We believe we each have a soul. Yet, how often do we spend time connecting with this inner aspect of our being? What is the language of our interior? And what might it be inviting in our lives now? Perhaps dreams are inviting us to become aware of unconscious patterns of belittling or undercutting ourselves. Or maybe, a nightmare relates how we are avoiding or running away from intimacy in relationships. Or possibly, dreams are sharing how our values or views constrict our lives and available choices. Dreams can guide us in our everyday experiences. They are an opportunity to develop a relationship with our inner being and become familiar with its intuitive way of communicating. This process honors a sacred relationship with our souls that helps reveal the Divine’s presence already in our lives.

Course in Miracles – 7:00-8:30 every Thursday

A Course in Miracles is an internationally recognized day-by-day self-study program based on the practical application of the power of forgiveness and the attainment of peace of mind. The Course is a unique blend of psychology, Christianity and Eastern philosophy. First published in 1975 by the Foundation for Inner Peace, it teaches that forgiveness is the key to universal happiness, and how changing the way you are seeing the world works better than trying to change the world itself.

Hillside Choristers – 1:00-2:30 every Friday

We meet on Fridays from 1:00 until 2:30 to sing! Sometimes we rehearse songs or hymns for Sunday’s worship service, sometimes we practice show tunes. We have piano and guitar accompaniment. All voices, all abilities are welcome! It’s been proven that singing is good for your health, so please join us!

Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting – 8:00 every Wednesday (beginning July 11)

No regular worship services are scheduled at this time, while the congregation works with a consultant to determine Hillside’s future.

• Biggest dog
• Smallest dog
• Looks most like owner
• Bravest dog
• Best trick
• Most talented (you define the talent)
• Longest tail
• Shortest tail
• Happiest tail
• Naughtiest dog (tell the story)
• Most accident prone dog (tell the story)
• Best costume (the dog – not you)
• Many, many more……

6:00-8:00 – Holiday Potluck

8:00-10:00 – Bay Area Circle Dancers

At 5:00 we will have a service of Lessons and Carols, telling the Christmas story through narration and song.  We’ll have a potluck dinner from 6:00-8:00.  The church will provide a hearty beef stew and a vegan lentil stew  — please bring a side dish or dessert.  Due to food allergy issues, please do not include any nuts!  Beginning at 8:00 the Bay Area Circle Dancers will hold their regular 4th Friday dance session, which all are welcome to attend. 

We’ll have a big fire in the fireplace all evening, and hot spiced cider to drink.  Please do join us!!

Click on the title link above to hear the sermon!  The recording starts quietly — it is the Swedenborg quote found below.  Then when the sermon begins, the volume is louder.

Readings:

Unison Reading Psalm 46

 God is our refuge and strength,

            A very present help in trouble.

 Therefore we will not fear,

         Even though the earth be removed,

         And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

 Though its waters roar and be troubled,

         Though the mountains shake with its swelling.  Selah 

There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,

         The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.

 God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;

         God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.

 The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;

         He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

 The Lord of hosts is with us;

         The God of Jacob is our refuge.  Selah 

 Come, behold the works of the Lord,

         Who has made desolations in the earth.

 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

         He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;

         He burns the chariot in the fire.

 Be still, and know that I am God;

         I will be exalted among the nations,

         I will be exalted in the earth!

 The Lord of hosts is with us;

         The God of Jacob is our refuge.  Selah

Words of Assurance – Emanuel Swedenborg

That bread was to be gathered “every day,” means that the people should have no care but for each day, for God the Messiah wills to provide for His own day by day, and to take care of them in this life, as in the other.

In the other life, as they are unaware of things future, as also of things past, no one thinks about what is to come, except they whom God the Messiah allows to remember past events, or to view those to come. This is the condition of the angels of heaven and of the happy in the other life (Spiritual Experiences-Word Explained (Odhner) n. 107).

Luke 23:33-43 (New International Version)

 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.  Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”

 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”

 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence?  We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Colossians 1:11-20 (New International Version)

^… being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. 

Click on the title link above to hear the sermon!

Readings:

Isaiah 65:17-25 (New International Version)

 “See, I will create
   new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
   nor will they come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
   in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
   and its people a joy.
I will rejoice over Jerusalem
   and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
   will be heard in it no more.  

“Never again will there be in it
   an infant who lives but a few days,
   or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
   will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach a hundred
   will be considered accursed.

They will build houses and dwell in them;
   they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
   or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
   so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
   the work of their hands.
They will not labor in vain,
   nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the Lord,
   they and their descendants with them.
Before they call I will answer;
   while they are still speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
   and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
   and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
   on all my holy mountain,”
            says the Lord.

Luke 21:5-19 (New International Version)

Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

“Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”

He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”

Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

“But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. And so you will bear testimony to me. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. Stand firm, and you will win life.”

From Swedenborg, True Christian Religion  n. 46

 The first essential, loving others outside of himself, was a reason for creation in that the universe is outside God (just as the world is outside the sun). The universe is something to which God could extend his love and in which he could put his love into action and so find rest….

 You can see that the second essential, God’s wanting to be one with others, was also a reason for creation from the fact that people were created in the image and likeness of God. The “image” and the “likeness” mean that we were made as forms that are receptive to love and wisdom from God – forms that God could be one with, and on whose account he could be one with all the other things in the universe, which are all nothing but means….

Sunday, October 31, Halloween

As a preface to Earth Day, I wanted to delve into the concepts of sustainability illustrated by the works of both Emanuel Swedenborg and William Blake.  Although Swedenborg’s writings had quite an influence on the younger Blake, he eventually rejects much of Swedenborg’s moral doctrine.  However, the following quotations reveal their shared view on the holographic nature of reality.

“Imagination is the real and eternal world of which this vegetable universe is but a faint shadow.”

-Jerusalem, published in 1804, William Blake

“The visible universe is nothing else than a theater, representative of the Lord’s kingdom.”

-Arcana Coelestia, 3483, published 1749-1756, Emanuel Swedenborg

What is this “Vegetable Universe” Blake is referring to?  And, does it matter if its not real?  What are our responsibilities to shepherd this world?  Is our physical environment a mere representation of celestial patterns and truth?  Buckminster Fuller defined these ephemeral truths as “pattern integrity” in his lengthy tome, Synergetics.  His most basic example of this was his deconstruction of a simple overhand loop knot in a piece of rope.  He explained that it was the ephemeral pattern that had “tensegrity” not the material.  It did not matter if he used a hemp rope or even a piece of cooked spaghetti.  It is the pattern that matters.

The opening stanza of William Blake’s Augeries of Innocence is one of his most famous…

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.

As the congregation joined me in a song repeating this verse, I remarked on the final scene of the movie, “Men in Black.”

Click here for the scene from Men in Black (dubbed in French!)

Of course, there are more direct pop culture references to William Blake.  Here is the scene from Bull Durham.

The value of poetry and art is that because of pattern integrity, they offer us more accessibility to complex concepts. Thanks to these movies and the popularity of Aldous Huxley and Jim Morrison, I have heard of William Blake long before I learned of Emanuel Swedenborg.  I appreciate the value of learning more about the true flow of sustainability.

I close this blog post with a description of flow by Mihaly Csikzentmihaliyi…

Flow is completely focused motivation. It is a single-minded immersion and represents perhaps the ultimate in harnessing the emotions in the service of performing and learning. In flow the emotions are not just contained and channeled, but positive, energized, and aligned with the task at hand. To be caught in the ennui of depression or the agitation of anxiety is to be barred from flow. The hallmark of flow is a feeling of spontaneous joy, even rapture, while performing a task.

Barley with Fava Beans

Ishak

Cauliflower

Christina's Stir Fry

Change the date — the Julia Child potluck and “Julie and Julia” moving screening event has been moved to Friday, February 12!