Pray Without Ceasing
by Durrell Watkins
Can we really pray all the time? We pray continuously when we let our lives be prayer. When praying with our words, a useful formula is to acknowledge the Power of Life (God/Goddess/Higher Power/Spirit, etc.), realize that we are not separate from this Power (it is within us, around us, flowing through us, expressing as us), trust this power to lead us to our highest good (we express trust by affirming our progress), give thanks (an attitude of gratitude is a magnet for miracles), and finally release the prayer to the activity of divine right action ("let go and let God").
The affirmative prayer then might simply say, "Dear God, my heart is your home; your heart is my home. You are expressing in and as my life, and you are All Good; therefore, I confidently affirm the blessings of happiness, hope, and harmony and I am grateful that these blessings are even now being made manifest in my experience. I now relax and allow life to unfold in joyous, wonderful ways. Amen."
But did you know we can live that prayer as well as say it? And living it is praying it! We can at any moment quiet our minds, notice our breath, and feel an instant, inner calm (acknowledging the divine presence and our unity with It). Then as we perform any task (paying bills, watching television, answering an email, washing clothes, walking the dog, etc.), we can do so mindfully and joyfully, affirming with our attitude and action that in that moment all is well. Experiencing such a moment of well-being, we can be glad and grateful, and naturally enough, we will find ourselves more relaxed (letting go).
The spoken prayer is a model for how to live prayer. Whenever we are aware of Life, remember It is expressing as us, believe in our potential, feel thankful, and allow ourselves to "let go," we are praying. The more we practice "living prayer," the better we get at it, and we will find that we are actually praying continuously.
{Reprinted from Healing Rays: A Progressive, Positive, Practical Weekly Reflection, January 27th, 2009}
Monday, August 10, 2009
Friday, August 07, 2009
Children of God
Children of God
“[Jesus] did not claim unique Sonship of God but boldly declared that all [people] are God’s [Children].” - Albert C. Grier
Albert Grier was a Universalist minister who in the early 1900s founded the Church of Truth denomination. He was a pioneer in the New Thought movement. He taught that the Christ Consciousness is actually within every human being. Grier, along with other important thinkers of his time, saw Jesus as our great Example showing us what we are meant to be and how we can live with power in our world. He reminds us that we are all children of God; and as children of God, we have unfettered access to God’s wisdom, grace, and love. Today, let’s recognize and embrace these divine gifts in our lives.
I am a child of God, made in God’s image and filled with God’s spirit. I live in the joy of this truth, and so it is!
Today’s devotional prepared by Durrell Watkins
{taken from Spirit & Truth magazine}
“[Jesus] did not claim unique Sonship of God but boldly declared that all [people] are God’s [Children].” - Albert C. Grier
Albert Grier was a Universalist minister who in the early 1900s founded the Church of Truth denomination. He was a pioneer in the New Thought movement. He taught that the Christ Consciousness is actually within every human being. Grier, along with other important thinkers of his time, saw Jesus as our great Example showing us what we are meant to be and how we can live with power in our world. He reminds us that we are all children of God; and as children of God, we have unfettered access to God’s wisdom, grace, and love. Today, let’s recognize and embrace these divine gifts in our lives.
I am a child of God, made in God’s image and filled with God’s spirit. I live in the joy of this truth, and so it is!
Today’s devotional prepared by Durrell Watkins
{taken from Spirit & Truth magazine}
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Remembering Hiroshima
Today is the 64th anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima. From that attack, about 144,000 people were killed (about half from the initial blast, the others from wounds and illnesses that resulted from the blast). Over the next few decades, hundreds more would develop cancer or leukemia as a result of the radiation from the attack. Most casualties were civilians.
I am glad that no other war has ended in nuclear holocaust; and I do hope that nuclear weapons will never again be used.
I’m not writing to defend or condemn the actions of a war that took place decades before my birth. I know the Japanese Empire was given an ultimatum before the attack was launched and I know that Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor is what officially drew the U.S. into WW2. I’m not interested in rehashing the rationale for the use of such deadly force at Hiroshima; nor am I interested in trying to discern if in the end such action was ethical or necessary. What’s done is done.
What I do want to do today is honor the lives of innocent people lost in every war. I want to acknowledge the horror of Hiroshima, the brutality of war, and the sacredness of human life. And, I want to express an on-going wish for peace in the world and a constant desire for the day to come when conflicts can be settled by means other than violence.
For those who lost their lives at Hiroshima in 1945…Rest in peace.
For all who have lost their lives because of any war at any time…Rest in peace.
For those who risk their lives in service of their country…May you never be unnecessarily placed in harm’s way.
And for our world that longs for peace, justice, and stability…May an Abiding Peace bless us and keep us, now and always. Amen.
I am glad that no other war has ended in nuclear holocaust; and I do hope that nuclear weapons will never again be used.
I’m not writing to defend or condemn the actions of a war that took place decades before my birth. I know the Japanese Empire was given an ultimatum before the attack was launched and I know that Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor is what officially drew the U.S. into WW2. I’m not interested in rehashing the rationale for the use of such deadly force at Hiroshima; nor am I interested in trying to discern if in the end such action was ethical or necessary. What’s done is done.
What I do want to do today is honor the lives of innocent people lost in every war. I want to acknowledge the horror of Hiroshima, the brutality of war, and the sacredness of human life. And, I want to express an on-going wish for peace in the world and a constant desire for the day to come when conflicts can be settled by means other than violence.
For those who lost their lives at Hiroshima in 1945…Rest in peace.
For all who have lost their lives because of any war at any time…Rest in peace.
For those who risk their lives in service of their country…May you never be unnecessarily placed in harm’s way.
And for our world that longs for peace, justice, and stability…May an Abiding Peace bless us and keep us, now and always. Amen.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Full Moon
I love a full moon...lots of positive energy. Good for new beginnings. Make a wish. Better yet, make a commitment, and get started moving toward the goal! Happy Full Moon everyoone :-)
Re: Using the Bible to Protect Marriage Norms & to Vilify Same-gender Couples
Biblical marriage looks nothing like the contemporary, monogamous, western norm. Whether we look at the mythical Adam & Eve (from either of the two contrasting creation narratives in Gen.1-3) or the polygamous marriages of Jacob, Abraham, David, Solomon, and many others, or the apparent celibacy (and sexual hangups) of the Apostle Paul...we see very little that looks like the relationship norms of our day and culture. The bible has long been used as an excuse to demonize or marginalize others. Eventually, we always come to regret using the bible in such a way.
--Durrell Watkins, D.Min.
--Durrell Watkins, D.Min.
See Your Good
See Your Good
“Visualizing is the great secret to success." Genevieve Behrend
Genevieve Behrend was a personal student of Thomas Troward (who influenced Emmet Fox who influenced Norman Vincent Peale). She reminds us (as do Troward, Fox, and Peale) that using our imaginations constructively and intentionally is very beneficial. If we can see something in our imagination, we’ll feel as if it is ours or at least as if it can be ours. We’ll drift toward the goal. We’ll get ideas about how to accomplish the goal, and we’ll be attracted to people who can advise us along the way. If we can just let ourselves “see” our Good, we will be well on our way to achieving it.
I believe in my goals, and I dare to imagine success. I see my achievement. I feel it. In the realm of Spirit, it is already mine. In deep gratitude, I allow it to be.
Today's devotional prepared by Durrell Watkins
(from Spirit & Truth, Aug. 4, 2009)
“Visualizing is the great secret to success." Genevieve Behrend
Genevieve Behrend was a personal student of Thomas Troward (who influenced Emmet Fox who influenced Norman Vincent Peale). She reminds us (as do Troward, Fox, and Peale) that using our imaginations constructively and intentionally is very beneficial. If we can see something in our imagination, we’ll feel as if it is ours or at least as if it can be ours. We’ll drift toward the goal. We’ll get ideas about how to accomplish the goal, and we’ll be attracted to people who can advise us along the way. If we can just let ourselves “see” our Good, we will be well on our way to achieving it.
I believe in my goals, and I dare to imagine success. I see my achievement. I feel it. In the realm of Spirit, it is already mine. In deep gratitude, I allow it to be.
Today's devotional prepared by Durrell Watkins
(from Spirit & Truth, Aug. 4, 2009)
Monday, August 03, 2009
Choosing Our Destiny
Healing Rays: A Progressive, Positive, Practical Weekly Reflection
by Durrell Watkins
August 3, 2009
"We build our future, thought by thought,
For good or ill, yet know it not.
Yet so the universe was wrought.
Thought is another name for fate;
Choose then thy destiny and wait,
For love brings love and hate brings hate." - Henry Van Dyke
My grandmother was an elementary school teacher. But she didn't become a teacher in the conventional way. She didn't go from high school to college and start teaching at 22. She got married at 17 and decided to go to college two years later. It was during WW2 and there was a teacher shortage. She entered a special program that allowed one to get a teaching certificate without a degree. She went to college for one year and then started teaching. Of course, after the war, the state raised the standards for teachers so that within a few years all teachers were required to have a Bachelor's degree again. However, those who had received the non-degree certificate where allowed to keep teaching (but they were paid less than degreed teachers).
My grandmother decided she wanted to complete the degree, so every summer for 10 years she went to school until finally she did complete her Bachelor of Science in Education degree. Her sister got her degree in the exact same way and went on to earn a Master of Education degree, and their brother earned a Bachelor's degree and two Masters' degrees after serving as a pilot in WW2. All three retired from the profession of teaching.
What's the point of this bit of family nostalgia? Just that these relatives demonstrated to me that achieving goals may not be quick or easy, but that doesn't mean they aren't possible. We may have to find creative ways to achieve our goals. We may have to wait years before our dreams are fully realized. But deciding on a goal, believing it is possible and remaining committed to it until it is realized however long it takes is the recipe for ultimate success. By choosing to be committed, optimistic, and determined and by not giving up too soon, we may find that we are able to do exactly what we had always wished was possible. As it turns out, most of what we wish for really is possible. Our job is to "choose then [our] destiny and wait..." Let's keep moving forward toward our goals!
Rev. Durrell Watkins, D.Min.
Sunshine Cathedral
www.sunshinecathedral.org
by Durrell Watkins
August 3, 2009
"We build our future, thought by thought,
For good or ill, yet know it not.
Yet so the universe was wrought.
Thought is another name for fate;
Choose then thy destiny and wait,
For love brings love and hate brings hate." - Henry Van Dyke
My grandmother was an elementary school teacher. But she didn't become a teacher in the conventional way. She didn't go from high school to college and start teaching at 22. She got married at 17 and decided to go to college two years later. It was during WW2 and there was a teacher shortage. She entered a special program that allowed one to get a teaching certificate without a degree. She went to college for one year and then started teaching. Of course, after the war, the state raised the standards for teachers so that within a few years all teachers were required to have a Bachelor's degree again. However, those who had received the non-degree certificate where allowed to keep teaching (but they were paid less than degreed teachers).
My grandmother decided she wanted to complete the degree, so every summer for 10 years she went to school until finally she did complete her Bachelor of Science in Education degree. Her sister got her degree in the exact same way and went on to earn a Master of Education degree, and their brother earned a Bachelor's degree and two Masters' degrees after serving as a pilot in WW2. All three retired from the profession of teaching.
What's the point of this bit of family nostalgia? Just that these relatives demonstrated to me that achieving goals may not be quick or easy, but that doesn't mean they aren't possible. We may have to find creative ways to achieve our goals. We may have to wait years before our dreams are fully realized. But deciding on a goal, believing it is possible and remaining committed to it until it is realized however long it takes is the recipe for ultimate success. By choosing to be committed, optimistic, and determined and by not giving up too soon, we may find that we are able to do exactly what we had always wished was possible. As it turns out, most of what we wish for really is possible. Our job is to "choose then [our] destiny and wait..." Let's keep moving forward toward our goals!
Rev. Durrell Watkins, D.Min.
Sunshine Cathedral
www.sunshinecathedral.org
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