WEEKLY PODCAST | In Between.165

“Weekly” is a misnomer right now. We haven’t uploaded a podcast in a while. I guess I can just chalk it up to “summer.”

So here we are, trying to find our groove again, and Bill’s ending comment is, “Have you ever had to diagram a sentence?” His point is, “Can you find the subject/verb agreement in this podcast?” You tell us! We tugged on quite a few threads, and in my non-linear brain, they all connect somehow.

I will say this: when Bill asked, “What’s lighting you up these days?” I was feeling kind of meh, kind of uninspired. But every single time I finish a conversation with this man, I am not uninspired. Pick one of the threads and follow it. Google it all the way down. Buy a new book about it or draw a picture.

Here are a few topics to consider:

  1. Ramon Panikkar

  2. Constantine

  3. Lady Anne Conway

  4. Disc Galaxies vs. Spiral Galaxies

  5. Bill’s real age

  6. Hermeneutics

  7. George Bush’s paintings

  8. Elephants

Now, write a short story that includes all these themes, and you will be on track with our podcast! We aim to get back on track with our podcasts and hope you will join us!



SUNDAY LECTURE | Putting Away Childish Things

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

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Summary of Ordinary Life for August 18, 2024

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Dear Ones -

I really want to encourage you to make room in your schedule to come and hear renown pianist Rob Landes this coming Sunday afternoon at four o’clock. Rob’s accomplishments are considerable. He is widely known as a pianist, organist, harpist, arranger, conductor and published composer. He made his “debut” on the Art Linkletter program at age four. He has done musical arrangements for Liza Minnelli and Marilyn Maye. He conducted the Count Basie Orchestra and the Buddy Rich Band in concert with Marilyn Maye in one of Rich’e last concerts. In short: he is a talent not to be missed. I promise you, you are in for a real treat when you come to hear Rob play this Sunday at four. The concert will be in Fondren Hall in the Jones Building on St. Paul’s Campus.

As for this week in Ordinary Life: In the process of “growing up” each of us heard three phrases at one time or the other. They are: grow up, wake up, clean up. These words can be used as a summary for what spiritual work is all about What I offered this will is an elaboration on this.

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.

The registration for our time with Dr. Jacqui Lewis should go “live” this week. She will be giving the sermon at both services on Sunday, September 22nd. The two of us will be dialoguing during the Ordinary Life hour. Then, she will be doing a program from one to three on Sunday afternoon. There is a registration fee for that. If you elect to live-stream, you will be sent a link shortly before the program begins. Her topic is -

Fierce Love and Toxic Politics

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

To view 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 today’s talk, use the audio player link below.

SUNDAY LECTURE | The Purpose and Process of Spiritual Practice

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

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Summary of Ordinary Life for August 11, 2024

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Dear Ones -

The registration for our time with Dr. Jacqui Lewis should go “live” this week. She will be giving the sermon at both services on Sunday, September 22nd. The two of us will be dialoguing during the Ordinary Life hour. Then, she will be doing a program from one to three on Sunday afternoon. There is a registration fee for that. If you elect to live-stream, you will be sent a link shortly before the program begins. Her topic is -

Fierce Love and Toxic Politics

Also, pianist Rob Landes will be giving a benefit concert on Sunday afternoon at four o’clock, August 25.

This week in Ordinary Life spiritual director Brooke Summers-Perry offered a most intriguing approach to a “daily spiritual practice.” There is no text available for her talk but the video and presentation slides are available on the Ordinary Life website. I thoroughly enjoyed and benefited from what she had to say. Those of you who heard/saw her will want to check out the slides she used for going deeper into this practice. I called it

Letting the Word Read You

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 view or download the presentation slides, click here.

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

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

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

SUNDAY LECTURE | Noticing That We Fail to Notice

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.