January 2017 - UNIVERSAL FAMILY

The golden rule’s six levels of meaning

September 6, 2019January 31, 2017 by Jeff

Amid happy laughter among friends, equals in the family, the rule of living–Do to others as you want others to do to you–unfolds in three levels, then six levels. A path to ascend to the way Jesus lived the golden rule is full of lessons, including lessons about how not to get overwhelmed by a seeming Mount Everest of idealistic challenge. Relax. Learn. And don’t let philosophical complexity upstage your moral and spiritual intuition! The golden rule is about living the truth in love.

All your good work has a ripple effect

September 6, 2019January 25, 2017 by Jeff

First a report of my experience at Wrayco this morning. Next, a reflection on the reports I heard about marches last Sunday in Washington and Cleveland.

Walking in beauty of heaven and earth

September 6, 2019January 21, 2017 by Jeff

Walking in beauty integrates person and community with land, cosmos, and Deity. The heavenly pattern of that integration is truth that we can taste, “on earth as it is in heaven.” The goodness of beauty assures us that we can share this taste with others. Trusting the promise of our personal and planetary destiny, we relax and enjoy the unfolding. Not that life is easy, but the meaning and value of our struggles make the yoke light.

Mercy as love’s attitude to imperfect beings

September 6, 2019January 11, 2017 by Jeff

. . . two transformative discoveries catalyzed by Margaret Benefiel’s book The Soul of a Leader: first the realization of myself together with a future congregation as a living organism, and second, a new level of self-realization—of myself as soul. The next day . . . a great revelation of mercy as divine love applied to . . . imperfections . . . .

The inclusive brotherhood of man?

September 6, 2019January 7, 2017 by Jeff

A soldier who had seen enemy soldiers kill her friends could not accept the idea that all humankind are the children of God. Are the teachings of Jesus really applicable in this world?

Revisit Galilee (revised)

A dozen years ago I went with about twenty-five believers on a pilgrimage to Israel and beyond. I was greatly moved to discover how seeing places of Jesus’ ministry enabled me to remember, ponder, interpret, and commune. One thing that I brought back home was a placemat which I have on the dinner table. It […]

Jesus’ Scientific Knowledge: Scientific Living and Spiritual Living in the Teaching of Jesus

Jesus was not only an idealist. He was also a realist. He had his feet on the ground, and his knowledge of facts was excellent. And excellent knowledge includes some scientific knowledge. I believe that as the human Jesus grew up, he learned to be Watch the 3:50 video or listen to the podcast episode. […]

The Treasure in your Field

The kingdom of God is like treasure hidden in a field that a man found. He covered it up again, and in his joy he went out and sold everything he had and bought that field. What was this treasure in the field? I think it’s what Jesus was talking about when he said, “The […]

A man with a funnel in his head

A few years ago, on several occasions, when I looked out from the window in my study, I would see, across the street, my tall neighbor standing in the middle of his front yard. His little girl, about two years old, was running around in the yard, staying fairly close to him. Every few minutes, […]

A workshop, a reflection on truth and love, and a correction

There is some business that I want to mention at the end of this post, and it connects directly with some of the most important teachings of Jesus. Here is the question that I want to answer today. Jesus taught that we should love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength—and our neighbor […]

With all our strength

I’ve been on a quest to live–and write about–loving God with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. Yesterday I sent to my editor friend a revised section on strength. She discovered weaknesses in it. It didn’t take long for me to realize (this is a pattern) that she had uncovered a fresh, hungry need […]

Faith child

The faith of a little child not only enables us to join the kingdom family of God, it also continues to guide us as we progress. Jesus’s teachings and interactions on this theme are marked by a wonderful simplicity. And the variety of these teachings touches on several concepts that are part of the whole […]

Sean finds God

A 21-year-old computer whiz embraced the concept of the wonderfulness within, but rejected the idea of the spirit of God within–until two weeks ago. How did philosophy help? Watch the 9-minute video or listen to the podcast episode. For the video, I simplified the philosophy so much it’s hardly recognizable. I have organized some ideas […]

Falling across the Pentecost finish line

After acknowledging the failure of an experiment in the last class meeting (falling across the finish line), I summarize a five-week class, "The Journey from Easter to Pentecost." Then I distinguish garden-variety spiritual experience from the taste-and-see variety. The post Falling across the Pentecost finish line appeared first on UNIVERSAL FAMILY.

The Journey from Easter to Pentecost

"Lazarus, come forth!" Imagine Jesus saying this to you, and you saying this to others. Here's class that has embarked on that venture. The post The Journey from Easter to Pentecost appeared first on UNIVERSAL FAMILY.