Dear Folks -
The title I gave this week's talk is
Get Out of the Middle of the Road
In it I claim that the biggest danger to authentic religion and spiritual practice is "moderation."
The talk is based on a dramatic story from the Jesus story - the beheading of John the Baptist.
The full text that I spoke from, as well as links to various sites I referred to in the talk, is below. The audio version is somewhat different from the text and can be found on the Ordinary Life website as well as directions for how to have these talks automatically delivered to you as podcasts.
Much love,
Bill Kerley
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Read moreDear Folks -
I know that this week is a busy time for most of you with shopping, visiting, traveling and all the other matters related to the Christmas season. If you are in the Houston area I would remind you that there will be Christmas Eve services at St. Paul's at noon, 2 (Spanish service), 4, 6 and 8. The services are an hour earlier than usual this year since Christmas falls on Sunday.
There will be no gathering of Ordinary Life on Christmas Day and only one service of worship at 11:05.
On New Year's Day there will be a social hour on the first floor of the Jones Building during the time Ordinary Life usually meets.
Ordinary Life will resume our regular schedule on January 8, 2012.
The title I gave this week's talk in Ordinary Life is
Begin Again
In the talk I differentiate between "salvation theology" and "transformational theology." There is no place to get to in our spiritual practice because our spiritual work is, thankfully and frustratingly, an ongoing process.
The full text I used to speak from is below.
Much love,
Bill Kerley
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Read moreDear Folks -
This week's "life talk" is titled "Table Scraps Theology" and is based on what I think is one of the most powerful of all the stories in the Jesus story. It is one that is not frequently dealt with because, among other things, it presents us with several significant challenges: challenges about how we think about ourselves, others and - especially - Jesus. It is a story in which, because of an encounter Jesus has with an absolute "outsider," he changes his mind. The goal of the talk is to get us to be open to making changes of mind, heart and behavior ourselves.
The full text I used to speak from is below.
Much love,
Bill Kerley
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Read moreDear Folks -
I have used this phrase in my talks the past few weeks:
Wise and useful spiritual work and religious ritual should take us deeper into ourselves
and further into the future - both at the same time. In this talk which I titled
Journey Inward, Journey Outward
I amplify on this notion. I end up saying that this spiritual journey cannot be
understood from the standpoint of the dualistic mind and offering a poem by
Anne Sexton to make my point.
The link to the full text I used to speak from is below.
Much love,
Bill Kerley
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