Sunday Invitation from Rev. Karyl:
August 3, 2008

Invitation:  Come Celebrate Peace and Reconciliation Worldwide

Dear One,

This coming Sunday, August 3rd, marks the 12th Annual International Forgiveness Day. It is difficult to describe how inspirational this celebration of peace and reconciliation is for the millions of people who have witnessed the power of supreme forgiveness.

The Worldwide Forgiveness Alliance, the overarching organization which creates International Forgiveness day, was and remains the legacy of our own Bob Plath. Year after year, Bob has contacted leaders of countries around the world, as well as our own elected officials, to hold their own celebration of the power of forgiveness on the first Sunday of August. There are now groups worldwide that do just that. Visit www.forgivenessalliance.org to find out about this inspirational organization that is the worldwide gift made by Bob Plath. You can also find out about the Forgiveness day this year, when the 2008 Heroes of Forgiveness are honored.

Most of us will not have to forgive the deeds that the Heroes of Forgiveness have healed in their own lives. Forgiveness, however, remains for all of us a powerful and life-affirming spiritual practice that is good for us first, and then good for the forgiven and the world. My talk title this Sunday is “Going Deeper with Forgiveness.” Rev. Barbara Leger will be with me on the pulpit to share her wisdom about this powerful topic.

Our music will be the incomparable Clarewood Singers. So, if you want to be inspired by the music and the message…  if you want to change your life for the better…  if you want to make this a more loving world by your healed consciousness, please join your spiritual family on Sunday, August 3rd.

As you may know by now, our beloved Rev. Lani Howard has accepted her own pulpit in Grass Valley, California. We will dedicate the following Sunday on August 10th to honoring her for her service to us and send her off with all the love in our hearts. This Sunday, August 3rd,  there will be sign-up sheets for bringing pot-luck food for a party for Rev. Lani after the service and you will also have an opportunity to contribute to her present. We only have this Sunday to plan these festivities, so your presence is very important if you want to participate.

It is also your last Sunday to support this community by buying your tickets to the Three Modern Mystics event, which is Saturday, August 9th. You may buy tickets at the box office, but the sooner the better. We have moved the # Mystics day to the smaller auditorium, so there are only 60 tickets left. We expect a sellout crowd.

See you Sunday, Beloved,
Rev. Karyl

Sunday Recap from Rev. Lani:
July 27th, 2008

Last Sunday I talked about tools that we can use to explore the deeper meanings of Sacred Writings. Those included a Key Word Study Bible (of the New International Version of the Bible unless you love the poetry and inaccuracy of the King James Version). The Key Word Study Bible has a concordance – an alphabetical listing of major words in the Bible so you can look up what it says about something or find a favorite quote. It also has a Lexicon, so that you can look up the original Hebrew or Greek word and see all the other meanings for that word that might change your ideas about what that whole quote means. An example was the Hebrew word for breath used in Genesis when God breathed the breath into Adam’s nostrils. If you look up the word for breath, it is Ne’shemah, which means vital energy or divine life force, just like Chi or Prana. It gives it a deeper meaning. I read the Lord’s Prayer translated directly from the Aramaic to give an example of the expanded meaning that can come from the original language.
I also shared a tool called Gospel Light by George Lamsa that is the translation of the bible from the original Aramaic text, the language spoken by Jesus. This book explains the cultural context for Bible passages and in so doing helps to illuminate what a text really meant in that place, in that time.
Reading these texts allows us to be open to Spirit communing with us. This is where our own journal can become Sacred Writing. I shared an example of something that came to me that I wrote in my journal:
Release me from my unforgiveness so that I may be forgiven
Release me from my grudges, so that grudges against me may evaporate
Release me from my judgments, so that I will not be judged
Release me from my desire to be right so that I may see the way to oneness
Release me from my unworthiness, so that I may embrace love
Release me from my need to know so that I may embrace the mystery
Release me from any thought of separation, so that I may see unity
Release me from attachments to outcome, so that miracles can happen
Release me from my fear so that I may live in joy
Release me from the dream of “the other” so that all are family
Release me from my pain so that I may live in peace
Release me from my grief so that I may be present now
Release me from my “shoulds”, so that I can see what is possible
Release me from my “to do” so that I may “be”.

Opening ourselves to the gifts of sacred writing, whether in a bible from a wisdom tradition or on a bumper sticker, we are tuning in to a higher vibration, opening to that expansion of consciousness that enables us to see the answer to our questions. I revealed that an answer to the question “what is next for me” has come in the form of the offer of Pastor of the Sierra Center for Positive Living in Grass Valley, California. I have accepted the offer. There will be a farewell ritual at the Sunday service on August 8 and my last Sunday will be August 17. I love you all and thank you for being a part of my journey. I know that we will keep in touch and that you will always be in my prayers, as I hope I will remain in yours.

With love and blessings, Rev Lani