner spaces."

Excerpt 3: "The creative realm of Sacred Light is the fabled but real domain of ecstasy. By actively exploring, feeling our way beyond consciousness, by emptying ourselves in hope and receptivity to be touched by the Sacred, by reaching with our entire being for the Sacred and opening to the realm of ecstasy, by standing in the nurturing rain of its sweet nectar, by soaking our soul in joy and responsibility, by all these inner acts of will, we come alive, alive to the fullness of being human, alive to unimagined possibilities."

Read it all.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 8

2011-03-11T11:30:00.006-05:00

+ Updated on Monday, March 14, 3:08pm ESDT.

+ New entries below.
+ "This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it."

+ Breathe deeply. Breathe fully.
Be still. Be silent.
Be centered. Be grounded.
Lighten up. Loosen up.
Let go. Let God.
Celebrate. Enjoy.
Be glad all over!

+++

March 14 entries:

+ Here I am back at our second home in Rochester, NY. Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia article on Rochester:

Rochester was ranked as the sixth 'most livable city' among 379 U.S. metropolitan areas in the 25th edition (2007) of the Places Rated Almanac. The Rochester area also received the top ranking for overall quality of life among U.S. metros with populations of more than 1 million in a 2007 study by Expansion Management magazine. In the same study, Expansion Management rated the area's public schools as sixth best nationwide. In 2010 Forbes rated Rochester as the 3rd best place to raise a family.

Rochester is an international center of higher education, as well as medical and technological development. The region is known for many acclaimed universities, and several of them (notably the University of Rochester and the Rochester Institute of Technology) are nationally renowned for their research programs. In addition, Rochester has been and continues to be the site of many important inventions and innovations in consumer products. The Rochester area is currently home to corporations such as Kodak, Bausch & Lomb and Xerox that conduct extensive research and manufacturing in the fields of industrial and consumer products.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 7

2011-03-02T12:49:00.009-05:00

+ 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.

+ Here's what I have been studying in an online course, InterSpiritual Meditation, led by Ed Bastian and the Spirituality and Practice team:

The purposes of InterSpiritual Meditation are:

1. to help each of us to develop and sustain a comprehensive, satisfying, and sustainable process of meditation.

2. to help us co-create contemplative communities for people of diverse faiths and meditative practices. InterSpiritual Meditation is designed to provide a process around which meditators of diverse practices can build community.

3. to model a profound process for people of various religious traditions, and those without a tradition, to join together to create peace and to solve the critical challenges of our times.

The seven steps are:
(1) Motivation (May I be Healthy and Happy)
(2) Gratitude (May I be Grateful)
(3) Transformation (May I be Transformed in my Highest Ideals)
(4) Intention (May I be Loving and Compassionate)
(5) Mindfulness (May I be Mindful through my Breathing)
(6) Meditation (May I become Wise through my Meditation)
(7) Dedication (May I be in Service to All Beings)

We are now on Step 6. The course is available online although the wonderful sharing going on in Practice Circles will soon be over.

+ This post was updated at 1:43pm EST on Wednesday, March 2, 2011.

JOYFUL WONDERING -- 2

2011-02-24T16:17:00.004-05:00

+ updated at 5:04pm EST on Monday, February 28, 2011

+ Are you a joyful wonderer or wanderer? I would love to include your ideas, practices, resources, dreams and visions.

+ New February 28: Inner Frontier offers powerful ideas and practices for Inner Work in weekly segments. The current theme is Modes of Will. This week's focus is "Non-Directed, Sensitive Will." Excerpt: "Vigilance means actively staying in touch with our senses, through the sensitive energy, but without directing that contact toward a particular object. This is a form of the ancient Greek practice of common sense: simple, direct, immediate awareness of all our senses, actively driven by our will. We will ourselves to be in contact with all our senses, which naturally rouses the sensitive energy of awareness to mediate that contact. Vigilance transforms our life from flat shades of grey to vivid, full-color 3D, with layer upon layer of unexpected textures."

+ I have now updated the Spiritual Websites section on the Abundancetrek Connections Galore page. 26 new links found in the past 2 years. 67 "oldies but goodies" which remain big favorites.

+ I am learning a lot in the Spirituality and Practice course on InterSpiritual Meditation which is being taught by Ed Bastian. He is one of the pioneers of the new InterSpiritual Wisdom movement which is seeking to build far more understanding among the planet's wisdom traditions, particularly Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism and Taoism.

More about Ed:

Edward W. Bastian, Ph.D., is a Buddhist scholar, president of the Spiritual Paths Foundation (which offers retreats, classes, and a two-year certificate program in InterSpiritual Wisdom), and co-author of the award-winning book, Living Fully, Dying Well (2009).

THE NEW FAITH FOR THE NEW EARTH -- 1

2011-02-16T13:16:00.012-05:00

+ updated at 10:05am EST on Friday, February 25, 2011

+ THIS IS AN UNFINISHED POST: This post will be unfinished indefinitely as I add resources and probably change the order of the resources to be in some kind of priority order. Also, I am waiting for your ideas and resources.

+ PLEASE SHARE! 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 must begin with important websites, books and other resources which are promoting the values I cherish, particularly Compassion, Peace, Justice and Sustainable Abundance:

+ And now for THE RESOURCES IN SOME KIND OF PRIORITY ORDER:

WWW.SPIRITUALITYANDPRACTICE.COM is the planet's best website. Simply amazing how Mary Ann and Frederic Brussat have accumulated wisdom from all kinds of sources and offer it in an accesible way. They offer dozens of spiritual practices. They review thousands of movies and books. They offer great courses led by very wise teachers. The forums allow sincere spiritual seekers to be enriched by the sharing of many people who represent a great variety of the planet's wisdom traditions.

THE CHURCH OF I AM creatively points out that there is a deep reservoir of shared wisdom about our intimate connection to God and to all creation. This wisdom is often called The Perennial Philosophy, or Mysticism.

HOW ABOUT A WONDERFUL SONG AND VIDEO HERE: NEW SOUL by Yael Naim

THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY, OR MYSTICISM: For many, many links on the Perennial Philosophy, go to http://www.mythosandlogos.com/perennial.html. For a brief summary by Aldous Huxley, go to http://parvati.tripod.com/perennial.html

KEN KEYES: THE TWELVE PATHWAYS TO HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS and KEN KEYES: THE SEVEN CENTERS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS:

MOVING INTO STILLNESS by Erich Schiffmann
Online at http://www.movingintostillness.com/
Yoga Instruction at its best

THE SACRED ART OF SOULMAKING by Joseph Naft
Online at http://innerfrontier.org/Practices/BalanceDepthTOC.htm
A deep and comprehensive understanding of Meditation with some powerful suggestions

THE SEEKER'S GUIDE by Elizabeth Lesser
The book is divided into MIND, BODY, HEART and SOUL with powerful spiritual exercises in each of these categories.

THE TAO OF ABUNDANCE by Laurence Boldt
Immense wisdom. Very comprehensive and illuminating.

THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY by Aldous Huxley
An anthology of Mysticism by a great thinker and writer.

QUANTUM THEOLOGY by Diarmuid O'Murchu
Paradigm Shifts Galore! Defintely advocates a new faith for a new earth but solidly built on the foundation of Christian and other wisdom traditions.

THE HANDBOOOK TO HIGHER CONSCIOUSNESS by Ken Keyes. You can find his 12 Pathways to Higher Consciousness at http://community-2.webtv.net/babaluie/LivingLoveThe/page3.html
You can find his 7 Centers of Consciousness (a Western description of Chakras) at http://community-2.webtv.net/babaluie/LivingLoveThe/page4.html

+ For more than a decade I have been seeking Spiritual Websites. Recently I added 26 more. These are listed first in the Spiritual Websites section on the Abundancetrek Connections Galore page. These are followed by 67 "oldies but goodies" which remain big favorites.

+ When I get to the second post, I intend to share my ideas, hopes, dreams, visions and action plans. And I would love to include your ideas, hopes, dreams, visions and action plans.

+ I will soon offer a post with many quotes promoting the values of THE NEW FAITH FOR THE NEW EARTH.

JOYFUL WONDERING -- 1

2011-01-27T12:41:00.003-05:00

+ updated at 1:07pm EST on Friday, January 28, 2011

+ ANYTHING GOES in this series of posts here on 2 of my blogs -- John A Wilde and The Abundancetrek Blog -- which I begin today, January 27, 2011. Well, that doesn't mean I will share everything I think or believe. Not yet anyway. But I will share a lot and I would sure welcome some support and encouragement and wisdom from fellow joyful wonderers.

+ The COFFEE BREAK SERIES OF POSTS will definitely continue and be a priority because I simply enjoy finding web pages filled with wisdom or important information on the subjects of COMPASSION, PEACE, JUSTICE and SUSTAINABLE ABUNDANCE. The world needs far more of these things.

+ On my Abundancetrek homepage I have changed my vision from "The New Church for the New Age" to THE NEW FAITH FOR THE NEW EARTH. Have I become Post-Christian? No, I don't think so. As a matter of fact, I think I am becoming REALLY A CHRISTIAN as I open up more and more to wisdom and compassion from all over the planet. We are lucky to live in an age when we can receive and realize the wisdom of so many great sages of the ages including many, many current sages. A website which offers this wisdom on a daily basis is Spirituality and Practice, the best website on the planet by far.

+ I haven't updated my CONNECTIONS GALORE PAGE recently but it will still get you to many of the best websites promoting Compassion, Peace, Justice and Sustainable Abundance. Another place to look is right here on the sidebar where I continue to find websites and web pages on these themes and more.

+ The need to BEGIN AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN is taught by many sages of the ages. We need a childlike awareness and appreciation of our constantly changing reality. Nothing remains the same. A great Zen Master particularly emphasizes this need. I can't locate the book here in my study at the moment. It should be on the Priority Shelf!

+ NEW JANUARY 28:

+ One of my favorite theologians is Harvey Cox. Recently he wrote THE FUTURE OF FAITH. In it, he quotes Einstein, one of my favorite scientists:

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. He who knows it not and can no longer wonder, no longer feel amazement, is as good as dead, a snuffed-out candle.

It was the experience of mystery--even if mixed with fear--that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, of the manifestations of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which are only accessible to our reason in their most elementary forms--it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute the truly religious attitude; in this sense, and in this alone, I am a deeply religious man.

( I found this at http://einsteinandreligion.com/mysterious.html. It goes on there for another paragraph which is also profound but I disagree with his belief that we can't have a life beyond this one. There are too many experiences in my life which suggest that a life beyond this one is indeed likely but I agree with Einstein that punishment in eternity is not what God is up to.)

I will possibly come back to both Cox and Einstein in these posts since they are among the most intriguing of the planet's joyful wonderers, past and present.

HEALTH CARE -- 1

2011-01-11T18:34:00.002-05:00

+ Repeal Healthcare Reform? Most Americans are not in favor. Check out a recent poll that shows only 37 per cent of Americans think it is Too Liberal. Don't let the GOP noisemakers fool you. Scroll down to "CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll. Dec. 17-19, 2010. N=1,008 adults nationwide. Margin of error ± 3" at http://www.pollingreport.com/health.htm

Scroll down to "McClatchy-Marist Poll. Nov. 15-18, 2010. N=810 registered voters nationwide. Margin of error ± 3.5" and discover something very important: A majority of Americans either want the Law to stand OR WANT TO EXPAND IT SO IT DOES MORE!!! ‎35 per cent said "Change it so it does more" as compared to 11 per cent saying "Change it so it does less." 33 per cent said "Repeal it." So, more people actually want to expand it than want to repeal it! ‎16 per cent said" Let It Stand."

Sadly, the GOP wants to make us believe most Americans are against it because it is Too Liberal. This is simply NOT TRUE as the CNN Poll definitely says that only a minority think it is Too Liberal. Go to the Polling Report.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 6

2010-11-23T11:24:00.010-05:00

+ updated at 9:14am EST on Wednesday, November 24, 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. Below are some new thoughts and finds on the web.

+ Solitude does not mean withdrawal from community. Instead, solitude is the practice which makes community thrive. We are not robots thoughtlessly doing what society demands. We are spiritual beings charged with transforming society into the most holy, glorious, fantastic realm of abundance, joy, wisdom, beauty, love, truth, peace, justice and freedom. Getting awayfrom the demands of society allows one to figure out how to participate in the very just and life-giving demands of God. Society can be very demanding. Get away from all those demands from time to time and discover your true self. Get connected to God intimately. Solitude miraculously opens the door to heaven. WOW!

+ An important book on this important practice is Out of Solitude: Three Meditations on the Christian Life by Henri Nouwen.

+ eNotAlone offers an excerpt from Living Peace: A Spirituality of Contemplation and Action by John Dear. It begins: "The life of peace begins anew each morning. We take a breath, awaken, and receive the gift of life, the gift of the present moment. The great spiritual traditions urge us to take time each day to center ourselves in the spirit of peace. If we dare enter the solitude of peace, we will rediscover who we are, each one of us a beloved, precious child of the God of peace." Read More.

+ Experience the Possibilities offers "The Joy Of Silence, Solitude, And Voluntary Simplicity" by Ken Lauher, a Feng Shui Consultant.

+ Ignation Spirituality: Set The World Ablaze is a blog offered by John Predmore, S.J. On April 14, he offered "Spirituality: Silence and Solitude." Here it is:

Silence and solitude are the marks of spiritual maturity. They lead to peace and bliss. The spiritual life is an inner life and cannot be attained on the outside. The spiritual life is its own reward and seeks nothing beyond itself. Once we achieve inner peace and conscious contact, we want to overflow. This is the mark of truth and love to move toward goodness and transcendence.

The ancient philosophers called goodness, truth, beauty and love the transcendental properties of Being.

+ "The best and sweetest flowers in paradise, God gives to his people when they are on their knees in the closet. — Prayer, if not the very gate of heaven, is the key to let us into its holiness and joys." -- Thomas Brooks (found at http://www.quotationpark.com/topics/devotion.html)

+ Discipleship Tools offers "The Discipline of Solitude" by Dr. Richard J. Krejcir. The guidance offered by this Christian is very similar to the Sufi guidance below. The sages of the ages all teach that we get closer to God by stilling ourselves and being receptive. They also teach that we have a mission to take our wisdom into the world and make a difference. First, we make a difference in ourselves and then we display our divine side in the world. This is attractive to seekers and a threat to the selfish and greedy. Be prepared!

+ Hermitary offers "Solitude in Sufi Tradition."

Excerpt 1: "The use of solitude as discipline and means may have channeled deep individual and cultural expressions into daily life. Sufism as mysticism was devotional in a way paralleling Hindu Bhakti, but strictly regulated by Muslim and Quranic tradition. Yet who can doubt that the magnificent poetry of Sufi tradition so rich in mystical symbolism, sensual imagery, and Dionysian expression, was not itself a devotional expression that elevated Sufi practice as praise and extroversion, contrasted to the introversion of Western and Far Eastern solitude and silence."

Excerpt 2: "Solitude in the crowd becomes the face of the self going about daily life. Constant consciousness of God in every circumstance preserves a disengagement from the world without disrupting the functions of society, which in turn are supposed to be based on Islamic ethics. The Quran identifies those who successfully practice 'solitude in the crowd' as those 'whom neither business nor profit distracts from the recollection of God' (24:37). Attributed to the Prophet Muhammad is a saying of himself (and as a model to others) that he has 'two sides: one faces my Creator and one faces creation.'"

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 5

2010-10-26T11:24:00.006-04:00

+ updated at 12:46pm on Tuesday, October 26, 2010

+ My Spiritual Practice of the week is Humility which is the goal of the practices of Stillness and Detachment which I emphasized in the last couple of weeks. One of my favorite spiritual guides is Joseph Naft who offers amazing wisdom each week in his "Inner Work" section of Inner Frontier. Not surprisingly, he offers a page on Humility. Here's an excerpt: "The humble, unassuming person immediately puts us at ease. We can just relax and be ourselves in their presence, a zone of no competition, no judgment, and no fear. The heart of the humble knows love. Humility realizes we are all in the same boat, all human, all equally children of the same God. Humility gladly honors others and, except for reasons of conscience, readily and without rancor gives way." Read more.

+ The Living Stones Blog offers "Thoughts on Detachment". Here it is:

Detachment doesn’t mean not loving. It means to be free to love with God’s love. Without detachment we are not free. We are bound to our limited selves, our egos, and when we are bound we project onto others, grasp after them, and/or reject them. Without detachment we cannot be fully aware of others or fully present to them. So we love selfishly, at least partly, and in self-serving ways.

Detachment enables us to be aware of and engage reality as it really is. It enables us to welcome and embrace the unfolding of reality and be present and responsive to the Spirit at work within it. Without detachment we cannot see truth, cannot realize or actualize the truth.

Detachment requires skillful, intentional humility and vulnerability because detachment does not come naturally to us; it is a supernatural gift, a grace, though we can practice making ourselves available to it. My prayer for myself and for our community is that we continue to grow in loving others with awareness, humility, and skill. And this, I think, requires detachment.

+ OneGodSite offers some very illuminating quotes on the spiritual practice of Detachment.

SUPPORTING THE PALESTINIANS -- 16

2010-10-25T13:57:00.000-04:00

+ WallWritings offers "I Must Write As Long As Israeli Settlers Burn Palestinian Schools" by James Wall. Wall is as informed and courageous as anybody on the planet when it comes to telling the truth about The Middle East and advocating for peace and justice around the planet.

SUPPORTING THE PALESTINIANS -- 15

2010-10-17T15:04:00.003-04:00

+ updated at 3:57 ESDT on Sunday, October 17, 2010

+ Too many Americans are in denial or ignorance when it comes to our policies in the Middle East. I suggest that you read Wallwritings, a great blog by James Wall, and get informed. James Wall was the Editor of my favorite journal, The Christian Century, from 1972 to 1999. Today he offers "Rahm and the General Are Gone; Time to Put Freeman Back to Work" advocating (as he has consistently) for a huge shift in our foreign policy toward the Middle East.

Excerpt 1: " ... President Obama has at least two more years in which he must work around the Congress and address himself to restoring moral fiber to his handling of the atrocious conduct of the Netanyahu-Lieberman government of Israel. I suggest he start by restoring Charles Freeman to a position of influence in his administration."

(The next 2 excerpts are written by Freeman since he was ousted from the Obama administration in early 2009 probably due to pressure from my NY Senator Charles Schuman, an AIPAC loyalist.)

Excerpt 2: "The Middle East is a constant reminder that a clear conscience is usually a sign of either a faulty memory or a severe case of arrogant amorality. It is not a badge of innocence. These days, we meticulously tally our own battlefield dead; we do not count the numbers of foreigners who perish at our hands or those of our allies. Yet each death is a tragedy that extinguishes one soul and wounds others. This deserves our grief. If we cannot feel it, we may justly be charged with inhumanity."

Excerpt 3: "There is a special irony in having been accused of improper regard for the opinions of foreign governments and societies by a group so clearly intent on enforcing adherence to the policies of a foreign government — in this case, the government of Israel. I believe that the inability of the American public to discuss, or the government to consider, any option for US policies in the Middle East opposed by the ruling faction in Israeli politics has allowed that faction to adopt and sustain policies that ultimately threaten the existence of the state of Israel… This is not just a tragedy for Israelis and their neighbors in the Middle East; it is doing widening damage to the national security of the United States.”

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 4

2010-10-15T15:59:00.003-04:00

+ updated at 4:08pm ESDT on Friday, October 15, 2010

+ Breathe deeply. Breathe fully. Be still. Be silent. Be centered. Be grounded. Lighten up. Loosen up. Let go. Let God. Celebrate. Enjoy. Be glad all over!

DEEP + FULL + DEEP (on exhale) + FULL (on inhale) + DEEP + FULL + be awake + be aware + be connected + be glad all over + now + BREATHE + Yoga Teacher Erich Schiffman offers a great chapter on breathing and a great chapter on being still.

+ Be still. I just can't share Kafka's wisdom on this spiritual practice enough:

You do not need to do anything; you do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. You do not even need to listen; just wait. You do not even need to wait; just become still, quiet and solitary and the world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet. -- Franz Kafka

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 3

2010-10-13T12:02:00.021-04:00

+ updated at 3:54pm ESDT on Friday, October 15, 2010

+ Well, it's about time! I'm just wondering: will you join me for some more joyful wandering, joyful wondering, in the next few months. That would be a blessing!

+ Getting a good balance in my life is something I am striving to achieve. My cyber life is a significant part of it, particularly as I promote sustainable abundance, peace, justice and compassion. My Prayer Life is really important. My Family Life. My Church Life. My Interest in things like Rock'n'Roll, Baseball, Travel, Photography, Politics, Theology and more.

OK Prayer must come first. I have been doing pretty well at establishing a daily practice of Centering Prayer as taught by Father Keating. I have been trying to increase my efforts in Intercessory Prayer. I do a lot of Journaling with a desire to write more and more about my spiritual journey. I intend to add more Joyful Wandering posts at The Abundancetrek Blog.

So, here I am wandering and wondering again! With some focus I hope.

I intend to spend a week on each of the 12 spiritual practices and 9 heavenly attributes in the following order: Stillness, Detachment, Humility, Silence, Discernment, Healing, Solitude, Holiness, Devotion, Simplicity, Delight, Heavenliness, Abundance, Joy, Wisdom, Beauty, Love, Truth, Peace, Justice , Freedom.

So, this week's emphasis is STILLNESS. I have a web page on STILLNESS which will get us started. Let's go to it now > http://www.abundancetrek.com/stillness.

I did and I kind of like what I see but I also see that this page needs a lot of work. I'm going to fix any broken links now. Isn't this fun?

Many broken links. This will take a while.

+ BEING STILL leads to PAYING ATTENTION > Spirituality and Practice offers plenty of resources on this foundational spiritual practice at http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/practices.php?id=1&g=1. Here is a book excerpt I found in the S&P section on Attention:

Master Hsing Yun presents ideas on ways to tend our moral, emotional and spiritual gardens. Here is an excerpt on attention from the book Tending Life's Garden: Between Ignorance and Enlightenment VI:

The mind is like tangled silk that needs sorting to be in good working order. It is like an ancient mirror that requires a good polishing in order to shine, or a wild horse that needs to be tamed. The mind is our master, leading the daily activities of our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body. Within our everyday activities, a single thought may ruin our lives or reputations, or help us gain success and fame. Buddhist sutras compare the ungoverned mind to the likes of thieves, vicious beasts, monkeys, and kings. Therefore, it is absolutely critical to govern the mind!

He then offers 3 suggestions. Read more.

SEPTEMBER 11 ANNIVERSARY -- 2

2010-09-11T14:33:00.000-04:00

First, a reading 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]

Then, please read the two sobering and challenging posts offered by John Shuck at Shuck and Jive today:

SEPTEMBER 11 ANNIVERSARY -- 1

2010-09-08T14:35:00.000-04:00

+ Anyone who wants to deal with the meaning of September 11, 2001 can benefit immensely from reading Shuck and Jive, particularly the following two recent posts.

http://www.shuckandjive.org/2010/09/david-ray-griffin.html
http://www.shuckandjive.org/2010/09/my-911-storyso-far.html

I don't agree with everything John is saying but I have enormous respect for him and do agree with a lot of what he is saying, particularly that our national and global narratives have been severely damaged by the propaganda attached to the events of September 11, 2001. His re-posts a statement from 2001 where he makes predictions which have turned out to be painfully accurate.

We need a better narrative. Fear and hatred are destroying us from within.

APACHE BLESSING

2010-08-03T12:15:00.002-04:00

+ Thanks to the WebWeaver at Presbyterian Voices for Justice, I discovered a wonderful Apache Blessing:

May the sun bring new energy by day,

may the moon safely restore you by night.

May the rain wash away your worries,

may the breeze blow new strength into your being.

May you walk through the world

and know its beauty

all the days of your life.

SUPPORTING THE PALESTINIANS -- 14

2010-07-15T17:42:00.004-04:00

+ ICAHD-USA offers "Is Israel an Apartheid State?" by Frances H. Remillard. ICAHD stands for Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. Here's an excerpt from the article:

Apartheid regimes rely on three “Pillars of Apartheid” to maintain their domination:

■Pillar 1: The state codifies into law a preferred identity, and then establishes adjunct laws that grant preferential legal status and material privileges to the preferred group on the basis of their identity while discriminating against the non-preferred group on the basis of the inferior status afforded them.

■Pillar 2: The state segregates the population into geographic areas based on their identity. The favored identity receives preferential access to land, water, other resources, and to government benefits and services while the non-preferred group is confined to ever shrinking non-contiguous besieged territorial enclaves.

■Pillar 3: The state establishes security laws and policies designed to suppress any opposition to the regime. The system of domination is reinforced through assassinations; administrative detention; torture; cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment; and arbitrary arrest and imprisonment of the non-preferred group.

SUPPORTING THE PALESTINIANS -- 13

2010-07-14T14:47:00.002-04:00

+ Recently the General Assembly of The Presbyterian Church (USA) dealt with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Breaking Down the Walls," a Report by the Middle East Study Committee was received and mostly accepted. Before the Assembly met, an article in The Christian Century appeared accusing the Committee of an anti-Jewish orientation. The article is "Habits of anti-Judaism" by Ted A. Smith and Amy-Jill Levine, both Professors at Vanderbilt Divinity School.

I wrote them a letter and await a response. Here is my letter:

Dear Professors Smith and Levine,

This is a response to your recent article in The Christian Century, "Habits of Anti-Judaism". I applaud you for writing the article even though I profoundly disagree with much of your analysis.

You have motivated me to actually read the report which you criticize. Thank you!

Full disclosure from the start: I'm a retired Presbyterian Pastor who has long been an outspoken advocate for the Palestinians. I am not anti-Jewish but I will admit right from the start that I do find the creation of Israel in 1948 very problematic.

You accuse the report authors of bad theology. I think I would agree with you that there is some bad theology but I think you picked out parts of the report -- what I would call cherry-picking -- rather than deal with all of the report in its full context.

I think I detect some bad theology on your part.

It seems clear to me that you embrace the view that the Jewish people have a special place in God's plan for the planet and, thus, deserve a homeland long denied. Maybe. Maybe not.

I wonder why your crtiticism was so weak on the twentieth century history of the land we now call Israel-Palestine. No matter what we believe about the Bible and the theology of the Chosen People, it seems clear to me that twentieth century politics has far more to do with the development of Israel as a nation-state than does ancient history.

The United Nations recommendations of 1947 were not at all fair to the Palestinians. The seeds were planted in those recommendations for a tragedy. But the 1947 recommendations were far more fair than the facts on the ground since 1948 and especially since 1967. A tragedy indeed.

It seems to me that one can not avoid dealing with the current situation. I understand that Jewish-Christian relations have been horrible for most of the past 2000 years. But creating Israel and unconditionally supporting the slow but steady ethnic-cleansing of Arabs in Israel-Palestine is not necesarily the best way to mend Christian-Jewish relations.

So, I see your criticism's neglect of current international politics as a significant flaw in your analysis.

Theology is fluid, dynamic, not static. How Jews and Christians believe and behave in our times is very important. An honest look at what really happened in the twentieth century is vital.

In one word: COLONIALISM.

What many of us Presbyterians find so erroneous in the unconditional and special support of Israel is the colonialism which made it possible to be created and continues to make it possible. The UK and then the USA created and continue to maintain Israel. (The UN of 1947 was dominated by Colonial Powers; it was not the UN of today).

Israel for all practical purposes is our colony just as South Africa continued to be a colony until the Black majority finally took control. The Native Arab population far outnumbered the Jewish immigrant population in 1948. And, to use a term now so widely used, many of them were Illegal Immigrants.

So, try to look at what has happened and is continuing to happen from the Arab point of view. And then come up with a theology which affirms their rights with as much passion as you affirm Jewish rights.

Finally, the more I look at the Report of the Committee, the more I see how much cherrry-picking you did. You simply failed to deal with the document as a whole. Yes, you found some flaws which do indeed need to be pointed out.

And so do yours!

I may have more to say as I continue to reflect on this very important conversation about very important human beings, Jewish and Palestinian and Presbyterian and many others.

I welcome your continuing contribution to the conversation with the hope that you definitely will do theology with a passion for justice for the Palestinians as well as the Jews.

love, john + www.abundancetrek.com + "Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice." -- Martin Luther King, Jr. (a speech containing this famous quote is found at http://www.indiana.edu/~ivieweb/mlkwhere.html)

REFORMED CHURCHES ISSUE AN APOLOGY FOR PERPETRATING ABUSE AGAINST NATIVE AMERICANS

2010-06-29T09:40:00.000-04:00

+ The World Communion of Reformed Churches has just concluded a meeting in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Here is an report by Ecumenical News International on a significant statement by this body which includes the Presbyterian Church (USA):

Grand Rapids, Michigan (ENI). A global Protestant body representing 80 million Christians has issued an apology for the role played by churches in perpetrating abuse against Native Americans, First Nations and other indigenous peoples. "We … repent of our history littered with ways in which we have betrayed Gospel values of justice, fairness, and love for our neighbour … by the confiscation of land, and mass killings," delegates at the founding meeting of the World Communion of Reformed Churches said in a 26 June statement. The 18-28 June gathering in Grand Rapids, in the state of Michigan, took place on the traditional territory of Native American peoples, delegates noted.

GOING TO GERMANY SOON

2010-06-03T11:58:00.001-04:00

+ I have Germany on my mind since the Wilde-Bartle team is headed to Germany next Tuesday for 2 weeks. We will be staying in Frankfurt (one night); Berlin (3 nights); Nuremberg (3 nights); Füssen (4 nights) and; Munich (2 nights). I will post from time to time at The Abundancetrek Travel Blog and my Facebook and Twitter pages.

We are planning day trips to Dresden, Rothenburg and the Zugspitse.

SUPPORTING THE PALESTINIANS -- 12

2010-05-24T10:38:00.002-04:00

+ Wall Writings offers "War Destroys Jabra Home on Baghdad’s Princesses’ Street" by James M. Wall. It begins: "The Nakba has claimed another victim. This time it was not the death of one of the millions of Palestinians driven from their homes by the 1948 creation of the modern state of Israel. In this case, the loss was a private home on Princesses’ Street in Baghdad, Iraq, an ending that might have passed unnoticed under a pile of rubble, in spite of that home’s importance in the cultural history of both Palestine and Iraq."

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 2

2010-05-21T14:16:00.012-04:00

+ Last updated at 2:09pm ESDT on Friday, october 15, 2010.

+ This post and this series of posts could be so much better if YOU would contribute. YOU ARE A FANTASTIC and WONDERFUL PERSON.

+ I have been exploring the World Wide Web for years looking for spiritual wisdom and effective political action in support of compassion, sustainable abundance, peace and justice. I have found many great web sites and you can find many of them on the Connections Galore Page of Abundancetrek.com.

+ One of my favorite web sites is The Church of I Am which is a collection of statements showing that the Perennial Philosophy, or Mysticism, or "Thou art That" is an essential foundation of all of our planet's powerful wisdom traditions.

Can you say with me "I am powerful"? "I am making a difference?" Finish the sentence: "I am ..." What did you come up with? Please share. Please connect. We are on an adventure together and I want your companionship. We can make a difference. We can create a planet where compassion, sustainable abundance, peace and justice thrive.

+ The Church of I AM guides us to the following teaching on The Universal Consciousness:

Those wise ones who see that the consciousness within themselves is the same consciousness within all conscious beings, attain eternal peace. -- Katha Upanishad.

So let's find out more about the Katha Upanishad. Yoga-Age.com offers a translation of the Katha Upanishad with commentary. I am finding that the time and effort to learn from this scripture is well worth it. Here is an excerpt from the next to last verse:

Through the process of steadfast discrimination, one should learn to differentiate the Soul from the body, just as one separates the pith from a reed.

+ Just wondering. What's next for OUR joyful wandering and wondering? Help me decide.

+ Click here to see all JOYFUL WANDERING posts.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 1

2010-05-05T11:53:00.013-04:00

+ updated at 2:28pm ESDT on Friday, May 21, 2010

+ I have been doing most of my blogging recently at The John A Wilde Blog but I think that's about to change as a result of my decision to begin this new series of posts called JOYFUL WANDERING. It could also be called JOYFUL WONDERING. Or maybe JUST WONDERING.

I believe God wants us to enjoy life. Really enjoy it. For some this means accumulating lots of money and possessions and power but that's NOT what I have in mind here. No way.

No, God wants us to be thankful for everything God provides, provides abundantly, provides FREE. The universe really is a FREE LUNCH. Something out of Nothing.

I just discovered some wonderful synchronicity for this first JW post:

Today's Daily Lectionary includes these pertinent verses from 1 Thessalonians and Matthew 6:

But we appeal to you, brothers and sisters, to respect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord and admonish you; esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves. And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good; abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:12-22)
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. (Matthew 6:19-21, 24)

We are creating this wonderful, fantastic universe. Right now. Right here. Enjoy! Be glad all over! Take a deep breath and take in the beauty, the abundance, the love, the joy, the peace. Right now. Right here.

If you come with me on this journey, I can promise you only companionship. I do not know where we are going or how we will get there. We are simply wandering and wondering and discovering and exploring. Oh, I suppose I do have an itinerary in mind but the itinerary is subject to change. My personality type is INFP and one of the most basic attributes of an INFP is "Logic is Optional."

I think we can have a lot of fun and I think we can help the universe become more compassionate as we take this journey. I hope you will join me because I think this journey is very important. I have a lot to share with you and you have a lot to share with me. 2 minds are better than 1. 3 are better than 2. 4 are better than 3.

100 are better than 99.

1000 are better than 999.

I think you get the idea!

Let's go.

I want this to start on a very positive note, so let's begin with MUSIC. My favorite music is Rock'n'Roll but I enjoy plenty of other types as well. I really like Celtic Music and Reggae and all kinds of World Music. Here's a link to a song and video which always brings tears of joy to my eyes:

NEW SOUL by Yael Naim

(sorry about the ad) (maybe I can find a better link) (check for an update of this post)

Fellow trekkers, please suggest more JOYFUL WANDERING, JOYFUL WONDERING music for the trek. OK?

+ Click here to see all of my JOYFUL WANDERING posts.

BY BREATH song by Sara Thomsen

2010-03-13T10:28:00.001-05:00

+ Here's the YouTube link to this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HgOJiJRKMM

SUPPORTING THE PALESTINIANS -- 11

2010-03-10T13:50:00.000-05:00

+ Haaretz offers "When Israelis degrade Israel by humiliating Joe Biden" by Bradley Burston. Excerpt: "What conceivable advantage is there in the Interior Ministry choosing the occasion of a high-profile visit by Joseph R. Biden, Jr., a mission aimed at soothing strained relations between Israel and the Obama administration, to announce the approval of 1,600 new homes for Israelis in East Jerusalem?"

In case you don't know it, Haaretz is an Israeli newspaper. Why is it that the Israelis can have an informed conversation about Israel's controversial policies in their major media outlets and we can't here in the USA?

GLENN BECK NEEDS A BIBLE LESSON

2010-03-09T13:23:00.002-05:00

+ Bread for the World urges us to sign a petition dealing with the ridiculous Glenn Beck idea that people should leave churches which mention social justice or economic justice. Here's an excerpt from the appeal: "Fox News Host Glenn Beck is famous for making outrageous statements. And normally, we don't feel compelled to respond. But now he's gone too far. Recently, he urged his audience to leave their congregations if the church mentioned 'social' or 'economic' justice. Please sign the petition at www.bread.org/beck to remind him that justice is central to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And once you've done so, please forward it to your friends. If we get 35,000 signatures, we'll hand deliver the signed petition with a copy of the Poverty and Justice Bible to Beck's office."

MESSAGE FOR THE TREK -- 7

2010-03-05T10:07:00.000-05:00

+ I wrote the following MESSAGE FOR THE TREK on 9/11/02:

What we are working on here is a new spirituality for the Global village solidly based on love. There is only one human family. We are all brothers and sisters. We need to love one another, to cherish each other, appreciate each other, respect each other, help each other. That’s all. Nothing to it. Let’s do it.

+ All of the Messages for the Trek I wrote between 2002 and 2007 can be seen at www.abundancetrek.com/mftt.

REFORMED AND ALWAYS BEING REFORMED -- 5

2010-03-03T12:56:00.002-05:00

+ Thanks to Presbyterian Voices for Justice (the brand new name of the merged Witherspoon Society and Voices of Sophia), I discovered that USA Today offers "Where have all the Protestants gone?" by Oliver Thomas.

Excerpt 1: "'By valuing the individual quest for faith,' says the Rev. John Lindner in the fall issue of the Yale divinity journal Reflections, 'Protestant practice has resulted in a drift toward the self-authentication of truth, suspicion of ecclesiastical authority and an outbreak of freelance spirituality, launching generations of seekers.' Read steeple dropouts. This has helped fuel the increase in New Age movements as well as in the number of Americans who refer to themselves as 'spiritual but not religious.' Denominational labels and loyalty mean little to such people."

Excerpt 2: "Religion professor and Presbyterian elder Peggy Cowan sees something else — something that could help churches connect with a generation of seekers who might consider portions of the Apostle's Creed on par with Harry Potter. 'Theological exploration,' she calls it. With Jesus as their tutor, successful churches in post-modern America must be willing to affirm that all theology is provisional in light of the mystery of God."

+ Click here to see all of my "Reformed And Always Being Reformed" (Semper Reformanda) posts.

SUPPORTING THE PALESTINIANS -- 10

2010-03-01T10:25:00.004-05:00

+ The Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA) Steering Committee offers this important statement about the need for international action for Palestinian justice to be achieved:

South Africa’s transition to a multi-racial democracy was unexpectedly peaceful due, in large part, to international economic, political, and diplomatic pressure. This process was aided by a call from South African Christian leaders who challenged the legitimacy of the official “state theology” called Apartheid. Palestinians are also facing a de facto (official) state theology that delegitimizes their rights as children of God in the land of their ancestors. Christian leaders in Palestine and Israel are now calling for a similar international response of boycotts, divestment, and sanctions to help end the occupation and achieve a just peace in the Holy Land. Their call, Kairos Palestine, is based on a serious theological commitment to the prophetic challenge belonging to all three monotheistic faiths: Christianity, Judaism and Islam. It is also based on the conviction that without international Christian awareness and solidarity, the indigenous Christian Church in Palestine and Israel may cease to exist.

+ Please read Kairos Palestine.

MESSAGE FOR THE TREK -- 6

2010-02-25T13:29:00.000-05:00

+ I wrote the following MESSAGE FOR THE TREK on 9/4/02:

The first anniversary of the terrorist attack on NYC and DC is just a week away. What can I add to the conversation? I think GROUND ZERO needs to continue to be a sacred place. It needs to be hallowed ground. No particular organized religion can do this. The government can't. It can only be done by "the people." "The people" are creating something new and different. Some call it "the New Age." Some call it "the New Paradigm." Some call it a "spiritual awakening." But once a label is applied, it is no longer "the work of the people," the definition of the word liturgy. Not far from GROUND ZERO is the United Nations building. The UN began operations in 1945, the year the atomic bomb was used to destroy 2 Japanese cities. Those two cities have both set apart hallowed ground for the world. Now, New York City has an opportunity to join them by allowing GROUND ZERO to remain a place where "the people" can come together somehow to share a vision of a peaceful world, of everybody getting along, of religious and ethnic and class intolerance disappearing because "the people" simply won't stand for it anymore. There's work to be done, not constructing new twin towers, but constructing a global village based solidly on love.

+ All of the Messages for the Trek I wrote between 2002 and 2007 can be seen at www.abundancetrek.com/mftt.

WE ARE THE WORLD 25 FOR HAITI

2010-02-22T16:32:00.002-05:00

REFORMED AND ALWAYS BEING REFORMED -- 4

2010-02-22T13:45:00.004-05:00

+ There are some people in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and many other denominations who believe that doctrines from past centuries still must be strictly followed. I believe that the doctrines of previous centuries still make a lot of sense but must be understood in ways that check out with our current state of knowledge and wisdom. So, the Progressive Christianity movement makes a lot of sense. We honor the past but are not bound by it. We can move forward. We can and must change.

Those who believe that doctrines from past centuries still must be strictly followed will often say that us Progressive Christians are more influenced by modern social trends than by the Holy Spirit. I take this criticism seriously. We must always seek to discern God's will with plenty of prayer, humility, openness and diligent study of the many factors involved.

I am satisfied that the Presbyterian Church (USA) usually does such discernment with great integrity and courage. The perfecting of our denomination is far from done but it is happening in marvelous ways.

I am glad that I have many Presbyterian colleagues who identify with the Progressive Christianity movement. I will offer a more comprehensive list of groups and individuals in the future but for now let me offer a few:

The Witherspoon Society
Presbyterians for Earth Care
John Shuck, Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton, TN. Check out Shuck and Jive, his fantastic Blog
John Preston, Retired Pastor, Northeast Regional Representative, Presbyterians For Earth Care. His recent book, Wrestling Until the Dawn, deals with the need for major reform as we deal with our postmodern era, the ecological crisis and emerging biblical scholarship.
J. Mark Davidson, Pastor of The Church of Reconciliation, Chapel Hill, NC. His sermons are always provocative, profound, progressive and inspirational. Check out his recent books, Sacred Glimpses and A Luminous Presence.

+ Click here to see all of my "Reformed And Always Being Reformed" (Semper Reformanda) posts.

I AM FANTASTIC!

2010-02-16T13:56:00.000-05:00

AND SO ARE YOU!

REFORMED AND ALWAYS BEING REFORMED -- 3

2010-02-12T11:58:00.003-05:00

+ We definitely need to re-imagine Jesus. The Jesus Seminar has contributed immensely to a new and much improved understanding of Jesus which moves us away from the Jesus-olatry and Bible-olatry which has plagued our great wisdom tradition for centuries. I love Jesus. I love the Bible. Idolizing Jesus and the Bible reduces their impact. God mercifully gives us the great gift of freedom. We are free to find new meaning and joy and to reject doctrines which simply do not make sense in our times. Great thinkers like Diarmuid O'Murchu, Cynthia Bourgeault, Marcus Borg, Raimon Panikkar, Matthew Fox, Sallie McFague and John Shelby Spong (to mention only a few) are leading us forward with great courage and fantastic freedom and curiosity and wisdom.

In the S&P course on InterSpiritual Wisdom, Cynthia Bourgeault says:

The modern Christian mystical theologian Raimon Panikkar suggests intriguingly that the real problem all along has been that JESUS WAS NOT A MONOTHEIST! His experience of God was much more a flowing, interabiding one (i.e, "I in you, and you in me, that all may be one...)--a flow later captured (though usually misunderstood) in the doctrine of the Trinity, where form, emptiness, created, and uncreated are always engaged in a circle dance of love--yes, Rami, the very essence of divine "is-ing." It was Jesus's claims of too great intimacy with God that violated the strong Abrahamic sense of an unbridgeable abyss between creator and creature and the radical unknowability of God. Panikkar argues impressively that it was the attempt to paste Jesus's radically nondual vision onto the metaphysical basis of Jewish monotheism that resulted in the "San Andreas fault" running through the heart of the Christian message to this day.

Related closely to this powerful idea are the provocative and progressive teachings of John Shelby Spong. Spirituality and Practice offers a review of A New Christianity for a New World: Why Traditional Faith Is Dying & How a New Faith Is Being Born by John Shelby Spong.

Excerpt 1: "Spong tosses aside the theistic supernatural overlay on the man from Nazareth. He sees him as a boundary breaker who tears down the walls that separate people. He also is a fear buster who by his magnetic passion convinces individuals to put aside tribal and xenophobic fears. Spong concludes: 'Jesus will become the doorway into the Holy for those of us who have been privileged to know his name, but there will be other doorways for other people.'"

Excerpt 2: "Progressive Christians who are re-imagining their faith in the twenty-first century will find this thought-provoking and substantive work right in sync with prior works by Matthew Fox, Andrew Harvey, Wayne Teasdale, and Diarmuid O'Murchu."

+ Click here to see all of my "Reformed And Always Being Reformed" (Semper Reformanda) posts.

GOD HAS A DREAM -- 3

2010-02-11T14:39:00.005-05:00

+ updated at 3:02pm EST, Thursday, February 11, 2010

+ This is the third in a series of posts on a marvelous book, God Has A Dream by ArchBishop Desmond Tutu. There is a website devoted to the book and its ideas and calls to action.

+ Hope is a theme found throughout God Has A Dream: A Vision of Hope for Our Time. The S&P Spiritual Practice of the Day for today, February 11, zeroes in on what Hope is all about:

Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good, not because it stands for a chance to succeed. — Vaclav Havel quoted in Lyrics for Re-Creation by James Conlon

To Practice This Thought: Join a group doing good in the world and really believe in its goals, no matter what happens.

The final chapter of God Has A Dream offers many suggestions for such joining. In other words, Hope is active participation in the risky creation of God's realm of abundance, joy, wisdom, beauty, love, truth, peace, justice and freedom.

If Archbishop Tutu and his many colleagues working for a liberated South Africa had not practiced Hope, the day of liberation would not have come. I know, this seems to be the opposite of what is being said here but I don't think so. When there was no realistic chance for the movement to succeed, they believed that the movement had already succeeded. Hope is more than a wish for change. Hope is a change that has already happened and nothing can prevail against it, not even the appearance of failure.

In the first chapter, Tutu writes:

During the darkest days of apartheid I used to say to P.W. Botha, the president of South Africa, that we had already won, and I invited him and other white South Africans to join the winning side. All the "objective" facts were against us -- the pass laws, the imprisonments, the teargassing, the massacres, the murder of political activists -- but my confidence was not in the present circumstances but in the laws of God's universe. This is a moral universe, which means that, despite all the evidence that seems to be to the contrary, there is no way that evil and injustice and oppression and lies can have the last word.

Martin Luther King, Jr., no stranger to the same kind of adversity, said: "Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice." (The speech containing this famous quote is found at http://www.indiana.edu/~ivieweb/mlkwhere.html)

+ Spirituality and Practice offers many resources and suggestions for our journey of Hope.

+ Click here to see all of my posts on God Has A Dream.

GOD HAS A DREAM -- 2

2010-02-10T13:01:00.001-05:00

+ This is the second in a series of posts on a marvelous book, God Has A Dream by ArchBishop Desmond Tutu.

+ Bishop Tutu deals with the theme of transfiguration throughout the book. This Sunday, February 14, is the last Sunday before Lent when the Goispel lesson is always The Transfiguration of Jesus. Tutu says that the miracle of transfiguration is happening all of the time. He points to the miracle of his own country, South Africa, which mostly peacefully transitioned to allow all of its citizens to vote and participate in their democracy after decades of a brutal apartheid regime. He was a big part of this transfiguration and he became a leader of the reconciling efforts since that regime was replaced.

This Sunday also is now called Evolution Sunday. I believe there is every reason to see that Evolution and Transfiguration are not in opposition but indeed are complementary. Presbyterian blogger John Shuck advocates Evolution as a basic understanding of reality that we need to embrace. He offers an intriguing post, "Better Living Through Evolution" which now has elicited quite a few interesting comments including my own which I am offering here:

It is simply an impossibility that I would not add a thought or 2 to this discussion.

First, I love the archetype of Transfiguration. 3 Utica Presbyterian churches will be studying Desmond Tutu's GOD HAS A DREAKM beginning this Sunday evening. Tutu uses the theme of Transfiguration throughout his inspiring and challenging book. I'm sure he embraces Evolution too.

Second, I agree with those who believe we need to embrace Evolution firmly. There is absolutely no reason to think that we must come up with a different theory simply because Evolution refuses to back up the Genesis stories. Thanks John for your prophetic and illuminating contribution to this effort.

Third, I am a fan of Christian myth and ritual because the radical meaning of our symbols and archetypes does not contradict but affirms the truths of Evolution. I see the effort of David Sloan Wilson as both a promotion of Evolution and Transfiguration. True transfiguration is always happening right now, right here, in this holy moment of life. Perhaps the author of the Gospel of John understands that even better than those who gave us the story of the Transfiguration. In the Gospel of John, Jesus is always transfigured and transfiguring. He is all about change, changing himself and others into people who love one another. Not that the other Gospels don't promote change and love. They do too.

We can evolve, be transfigured, into creatures who live life in a bold and compassionate way, advocating for and creating more and more peace and justice and joy, God's Holy Realm.

+ The Spirituality and Practice team offers connections to practices and resources on Justice and Transformation.

+ There is a website devoted to the book and its ideas and calls to action.

+ Click here to see all of my posts on God Has A Dream.

GOD HAS A DREAM -- 1

2010-02-10T11:38:00.014-05:00

+ updated at 4:00pm EST, Wednesday, February 10, 2010

+ This is the first in a series of posts on a marvelous book, God Has A Dream by ArchBishop Desmond Tutu.

+ There is a website devoted to the book and its ideas and calls to action.

+ Spirituality and Practice offers a review by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. Here's an excerpt: "Addressing the fear, anger, insecurity, and vulnerability that many people around the world are feeling, the author proclaims that God is present in our lives and does not ignore us when we are experiencing helplessness or hopelessness. What is the source of this assurance? Tutu responds: 'Many of us can acknowledge that God cares about the world but can't imagine that God would care about you or me individually. But our God marvelously, miraculously cares about each and every one of us. The Bible has this incredible image of you, of me, of all of us, each one, held as something precious, fragile in the palms of God's hands. And that you and I exist only because God is forever blowing God's breath into our being.'"

+ Spirituality and Practice offers an excerpt on Unity from the book. Here's an excerpt from the excerpt: "The wonderful thing about family is that you are not expected to agree about everything under the sun. Show me a man and wife who have never disagreed and I will show you some accomplished fibbers. But those disagreements, pray God, do not usually destroy the unity of the family. And so it should be with God's family. We are not expected at all times to be unanimous or to have a consensus on every conceivable subject. What is needed is to respect one another's points of view and not to impute unworthy motives to one another or to seek to impugn the integrity of the other. Our maturity will be judged by how well we are able to agree to disagree and yet continue to love one another, to care for one another and cherish one another and seek the greater good of the other."

+ As is their practice, the Spirituality and Practice team offers connections to a variety of spiritual practices. For this book they have chosen the practices of Hope, Justice, Kindness, Love, Unity, Vision. I would add at least 2 more: Silence and Transformation. I highly recommend all of their 37 practices which you can see on the S&P homepage and on their Spiritual Practices page. Spirituality and Practice now has over 19,000 pages of inspiration, wisdom, illumination, guidance, quotes, practices and more. It is awesome!

+ Three Utica Presbyterian churches (First, Moriah-Olivet, Westminster) are studying this book beginning this Sunday evening at 6pm in two homes. The Gospel lesson for this Sunday, the last Sunday before Lent, is The Transfiguration of Jesus. The theme of Transfiguration is found throughout God Has A Dream.

+ 4:00pm addition: The Seattle Public Schools developed "Time, Continuity, Change, Peace and Reconciliation" focusing on many of the ideas ArchBishop Tutu puts forward in God Has A Dream.

+ Click here to see all of my posts on God Has A Dream.

A SONG EMBRACING THE HOLY NOW

2010-02-10T10:07:00.008-05:00

+ Thanks to John Shuck and his great blog, Shuck and Jive, I discovered this wonderful song. Watch, Listen, Enjoy, Learn, Teach!

+ Catch some of Peter Mayer's music here.

REFORMED AND ALWAYS BEING REFORMED -- 2

2010-02-04T18:06:00.003-05:00

+ Spirituality and Practice offers a book review of A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions that are Transforming the Faith by Brian McClaren. Here's an excerpt from the review: "We've been very impressed with what is coming out of the Emergent Movement, and we welcome the prospect of its growing momentum as more and more seekers find a spiritual home that speaks to their faith, openness to other religions, need for practice, and passion for mending a broken world. Certainly McClaren's books, lectures, and buoyant spirit provide a light to show the way into the hopeful and holy future!"

S&P also offers an excerpt from the book.

+ Click here to see all of my "Reformed And Always Being Reformed" (Semper Reformanda) posts.

INTERSPIRITUAL WISDOM -- 5

2010-02-04T13:19:00.001-05:00

+ In the Practice Circle of the E-retreat on InterSpiritual Wisdom I offered the following:

FORGIVENESS AND REPENTANCE
I think many of us Christians have long treated the idea of forgiveness as a task to accomplish rather than an inward change of mind and heart. (Romans 12:1-2 comes to mind). All of the wisdom shared this week has helped me understand more than ever that forgiveness is a state of being (a heavenly state always available in the here-and-now moment).

I have been re-reading MYTH AND RITUAL IN CHRISTIANITY by Alan Watts (THE book which made it possible for me to stay in the Christian Wisdom Tradition after I discovered and embraced the Perennial Philosophy, or mysticism). Watts writes:

" ... the redemption of captive Israel, liberation from Hades, the forgiveness of sins, release from the self-love of Lucifer, from the 'old Adam', and from the bondage of 'Egypt' and 'Babylon' is in every respect a deliverance from the past. Salvation is always the ending of the mind's fascinated identification with the dead and unchanging image of what it was. It is a complete reversal of the 'natural' order of things, a metanoia -- the Greek word for 'repentance' meaning precisely a 'turning-around-of-the-mind', so that it no longer faces into the past, the land of the shadow of death, but into the Eternal Present."

Watts states that our human personality is totally based on memory. So, our Holy Forgetting is not so much a task to be accomplished but an orientation change, a heavenly attitude, a connection with the divine which is beyond our knowing and understanding.

+ You can see all of my posts on Interspiritual wisdom here.

INTERSPIRITUAL WISDOM -- 4

2010-02-04T10:52:00.004-05:00

+ The E-retreat on InterSpiritual Wisdom has begun. You can sign up at any time. Now is a great time!

+ The theme for Week One is Forgiveness.

+ I have reflected for years on The 12 Pathways to Higher Consciousness offered by Ken Keyes Jr. which you can find at http://community-2.webtv.net/babaluie/LivingLoveThe/page3.html

Number 5 and number 6 seem to contradict each other but not really and maybe this is what forgiveness is all about. Here they are:

5) I take full responsiliblity here and now for everything I experience, for it is my own programming that creates my actions and also influences the reactions of people around me.

6) I accept myself completely here and now and consciously experience everything I feel, think, say, and do (including my emotion- backed addictions) as a necessary part of my growth into higher consciousness.

My own thinking about these things over the years has led me to conclude that ...

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

+ You can see all of my posts on Interspiritual wisdom here.

MESSAGE FOR THE TREK -- 5

2010-02-03T15:13:00.001-05:00

+ I wrote the following MESSAGE FOR THE TREK on 9/4/02:

+ ABUNDANCETREK and THE NEW CHURCH FOR THE NEW AGE are just words. Hopefully, the ideas that are associated with these words are useful for the greater movement of faith, hope and love which is happening on our planet today.

+ All of the Messages for the Trek I wrote between 2002 and 2007 can be seen at www.abundancetrek.com/mftt.

INTERSPIRITUAL WISDOM -- 3

2010-02-01T11:05:00.006-05:00

+ The E-retreat on InterSpiritual Wisdom has begun. You can sign up at any time. Now is a great time!

+ The theme of the first week is FORGIVENESS. Here is some powerful wisdom from Shantideva, Way of the Bodhisattva, Chapter Eight, "Meditative Concentration", verse 129:

All the joy the world contains

has come through wishing happiness for others.

All the misery the world contains

has come through wanting pleasure for oneself.

+ I am continuing my exploration of the website of The Spiritual Paths Foundation. I found "Mystical Experience or Unitive Seeing?" by Cynthia Bourgeault, one of the teachers of the E-retreat. It begins: "In my own spiritual practice I’m more and more clearly seeing the need to distinguish between two closely related but distinctly different phenomena: mysticism and unitive seeing. Much of the “bad rap” that mysticism has unfortunately gained in the mainstream Christianity of the West comes from a failure to distinguish between these two terms."

+ You can see all of my posts on Interspiritual wisdom here.

INTERSPIRITUAL WISDOM -- 2

2010-01-31T16:23:00.004-05:00

+ The E-retreat on InterSpiritual Wisdom has begun. You can sign up at any time. Now is a great time!

+ A major resource on the theme is the website of The Spiritual Paths Foundation. This statement in the Overview section gets to the heart of the matter:

Humanity stands at a crossroads between horror and hope. In choosing hope, we must seed a new consciousness, a radically fresh approach to life drawing its inspiration from perennial spiritual and moral insights, intuition and experience. We call this new awareness Interspiritual, implying not the homogenization of religion, but the recovering of the shared mystic heart beating in the center of the world’s deepest spiritual traditions. -- Wayne Teasdale, Mystic Heart

+ You can see all of my posts on Interspiritual wisdom here.

MESSAGE FOR THE TREK -- 4

2010-01-29T16:18:00.001-05:00

+ I wrote the following MESSAGE FOR THE TREK on 9/4/02:

Real abundance has nothing to do with making lots of money. Indeed, making lots of money can get in the way of the awareness and appreciation of abundance.

+ All of the Messages for the Trek I wrote between 2002 and 2007 can be seen at www.abundancetrek.com/mftt.

CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM DIALOGUE -- 1

2010-01-28T15:19:00.006-05:00

In a letter to Moslems written “on behalf of World Evangelical Alliance” by Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, International Director, I found this troubling sentence: “We urge you to realize that the problems of the Western world are not because of Christianity but because of the West’s increasing rejection of it.”

I must profoundly disagree with this statement. I think it would be pretty hard to convince most Moslems of that statement and I’m certainly not convinced. Europe has been a battleground for centuries. When Christianity really did dominate Europe, many things were far worse than they are today. A good case can be made that Christian Europe has exhibited far more violence, injustice and hatred than Islamic Africa, The Middle East and Islamic Asia for many centuries. Also, I wonder when Dr. Tunnicliffe thinks that the “increasing rejection” began. In many ways the Western world has increasingly embraced the values of Christ even as it has turned more secular. I urge "Evangelical Christians" and everyone else to be far more aware of our history. I suspect most Moslems have a very different perception of our history and are possibly better informed and closer to the truth than a lot of Christians. A really good conversation about our current difficulties requires this awareness.

The letter is one of many responses to A Common Word between Us and You which you can find at the Common Word website. It is an important and powerful initiative by Moslems to find common ground and build trust and reduce violence, hatred and misunderstanding. While the response of the WEA is encouraging at some levels, I was delighted to find many far more positive responses by other Christians including my Presbyterian Church (USA) and several Ecumenical and Reformed and Interfaith organizations and leaders. The Common Word website offers them all. This is well worth your time and energy.

There is more in the WEA letter that I find troubling which I intend to address in future posts.

INTERSPIRITUAL WISDOM -- 1

2010-01-28T11:21:00.002-05:00

+ 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?

+ You can see all of my posts on Interspiritual wisdom here.

MESSAGE FOR THE TREK -- 3

2010-01-28T09:27:00.004-05:00

+ I wrote the following MESSAGE FOR THE TREK on 9/4/02:

I believe we are living during an era that I like to call THE GREAT EVOLUTIONARY LEAP FORWARD. In other words, we are changing our collective mind about a lot of things. The Human Being is becoming the Heavenly Being. We are learning how to accept Heaven's gift of Abundance. This is fantastic. It's fascinating. It's wonderful. It is also an adventure which includes a lot of pain and doubt and uncertainty. Courage is required. Colleagues are essential. We are in this thing together. The goal is a global village based on love. The means is a global village based on love.

+ All of the Messages for the Trek I wrote between 2002 and 2007 can be seen at www.abundancetrek.com/mftt.

MESSAGE FOR THE TREK -- 2

2010-01-26T10:55:00.007-05:00

+ I wrote the following Message for the Trek on September 4, 2002:

I have come up with nine words which I believe describe Heaven: Abundance, Joy, Wisdom, Beauty, Love, Truth, Peace, Justice, and Freedom. Please note that Love is the centering word, the most important word. These 9 words also describe The New Church for the New Age. The New Church for the New Age is realized when Heaven is realized. Let's paraphrase that slogan again: "There is no way to The New Church for the New Age (Heaven). The New Church for the New Age (Heaven) is the way." In other words, Heaven is now here. Heaven is an attitude, an awareness, an awakening, a decision, a faith, a commitment, a movement, a journey, an adventure, a way of life. I believe that Heaven goes on forever. It is an illusion that we are ever anywhere else. The law of Heaven always apply. It is the law of love. Love is free and abundant. God is Love and everything God has ever created is Love. Anything we experience to the contrary is an illusion, a deceit, an unreality.

The TV shows, the books, the movies and the conventions associated with STAR TREK often but not always point to many of these Heavenly characteristics. The global village based on love is an important vision of STAR TREK.

+ All of the Messages for the Trek I wrote between 2002 and 2007 can be seen at www.abundancetrek.com/mftt.

MESSAGE FOR THE TREK -- 1

2010-01-25T10:02:00.009-05:00

+ This is my first Message for the Trek which I offered on September 1, 2002:

Franz Kafka brilliantly offers this simple technique for getting in touch with our ultimate reality:

You do not need to do anything; you do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. You do not even need to listen; just wait. You do not even need to wait; just become still, quiet and solitary and the world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice. It will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

+ All of the Messages for the Trek I wrote between 2002 and 2007 can be seen at www.abundancetrek.com/mftt.

SUPPORTING THE PALESTINIANS -- 9

2010-01-16T10:11:00.002-05:00

+ Boycott Israeli Goods is a UK organization devoted to educating the world about the illegal and immoral occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. "Why Boycott Israel?" is found on the homepage. Here's why:

The Palestinian people are experiencing their 42nd year of military occupation. The siege by the Israeli army and the economic blockade have devastated their daily lives so that 'normal' life is impossible.

Israel operates an entrenched system of racial Apartheid against its own non-Jewish inhabitants and has been illegally occupying Palestinian land in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights since 1967. It has sought to further annex these lands and has systematically transferred its own civilian population into these occupied territories in contravention of international law. Israel continues to build the illegal Apartheid wall, annexing vast swathes of Palestinian land in the West Bank and creating Palestinian ghettos, despite the ruling of the International Court of Justice that it is illegal.

REFORMED AND ALWAYS BEING REFORMED -- 1

2010-01-12T10:03:00.005-05:00

+ My friend Ralph Clingan offers this great contribution to our understanding of "Reformed and Always Being Reformed," the Presbyterian motto:

Dearly beloved! A few years ago I did an inventory of my library. My career as an activist pastor, professor and theologian started in 1961, so I have amassed a large collection of books. The largest single segment of my library consists of books about music, prayer and spirituality. I have a book, The Background of Passion Music (London: SCM Press Ltd, 1957) by Basil Smallman late Musicologist of Nottingham University. I may have cited this wee tome before, but in the wake of the demise of beloved feminist, out and proud Lesbian theologian Mary Daly, Smallman's words reminded me of the importance of such passionate workers among us. Jacob Spener (1635-1705), a Reformed pastor and theologian educated at Strasbourg, spent a year in Geneva. Spener found that "the Calvinist branch of the Reformed Church showed ramarkable humanism in the emphasis laid on practical Christianity, on the expression of faith by good works rather than by the strict observance of doctrinal minutiae." His Pia desidera (1675) contained six proposals to guide his students and colleagues:

i The Bible should be studied in private, small group meetings;

ii The laity should regain their position as a common priesthood and their rights to share in the spiritual governance of the church,

iii A new emphasis be placed on practical Christianity,

iv Unbelievers should be approached with greater sympathy and understanding,

v Increased value should be attached to the cultivation of spiritual life in theological education, and

vi A more direct and emotional type of preaching should be encouraged.

As we enter the last year of the first decade of 2000, I found Smallman's citations from Spener a good reminder of how enduring a legacy is ours. Aluta continua ...

Thanks Ralph. Defintely something worthy of consideration as Christians struggle to work out our identity in a new millenium.

+ Click here to see all of my "Reformed And Always Being Reformed" (Semper Reformanda) posts.

TODAY IS THE FEAST DAY OF BROTHER LAWRENCE

2010-01-11T10:51:00.000-05:00

Spirituality and Practice offers a "Feast Day of Brother Lawrence" resource including two great Brother Lawrence quotes:

"The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer; and in the noise and clutter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the Blessed Sacrament."
"Get a habit of entertaining yourself with God."

SPIRITUALLY LITERATE RESOLUTIONS FOR 2010

2010-01-06T12:09:00.002-05:00

+ updated at 1:34pm EST, January 6, Epiphany

+ I am very impressed with the Spiritually Literate New Year's Resolutions Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat offer us. They are the very wise and knowledgeable couple behind the amazing resources of Spirituality and Practice. Themes covered in their ten resolutions include: Living in the here-and-now; Making Connections; Paying Attention; Gratitude; Hospitality; Working for Peace and Justice; Reverence; and, Life-long Learning. The link is to a PDF formatted document. You can print it and hang it up somewhere.

+ Spirituality and Practice is always offering fantastic E-courses for very reasonable fees. I have signed up for "Catalysts for Change" which begins tomorrow, January 7 and continues to January 27. Maybe the following promotional material will motivate you to sign up:

You've probably started many a year with a set of New Year's Resolutions — large and lofty goals covering all aspects of your life — and then watched them fall to the wayside one by one. Perhaps you've written your spiritual aspirations for the future or set an intention at the beginning of a new project . . . and you've missed the mark on these, too, as old habits, addictions, fixed ideas, and other resistances have blocked the road ahead. So how do you change you life?

Change is a fundamental premise and promise of the spiritual life. As Sam Keen put it: "The great metaphors from all spiritual traditions — grace, liberation, being born again, awakening from illusions — testify that it is possible to transcend the conditioning of the past and do a new thing."

Sometimes this transformation is dramatic, but more often it comes through small steps. We shift our perspective, for example, and those irksome resistances become pointers to where we need to work. Our challenges become our coaches in perseverance. We seek advice and learn from the experiences of great spiritual teachers about other approaches. What are the best catalysts for change? Daily, simple, and consistent spiritual practices.

Recovery programs say that it takes three weeks to break a habit or start a new practice. Start 2010 by joining us for a 21-day journey on the path of change. Each day you will receive an email with a short reading from a spiritual teacher and a spiritual practice to do to help you firm up your resolve and make small steps for change. Then login to our online Practice Circle to share your progress, get support during times of difficulty, and enjoy the insights of a community of spiritual companions from around the world.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2010-01-01T11:48:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year. May this be a year when more and more people realize we must act boldly to prevent a climate catastrophe.

TIS THE SEASON TO BE JOYFUL

2009-12-24T16:12:00.002-05:00

Spirituality and Practice offers a variety of resources on the spiritual practice of Joy. Here is an excerpt from Clowning in Rome: Reflections on Solitude, Celibacy, Prayer, and Contemplation by Henri J. M. Nouwen:

Our difficult and very urgent task is to accept the truth that nature is not primarily a property to be possessed, but a gift to be received with admiration and gratitude. Only when we make a deep bow to the rivers, oceans, hills, and mountains that offer us a home, only then can they become transparent and reveal to us their real meaning.

A friend once gave me a beautiful photograph of a water lily. I asked him how he had been able to take such a splendid picture. With a smile he said, "Well, I had to be very patient and very attentive. It was only after a few hours of compliments that the lily was willing to let me take her picture." < http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/books/excerpts.php?id=13524

SPREADING THE JOY OF CHRISTMAS AT A SCOTTISH PUB

2009-12-23T16:25:00.002-05:00

Ecumenical News International offers "You might meet Jesus in a pub, says Scottish minister" by Trevor Grundy. Excerpt: "(Rev. Bryan Kerr) told The Scotsman newspaper on 22 December that the church had looked at new ways of getting the Christian message out beyond the confines of the church. In addition to the carol service, the pub's management will be serving a special beer brewed for those bursting with goodwill and festive song - Greyfriars Kirk Christmas Ale."

COPENHAGEN CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL WARMING -- 4

2009-12-23T09:42:00.001-05:00

Democracy Now! offers "Leading Climate Scientist James Hansen on Why He’s Pleased the Copenhagen Summit Failed, 'Cap and Fade,' Climategate and More." You can see the video, hear the audio or read the transcript. It begins:

AMY GOODMAN: Dr. Hansen, start off with why you weren’t at Copenhagen. I mean, this is your thing. It was the global warming summit of summits.

JAMES HANSEN: Well, they were talking about having a cap-and-trade-with-offsets agreement, which is analogous to the Kyoto Protocol, which was disastrous. Before the Kyoto Protocol, global emissions of carbon dioxide were going up one-and-a-half percent per year. After the accord, they went up three percent per year. That approach simply won’t work.

COPENHAGEN CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL WARMING -- 3

2009-12-23T09:31:00.000-05:00

Avaaz offers "Copenhagen - The World In Action" rejoicing in the growing movement even as the Summit failed to produce the commitment needed to prevent catastrophe. It begins: "In Copenhagen, leaders didn't make history—but the world's people did. A year of unprecedented action on climate change reached unimagined heights in the last two weeks: thousands upon thousands of vigils, rallies, and protests; floods of phone calls and messages sent; millions of petition signatures—all calling for the fair, ambitious, and binding climate treaty we still need and still will win."

BEST SPIRITUAL FILMS OF 2009

2009-12-22T22:29:00.002-05:00

Spirituality and Practice offers "The Most Spiritually Literate Films of 2009" by Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. How many have you seen? Thanks to the DVD we will see many of those we haven't seen yet as I put these films on my Netflix queue.

SUSAN WERNER INVITES US TO HELP SOMEBODY

2009-12-15T11:49:00.003-05:00

+ "Help Somebody" is found on the album THE GOSPEL TRUTH by Susan Werner.

Thank you John Shuck for embedding this in your sermon post, "The Fruits of Letting Go."

GLOBAL WARMING DEMANDS RADICAL CHANGE OF BEHAVIOR

2009-12-15T10:58:00.000-05:00

+ Shuck and Jive offers "Climate Change Demands We Live Differently" by John Shuck focusing on the impressive knowledge and wisdom of Theologian Sallie McFague. Excerpts:

John says: "It is time for radical change. It is urgent. To recall the words of a long-haired, locust eating desert prophet: 'The axe is at the root of the tree.'"

Sallie says: "Global warming is not just another important issue that human beings need to deal with; rather, it is the demand that we live differently. We cannot solve it, deal with it, given our current anthropology. It is not simply an issue of management; rather, it demands a paradigm shift in who we think we are. This is certainly not the only thing that is needed, but it is a central one, for without it we cannot expect ourselves or others to undertake the radical behavioral change that is necessary to address our planetary crisis." --Sallie McFague, A New Climate for Theology, p. 44

COPENHAGEN CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL WARMING -- 2

2009-12-15T10:38:00.002-05:00

+ From Ecumenical News International:

Copenhagen bells ring, candles flicker, archbishop links love to climate

Copenhagen, 14 December (ENI). Bells pealed as a warning on climate change after the Archbishop of Canterbury told a church service in Copenhagen, attended by people from major faiths and Christian denominations, that humanity can only show love to all by making the earth a secure home. Archbishop Rowan Williams, the spiritual leader of the 77-million strong Anglican Communion, preached the main sermon before Danish royalty, Denmark's prime minister and religious leaders in a packed Church of Our Lady, Copenhagen's Lutheran cathedral. "We cannot show the right kind of love for our fellow humans unless we also work at keeping the earth as a place that is a secure home for all people," Williams said at the 13 December service described as "an ecumenical celebration for creation".

A more detailed report is offered by ENI at http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=3616

SUPPORTING THE PALESTINIANS -- 8

2009-12-14T13:37:00.002-05:00

+ Israeli occupation a 'sin against God', say Palestinian Christian leaders

Jerusalem (Ecumenical News International) - Palestinian Christian leaders have issued a call for an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, which they described as, "a sin against God and against humanity", and have appealed for support from the world's churches. " Injustice against the Palestinian people, which is the Israeli occupation, is an evil that must be resisted," the Christian leaders said in a document that was almost two years in the making. "Resistance is a right and a duty for the Christian. But it is resistance with love as its logic," they said. "It is thus a creative resistance, for it must find human ways that engage the humanity of the enemy." The initiators of the statement, made public at ar meeting in Bethlehem, have referred to the text as the "Kairos Palestine" document. "Kairos" is a Greek word used in the Bible for a God-given time of challenge, grace and opportunity. The organizers said that their statement echoes the Kairos document that South African churches issued in the mid-1980s, and which helped galvanise churches and the wider public in a concerted effort that eventually led to the end of apartheid.

A more detailed report is offered by ENI at http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=3612

COPENHAGEN CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL WARMING -- 1

2009-12-11T15:31:00.001-05:00

+ Democracy Now! offers an interview with Naomi Klein who believes "the fate of the planet rests on a "Mass Movement for Climate Justice."

+ My friend John Preston offers "Countdown to CO2PENHAGEN", a very informative article for the Presbyterian Global Eco(n)-Justice e-Newsletter. Excerpts:

In the past, environment and social justice were too often separate tracks. Eco-justice acknowledges the inter-connections between environmental and social justice. Climate change exemplifies this as we see those already impoverished in the world encountering and suffering the impacts of global warming most severely, in the form of fatal droughts and floods. The developed world, as the major climate polluters in the world, is coming to recognize our responsibility for this suffering. More of us are accepting our moral obligation to support the current and future victims of climate change. The term for this cushioning is adaptation, which includes the social justice side of the equation.
Wendell Berry in a recent essay entitled "Inverting the Economic Order" radically questions the basic paradigm of developed world economics. His agrarian perspective is a key to sustainability and the faithful stewardship of creation. Berry's way of looking at the economics of our earth is to understand that nature comes first, land use second, the manufacturing economy third, and the consumer and financial economy last. He charges that we of the developed world has exactly inverted this order, to our detriment.

+ Care2MakeADifference offers "COPENHAGEN: 10 Million Strong, and Growing".

+ Care2MakeADifference offers "COPENHAGEN: The 7 Things Scientists Want You to Know About Climate Change".