SUNDAY LECTURE | Wondering and Wandering in Exile

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

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Summary of Ordinary Life for July 2, 2023

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Dear Ones -

I began this week’s time in Ordinary Life with what are likely the oldest words in the writings that are commonly referred to by Christians as “the Old Testament.” The words are: “A wandering Aramean was my father.” If one claims to be a follower of Jesus, one’s identity is historically tied to Judaism. I give a brief history of the Jewish exile into Babylon because we are in an exile of our own. We are in exile for two reasons: the country is moving to “the right” and the world-view in which our inherited Christian understandings were created no longer exists. The major roadblocks in going forward are: people think they already know the story, people have been hurt by “the church,” and doing deconstruction/reconstruction work is hard. Nonetheless, our faith that our identity is “who we are in God” is sufficient to carry us forward. I called the time -

Wondering and Wandering While in Exile

That’s a brief summary of this week’s time in Ordinary Life.

The audio version of the talk has some significant differences from the text I spoke from. You can find the text of the talk, the presentation slides and the audio version of the talk using the links below.

Our podcast, “In Between,” can be accessed through the Ordinary Life web site.

If you would like to know how to make a contribution to Ordinary Life, click here for video instructions.

Be well and much love,

Bill Kerley

In order to read or download the text version of the talk, click here.

In order to view or download the presentation slides, click here.

In order to view or download the announcement slides, click here.

To listen to or download today’s talk, use the audio player below.

To watch the video of today’s talk, use the YouTube link below.



WEEKLY PODCAST | In Between.133

Howard Thurman bookends this conversation. He is a person I would have liked to have met or at least had the opportunity to be in his presence. He was a mystic, a theologian, a leader, and an activist who relentlessly pursued the Beloved Community. He was a teacher of many and taught nonviolence by Ghandi. If you would like to read more by and about Thurman, here are some titles:

  1. Deep is the Hunger

  2. Meditations of the Heart

  3. Mysticism and Social Action

  4. The Search for Common Ground

  5. Jesus and the Disinherited

There are also many of his essays floating around the web. In the most loving ways, Thurman pushed against the status quo. There is no question in my mind on which side of current divisions and debates he would have stood. He is ultimately for love. I hope you are inspired to peruse his writings!

I also hope you are left with an image of God wearing a rainbow feather boa.

Howard Thurman

SUNDAY LECTURE | Stories and the Shaping of Life with Dr. Bill Monroe

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

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Summary of Ordinary Life for June 25, 2023

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Dear Ones -

Dr. Bill Monroe did an outstanding job in talking with us this week about how stories shape character. The title of his presentation was -

Stories and the Shaping of Life

If you go to the Ordinary Life website, which should be updated in a couple of days, you can view his presentation slides. They contain not only fascinating information and recommendations but also a link to an interview he gave that contains the story he tells in his book about Denton Cooley, the famed heart surgeon. I really enjoyed his talk and benefited from it. If you missed it, I urge you to go to the Ordinary Life website and listen to it.

That’s a brief summary of this week’s time in Ordinary Life.

You can find the presentation slides and the audio version of the talk using the links below.

Our podcast, “In Between,” can be accessed through the Ordinary Life web site.

If you would like to know how to make a contribution to Ordinary Life, click here for video instructions.

Be well and much love,

Bill Kerley

To view the slides for Dr. Monroe’s talk, click here.

In order to view or download the presentation slides, click here.

In order to view or download the announcement slides, click here.

In order to listen to or download the audio recording of today’s talk, you can use the audio player link below.

In order to watch the video recording of today’s talk, use the YouTube player link below.


SUNDAY LECTURE | How It Seems To Me - Your Mileage May Vary

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

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Summary of Ordinary Life for June 18, 2023

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Dear Ones -

The time this week in Ordinary Life was shaped by the questions we didn’t get to last week. I began by giving a history of how the Steering Committee of Ordinary Life developed and its current function. This also included a brief history of the class itself which celebrates, very quietly, its 25th anniversary this month. For the first time in years I listed the “principles of Ordinary Life.” I share what my commitments are to and about being a spiritual teacher and amplify on the use of words like “sacred,” “mystery” and “divine.” The use of any language in talking about love, honesty, and freedom always runs the risk of contributing to the illusion of duality. There is only one reality that makes up our lives and that reality is life itself. We need to move away from what I called “rear view mirror religion.” I called the talk -

How Things Seem to Me

That’s a brief summary of this week’s time in Ordinary Life.

You can find the text of the talk, the presentation slides and the audio version of the talk using the links below.

Our podcast, “In Between,” can be accessed through the Ordinary Life web site.

If you would like to know how to make a contribution to Ordinary Life, click here for video instructions.

Be well and much love,

Bill Kerley

In order to read or download the text version of the talk, click here.

In order to view or download the presentation slides, click here.

In order to view or download the announcement slides, click here.

To listen to or download the audio recording of today’s talk, use the audio player below.

You can watch the video of today’s talk by clicking the YouTube link below.