SUNDAY LECTURE | Riding the Waves with Nervous Nellie

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

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Summary of Ordinary Life for October 20, 2024

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Dear Ones -

As the upcoming national election gets closer, people on both sides of the “great divide” that our country has become are using “fear tactics” to persuade people to vote for their side. We are assured that doomsday will certainly come if the other side is elected. Since we are “all in this together,” all in the same country, all on the same boat, I decided to speak to this fear this week in my teaching. I called the talk -

Riding the Waves with Nervous Nellie

In order to learn to live with this each of us must be willing to do her/his own personal work and we must do the work to rebuild a divided community. Learning to be a non-anxious presence has a powerful effect and influence.

(This was the first of a two-part teaching which I plan to continue next week with a teaching I’m calling “A Theology of Horror.”)

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.

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!

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Ordinary Life is exploring new ways to foster community, connection, service, and care in our community. To that end, we are launching a monthly community newsletter that will highlight announcements, events, and joys/concerns. If you are interested in receiving this newsletter, please visit this link to add your name to the list. Rest assured that whether you opt-in to this newsletter or not, you will continue to receive the weekly class previews and summaries for Ordinary Life.

Be well and much love,

Bill Kerley

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

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

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

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


SUNDAY LECTURE | Cornerstone Society Grant Awards

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

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Summary of Ordinary Life for October 13, 2024

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Dear Ones -

I was SO impressed with the grant presentations in Ordinary Life this week. The Cornerstone Society of St. Paul’s Foundation gave checks to two non-profits and representatives of those organizations gave us presentations of their work - The Wesley Community Center and the Restoration Team. The services these organizations render and the people they serve are so valuable and needed. I am grateful for them and grateful for the part our donations can make to the valuable services they render.

I was also grateful that their presentation was scheduled for this week as I was assigned to preach the services at St. Paul’s. I titled the sermon

Taking Another Step

and have included the text here.

In order to watch the video recording of Dr. Kerley’s 11am Worship Service Sermon, click on the YouTube link 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 view or download the announcement slides, click here.

SUNDAY LECTURE | Do Truth and Character Matter?

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

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Summary of Ordinary Life for October 6, 2024

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Dear Ones -

“Do Truth and Character Matter?”

That’s the title I gave to the teaching I offered this week in Ordinary Life. Last week I introduced the matter of truth. The teaching ended with the phenomenon in our time called “alternative facts.” This week I began by referring to the critically important need of our staying aware of “projection” and “transference” as potent psychological factors in our relationships. Then, described the degrees of “truth” that exist among any group of people. Until Covid there was an alliance between truth, science, faith, and trust. Healthy civilizations have had the goal of discerning knowledge in order to dispel ignorance and, then, base societal decisions on a consensus of what is true so that the culture and people in it can flourish.

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.

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

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

SUNDAY LECTURE | Navigating With Truth

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

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Summary of Ordinary Life for September 29, 2024

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Dear Ones -

I began the teaching I offered this week by giving a “summary” of the past nine month’s teaching in Ordinary Life. The bullet-points are:

The Sacred Stream can’t be put in a bucket - it flows.
Awareness of being in the Sacred Stream brings discomfort.
Appreciating and benefiting from this awareness means moving from one developmental level to another.
Our experience of the Sacred Stream is shaped by the territory it flows through.
Experiencing the Sacred Stream an experience of non-duality.

These are fraught and stormy times. Buddha’s teaching of the raft used to cross from knowledge and information to wisdom and understanding has led me to think about the craft we are on during these times. Out of what should it be built? I’m going to be focusing on this between now and the election. The first plank in the raft is that we learn to speak - and hear - the truth. We have gotten as a country into an emotional and relational regression where the clearly unacceptable has been more and more accepted. What is truth and how do we learn to hear and speak it?

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.

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!

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Ordinary Life is exploring new ways to foster community, connection, service, and care in our community. To that end, we are launching a monthly community newsletter that will highlight announcements, events, and joys/concerns. If you are interested in receiving this newsletter, please visit this link to add your name to the list. Rest assured that whether you opt-in to this newsletter or not, you will continue to receive the weekly class previews and summaries for Ordinary Life.

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

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