Presentation of Summer '09 Bolivia Trip

September 20, 2009 Bill Kerley

Dear Folks -

I am so grateful to be back teaching Ordinary Life.

As many of you know part of the way we spent the time when I was gone
- and by "we" I mean Sherry and myself - was to accompany 18 other
people to Bolivia. St. Paul's has a sister church in Cochabamba,
Bolivia. Most of the people who went on this trip were from St. Paul's
and many from Ordinary Life. Others went from FUMC in La Porte.

I have asked some of the participants on that trip to share pictures
and memories, impression and lessons learned from this experience this
week.

As you may recall, one of my rants has to do with the understanding we
have of God. I sincerely believe that if people would change their
notion of God from that of some superhuman being located somewhere out
in space to the much more useful notion that each and every one of us
resides in the Sacred Heart of God and, paradoxically, God resides in
the heart of each of us, it would transform our world.

Parallel to this one of the insights I had on this trip is that we do
not go so much to carry out our mission as we go to participate in
God's mission of compassion and justice. To think that we have a
mission runs the risk of our imposing our values on other people. Our
job is to get our egos and our agenda out of the way so that something
bigger than ourselves can be allowed to come into being.

I really want you to see and experience, insofar as is possible, what
those of us who went on this trip saw, did and learned.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

The audio of the participants of the Bolivia trip that spoke on this Sunday is available below.

Click here to Download audio 20090920.mp3

A DVD copy of the PowerPoint presentation with music created by Bob is available for a $10 donation to the fruit and milk food program for the children in the Emmanuel UMC day school in Cochabamba, Blivia. Please email your interest in a DVD and your mailing address to susannahooper{AT}mac{dot}com.

What Matters Most of All?

September 13, 2009 Bill Kerley

Dear Folks -

You would not be reading this if you were not seeking somehow to enhance your spiritual and/or religious life and understanding. We are, I assume, seeking to grow in matters of freedom and love both for ourselves and for others. That is what we say we are seeking. But, do we really want what it is that we say we are looking for? This is not a trick question. What really matters?

These are the questions I seek to answer in this Ordinary Life talk.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

Click here to Download audio 20090913.mp3

Click here to Download text 20090913.pdf

Overview of Celtic Spirtuality with Rev. Shelli Williams

September 6, 2009 Bill Kerley

Dear Folks -

This Sunday in Bill's absence we will hear from Rev. Shelli Williams.
Rev. Williams works with St. Paul's Methodist Foundation of Houston and
Adult Education. Her bio is available on the St. Paul's UMC website:
h ere.

She sent me an description of Sunday's very interesting topic. Shelli
attended a 4-week study on Celtic Spirituality and will share with us
the highlights.

"THE CELTIC WAY: A BRIEF LOOK AT CELTIC SPIRITUALITY
History tells us that the Roman Empire never made it to Ireland, leaving
the green isle just beyond the control of both the emperor and the
authorities of early Christianity as most of us know it. So Ireland and
the other islands that claimed this Celtic strain of belief, birthed a
Christian experience somewhat removed both geographically and
theologically from mainland Europe. It is Christianity mingled with,
but not compromised by, the finest aspects of pagan Celtism, those that
found resonance with Christian symbols and understanding. For Celtic
Christians the experience of vision is a tangible way of seeing what God
has done and then seeing it through God's creative eyes, followed by
seeing the life-giving possibilities God sees. Not overly concerned
with ecclesiastical matters, the Celtic Way is instead expressed through
the beauty of art and symbols, the richness of prayers and poetry, and
an understanding of the sacredness of all of Creation. This Sunday,
we'll take a brief "lightening" view of what Celtic
Spirituality is and what it might mean for us as a way of finding our
own way to an understanding of who God is in our lives."