Reflecting God's light

Last night other people reflected God's light for me when it felt very dark. My Golden Retriever developed bloat. It is a condition where their stomach fills with air and it twists. Unless it is treated quickly, it leads to death. I called our local animal hospital but they were not able to take me for another hour or so. So, I headed to Nashville, crying, alone and helpless. I called people along the way. One jumped in her car and met me and my dog in Nashville so I would not have to face it alone. Another stayed on the phone with me calming me when I thought I lost him for sure, helping me navigate directions and giving me faith when I could not find it on my own. Friends were there at 1 AM when he had to go in for surgery, at 3:30 when they called to tell me that his heart stopped and again at 3:45 when they told me he pulled through. They were the light on the other end of the phone when the world went dark. I teach that God light is there all of the time. But, sometimes when life gets really dark, God's light is hard to see. I am grateful to be part of a loving community that helps me remember when I can't to remember it on my own.

Soul of Money

I start a new class next Wednesday evening based on Lynne Twist's book, "The Soul of Money." I started reading it again for the second time to prepare and was once again reduced to tears as I read about her experiences in India. Lynne talks about how she believes that hunger can be eradicated. Then she went to India where she saw chronic hunger and poverty at a level she could never envision. She then talks about how instead of backing off of her vision, the experience propelled her even more. She tells us that when we align our money with our "deepest, most soulful interest and commitments, their (our) relationship with money became a place where profound and lasting transformation could occur." That is my hope with this class, that we discover our deepest soul commitments and see how to match our money to these. This is when true change will happen on our planet. We have the power and the resources to end world hunger, and bring peace to our world. Is it unreasonable? Someone has to believe it. Our vision is a world of peace, unity and abundance for all. As a community committed to spiritual leadership, it is up to us to help blaze the way. So, together we will examine our relationship with money and to paraphrase Lynne Twist, begin to see our money as a way to express our deepest most soulful commitments. Join me.

I recently heard on NPR a report about ethanol and the use of grains for fuel. They reported that many third world countries were having difficulty feeding their citizens because of the rising cost of food. This is due to an increase need for grain based fuels and feed for animals along with rising fuel costs. The reporter said that the amount of ethanol fuel it took to fill up an SUV could feed one person in a third world country for a year. That is a staggering statistic and shows me that our choices really do make a difference. It causes me to pause and hopefully live life less casually and unconsciously. I can't fix it, but maybe the simple acts I take each day to cultivate a more sustainable world will make a difference.

Manage less, Play more

I have a new motto for life. I want to manage less and play more.

The need to win

I recently heard a statement from Eckhart Tolle during one of the podcasts that had a profound effect on me. He was talking about how a Zen master was watching a contest between 2 opponents. He knew one of the contestants had more ability than he was showing. The master then said that his need to win was robbing him of his energy. That statement went right into my heart. I saw how so much of my attention was focused on a particular outcome or definition of success. It is the need to win. Yet to take my focus off of the particular result, I have to let go of control. I have to trust that there is a force much bigger than me which desires my success. This might sound kind of funny coming from a minister but I realize how difficult it is for me at times to trust in something bigger than me enough to return my attention to the present moment. The dichotomy in all of this is that I can only know the power and presence of Presence in the present moment. Eckhart talks about how awareness is the first step. As I am aware, I can bring my attention back to this moment and cultivate trust that this is where life, security and all that I desire resides. I will keep you posted.

A Vision From the Center of The Universe

Last week I heard the 2 cosmologists who spoke at MTSU. They spoke about the nature of the universe and stated that we could only see less than 1% of the entire universe. It is not because it is out of view, but because it is made of a matter that we are not familiar with. There is so much we can't see, yet we base our assumptions and decisions on what is visible. Maybe this is God's way of teaching us about trusting the invisible power of Spirit even when we can't see it.

Annual Meeting

We had our annual meeting on Sunday and it is an incredible experience to watch a group of people come together to create something much bigger than each one of us individually. We have much more direction and clarity since developing our new vision and mission. We spent time examining the progress we made toward our goals and we can see how we are moving forward. Our goals are structured very differently which allowed for a real sense of success. They are no longer about things over which we have no control like attendance markers, rather they define specific actions we as a group want to take in order to be in integrity with our vision and purpose. We approved our values and will spend time learning what it means to live them. Our core values are: love, inclusive community, Spirit-led, stewardship and service. We will go through a whole process to own them and to live them in the daily life of our church community and our personal lives.

We had a conversation around being an inclusive community. I have reported on this blog my journey into veganism. Several others within the congregation have made that lifestyle choice as well. We discussed how to have different choices like this without sending a message that all had to choose in this way in order to be accepted in the group. It is funny how unwritten rules can developed if we are not conscious of that process. All and all it was a time of reflection, celebration and looking toward our future.