Dear Folks -

Wise, useful and authentic spiritual teachings always seek to take us beyond where we are into new places. I refer to these places as "further out and deeper within" in an effort to capture the non-dual nature of them. That is to say, such teachings take us to the edge of what we think we know. Sometimes such teachings are "edgy."

Certainly this description applies to the teachings of Jesus. This is the concept I amplify on in the talk given in Ordinary Life this week.

The full text from which I spoke is below.

Much Love,

Bill Kerley

To download the text of the talk click here  Download 9:9:12 - Summary

To download the presentation slides click here  Download 9:9:12 - Teachings on the Edge

To download the talk in Mp3 format click here Download 20120909 - Mp3

Dear Folks -

There are many reasons we miss transforming truths when they are presented to us. In this "life talk" I list some of these and suggest ways we might be open to "truth."

We easily defend ourselves from hearing "prophetic voices."

The teaching of Jesus I based this talk on is this: "No prophet has honor on his own home turf."

Prophetic voices are irritating when what most of us want is comfort. This is why I gave this talk the title "Irritating Comfort." Read on for that to make sense.

Go to the Ordinary Life website to download the audio, text and presentation slides. You'll find the cartoons (one not mentioned in the text) there as well.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

To download a copy of the text click here Download 9:2:12 - Summary

To download a copy of the presentation slides click here  Download 9:2:12 - Irritating Comfort

To download the audio of the talk click here Download 20120902 - Mp3

Dear Folks  -  I gave the "life talk" in Ordinary Life this title -

Flirting With Life

I based that on a cartoon I saw where the angel of death asked a woman who was involved in very risky behavior, "Are you flirting with me?"

In many arenas of life it seems that we are indeed flirting with death or disaster.

Spiritual teachers of all traditions talk about "a way." This refers to a way to be and a way to live. Jesus talked in unmistakable, if unpleasant words, about the importance of "putting first things first." If we don't, we court disaster.

That's a brief summary of the talk.

Go to the Ordinary Life website to download the audio, text and presentation slides. You'll find the cartoon there as well.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

To download a copy of the text of the talk click here  Download 8:26:12 - Summary

To download the presentation slides click here  Download 8:26:12 - Flirting With Life

To download the audio click here Download 20120826 - Mp3

Dear Folks -

I have had an interest in combining spirituality and psychology for almost all of my life - since being a teenager. I've been most fortunate that I've been able to pursue this interest since then. The discipline of giving the talks I do benefits me greatly.

I not only get to speak weekly in the Ordinary Life Gathering but also I receive invitations to speak to other group. Many invitations have come from religiously oriented groups - churches, retreats, hospital chaplains, pastoral counselors, etc. Recently I've noticed that such invitations are beginning to come from more psychological oriented group.

Recently, I was asked to give such a talk to the Houston Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. I have posted the text from which I spoke, the presentation slides and the handout I used on my own website. You can go to the page "Hidden in Plain Sight" to download these items. Go to

www.billkerley.com  

* * *

The title of the talk I gave in Ordinary Life this week is "Invisible Loyalties." More often than not we unconsciously adopt beliefs about the world, ourselves and others in the first few years of our lives. Though we remain unconscious of these matters, they rule - and often, ruin - our lives. In the field of systems psychology these unconscious "vows" are called "invisible loyalties." In order to be truly free we must become aware of these loyalties and cut ourselves loose from them. This "leaving home" is the beginning of the spiritual journey and it is most difficult thing any of us ever do. Further, it is not something we do "once and for all." We have to keep at it all of the journey.

That's a brief summary of the talk.

Go to the Ordinary Life website to download the audio, text and presentation slides.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

To download a copy of the text click here Download 8:19:12 - Summary

To download a copy of the presentation slides click here  Download 8:19:12 - Lateral Thinking

To download the audio of the talk click here  Download 20120819 MP3