Theism Isn't the Only Way to Explore the Sacred

 The God of my understanding and experience is a presence and a power, not a person, not a potentate.  

Love at its most perfect; that’s God.

The field of unlimited possibilities; that’s God. 

What’s really real; that’s God.

 

Light and air, water and star dust, and echoes of the big bang all coming together as you and as me; that’s God.

 

The Substance and Fabric and Vitality of life; that’s God.

 

The indescribable More; that’s God.

All-in-all; that’s God.

 

Or rather, those are the ways that I experience, understand, and try to discuss the 

unnamable Something that must be pondered but can’t be dissected, 

 

That can be experienced intimately but never known completely, 

 

That requires awe but not submission, 

 

That inspires love and never cruelty, 

 

That is part of everything but cannot be limited by anything. 

 

And I call that, for lack of a better word, God...

 

We’ve been to the moon. The internet connects us instantly to people across geography and time zones. We transplant organs. We have nano robots that do medical procedures from inside bodies. We cloned a sheep. We fly in the air. Every day.

 

We can live underwater for big stretches of time. 

We synthesized insulin. We can help a lot of people live past 100.

 

There are over 700,000 humans alive right now who are more than 100 years old. There are more centenarians on the planet than there are people living in Denver.

 

We know that homo sapiens (that’s us) have been around for 200,000 years with hominin ancestors going back 5 million years or more (maybe 10).  

 

We live on a small planet in a modest solar system that is one of 400 billion solar systems in a galaxy that is one of 2 trillion galaxies in a vast and expanding universe that is at least 13.8 billion years old and might actually be eternal (always is but never began).

 

The old guy on a cloud passing judgement, pulling puppet strings, deciding when people die, granting favors to the deserving few – 

 

is a mental image we inherited from a world that thought earth was flat and at the center of the universe. 

 

For God to be relevant and real to us, we MUST liberate Her from the middle ages and recognize the divine as part of the fabric of the universe that we actually inhabit. 

 

So, if God isn’t a superhero, but is the air we breathe and the light we see by and the electricity in the room and the love we feel more deeply than we can describe…

 

then we can pray to that God because that God is always with us, exactly where we are; 

we are part of its vastness; it individuates as us. The universe explores and knows itself as us.

 

So, yes we pray. We turn within, because God is there; or we turn outward, because God is there, or we turn to the Great Teachers (like Jesus), because God is there, or we turn to the traditions, because God is there, 

 

or we turn to one another, because God is there. That’s how and why we pray, because there’s not a spot where God is not. 

 

We aren’t calling out across a great canyon, we’re tapping Love itself on the shoulder and saying, “Hey, can I have a hug?” 

The answer is always yes.

(excerpts from Nov. 17, 2024 homily at Sunshine Cathedral)

 - dw

Is New Thought Compatible with Social Activism?

 Is New Thought Compatible with Social Activism? 

by Rev. Dr. Durrell Watkins (Divine Science Federation)

Nineteenth century Metaphysical practitioners began as healers who would “treat” people affordably (and provide income for women who weren’t offered a lot of professional opportunities at the time). New Thought offered “universal healthcare” from the start! In those days, medicine wasn’t nearly as advanced as it is now, and treatment through mental prayer often proved as effective or more so (and less dangerous) than the medicine of the day.  Safe, affordable healthcare available to all, often offered by women…that is a New Thought legacy.

New Thought pioneers were models for women’s rights.  Some women in early New Thought worked for women’s voting rights. 

A leading figure of the Mental Science movement was Helen Wilmans. The co-founder of Silent Unity and the Unity School of Christianity was Myrtle Fillmore. The Founders of Divine Science were women, first Malinda Cramer and secondarily, the Brooks sisters.

The “Teacher of teachers” (who instructed many New Thought pioneers) was Emma Curtis Hopkins. The founder of the Home of Truth was Annie Rix Militz. Tehilla Lichtenstein was a co-founder of Jewish Science and she ran the movement when her husband died, making her the first Jewish woman to have her own pulpit (though she was a lay leader and not an ordained rabbi). The founder of the Universal Foundation for Better Living was Johnnie Colemon (and every president in UFBL’s history so far as been a woman). 

Consider this: the United Methodist church had its first woman bishop in 1980.  The Worldwide Anglican Communion got its first woman bishop in 1989 (first woman priest in 1944). The first woman to lead a mainline denomination occurred in 2005 (Disciples of Christ). Amee Semple McPherson founded a Pentecostal church (Foursquare Gospel) in 1923; BUT…

Christian Science (a metaphysical movement founded by Mary Baker Eddy in 1875), ECH’s seminary in Chicago (1886), Home of Truth (1887), Divine Science (1888), and Unity (1889), were all started (Unity co-founded) in the 1800s by women.

Today, there are prominent New Thought leaders who find that our belief in Oneness (God is the Source and Substance of all life so we are all part of God and connected to all that is) will cause us to care for those who are being treated unfairly. New Thought, then, has become a voice of social justice (as it was when New Thought feminists were working for universal suffrage). New Thought historian Mitch Horowitz tells us that Wallace Wattles (a major influence in self-help circles and is featured in The Secret) was a socialist.

Some have understood New Thought to be only a personal philosophy meant to help retailers improve their sales, athletes compete more effectively, entertainers succeed in their artistic endeavors, and the average person experience better health and financial security. And certainly, New Thought principles are empowering and encouraging as we apply them in our lives. Nevertheless, Love is one of our powerful principles, and Love (which includes empathy, compassion, kindness) doesn’t sit back with apathy or indifference when our fellow godlings are experiencing challenge or despair. 

So, yes we pray, visualize, and encourage, but we also lend a hand, and we support organized efforts to relieve suffering in the world. As our Religious Science friends have said, we must “treat and move our feet.” 

Mystic Christian healer, Agnes Sanford, who borrowed many New Thought ideas and techniques, compared spiritual principles to gardening. She said one plants a peach tree, but until it yields peaches, one goes to the market. She used that specifically as an example for healing, suggesting that one prays for healing, but if the demonstration tarries, that’s what the doctor is for. 

I would add the principle holds for any condition…pray for it, and then receiving help from “human means” may prove to be the answer to the prayer. If God is All, however our Good comes to us in godly. And sometimes, our speech and action is what brings about the miracles in life. 

Some have suggested that progressive social policies or even supporting charities other than the local worship center are incompatible with New Thought teachings, but that isn’t my view. New Thought is and always has been diverse, and it isn’t limited by liberal or conservative ideologies. New Thought really is for everyone. 

Can New Thoughters be social activists? I believe so; I mean, I can’t be the only one (and I’m not).

God Beyond Theism (What Some of the Great Thinkers Have Said)

God

“Omnipresence, the All-Presence, the Presence that is always present! The Presence dwells everywhere even to the uttermost parts of the Universe, now and forever.  What is our name for Omnipresence – “The Presence that filleth all?” [Eph 1.23]. We love to speak of it as God…Infinite Mind, Source and Cause, Principle. It, in fact, makes but little difference what name we use; the vital matter is that we…live in the consciousness of It.” Nona Brooks (Divine Science pioneer, Short Lessons in Divine Science)

“God is not person, but principle.” Charles Fillmore (Co-Founder of the Unity Church, The Revealing Word)

“Each one of us is inseparably one with God, the source and substance of life and wisdom and every good.” Myrtle Fillmore (Co-Founder of the Unity Church, Healing Letters)

“In Divine Science the term ‘Omnipresence’ is used more than any other word, and it is really the foundation principle of all our work. Wherever we use the term Omnipresence, we mean to convey…the eternal fact of the all-inclusive, all-pervading, all-infilling, all-sustaining Life, which [humans have] pleased to call or name ‘God’, and of which [we are each] a part.” Daisy Baum (early Divine Science teacher, Studies in Divine Science)

“God is invisible energy which permeates all that is.” William Warch (author, The New Thought Christian)

“God: The First Cause, the Great I Am, the Unborn One, the Uncreated…the One and Only. Spirit, or the Creative Energy which is the cause of all visible things. Love, Wisdom, Intelligence, Power, Substance, Mind.” Ernest Holmes (author, The Science of Mind)

“[A]n eternally existing substance, uncreated and never-ceasing motion, infinite time and infinite space, are inseparably connected. Any particular substance, motion, interval or space must be part a great unitary whole which includes yet transcends them all…[T]here is one, and only one, eternal, omnipresent Reality, whence came all that ever existed, or ever will exist, which includes and is all that ever proceeds from it, the one, ultimate, all-embracing Cause…It is self-existent, uncreated, indestructible, at once the basis and the essence of all being, the once source to which all activity is ultimately traceable.” Horatio W. Dresser (early New Thought philosopher, influenced by the work of Phineas P. Quimby, The Power of Silence)

“God is the principle responsible for all creation. The Principle cannot abandon the creation, without the creation ceasing to be. So, truly, God is in all things…This God is…an indwelling Spirit, ever eager to find expression through creation – through you.” William L. Fischer (author, Alternatives: New Approaches to Traditional Christian Beliefs)

“There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts or passions; of infinite power, wisdom and goodness; the Maker and Preserver of all things both visible and invisible.” (from the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England)

“…God is called the being as being or the ground and the power of being…” Paul Tillich (Protestant Theologian)

“Apparently humans everywhere and at all times have concepts of a power [or] idea…that lies beyond everything. This idea…is called God.” William Hendricks (Protestant Theologian)

“God is…Living Intelligence…God is universal, infinite Mind. God is Spirit. Spirit is vital essence, formless, radiant, vibrant, omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient…God is stable Principle…The Creator is absolute Good…God is infinite Being…God is the originating cause and the continuing source of all life, all being, all creation. God is at the same time the supporter and the support in its essence and basis. God is the creator and moves within the creation unceasingly.” Helen Zagat (author, Faith & Works)

“As inadequate and confused as the god metaphor may be in the Christian tradition, no other word has yet appeared to replace it.” James Rowe Adams (Episcopal priest, founder of The Center for Progressive Christianity, From Literal to Literary: The Essential Reference Book for Biblical Metaphors)

“We must get away from this theistic supernatural God that imperils our humanity and come back to a God who permeates life so deeply that our humanity becomes the very means through which we experience the Divine Presence.” Bishop John S. Spong (retired Episcopal bishop)

“…much of 20^th century theology…tended (1) to recognize all statements about God as poetic and metaphorical rather than factual and literal; (2) to delve for divine images in women’s experience, in nature, and in Asia’s great non-theistic religions; and thus (3) to emphasize God’s immanence, intimacy, and dynamic relationship to the universe, rather than the traditional theistic attributes of transcendence, remoteness, and static perfection. With the increasing dialogue between the great religious traditions of the Occident and Orient, these trends will almost certainly continue.” Paul A. Laughlin (religion scholar, Remedial Christianity: What Every Believer Should know about the Faith but Probably Doesn’t)

“…there is some minimal good, beauty in all life, including my own, and…what finally matters, even to me, is the life of the Whole, the Something that includes me, outlasts me (save as I contribute myself to it), and contains more good than I can distinctly imagine.” Charles Hartshorne (philosopher)

“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in one drop.” Rumi (poet)

“I am an event. You are an event. So is a bear, a rainforest and the winding of the helix within us all. All are active participants within the bigger picture…[Some] would call that big picture God, a reality that includes all of us but is larger than any of us.” Gary Kowalski (Unitarian Universalist minister, Science and the Search for God)

“If the idea of a personal god is incomprehensible to you, drop it. Substitute instead the idea of eternal Absolute Goodness…the ‘universal energy’…” Thomas Shepherd (New Thought Theologian, Good Questions)

“Our English word ‘God’ is derived from the German language and means ‘the good,’ but in the Near Eastern languages – Aramaic, Hebrew, and Arabic – the term ‘God’ has a deeper significance than simply ‘the good.’ The Aramaic Alaha, the Hebrew Elohim, and the Arabic Allah all come from the…root words AIL and EL, and mean ‘to aid,’ ‘to help,’ ‘to defend,’ ‘to sustain,’ and ‘to succor.’ The name of God in the biblical languages also has various subordinate applications which express the idea of might, power and strength. Thus, God is thought of as All Might, All Power and All Strength. And in the East in general God is understood as the very essence of all life and as the great Provider.” Rocco Errico (author, bible teacher, expert on Aramaic idioms and culture, Let There be Light)

“God is all-pervading Spirit…our life, substance, intelligence and power is God. [God] is our love, truth, beauty and perfection.” Malinda Cramer (founder of Divine Science, Divine Science and Healing)

Progressive, Positive, Practical Religious Webcasts

SHARING THE LIGHT WEBCAST

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9SvRqRX-1U

Affirmative Prayer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnU5c7A7lnM

Ancient Wisdom-New Thought

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HF5NcQZKVE

Can We Follow Jesus Without Worshiping Him?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbWs2e7OGaA

Celebrating Same Gender Love

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQhosYQSroM

Do Progressive Christians Believe in Jesus?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_fGE05nzz8

Does the Bible Condemn Homosexuality?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXIIHnglPq4
Doubt As Part of Faith

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHZvL4FQSmA
Gay By God

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgTpz2wa4ms

God In and Beyond Religions

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOzWWhWm5EM
God Within-What Do We Mean?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpwknJifB-8
Healing From Fundamentalism

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KelbEBJZA3Y
Is Christianity the One True Religion?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K35kOAbRnjI
Is Christmas Relevant in the 21^st Century?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTWJLhc47Ro

Is Jesus Relevant for LBTG People?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGsWYAE10JI

Is There a Science to Prayer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-yfsvyOhuY&feature=youtu.be

Prayer & Healing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YmzECgXbZw&feature=youtu.be

Prayer & Prosperity

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPbXkwKxLFg

Spirituality of Free Thinking

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnbtFgkwe-g
The Danger of Biblolatry

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcRxH9jA6_Y
The Truth About Santa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MHEolRsbWQ

Where Do We Go When We Die?

SERMONS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5K4Z_EK054

Face Everything And Rise (Rev Dr Durrell Watkins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpJiG-Nte4g

God Bless the Child (Rev Cindy Lippert)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXTbSfPCxBE

Hoping, Waiting, Working (Rev Dr Durrell Watkins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDZDkkgfrCk

Messages from the Pool Man (Rev Cindy Lippert)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGeZp0-jpxY

Moabite Pride: Rethinking Homophobia’s Favorite Biblical Story (Rev Dr Durrell Watkins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4nQfoz1W_g

Our Reason for Hope (Rev Dr Durrell Watkins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVK0CiMP03o

Rethinking Fire Insurance Religion (Rev Dr Durrell Watkins)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2uBFCdhND0

We Are Captains of our Souls (Rev Dr Durrell Watkins)

Sunshine Cathedral Recommended Reading

SUNSHINE CATHEDRAL SUGGESTED READING

            In August Sunshine Cathedral started offering a list of three books each month for SC members to consider reading. One book is to help to with biblical studies, the second is for theological enrichment, and the third is for self-help/empowerment.  The recommendations for August – October (as well as a sneak peak of November and December recommendations) follow:

August: (Bible) Understanding the Bible: An Introduction for Skeptics, Seekers, & Religious Liberals by John A. Buehrens (2003). Understanding the Bible is written by a Unitarian Universalist minister. “In making accessible some of the best contemporary historical, literary, political, and feminist readings of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, UTB encourages all who would find in the biblical heritage an ally and not an enemy in the quest for a more just and humane world.”

(Theology) The Gospel of Inclusion: Reaching Beyond Religious Fundamentalism to the True Love of God by Bishop Carlton Pearson (2006). The Gospel of Inclusion…written by a Pentecostal bishop who stopped believing in Hell. He now calls himself a “metacostal” (combination of metaphysical and Pentecostal theologies); he is an ally of the LBGT community, a universalist (believing that God’s love embraces everyone regardless of their religious affiliation and that no one is ultimately excluded from the divine Presence), and his personal journey has led him to believe that the true good news (gospel) is a message of inclusion, not fear and punishment. His atonement theology might not match up exactly with what is taught at Sunshine Cathedral, but he nevertheless believes that all people are “saved” (“Muslims, Jews, atheists, everyone”).

 (Self-Help) I Can Do It: How to Use Affirmations To Change Your Life by Louise Hay (2004). Louise Hay needs no introduction to the New Thought and New Age crowds. She is a woman who has for decades embraced more and more of life and taught others to do the same. In the worst days of the AIDS crisis she helped people living with AIDS do so with less fear while learning to love themselves. She models forgiveness, optimism, and the courage to embrace the power that is within us all. A trained Religious Science minister, Louise Hay’s ministry has been writing, public speaking, and publishing. Her books tend to be small, easy to read, easy to apply, and simply powerful. Her small book, I Can Do It offers short lessons followed by sample affirmations to use in daily spiritual practice to improve health,

finances, creativity, relationships, self-esteem, and more.

            September: (Bible) The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible’s Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love by Bishop John S. Spong (2005). Retired Episcopal bishop John Spong addresses how the bible as been misused against the environment, women, gays, children, and how it has wrongly been used to promote anti-Semitism and present God as a blood-thirsty ogre. He concludes his study by offering the possibility of a progressive reclaiming of both the bible and Jesus.

(Theology) Without Buddha I Could Not Be a Christian by Paul F. Knitter, PhD (2009). Theologian (professor at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York) Paul Knitter looked to Buddhism to help him navigate a crisis of faith. As a result, he became a more committed, if pluralistic, Christian. Rethinking notions of prayer, the afterlife, and even “God”, Knitter concludes that Buddhist philosophy can actually enrich the Christian experience.

            (Self-Help) Change Almost Anything in 21 Days: Recharge Your Life with the Power of over 500 Affirmations by Ruth Fishel (2003). Author and meditation teacher Ruth Fishel experienced healing and recovery in her life and seeks to help others do the same by showing how we can retrain our minds with consistent positive thoughts. From bad habits like procrastination to severe problems like addiction,

one can find ways of moving through life’s challenges and experience improvement. We each must do our own work, but Ms. Fishel helps the reader understand just how to do so.

October: (Bible) What the Bible Really Says About Homosexuality by Daniel A Helminiak (1994, 2000). Catholic theologian Daniel Helminiak warns against viewing biblical teaching as having the last word on sexual ethics. He also concludes that the bible "supplies no real basis for the condemnation of homosexuality."

(Theology) Saved From Salvation by Durrell Watkins, DMin (2014). Saved From Salvation chronicles a journey from fundamentalism to a ministry of spiritual humanism. The book tackles homophobia and heterosexism, looks at the bible and human sexuality and the spirituality of celebrating one's innate nature. The book also looks at non-theistic religion, progressive Christianity, liberating language, prayer, and ministry that affirms the sacred value of all people and that seeks to build community rather than enforce stale, antiquated dogmas. The final pages offer a real hope, a genuine faith, a practical spirituality that can be shared by believers and skeptics, Christians and non-Christians, seekers of truth and makers of meaning of every type. 

(Self-Help) Transform Your Life by Barbara King (1995). Founder of Atlanta's Hillside Chapel, Dr King applies metaphysical principles to the bible to help the reader overcome fear and transform her or his life through the power of prayer.

November: (Bible) The Power of Parable: How Fiction by Jesus Became Fiction about Jesus by John Dominic  Crossan (2012). Bible scholar Amy-Jill Levine says of this book, “Crossan recovers the profundity, and the provocation, of the biblical tradition.” Crossan is one of the foremost Jesus scholars alive today as well as being a theologian, bible scholar, and historian. Crossan examines both the tales that Jesus imagined to make moral and spiritual points, as well as what was later imagined about Jesus pretty early in the development of the Christian tradition. Crossan argues that much of what we read about Jesus was always intended to be read as parable rather than history.

(Theology) Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity by David M.  Felten and Jeff Procter-Murphy (2012). Using the wisdom of top Christian scholars and progressive leaders, this book is an excellent introduction a progressive view of the Christian message and life.

(Self-Help) The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy (1963) is a classic but its message is timeless and universal. Learn how to tap into the power of your subconscious mind to improve health, develop peace of mind, solve problems, and experience more happiness in your life.

December: (Bible) Meditations on the Good News: Reading the Bible for Today by Debra Haffner (2013). This Unitarian Universalist minister offers readings of scripture that are life-giving and liberating rather than cumbersome and fearful. She says, “As I begun studying Scripture, I felt joy to learn that the bible has hundreds of passages in which God is delighted with us. It is replete with messages that life is to be enjoyed here and now…”

(Theology) Science and the Search for God by Gary Kowalski (2003). Praised by scientists and theologians, this easy to read book by a Harvard educated minister suggests that science and religion are natural allies and both can help us move beyond materialism to a worldview that embraces “consciousness and spirit.”

(Self-Help) Help-Thanks-Wow: The Three Essential Prayers by Anne Lamott (2012). A writer and deeply spiritual person, Lamott believes that prayer ought to be kept simple. Her simple and sweet book of about 100 pages makes that case quite well.

Buy these books from Amazon by using the Amazon icon on the Buy & Donate page at www.sunshinecathedral.org.  

good religion

good religion
Rev Dr Durrell Watkins

“The search for truth is our constant star. We pledge our hearts, minds, and hands: To challenge injustice with courage; to find hope in times of fear; and to live out our [progressive] values every day as a beloved community.” Jay E. Abernathy, Jr.

I am not religious to avoid an afterlife concentration camp. Nothing could make religion cheaper for me than using it as metaphysical pepper spray against a cosmic foe, or as a fragile peace treaty with a volatile deity. I am religious because when religion is at its best it brings people together, it confronts injustice; it summons hope even in seemingly hopeless situations. I am religious not to hedge my bets in the next life, but to do all that I can to make this life as good as it can be.

In the name of Good Religion, I pledge to live a life of hope and joy, working for peace and justice, trying always to share blessings with the world. Amen.

{published in Sunshine Cathedral's Spirit & Truth magazine}

A Prayer in Response to Recent Waves of Religion Inspired Homophobia

Homophobia is running rampant (again)~Arizona, Tennessee, Nigeria, Uganda...a lot of crazy in the world right now, and religion at its most dysfunctional is the root of almost all of it. Some have given up on religion (and honestly, who could blame them?).

Others of us have found myths and rituals and community to be healing and life-giving and we just refuse to give them up even if far too many have used religion as a weapon to oppress, vilify, marginalize, and torment first one group and then another.

As one who still believes in the potential of healthy religion, or at least in shared spirituality which religion at its best faciliates, today I pray:

May the divine Power, the indomitable hope, the mystery of life, the power of love, the vastness of the universe, the invisible ties that unite all living beings, the wisdom of ages, the indefatigable creativity of the human spirit known as gods and angels and guides and ancestors and magic lead us in the ways of healing, peace, and justice. May religion ill used be redeemed; and may those who use religion as a weapon have a change of heart. As I think of those who live in fear or danger because religion has dehumanized and demonized them, I pause in this moment to affirm their sacred value and to wish them safety and well-being; in the name of all I call holy. Amen.

-- Durrell Watkins (2014)

FREE Introductory Positive Spirituality Course (7 Lessons, 12 minutes or less each)

7. THE CHRIST METHOD OF HEALING

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwBDulWOp4g&feature=youtu.be

6. WHAT'S A MIRACLE?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X66rV0X6jvk&list=UUi1vfps751gSRdDZIIzhkvw&feature=c4-overview

5. REASONABLE, RELEVANT RELIGION

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGQo220K_-8&list=UUi1vfps751gSRdDZIIzhkvw

4. SAVED FROM WHAT?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfi5ZMjeOnk&feature=player_detailpage

3. RESPONSIBILITY WITHOUT BLAME

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0J7AyBD0Hg

2. IS THERE A SCIENCE TO PRAYER?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGsWYAE10JI&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DEGsWYAE10JI&app=desktop

1    1. OMNIPRESENCE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqEIejhV9Rk&feature=c4-overview&list=UUi1vfps751gSRdDZIIzhkvw

Omnipresence, Is There a Science to Prayer?, Responsibility Without Blame, & Saved From What?are discussions with Rev Dr Durrell Watkins, Rev Cindy Lippert, and Practitioner Candice Gee

Reasonable, Relevant Religion is a discussion with Rev Dr Durrell Watkins, Rev Dr Will Mercer, and Rev Cindy Lippert

What’s a Miracle? is a discussion with Rev Dr Durrell Watkins, Rev Dr Will Mercer and Rev Sedare Coradin Mercer

The Christ Method of Healing is a discussion with Rev Dr Durrell Watkins, Rev Sedare Coradin Mercer and Rev Cindy Lippert

These lessons can be used individually or one after the other as an introductory course in New Thought metaphysics. These resources are available for you to use them as you will. 

Durrell Watkins is ordained an MCC minister (since 1997), Certified Reiki Master (since 2001), ordained Divine Science minister (since 2011) and an initiate in the Kriya Yoga meditation method (since January 2014)

Durrell is the Senior Minister of Sunshine Cathedral in Fort Lauderdale, FL

He holds degrees from Henderson State University, Goddard College, Union Theological Seminary, and the Episcopal Divinity School with additional studies from the College of Divine Metaphysics and the United Divine Science Ministerial School.

Cindy Lippert is ordained a Divine Science minister and is formerly licensed as a Unity minister. She is the past president of the International New Thought Alliance. She has completed theological courses of study from the United Divine Science Ministerial School, the Unity Institute, and the Samaritan Institute.

Candice Gee is ordained as an Interfaith minister and is a practitioner and ministerial student at Agape International Spiritual Center in Culver City, CA.

Will Mercer is a retired attorney, former chaplain, the President of the Divine Science Federation International and the Assistant Minister of the United Divine Freedom Church of the Healing Christ in NYC where he also has a very active wedding ministry. He is a graduate of the Lola Pauline Mays Seminary and is an ordained Divine Science minister.

Sedare Coradin Mercer holds a Master’s degree in Finance and is a graduate of the United Divine Science Ministerial School. She is the founding minister of United Divine Freedom Church of the Healing Christ in NYC, the President of the Divine Science Ministers Association, and a member of the INTA Governing Board. Before becoming a Divine Science practitioner and minister she was active in the I AM movement.  

What's a Miracle?

WHAT'S A MIRACLE?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X66rV0X6jvk&list=UUi1vfps751gSRdDZIIzhkvw&feature=c4-overview

Progressive Spirituality Discussions

WHAT'S A MIRACLE?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X66rV0X6jvk&list=UUi1vfps751gSRdDZIIzhkvw&feature=c4-overview

 

REASONABLE, RELEVANT RELIGION

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGQo220K_-8&list=UUi1vfps751gSRdDZIIzhkvw

 

SAVED FROM WHAT?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfi5ZMjeOnk&feature=player_detailpage

RESPONSIBILITY WITHOUT BLAME

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0J7AyBD0Hg

IS THERE A SCIENCE TO PRAYER?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGsWYAE10JI&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DEGsWYAE10JI&app=desktop

OMNIPRESENCE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqEIejhV9Rk&feature=c4-overview&list=UUi1vfps751gSRdDZIIzhkvw

Reasonable, Relevant Religion (11 minute video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGQo220K_-8&list=UUi1vfps751gSRdDZIIzhkvw

Reasonable, Relevant Religion

We Remember, Give Thanks, & Hope

World AIDS Day Prayer (2013)
Rev Dr Durrell Watkins

Spirit of Life,
On this World AIDS Day we remember those who died too soon from complications of a virus that has taken too many.
On this World AIDS Day we remember those who lost loved ones to the epidemic.
On this World AIDS Day we remember those who dedicated their lives to raising awareness and improving access to treatment.
On this World AIDS Day we remember those who never gave up hope.
On this World AIDS Day we remember those who had to face not only the pain of dis-ease and the terror of the unknown, but also marginalization and demonization from those who chose to "blame the victim."

On this World AIDS Day we give thanks for those who survived the most frightening days.
On this World AIDS Day we give thanks that life-saving medications were discovered and that treatment options get better all the time.
On this World AIDS Day we give thanks for complementary therapies.
On this World AIDS Day we give thanks that miracles have happened among us.

On this World AIDS Day we continue to hope for a cure.
On this World AIDS Day we wish for those who are not infected to remain uninfected and for those who are infected to remain optimistic and to live abundantly, joyously, and in good health.

Omnipresent, all-inclusive, eternal Love,
Receive our prayers today and rekindle within us a desire to live, to love, to share, and to make our world a better place.
Amen.

Discussing Metaphysics

IS THERE A SCIENCE TO PRAYER?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGsWYAE10JI&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DEGsWYAE10JI&app=desktop

OMNIPRESENCE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqEIejhV9Rk&feature=c4-overview&list=UUi1vfps751gSRdDZIIzhkvw

You Die & Then What?

&A with Dr Durrell Watkins
     Question: What is your understanding of where we "go" after death?  When someone dies, invariably people will say, he or she is now in heaven, but then what is the reference to the second coming of Christ when the dead will rise?  
     Answer: I know that energy can't be destroyed, it only changes form; so, I assume the energy of consciousness is also never-ending. As a person of faith, I trust that life is somehow never-ending. Beyond that, I probably don't know any more than you do.
     During Jesus' execution, a fellow rebel who is being killed next to him reportedly says, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your Realm," and Jesus responds, "...today you will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23.42-43). Luke also has Jesus telling a parable about a poor man who suffered in life but who, after death, was "carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham [& Sarah, & presumably Hagar]" (Luke 16.22).
     Luke is writing at least 50 years (and some scholars think as many as 90 years) after the crucifixion of Jesus. The Apostle Paul, only about 25 years after the crucifixion of Jesus, writes, "...we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep; for the Lord...will come down from the heavens, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are...left, will be caught up together in the air. Thus we shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4.15-17). Luke's idea seems to be that consciousness survives death immediately, while Paul, at least in his early writings, suggests that maybe those who die are simply resting and will be raised back to life later.
     Paul believed that Jesus would return to earthly life in his lifetime. So, the resting period, in Paul's mind, wouldn't have been a long one. Decades later, when Luke is writing, no such "second coming" had occurred, and so Luke may be rethinking the issue. In any case, Paul and Luke have different ideas of how consciousness survives death; what they both believe is that consciousness does survive death.
     Paul and Luke are each making his best guess, but what happens beyond this life is a mystery to us until we experience it. What the writers are saying is that the value of our lives is not limited to our earthly years, but as far as what is next, we may just have to "walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5.7). What we can trust is that life is good and sacred and that its importance is not limited to the years we spend on this earth. That's pretty "heavenly" regardless of how it plays out.     

 {This Q&A was first published on July 20th, 2008 in The Sun Burst, Sunshine Cathedral's weekly newsletter}

The Story (such as it is) of Satan

Q&A with Durrell Watkins (from Sunshine Cathedral's weekly newsletter)

Question: God is perfect. The angels are perfect. Satan was perfect. If heaven was perfect along with Satan how did Satan sin? Why did God allow sin to be known in heaven?

Answer: The first time we see “the satan” (i.e., the accuser) is in the Book of Job. In that story, “the satan” has full access to the heavenly council and is apparently simply doing his (or her) job as an accuser (sort of a prosecutor). It isn’t until much later (and probably as a result of Persian influence) “the satan” becomes “Satan”…the cosmic boogie man who is the cause of all mischief, suffering, and evil.

In the first century, it was commonly believed that difficulties and diseases were caused by evil spirits, and so “Satan” not only came to be thought of as the personification of evil, but as a leader or driving force of supernatural evil entities. Satan as a sort of Lord or Potentate of an afterlife prison called “Hell” is an even later development most vividly depicted in the literature and art of the middle ages and the Renaissance (e.g., Michelangelo’s Last Judgment and Dante’s Divine Comedy).

The story of Satan misbehaving in heaven and getting cast out isn’t really told in any one place in scripture. To form that story, one has to piece together unconnected texts: Luke10.18 (quoting Isaiah14.12, with some license…Isaiah is calling a political ruler “Lucifer”/Morning Star, the planet Venus), 2 Peter 2.4 (referring to angels being chained in “Tartarus”…a term borrowed from Greek mythology), Jude 6 (speaking of angels who did not keep to their proper domain, probably referring to the story in Genesis 6 where angels were said to have seduced humans), and Revelation 12.7-12 (a battle between angels and a dragon, the dragon probably representing Roman imperial power). By taking these disconnected texts and combining them together (and assuming that Lucifer, Satan, and the dragon are all the same character), the story of Satan as a fallen angel emerged. It is a story that developed over time, and one that I do not take literally.

Now, “Satan” is a convenient way of blaming the appearance of evil in our world on “someone.” But let’s also look at the rest of the Satan myth… “in the end” we are told, Satan is finally defeated by the forces of righteousness. What the story illustrates is that evil is not ultimately real. Evil is the absence of or the opposition to Good; but God, the Good, is omnipresent and so for God to be omnipresent means that there is nothing “real” that can ultimately oppose God/Good. A Course in Miracles states, “Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists; herein lies the peace of God.” Nothing can ultimately threaten or oppose what is truly Good. The appearance of evil must eventually give way to the Truth, just as darkness must be expelled the moment a candle is lit. Satan, as a literary figure representing evil, is only a temporary appearance, or illusion, which ultimately  must be banished by the light of Truth, which is that God is omnipresent and God is All Good. Good is what is true, what is real, and what must ultimately be experienced. 

(originally printed in Sunshine Cathedral's The Sun Burst in June 2010)

Never Assume...

Today is the Feast Day of the Assumption of the Blessed Lady Mary, Mother of Jesus, if your personal piety or religious tradition observes it. Those who observe it call it the most important of the Marian feasts.

Jesus' ascension is modeled after the story of Elijah being taken into the heavens/eternity (without dying) by a whirlwind (althought Jesus was executed and it was his resurrected presence that was said to ascend).

The Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox traditions have continued the story telling tradition Ascension by applying the same phenomenon to Mary. The Eastern church doesn't have a dogma about Mary not dying first, but in 1950, Pope Pius (speaking ex cathedra, and thus relying on papal infallibility, a doctrine only from the 19th century) dogmatically defined the Assumption of Mary declaring her to have been taken into heaven (bodily) without dying.

There isn't much about Mary in the bible (there is actually more about her in the Qu'ran).

Some value Mary as a co-Redemptrix, Queen of Heaven (a title held by the Egyptian goddess Isis as well), spiritual mother of all people (based on the story of Jesus telling his beloved friend that Mary would now be his mother). For those who have a "high" Mariology (a devotion to and detailed mythology about Mary), she shares in the work of Redemption, and may even represent the divine Feminine.

For others, Mary was a European looking figure stitched on banners of armies coming to conquer peoples of the Americas. For them, Mary is not so much divine figure as a symbol of colonialism, European imperialism, and the decimation of native cultures.

For some feminists, Mary (as presented by the male dominated hierachy of the Christian Ecclessiastical institutions) represents the silencing and control of women. An instituion that will not ordain women or allow them control over their own bodies or sexuality elevate a woman to almost divine status...a women, just one; and that one woman is a perpetual virgin who said "yes" to her impregnation that had already happened without her consent. The one woman worthy of adoration in the misogynistic church tradition is a woman who does as she is told and never has sexual urges, feelings, or needs. That, they argue, is not a realistic picture of flesh and blood women nor is it an empowering image for women.

For most Protestants, Mary is simply a rural peasant girl who had a baby who grew up to be a remarkable person, a teacher and healer, and lasting figure on the human imagination for millennia. Even if they have a high Christology (belief in Jesus as a redeemer of the world and somehow uniquely God-filled), they usually do not have a similarly high Mariology.

But then Dr Doreen Virtue puts a New Age spin on the "Beloved Mother." She suggests that Mary might have taken baby Jesus to live among the Essenes for a while where they both learned mysticism. She sees Mary as a nurturing, protecting figure for children. She believes those who claim to have vision sof Mary are experiencing something truly supernatural reminding us that miracles are possible. And she says that she personally asks the Blessed Lady for help from time to time.

Whatever we believe about Mary, it might be useful to look at the various ideas about her and let those ideas fire up our imaginations and help seek a more mature, life-giving faith, regardless of what part Mary may play in that.

On this feast of the Assumption, let's not make the assumption that there aren't new ways to look at it :-)

HAPPY FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION.