Read Our Written Sermons
grounded in a mystical, interfaith-Christianity inspired by Emanuel Swedenborg
Uncover the Rock of Consciousness
There’s something in all of our experiences that is as solid as a rock, even amidst the trials of life. Something that we all share, no matter our beliefs, but is often overlooked. What has been with us, exactly as it is now, since before we even knew our name? That is the very light of awareness itself, the seat of “I am” in our lives. Even our sense of our body changes, identities change, feelings and thoughts obviously change, but there is something that sees all that. Tell me, are you aware right now? Even just this simple question can help us take a step back into an awareness of our awareness, something that by its very nature is expansive and as solid and peaceful as a rock. Our sages tell us that just noticing this seat of awareness (i.e. ourselves) more can lead to its peace pervading our lives, as well as opening us to the joy, love, and wisdom inherent to our consciousness, our spirit, what some may call the light of God.
Reverse the Big Bang, Find Genesis Within
Up until the James Webb Space Telescope came online recently, most of us science-oriented people were pretty sure that the universe started about 14 billion years ago with the “Big Bang.” Now that we can see further out and further back into the universe, not only is our idea of the age of the universe scrapped (it’s clearly much older!), but we have to go back to the drawing board about how the universe might have started. One thing we can learn from this monumental moment in science history is the importance of being flexible, and not investing too much in any one idea – even a popular one. All ideas and all concepts are beliefs and subject to the whims of time, revelation, and perspective, even the most seemingly obvious ones. Even our beliefs that we are mortal, finite, fallen, separate, individuals, right, wrong, false, or true may be subject to revisiting. And perhaps, the truth of the matter, about us and about the universe, is ultimately beyond words: as words at their best only approximately point to the reality of things. Perhaps this revelation about the Big Bang serves as an opportunity to let go of our tight sense of knowing and of judging, and to return to a recognition of the peace and joy of life when we’re not so “in our heads.”
Turn to the God in Your Heart & Find Yourself
Sages throughout cultures and religions often share wisdom that points to the heart of what it means to be spiritual and find our true selves, things that many of us followers of theirs find hard to stomach. There are a couple of places in the Bible where Jesus warns his followers that just saying God’s name is not enough, and that word service or even service to “God,” “Jesus,” or “the Lord” is not a qualifying act for heaven at all. In fact, as our reading from Matthew illustrates, Jesus told these followers that not even prophesying, driving out demons, and performing miracles in God’s name are enough for the Lord not to cast us away. I don’t know about you, but for most of us, I think it’s been a while since we’ve driven out anyone’s demons! So, what chance do we have? Well, as Christ’s words often attest to, finding the heaven within and uncovering our intrinsic relationship with God is less about outward trappings of belief and religiosity, and more about turning away from our emphasis on outward manifestation and turning within to our very core. You see, it is our choice to step away from hell and enter heaven. This means quieting our minds and opening ourselves to God’s Will, God’s Compassion, and God’s Truth – whatever we may call it.
The Ego Worries, Let It
“Worrying is carrying tomorrow's load with today's strength - carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” These words were written by the author Corrie ten Boom, who knew something about worry as she and her family helped Jews escape the Nazis by hiding them in their home. At least, until they were caught, and she was placed in a concentration camp. It’s a testament to her experience and her wisdom that she came out of these situations espousing the importance of letting go of worry. It’s something that the sages have told us throughout the ages, from Buddha to Christ, and yet I think we often resign ourselves to our worry. Today we look at how we might truly let go of worry, coming to notice that the part of us that worries isn’t truly us, but more like a thundercloud in the sky of our mind that we’ve decided to follow around in our over-identification with a limited idea of who we are, what we call “ego.”
Crash Your Money-Centered Mind
I entirely relate to worrying about money. With debt, current obligations, and future ambitions, it can seem inescapable. That’s what makes Christ’s open and interreligious teachings so poignant for us, in a way he’s striking at a source of a lot of our frustrations, personal and interpersonal. Like the teachings of the Buddha, Krishna, and others, many of Christ’s teachings do this: strike at the heart of what keeps us away from our heart and the peace inherent to it. If we follow his pointings, we find that our “burden is light,” but how might we follow something so at odds with the way our minds so often work?
Release Stilted Promises and Ideas
Christ’s words about never making oaths or promises can be a bit unsettling. We should never make a promise? What about promises already made? That’s why I think it’s no accident that he couches these statements between telling men of the time that they shouldn’t divorce their wives, and a missive on staying non-violent. He wasn’t trying to encourage us to “do whatever we want,” but instead, to let go of our calcified assumptions. To let go of the oaths and endorsements that only continue our blindness and suffering.
You are the Space that God Shines Through
The once-famous scientist turned mystic, Emanuel Swedenborg, wrote that during his explorations of the spiritual realm evil spirits could not attack and control him only because they found him to be nothing. Why is there such a trend with sages, this tendency to report on their “nothingness”? And how might it speak to us in this moment? Perhaps, inviting us to look past all the “somethings” we tend to identify with (in thought, body, and form), and returning our attention back to the very “empty” peaceful space that we are always looking from.
Let Go of Resentment to Find Peaceful Inner Space
Anger can sometimes be a natural, healthy reaction to something, just as fear, happiness, and other feelings can be. But when the tie of anger binds our hearts (often, without us knowing it), by our returning to it again and again – stoking the flames and identifying with the feeling toward any one situation, we don’t allow ourselves the peace of our inner transcend-essence and the natural joy that can arise no matter the circumstances. Like with any feeling or thought, it is our identification with them that keeps us circling out of presence and peace into rumination and anxiety. Instead, using the ancient practice of Self-realization, may we let go of our hold on our mind’s unhelpful habits, and find the peace of our inner stability and the natural spaciousness of our loving hearts.
You are the Light of the World
“You are the light of the world.” These empowering words were spoken by Christ, not as an elitist view of his “Christian” followers, but as a description of the very nature of each of our spirits – especially when we allow ourselves to shine. Like the Buddha, Krishna, and the voices of God across the ages, Christ seemed to have made it his mission to point to the Great I Am inherent within each of us, our rootedness in Divinity and its angelic light. He tasked us, as many sages do, to turn to this light within, noticing continuously that it is from this very light that we see our issues, attachments, conditioning, and both the good and the bad times. From there, we can let our light shine in all its cascading beauty, as it naturally should.