Church of One Love

Up From The Gravy, A Rose

Traditional Christianity is focused more on the fabled death and resurrection of Jesus the Christ than on the content of his teachings on love.  Jesus taught a totally new way viewing he world:  freedom from transactional, conditional love, spoke of the spirit inside all of us, which is unconditional and eternal.  Did Jesus really rise from the dead?  Does it matter?  Join us this Sunday to discuss the significance of the resurrection story, and how it is OUR story, every time we choose love.

Keeping The Peace

When our inner peace is dependent on outer circumstance it is fragile and unreliable.  We can’t control the world, or make anyone else peaceful, but we can learn to find peace in ourselves regardless of what happens around us.  Jesus was celebrated as a hero on Palm Sunday, and by the end of the week betrayed, reviled, abandoned, taunted, and killed.  Yet he kept his peace and humility throughout.  Let’s explore what we can learn from his example.

Practicing Sanity in an Insane World

True compassion is not just feeling sympathy or even empathy for another—but it includes the desire to alleviate the suffering of others.  How do we fulfill this desire?  Especially for people we don’t know, will never meet?  This week we will explore 2 spiritual practices we can do anywhere, anytime--that are meant to assuage the pain of humanity, one a Buddhist practice, and one from the indigenous shamans of the south seas islands.

The Call To Compassion

What is compassion?  Is it feeling sorry for another?  Helping one another? Can one have compassion for oneself? Is it something to do or something to feel?  How can we lead lives of compassion in a world of overwhelming suffering? 

The Call To Contemplation

There is so much noise in today’s world—a constant soundtrack of news, music, entertainment, other people’s opinions and requests, continuous ‘to-do’ lists… To change our lives we must change our ways of thinking and viewing the world, and we can’t possibly know what we think until we get quiet enough—inside and out—to hear our own thoughts, intuition and guidance. Can time dedicated to quiet contemplation lead us into a more centered life?

Our Thoughts Are Prayers

How does one distinguish between a thought and a prayer?  How much praying is enough? How would you change what you spend time thinking and believing, listening to- and watching-- if you knew that your thoughts had a direct impact on the world? 

Finding Refuge: In The Sangha

We continue our series on finding refuge as we explore the Sangha: the community of all those who endeavor to practice the Way of love, peace, joy, and abundance.  We are uplifted, held, encouraged and supported by the community…to the extent that WE participate in community and allow ourselves this refuge.  What does it require to truly be a part of a community of trust and openness, where we can find true refuge? 

Finding Refuge: In The Dharma

The Dharma is the Way itself…the directions we follow, the practices we engage in, the thoughts we think, the words we speak and the actions we take.  The idea is that we can find refuge, comfort, safety in our very way of being in this world. How do we find that? What practices will lead us there?

Rev. Janet Ellis: Abracadabra

Join Rev. Janet Ellis as she speaks on finding and owning one's passion.

Finding Refuge: In The Buddha

The Buddha in this context is not a person, but a representation of the One Presence and Power in the universe.  How do we contact that Presence?  How do we know it is there?  How can we activate this presence in our lives so that we may find our safety and our refuge in it?