Our Teachings

Many Pathways

There is one God. Whether we call it God, Brahman, Allah, Spirit, or some other name, It is the Great All in which all things exist and through which all things have been made. In this Great All “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

There are many paths to this One, all of which can bear the fruit of enlightenment. Which path we follow is not as important as the fact that we are on a path. We can each have a personal, creative relationship with this One through our experience of life.

William James

Philosopher and father of psychology William James wrote, “The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitude and mind.” The Bible said it this way: “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2). We teach the possibility that when we change our thinking, so we change our lives.

Our desire to enjoy a direct experience of God is intrinsic to life. As we practice love, prayer and service, we fulfill our destiny: To awaken to Spirit, present in all of us, the true source of our being.

“The only real thing is Love; everything else is just changes happening on the way to Love.” – Reverend Terry Keenan

Relax into Forgiveness
In the last three series, we have learned how to step into the NOW in order to release Judgement so we can focus on silencing our Ego. Now that we have quieted our inner naysayer, we are free to release past pains by learning to forgive. Join us over the next five weeks as we look at forgiveness from a variety of different sources. September 8 – ForgivenessWhen we have moments of crisis they generate a defining line in our lives. If we are unable to forgive others, or ourselves, for the events that led to these moments, we scribe a deep fissure that runs through all future events, good or bad. Until we can forgive these points in our life, they will continue to haunt us for an eternity. Forgiveness is the key to releasing the pain associated with these memories. Until we can truly forgive, the events of our past will continue to hinder our growth towards a fulfilling life. September 15 – They Know Not…How much should we forgive those who have wronged us? Jesus told Peter to forgive his brother seventy time seven. And what should we forgive? While hanging from the cross, Jesus forgave those who persecuted and crucified him. Today we look at a radical story of forgiveness from Eva Kor, a Holocaust survivor, who forgave the atrocities perpetrated against her and her family in 1940’s Auschwitz. September 22 – It’s for YOU!Rev. Gina recalls the five steps laid out by Colin Tipping in his book Radical Forgiveness and shares a personal story of her own radical forgiveness. All in an effort to reveal that the things we experience in life – the good as well as the bad – are brought before us to teach. We sometimes take the easy road so the lessons catch up to us the hard way and sometimes the lesson can only be learned through grief and struggle. While we may not enjoy the experience, when it comes down to it, it is all part of our growth in this life and forgiveness is part of that growth. September 29 – Let It BeUsing the Chinese painting entitled The Three Vinegar Tasters as a jumping off point, Rev. Gina continues the theme from last week that everything happens for a reason. Founder of Taoism, Lao Tzu, appears to have a look of enjoyment when sampling the vinegar – a perfect parallel to the idea of forgiving the past and acknowledging that it was the good and the bad that brought you to where you are today.
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