Abundant Life Community Blog

I remember myself, a young boy in a Catholic church at Mass reading the scriptures as I followed along with the priest. I remember reading the parables and and teachings of Jesus, like, “..first remove the beam from your own eye”, thinking this doesn’t apply to me – it must be for non-Catholics.    So there was nothing for me to consider in my own life, nothing for me to change, nothing for me to do. To me in that mindset, the teachings of Christ had no meaning and no value. In my mind, Jesus’ teachings just did not apply to me. Many years later, I worked with a trained spiritual teacher/guide. One day she asked me, “Who are you? Who do you say you are?” I was kind of shocked for a minute and had no answer. Then I proceeded to describe my age, education, marital status, work status, hobbies, etc.. She interrupted me and said, “You just described your situation but you haven’t answered my question.” Then she asked me to ponder it some more and revisit it the following w...

How would we know sight existed, if all were blind?  Billions of souls,  toiling away in the darkness.  And if one awakened,  and knew he had eyes to see.  Would the blind dismiss him, or condemn him for heresy?  And if all were deaf,  and one unplugged her ears. Would the world scoff at the notion,  that she could hear angels sing?  If a clam,  who never came out of his little shell... Claimed to know the ways of the world,  would we heed him?  Or would we laugh? for he never ventured from where he dwelt.   If I told the rising sun,  it did not exist,  it's rays would still illuminate the world. And thus,  what if infinity, lies within the serenity,  of our hearts? What if god is all around us? Tickling our souls with laughter, that effervescent joy.  Or shining in the eyes, of a mother's beauti...

Today I felt like writing my experiences that I like to share with all of my brothers and sisters who are contemplating walking the path of Christhood.    So, I will give you all some of my insights. When I was little, I always have this urge to express myself truthfully as I see things that aren’t true or an illusion in the making.    I didn’t know why or how I could have know this, but I had this ability to see and sense the untruth.    And it wasn’t like I had the urge to express them to make myself look great or famous or even validated.    It was almost as if I want to express them because in my heart, it was the right thing to do.    And then one day, I knew this young woman in school who was doing something to manipulate some people, mostly boys so she could have an advantage over them or power over them.    And then of course, I saw the untruths in her and called her out, but not in an aggressive manner.  ...

I used to attend a Methodist Church. I was an adult Bible Study teacher. Whenever I taught I focused on spiritual growth and practical implementation of the teachings of Jesus.  The people seemed to really like it although it sometimes made them uncomfortable, because it caused them to look at themselves in ways that they hadn't in the past. We had a change of head pastors and in one of his first services the new Rev said that he planned to invite everyone to submit to him their ideas for what would be the "perfect church". I waited for over a year and then finally sent him the following letter. The letter was followed by an invitation from the Rev to discuss at his office which I will also summarize after the letter. Letter: Dear Rev ... “What is your vision of the perfect church?” You asked us to consider this question on your first Sunday at First Methodist and it was a good question, actually a great question at this time of generally declining ch...