Church of One Love

Magic, wonder, anticipation, openness, opportunity for awe are just a few of the gifts that come when we let go of “knowing.” Expertise is not wisdom. Expertise is what we can acquire through much practice, but wisdom is something we “become” after years of experiencing the results of our practice—expected and unexpected. This week we explore the wisdom and the blessings that come from not knowing.

As I compose this theme, I am about to embark upon my Sabbatical (a word that comes from the same root as “Sabbath” ), having very little idea of how I will experience this time apart. I am excited, nervous, and expecting the unexpected—knowing that there will be challenges and gifts, both-- which will serve to further my growth as a spirit “being human,” and as a minister. In my first week back I will share with you some of the gifts and “growth opportunities” from this time I have promised to “keep holy.”

Today’s talk is about the power of creating your life from the inside out. Whatever you “see”, whatever you think life is like, or what others are like, is a product of your own perceptions. If this is true then the key to having the life you want is becoming that which you desire to see in the world. The Law of Attraction tells us we are Living Magnets that invariably attract into our lives the people, circumstances, and situations that are in harmony with our dominant thoughts. Today Rev. Dr. Pjae Stanley will share with us three action steps for changing any part of our lives we are unhappy with by changing the habitual way you think.

One of the main questions in life is why human beings tend to choose chaos over happiness? We seem to do this even when we say we know better. We will examine this duality using the thoughts of spiritual thinkers to look even deeper!

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference. The Serenity Prayer has been a source of comfort and clarity for many people from many walks of life for the last century. Its origins may go further back that. The genius of this simple prayer is that it reveals to us that we cannot control all the conditions of the world around us, and yet there will be things we can change, indeed that we are called by Spirit to change. Once we have been granted the wisdom to know what is ours to do, how do we summon the courage needed to change?

Join us as Nancy and the Prayer Partners discuss how our prayers progress from childhood forward.

People in my galaxy are terrified, heartbroken and exhausted scrambling in their minds to figure things out. I want to remind you - Figure It Out is NOT a good slogan!

Earlier this year, CJMiller shared his experience with God and the creative process. In Force or Flow, CJMiller explains what he means by "Intelligence of Being" and why you should trust it. Spirit is speaking to us in every life situation and when we step into Spirit we trust the process and the unfolding.

Life happens and, in the chaos, we forget that we hold the key to bringing peace into the situation at hand. Beloved guest speaker Kim Andrews guides you through the ways we can honor our true nature, enhance our awareness of the Divine, and bless every facet of our being.

This beloved prayer has been used in the recovery of countless people. It very simply helps us to remember what is ours to change and what is not. Then we can put our attention and energy into the places where healing is available— in ourselves, our outlook, our attitudes, our lives. Then we trust God to do God’s work and allow others the dignity of their own experiences and choices.

The essence of the 12th step is that we pass our healing on and not try to keep it to ourselves. Unless we consistently practice these spiritual principles in every area of life, we’ll quickly forget and lose the progress we’ve made. Being of service and leading by example-- sharing our experience, strength and hope with those we would serve-- is how we continue to grow in serenity, in spirit, in evolution. We speak of what we were like in our suffering, what happened, what we learned and how we now live differently, in joy and freedom.

In order to maintain our newfound spiritual freedom, we must keep in touch with ourselves—our Higher Self, our Higher Power, however we understand that to be. Conscious connection keeps us from piling up more shame and blame and miscommunications and helps us keep ego in check. As we do this our trust in God increases, as we realize that letting Spirit rule instead of Ego always gets us to a happier place.

After we’ve taken a truthful, non-judgmental look at our lives, we clear the shame for what is not ours and take responsibility for what IS. We become willing to make any amends needed to clear the slate in our relationships—with others and within ourself. Then we take the action necessary to follow through. After that, we keep up daily in order to not let the junk pile up again. We move thru’ life more smoothly, freely; we cease fighting what is, and find peace within.

Once we have a clearer picture of what in our life has served us and what has held us prisoner, then we’re free to learn to live differently, if we so desire. We ready ourselves through willingness and trust, and ask our higher power to help us to change what we can, even as we accept what we cannot change.

In order to “recover” we must begin to see clearly who we have been, who we are, and who we want to be, so we “take stock” of the truth --without judgment. We no longer take the weight of burdens that are not ours to carry, nor need to assign blame to others as we begin to deal with life as it IS not as we wish it to be.

Step Two: “Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity” Admitting personal powerlessness allows us to activate a Higher Power in our lives. We can call that power by any name: God, Mother Nature, the Universe, the Sangha (group of spiritual peers), our Higher Self, the Buddha, or Fred. It doesn’t matter what we name it, as long as we are willing to call on it. To do so, we learn trust-- that it is good and for our good.

Step one: “We admitted we were powerless over _____, that our lives had become unmanageable.” This step is about letting go of the thought that we can control anything outside ourselves. We come to understand that in our humanness we never had “control” to begin with, so we only surrender our illusions, and have lost nothing at all.

At COOL our tagline is “Many Paths, One Spirit.” What does that mean? How can we all choose our own individual path, and yet come together each week in study, song, message, meditation, spiritual practice—in unity? How can people across worlds and cultural divides and varying belief systems ever achieve peace and harmony? For that matter, how can we even truly befriend someone who holds beliefs with which we strongly disagree? By finding the unity in the variety—the common threads that tie all of humanity. What are they? How can we activate them in our lives?

We all are free to choose how and what we think, believe and accept about ourselves, our world, and our place in it—to find our own answers to the questions our hearts ask. When we exercise the power of choice we take full advantage of that freedom, and life gets really interesting and rewarding. Or we can slip into ‘habit mind’ and fail to use our power of choice. This week we will talk about how to keep choice in the forefront of our minds and lives so we can live a life of intentionality rather than one of default.