What If They Gave a War

April 25, 2010 Bill Kerley

Dear Folks -

So this is a test.

The best spiritual teachers, in my opinion, do not tell people how to live or what to do. Rather, they give people choices about what will giving meaning in life. They don't so much give solutions as "reasons to hope."

This week in Ordinary Life I try to expound on a parable of Jesus that does precisely this. At first the parable seems harmless. On closer inspection, however, it is explosive. It confronts us with choosing whether we want to live into a future of violence or peace.

This is a summary of the talk I gave in Ordinary Life this week. The full text, audio and presentation slides follow.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

Click here to Download Intro Material Why the Parables.pdf

Click here to Download Text 20100425.pdf

Click here to Download Presentation Slides 4:25:10 - What if.pdf

Click here to Download audio 20100425.mp3

Oak Tree or Bramble Bush?

April 18, 2010 Bill Kerley

Dear Folks -

Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. Sadly, the evidence seems to be that many people lead unexamined lives. One of the main reasons for this is that such living requires effort and attention that makes the task difficult.

This talk - Oak Trees or Bramble Bushes - takes a look at the fact that where we are coming from determines where we are going. It raises questions about what values are at the center of our lives. I end it with some words by Thomas Merton that I look at almost every day. I would encourage you to make them part of your practice as well.

The full text, audio, and presentation slides follow.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

Click here to Download Introduction to Current Theme: Why the Parables.pdf

Click here to Download text 20100418.pdf

Click here to Download Presentation Slides - Oak Trees or Bramble Bushes.pdf

Click here to Download audio 20100418.mp3

The Edge of the Leaf

April 11, 2010 Bill Kerley

Dear Folks -

I would like to alert those of you in the Houston area that Marcus Borg, authority on "the Jesus of history," will be speaking in the space Ordinary Life uses this coming weekend. He will speak Friday evening and on Saturday. The title of his presentation is: "Speaking Christian: The Problem and the Need." To register and/or learn more go to www.contemporarytheology.org

The only way we can experience transformation or growth in either our psychological, spiritual or religious work is by moving into liminal space. There are several ways to do this which I list in this talk.

One of the most important things we can do is give up the notion that our opinions are "facts" about which we are "right."

If we can do this, even for a few minutes at a time, we can move in the direction of the values Jesus taught about, lived and invited us to embody. These values include love, being sharp and being inclusive.

In the section of the talk where I talk about being sharp I illustrate my point with lots of photographs which show how stupid some people can be especially when they are proclaiming how right they are. In order to see these photos you'll have to go to the Ordinary Life website and look at the overhead presentation link. Many, many thanks to the work Susanna Hooper puts into make this possible.

This is a summary of the talk I gave in Ordinary Life this week. The full text follows.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

Click here to Download text 20100411.pdf

Click here to Download Presentation Slides 4:11:10_-_Out_on_a_Leaf.pdf

Click here to Download audio 20100411.mp3

For Want of a Nail

March 28, 2010 Bill Kerley

Dear Folks -

We see only what we want to see. We see only what we are prepared to see.

One of the primary purposes of spiritual work is to open our willingness and ability to see "what is."

There are "hidden messages" all around us. In this talk I illustrate this with some examples of advertising logos. You'll have to go to the web site to see these.

Jesus hid powerful messages in his parables. In this talk I look at one of the shortest of all his parables. It is about a woman who hid some leaven in a large amount of flour until the whole batch was leavened. It seems innocuous enough. But those who first heard it were offended by it. So perhaps are we as well when we hear its true meaning.

This is a summary of the talk I gave in Ordinary Life this week. The full text follows.