Sermons

If  I had only one thing I could teach.  Only one thing that I could leave this world with the understanding of, it would be that the practice of Care, and it's recurrence, Maintenance are the single most important things in this world.

I believe that many of the world's problems could and would be solved if we were capable and willing to practice more Care for all things and beings, and to recur that care through Maintenance.

What is Care...

Care is providing for the health, welfare, protection, and maintanence of someone or something.  It is the realization that we are not alone and that we are connected to everything else.

In realizing that we are not alone, we broaden our awareness of the people and things around us.  We become aware of how our actions, however small, have an impact, however small, on all creatures and things around us.

In realizing that we are connected to all those creations we come to understand how our actions, both positive and negative change our world for the better or for the worse.

What is Maintenance...

Maintenance is the act of caring for a creature or thing for the sake of preserving or improving their health, welfare, or security. It is the acknowledgement that we are not only stewards of ourselves but are charged to take care of all things around us.

Care for Others...

Imagine a world where we all had some notion, as a whole people, that we need to care for one another regardless of color or belief, and that happiness and quality of life for all was more important than the profit motive; a place where lifting up all people as one was more important than sacrificing the many over and over again so that the few can live best.

Imagine a world where we all became stewards of the earth in all its abundance.  Where, how we treated the animals, the plants, and the very ground itself with respect and kind intention towards preserving it and allowing it to thrive.

In that world, we would explode with abundance and happiness.  We would all end up healthier and happier. 

Care for Ourselves and Our Things...

So for a lot of people, the above statements may be a bit much.  A bit to big to be tackled all at once, so let's bring it down to earth and back to center. Let's talk about you for a moment.

The best single thing you can to is get yourself right.  Get yourself well.  That's what The Church of Wellness is about.  It is my belief that if we take our helath and wellness to the level of being a religion, not only will each and every one of us find our own individual paths to wellness, but that this world will only be better for it.

This also applies to the world around you... to your things, the the place you live.  Everything is connected, every little thing you take care of and get right has a positive impact on your and the world, and the world of others.

When we appreciate and care for what we own, it gets lost less, it lasts longer, it creates less waste in the world, and it allows us to spend less on replacements and substitutes.  We consume less, waste less, and perhaps even live better lives becuase of it.  

Maintenance of Others...

Creating a habit of caring for others is what maintenance is all about.  It's important to talk about maintainance so that we can imaging that while single moments of caring are always valueable, that ability to string those acts together into a symphony of caring may even lead to a habits that have lasting positive effects on you and the world around you.

Maintenance of Things...

Making a habit of caring for your things coudl be one of the first steps to wellness.  If you live in the first world, you are surrounded by messages to consume the products that have been overproduced.  To keep you buying and discarding items is the goal of more companies that I can count.

If you can learn to appreciate and take care of the things you already own, you just might want  a little less and wanting a little less might just make you a little happier, and leave you with a little more at the end of the month. 

What is it that you automatically go to when you have nothing else to do?

Do you reach for your phone?  Do you eat?  Do you exercise?  Do you sit quietly and think?

Knowing what your "goto" activity is and making sure that this is the thing you want most in life is key.  It's the basis for the rest of the things you will do all year long.  

Take a moment to watch yourself.  When you "need a break" what do you reach for?  What do you do?  See it.  Ask yourself if that's what you want to spend the most time doing this year.

If the answer is "no", then consider reducing and eventually replacing that bahavior with something else.  You are what you do repeatedly, so try to make that default activity one that helps you be a better you.

Worrying is a thief.

Worrying robs you of good memories. If you worry through an event, you won't remember much of it. Your brain doesn't record memories that are laced with worry the same way as those that aren't.  It tries forget the worry and forgets the rest of the memory along with it.

If you want great memories you must learn to push worry aside and keep it corralled and limited to special times.

If you can solve the problem, then any energy that would have gone to worrying should go to solving the problem.

If you can't solve the problem, then the energy you would spend worrying should be spent accepting and moving on.

Hard yes.  Put in the work.

When you choose to do things out of obligation, or fear, or anger or worry, you put yourself into a deficit ut ourselves in the negatives and have to work back to 0. The result is that the action isn't rewarding.

When we have a good and fun reason for doing something, we start at 0 and everything we do from there is a positive.

Ask yourself, why are you doing it? and if the answer is coming from a dark place, then try to give yourself a great fun reason for doing it, or don't do it.

Consider what’s coming out of your mouth. Is it happy? Is it sad? Is it angry? 

Whatever you spew out of your mouth, you’re actually putting in your ears and so, this is part of your "diet" too. 

If you want to be upset, speak about things that make you upset. If you want to be happy speak about things that make you happy.

You life bubbles

To think of things in terms of a work / life balance is to say that work is equal to life and that it must be treated separately and equally.  This is wrong.

Work, is part of your life.  A smaller bubble inside the larger bubble of your life.  It's in there, alongside a bubble for your hobbies, a bubble for your sleep, and a bubble for your play.

It isn't separate, but nowhere close to equal.  It is a manageable subset of your life.  It should be seen on par with your other activities, but never elevated to a point where it is as large as the sum of the rest of your life.

You can spend your life living your dream or helping someone else live theirs.

Either you are setting your goals or you are having them set for you.

Live your dream or spend your time helping someone else live their dream.

Don’t confuse who you are in the public with who you are in private. 

Who you are in private is the real you.

If you don’t pick your nose in public, don't make that mistake of thinking you’re a person who doesn’t pick your nose.

So here’s a challenge that requires that you be honest with yourself. 

From time to time do a daily log of yourself. 

Accurately record how you spend your time. The granularity varies, but the core principle remains – take an honest look at how you spend your days.

I once recorded myself for 3 months because I wasn’t feeling like I was getting enough done in a day. Sure enough the data showed a pattern of getting pulled away on to different projects on an almost daily basis. Even more annoyingly, many of those “important” tasks or “new directions” ended up being more wastes of time than good uses of it. 

Seeing that really helped to get back on track. I created larger blocks of uninterrupted time and put tougher filters in place to weed out the “work of the moment” that was supplanting more meaningful efforts. 

The challenge here is being honest with yourself even when it doesn’t make you look good. It’s tough to write “iTunes – 30m” or “lunch – 1:00–2:45” even when you know no one will see it. If you can’t be honest about it, don’t waste your time with this one.

...and none of us are getting out alive.

I think that's how the saying goes.

Each of us is holding a single piece of a billion piece puzzle, and not until we all come together and cooperate that we are able to put it all together.

Focus on the Similarities.  It seems that we have been taught the differences are more important than similarities. That what is separating one experience from another experience is more exciting than what is similar between those experiences. 

Doing this foments comparison, competition, and conflict.

When I went to India, what astounded me was not the differences in our cultures, but the similarities.  That a country, half a world away, could be so similar to our own in so many ways.

As you walk through this world.  Seeing the similarities, finding the common ground, and appreciating what is similar about all of our life experiences, is what is going to bring us together and allow us to focus on peace rather than conflict and strife.

Grandfather explained to his grandson that throughout his life there were going to be two wolves inside him struggling and fighting with each other.

One would be full of hate, deceitfulness, and bitterness.  The other, full of love, kindness, patience and understanding.

The grandson asked his grandfather, "Grandfather which one will win?" The grandfather replied, " The one you feed."

You are not just your body, your face, your clothes, your keen wit.  You are three parts.

Body - the Frame

Mind - the Lenses

Spirit - the Light

Everything In Its Place. (placeholder for complete sermon)

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There is an old saying, "You are what you eat." I'd like to broaden this to, "You are what you consume." and include every sense in the this saying.  You are what you consume... What you listen to.  What you watch.  What you play.  What you touch.  Everything you experience enters you and affects you in some way.  This is why it is so important to manage and guard what you take in.

Needs should be kept to a minimum.  Addiction is an uncontrolled need.(placeholder for complete sermon)

Extremes are bad. (placeholder for complete sermon)