SUNDAY LECTURE | Noticing That We Fail to Notice

August 4, 2024 Bill Kerley

ORDINARY LIFE - Thoughts and Ideas to Help You Live a Happier Life

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Summary of Ordinary Life for August 4, 2024

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Dear Ones -

If you are in the Houston area and are willing to volunteer to participate in a Meal Train for the family of Tom Price, please respond to this e-mail and I’ll get your name to the proper person. Tom is in hospice care and is not expected to live much longer and we are wanting to support his family in this way during this time. Thank you.

Also, check the Ordinary Life website for announcements about the upcoming benefit to be performed by Rob Landes and, then, the time we will have to Dr. Jacqui Lewis. More details about both will be in the preview you will receive Friday.

The title I gave the teaching I offered this week is -

“Noticing That We Fail to Notice”

Doing the spiritual/religious work we are attempting to do in Ordinary Life is a combination of difficulty and empowerment. What is required is “noticing.” R.D. Laing said:

“The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And, because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is little we can do to change until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds.”

What I did was use the metaphor of “the Sacred Stream” to amplify on this. You’ll have to watch the video to see the “hot book” I mentioned and listen to the audio to see how Siri interrupted the time by mishearing “spirit” as her name.

That’s a very brief summary of this week’s time in Ordinary Life.

The audio/video versions of the talk has some differences from the text I spoke from. You can find the text of the talk, the presentation slides and links to the audio and video version of the talk using the links below.

If you are interested in making a contribution to Ordinary Life, click here. There is an option to scroll to “Ordinary Life” as the option for how to designation your gift. Thank you!

Be well and much love,

Bill Kerley

In order to read or download the text of the talk, click here.

In order to view or download the presentation slides, click here.

In order to view or download the announcement slides, click here.

In order to download or just listen to the audio version of today’s talk, use the audio player below.

In order to watch the video of today’s talk, use the YouTube link below.

Hoping Against Hope | July 28, 2024

July 28, 2024 Bill Kerley

ORDINARY LIFE - Thoughts and Ideas to Help You Live a Happier Life

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Summary of Ordinary Life for July 28, 2024

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Dear Ones -

The title I gave the teaching I offered this week is -

“Hoping Against Hope”

Many people are living under what feels like a cloud of doom. “Our clever, successful, convenient civilization, which we thought was Noah’s ark carrying us to safety, turns out to be the flood.” (Brian McLaren.) It is hard to let go of long-held and cherished beliefs but such letting go is essential to hope.

That’s a very brief summary of this week’s time in Ordinary Life.

Our podcast, “In Between,” can be accessed through the Ordinary Life web site.

If you are interested in making a contribution to Ordinary Life, click here. There is an option to scroll to “Ordinary Life” as the option for how to designation your gift. Thank you!

Be well and much love,

Bill Kerley

In order to read or download the text of the talk, click here.

In order to view or download the presentation slides, click here.

In order to view or download the announcement slides, click here.

To download or listen to today’s talk, use the audio player below.

To watch the video of today’s talk, click on the YouTube link below.

SUNDAY LECTURE | Embracing the Storms that Embrace Us

July 21, 2024 Bill Kerley

ORDINARY LIFE - Thoughts and Ideas to Help You Live a Happier Life

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Summary of Ordinary Life for July 21, 2024

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Dear Ones -

I am so excited to announce that on Sunday, September 22, Dr. Jacqui Lewis will be spending the day with us. There will be more details to follow but I did want you to know so you could save the date. The theme of her time with us will be

Toxic Politics and Fierce Love

“Fierce Love” is the title of her most recent book.

The title I gave the teaching I offered this week is -

Embracing the Storms that Embrace Us

We live in stormy times. I begin with the fact that Jesus, in his teaching, asserted from the beginning that what he was doing was going to cost him his life. The assumption that we can avoid turmoil by “following him” is a mistaken one. The foundational tenet of the early Jesus movement was radical inclusivity. This is something our culture still has problems with and enacting it causes trouble.

That’s a brief summary of this week’s time in Ordinary Life.

Our podcast, “In Between,” can be accessed through the Ordinary Life web site.

If you are interested in making a contribution to Ordinary Life, click here. There is an option to scroll to “Ordinary Life” as the option for how to designation your gift. Thank you! Be well and much love,

Bill Kerley

In order to read or download the text of the talk, click here.

In order to view or download the presentation slides, click here.

In order to view or download the announcement slides, click here.

In order to download or listen to the audio recording of today’s talk, use the audio player link below.

If you would like to watch the video recording of today’s talk, you can use the YouTube player link below.

SUNDAY LECTURE | A Way to N O W H E R E

July 14, 2024 Bill Kerley

ORDINARY LIFE - Thoughts and Ideas to Help You Live a Happier Life

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Summary of Ordinary Life for July 14, 2024

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Dear Ones -

At the beginning of our time together in Ordinary Life this week I offered some unscripted words about the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump. (these are not in my printed text) I am writing this on Monday morning, July 15, and already the “news and information” about this scary event is overwhelming. Some of it is very ugly, scary, and untrue.

At eleven o’clock I attended the worship liturgy at St. Paul’s where Dr. Jim Bankston gave the sermon. He spoke to this situation in a masterful way. His sermon is ready for viewing and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you not only watch it but forward it to as many people as possible. Click here to view it. He used the three principles put forward by John Wesley as a guide each of us can follow in the stormy days ahead:

Do no harm. Do good. Stay in love with God.

I would add: take a break from social media of all kinds. Certainly don’t add to the flames by forwarding (mis)information. This is a time to step back, take a deep breath, and see each other - rather than looking at each other.

Ironically, my teaching in Ordinary Life was about how the way we are seeking to travel - a way to “no where” and a way to “now here” - both at the same time - causes us to encounter the denied, repressed, rejected parts of ourselves that can cause any of us to behave in demonic ways and put all of us in stormy waters. Like it or not, there are storms ahead. No religion or religious belief can avoid this. To deny it is fatal. We must experience what it means, in faith, to embrace the storms that embrace us.

That’s a brief summary of this week’s time in Ordinary Life.

Our podcast, “In Between,” can be accessed through the Ordinary Life web site.

If you are interested in making a contribution to Ordinary Life, click here. There is an option to scroll to “Ordinary Life” as the option for how to designation your gift. Thank you!

Be well and much love,

Bill Kerley

In order to read or download the text of the talk, click here.

In order to view or download the presentation slides, click here.

In order to view or download the announcement slides, click here.

To listen to or download the audio version of today’s talk, use the audio player link below.

To watch the video of today’s talk, use the YouTube link below.