Dear Folks -

Every authentic spiritual teacher I know about admonishes us not to judge. Yet they frequently sound so judgmental when they offer this teaching. So, the question I raise and attempt to answer in this Ordinary Life talk is this: How can we judge without being judgmental? This is an essential spiritual skill because it is essential that we make wise and useful judgments that do not separate us from one another or divide the human community. This talk closes with one of the best scenes of judgment I've run across recently from The Shack.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

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Dear Folks -

Though we are taught by all solid religious traditions that we cannot serve two master, we all try to do it. Indeed I believe that somehow we must learn to live with one foot firmly planted in our religion and one firmly planted in the world - otherwise we end up not having anything of substance to offer to either. There are two clues as to whether a religion is trustworthy or not. One is if it focuses only on the "prosperity" of its own members and the other is if it divides people into warring camps. We must learn to live with a delicate balance.

That's a brief summary of the talk I gave in Ordinary Life this week. The full text I used (which is considerably different from the audio version) follows.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

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Dear Folks -

How did we get where we are? That's the question I attempt to answer in this talk. I am paying particular attention to what has had to happen for most of Protestant (and to some extent Catholic) Christianity to get from where it was fifty or sixty years ago to where "the church" is today. And, why and how has it become that the most virulent battles are taking place over the matter of homosexuality? If we can see that positions that were once held as unchanging and unchangeable have turned out not to be, then perhaps we can avoid getting involved in some rearguard action ourselves. Perhaps we can be open to the new era that wants to happen in our time.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

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Dear Folks -

Our world is being divided into warring groups by dualistic thinking. 
Dualism inevitably ends up measuring things and people in one way or 
another. We compare and compete with the dualistic mind. Non-dual 
thinking moves us into the realm of meeting and meaning. This is a 
matter of morality. Measuring will not lead to peace within or 
without. Only deep meeting - both within and without - can contribute 
to our happiness and the world's well-being.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

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