Announcing changes to the Children’s Program! Our next Children’s Service will be on our first Potluck Sunday, July 2.
It is always a dilemma when decisions are made as to how they affect others. It has become clear that our Youth and Family Ministry does not have the level of participation to continue the program as we have over the past year. Many Sundays there have been no children and not enough volunteers to support the program. As a result, we are shifting from having Children’s Church every Sunday to the first Sunday of the month. This is also our potluck Sunday, which is the time when families and children come most often.
Last Thursday evening we had the first in-person women’s group, and it was well-attended and had lots of energy. The overall theme was the importance of coming together and being in community. We will meet the second Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m. and during other times of the month there may be an opportunity for an adventure for us to participate in. Stay tuned here and on Facebook. If you are not already on the Adventure group email list, reach out to me and get on the list.
The talk on Sunday had a lot of jewels so check it out here and on Facebook.
Detachment is not that you should own nothing, but that nothing should own you. — Ali ibn Abi Talib
Offering is based on the idea of radical acceptance, saying yes to Reality in any given moment, so that what’s needed can come next. It blasts open the door to being Abundance.
The Three Little Jewels or three stages of offering:
Stage 1
Ego is fully in the driver’s seat – familiar emotions.
• Resentment
• Despair
• Frustration
Attempts to control and manipulate reality all day.
Stage 2
Awareness of offering becomes an intellectual exercise; the small self is still in control.
Be aware in this stage you can trick yourself into believing you have surrendered… when in fact ego is using this strategy to get what it wants…
Stage 3
• Me no longer at the center of everything.
• Things happen without you doing anything.
• The universe acts through you…
• The outcome is none of your business.
The Three Crown Jewels of offering:
Non-grasping: “Let all that wants to go, go. And all that wants to come, come.”
Deepak Chopra… Holding on to anything is like holding onto your breath. You will suffocate. The only way to get anything in the physical universe is by letting go and it will be yours forever.
Detachment: You simply think, “It’s just how it is right now.” An hour later, all could be different.
Detachment isn’t to be mistaken for turning off feelings and going numb. It’s not a spiritual bypass where we ignore the most vulnerable parts of our human selves… it means you feel… then offer and surrender.
Surrender: As true offering arises, it becomes easy to let go, because you start to trust that more will always come in.
We move into a joyous flow of giving and receiving. We let ourselves be used by the Divine. Shift from mine, mine, mine to the Divine, the Divine, the Divine.
Earnest Holmes… As we come to surrender all littleness, and all fear and doubt, that Great River of Life flowing through the Mind of God will renew our vigor, remake our strength, ennoble our being, heal our bodies and bring peace to our hearts.
Don’t confuse the Crown Jewels with passivity. We act with more clarity and courage because we’re not attached to outcomes.
If you missed the service, you could watch it here.
Next week: No, You’re Not Crazy, You’re Being Tested
You are a blessing in my life,
Rev. Patricia Bessey
Labyrinths are ancient geometric figures. One leaves one’s worries and stress at the entrance and walks meditatively to the middle. As one walks to the center she/he becomes centered within her/himself, calmer, and more grounded. 
