ORDINARY LIFE - Thoughts and Ideas to Help You Live a Happier Life

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Summary for November 10, 2019

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Dear Folks -

I will let you know that Richard Rohr’s last conference is now open for registration. It will sell out. The dates for it are May 15 - 17, 2020 and it will be held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. You can find out more and register for it if you are interested by going to the Center for Action and Contemplation’s website - www.cac.org

We found out that we did not have permission to post the recording of the film, American Heretics on our website and so have taken it down. We had another very large crowd watch the second part of the film and there will be two additional showings in the next two weeks at St. Paul’s. I’ll announce those times here.

I have been trying to lay a foundation for the direction and purpose of the talks I hope to give in Ordinary Life going forward. The two roadblocks to our growth in responsible and relevant spirituality are “cosmological dualism” and “individual salvation.” You can go into the archives of recent talks to read more. I have also handed out hard copies of two documents that are foundational documents for the future as well. These are “Reclaiming Jesus” and “The Charter for Compassion.” Copies of these are posted on the Ordinary Life website under “resources for growth.” Please check them out. I encourage you to print them and keep copies close at hand for reference.

It was during this week’s talk that I talked about “The Charter for Compassion.” I first learned about this when I met Karen Armstrong at a Jesus Seminar event in 2004. If we are to make a positive contribution in healing the various divisions that are ripping our culture and world asunder, we must “widen our circle of compassion.” This phrase comes from a passage written by Albert Einstein long before we had the evidence we now have about “evolutionary cosmology.”

I have borrowed a phrase from Jim Wallace that encourages us “not to go right, not to go left, but to go deep.” We must go deeper into our selves, into the lives of each other and into the lives of those we consider “the other,” if we are to contribute to healing. Because of the context in which I am teaching, I am raising the issue of the relevance of Jesus, his life and teachings, for this venture. In this talk I borrow heavily from a piece I got from Jacqui Lewis on “the greatest story ever told.” What it means to be faithful is to love your neighbor. Everything else is commentary. Everything.

That is a very brief summary of the talk I offered this week in Ordinary Life. As is often the case, I think the audio version is better than the text from which I spoke.

You can read or download the text from which I spoke, view the presentation slides, and listen to the audio of the talk using the links below.