roots questions

answering the questions I gave to our Roots class to discuss:

human beings are manifestations of Spirit, co-creating our reality as we evolve with our universe

God is a metaphor for our evolving consciousness, of which all things are part

conflict and war are inevitable, and they are opportunities for deeper understandings

when people die they return to the source; and they live on in peoples' memories

love is a word almost as misunderstood as "god"--unsentimental love is the foundation of the universe

Jesus is dead/misunderstood; he was a mystic teacher, who lived as close to a selfless life as we've recorded

prayer is a communion with Spirit, which probably doesn't change the world, but certainly changes me as I do it.

Y'all?

texas cowboy hat's ?

I saw some graffiti yesterday, in a restroom in an airport. On the dispenser of toilet seat covers was written "Texas Cowboy Hat's"
I have friends in Texas, and I probably ought not encourage divisive humor, but I found that quite funny.
And I am enough of a grammar elitist that the misplaced apostrophe made it funnier.

searching for the sound in the Record-Eagle

I'm in the newspaper!
"I use the Grateful Dead as a connective theme for several reasons. It helps make our religious message relevant and accessible. We can derive wisdom from the Grateful Dead by first realizing that they were not all wasted drug users and secondly, there can be a human approach to religion. Because it comes from a 'surprising' source, people may be open to this wisdom in a different way than they would be to the usual Sunday sermon." - slight misquoted in the Traverse City Record-Eagle, full text here

lovelight

As preparation for the upcoming three-sermon series, "Searching for the Sound: the Spirituality of the Grateful Dead," I met with the band leader this morning. He sang for me the new verse he'd written for "Lovelight," wherein the singer exhorts his partner to extend their love over a lifetime. *AND* instead of ending with "let it shine on me," he sings my version of amen, "so may we be!"

Not only are we exploring the Grateful Dead's spirituality, we're making our own spirit more explicit, with their powerful music.
I. Love. My. Job.