Weekly Messages
All Roads Lead to the Golden Rule
Study any religion and you will encounter the Golden Rule. There is no way forward from all that divides us but this. It is as simple . . . and difficult . . . as that. (special thanks to Norman Rockwell)
Stirring Up … Our Gratitude Attitude
Our brains have a negative bias. We must be intentional in stirring gratitude, or we can easily zombie through life missing everyday light and love. Stirring gratitude is a simple spiritual practice that returns to us twenty-fold.
Serving . . . Serves Us
Our independent Western instincts lead us away from connectedness. When we feel lonely, isolated and depressed, we focus on fixing ourselves. But counter-intuitively, self-focus only makes us more miserable. When we give ourselves in service to others, we heal...
Dying to Connect
Americans are lonely people. Our lack of connectedness is literally killing us. The physical effects of loneliness include depression, anxiety, cardio vascular stress and suppressed immune systems. As technological and cultural trends move us further away from true...
The Connection Connection
Our well-being is connected -- to our connection -- to others. And -- our most powerful connections, are with those we think of as "the other.” When "they" become "us," a deep source of our fear and anxiety is eliminated.
Spiritual Exercise: Get on the Virtue Cycle
When we undertake the ancient spiritual practices, we find health. As we do, we build up reserves from which we can serve our hurting world. We are blessed so that we can bless others. It’s our way. It’s our cycle. Jump on.
Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There
Our Western instincts tend to view meditation as passivity in a world needing action. But no! Meditation helps us detach from agendas, anger, ego, and fear . . . so we can be active in the world. It helps bring our healthy selves, our loving selves to action. It...
Just Be . . . All You Can Just Be
We practice contemplative practices so that we can bring our best selves to repairing the earth during this of great time of upheaval. It is our gift we can offer a hurting world. Without the detachment contemplative practices afford us, we remain clanging cymbals who...
Self-Awareness, Self-Disclosure Orientation (week 1)
Four Fall Wednesdays Introducing the practice of self-awareness and self-disclosure
Repentance, Reconciliation, Redemption — Redux
Often cringeworthy words for those who grew up in church, these ancient practices, when stripped to their essential purpose, can enliven our spiritual journeys. We believe they deserve a resurrection. Note: some folks found the introduction to the lesson...
You Don’t Need the Hokey Pokey . . . to Turn Yourself Around
When you see what you hadn’t seen, your life can turn significantly. Turn from thought ruts and defeating habits. At NRCC, we use a worksheet to help us see what we hadn’t. And it's true! Our lives do turn around. The ancients called the process "repentance." They...
Stretching Our Edge. Finding our Balance
In our pursuit of oneness that is not sameness, we ascribe to a basic set of time-tested spiritual practices to unify us. While each one of us must discern to which practices we are called, when to stretch, and when to rest.
Grace, Pace and Place
When church is healthy, its place in society is to take the lead in helping, healing and hoping. Grace is needed at North Raleigh Community Church as we find the appropriate pace with which to step into our place.
Cultivating Your Garden of Love
by Robin Camu When we shame ourselves, scorn ourselves or procrastinate, we are choosing to not love ourselves. When we don't properly cultivate love within us, it makes it more difficult to unconditionally love those around us. Instead, how can we use the love put...
Grace: Encoded in Our DNA – **Trigger Warning**
Today is storytime. Stories about NRCC's past -- and how grace has been such a powerful principle in our community. WARNING: there is a potential trigger for victims of sexual violence starting at time point 19:30 Have a listen.
Restorative Justice – Jon Powell
by Jon Powell Restorative Justice is different from our traditional court and prison justice system (which is punitive justice). This is an overview of the Restorative Justice community in Wake County, what we do and how anyone can get involved.
8/5/18
A Tough Class . . . We CAN’T Fail!
Turns out, this is rocket science. And we have to pass the class! Our world is desperate for religious people to take their place as repairers of the earth. We must move beyond the marketing machine narrative selling us an us-against-them narrative, and take our place...
7/22/18
Throwing Good Metaphors after Bad
Apologies for the quality of the audio this week. There were problems with the recording equipment. God is too big to contain in words, images, or metaphors. When you reach the boundaries of one metaphor, trying another will add somethings but lose others. This is...
The Dangers of Fixing our Metaphors
We cannot contain God. Our words and images are metaphors, incomplete at best. When we believe and insist they reflect more than a fleeting glimpse of a reality we cannot contain, they stop helping and start damaging . . . us . . . and others.
Practicing the Divine. (Huh?)
"Experiencing the Divine" can range from peak, mystical experience to inner changes that sneak up on us. The primary door into experience, is steadfast participation in spiritual practice.
The Arc of the Spiritual Universe Bends toward Redemption
As we consider living lives that matter, we do well to recognize that we humans are meaning making beings. When religion get things right, it provides a grand narrative of redemption to inspire our personal stories toward growth and hope, even in the dark times....
Give to Live
Chasing happy . . . is killing us all. Contributing to something bigger than self, surprisingly, helps us live longer. A meaningful life lies at "the intersection of your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger." (Frederick Buechner)