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

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Summary of February 24, 2013

Dear Folks -

This talk begins by my asking attendees to give their responses to the following words: God, life, faith, church and worship. My contention is that whether we use these words or not, each of these things has some function in our lives. So I ask, and I got this idea from John Dominic Crossan years ago:

What is the character of your "God"?

What is the basis of your "life"?

What is the content of your "faith"?

What is the purpose of your "church"?

What is the function of your "worship"?

Most of the talk is about "the character of one's God" because my belief is that when that issue is resolved in a wise and useful manner, our lives and the lives of others will be better.

The audio version of this talk is, as usual, somewhat different than the printed version. The full text from which I spoke is posted here, as are the audio version and the presentation slides.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

To download the complete text click here  Download 2:24:13 - Complete text

To download the presentation slides click here  Download 2:24:13 - The Ring of Gyre

To download the audio click here Download 20130224 - Mp3

Dear Folks -

Over the years I have revisited, for one reason or another, a work I was first introduced to in 1966. The work I have in mind is Viktor Frankl's "Man's Search for Meaning." The Library of Congress claimed it was one of the most influential books of all time.

The talk I gave this week ends referencing this work. I talk about the ongoing responsibility and opportunity we have to find in the moments of "ordinary life" the meaning of our lives. Of course, I sneak in some material that, I hope, contributes to spiritual and religious literacy - as well as to our psychological and spiritual growth.

The audio version of this talk is somewhat different than the printed version. The full text from which I spoke is below. The audio version and the presentation slides are on the Ordinary Life website.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

To download the complete text click here  Download 2:17:13 - Complete text

To download the presentation slides click here  Download 2:17:13 - New Ways of Seeing and Being

To download the audio in Mp3 format click here Download 20130217 Mp3

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

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Summary of February 10, 2013

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Dear Folks -

One of the things all humans share is the desire to be safe and secure. Paradoxically, many of the ways we go about trying to be safe and secure end up not leading to safety and security at all. Religions have frequently been used in ways that are dangerous and damaging.

In this talk I talk about an understanding of God that is dying for many in our time as well as what I consider to be a misunderstanding of Christianity. In an effort to communicate non-dual mind, I introduce a new metaphor. It is of a knife that is at the same time the sharpest dull knife and the dullest sharp knife.

The audio version of this talk is different, especially near the end than the printed version. The full text from which I spoke is below. The audio version and the presentation slides are on the Ordinary Life website.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

To download the complete text of the talk click here Download 2:10:13 - Complete text

To download the presentation slides click here  Download 2:10:13 - Safe and Secure

To download the audio of the talk click here Download 20130210 - Mp3

Dear Folks -

Those of you with connections to St. Paul's are likely already aware that our Senior Minister, Dr. Jim Bankston, has announced his retirement. It will be effective at the end of June. Dr. Bankston has been instrumental in the creation of and support for Ordinary Life - among many other wonderful contributions. I will arrange for him to come and speak to us before he leaves St. Paul's.

This week's "life talk" focused on the important of developing awareness and skill in learning to be in the various worlds in which we live without either gaining or losing our identity from or in them. I called it

"The Wisdom of No Escape."

The full text from which I spoke can be found below as well as a link to the the presentation slides.

Much love,

Bill Kerley

To download the complete text click here  Download Text of 2:3:13

To download the presentation slides click here  Download 2:3:13 - The Wisdom of No Escape