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Trinity

The Good News Written

The Wisdom of Malinda Cramer

“I walked to the window and looked [out]… and instantly I saw the Law of Expression. I turned from the window and said to myself, ‘I see in this law, or trinity — Creator, Creative Action, and Creation — the unity and fulfillment of all Law; a method by which humanity can free itself from the false… belief of separation from God, and from all errors… resulting therefrom.’ This Law of Expression… proves that we are the All-Good in Being, at one with God; we proceed forth in perfect action at one with [God], and in perfect result at one with [God’s] result, or creation.”

John 16.13-15

When the Spirit of truth comes, it will guide you into all the truth…

The Spirit will glorify me, because it will take what is mine and declare it to you.

All that the Eternal has is mine. For this reason I said that the Spirit will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The Good News Proclaimed

Preached by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins at the Sunshine Cathedral on Trinity Sunday, May 30, 2010.

In literature, a persona is often the author’s voice expressed through a character.

In Roman drama, a persona was the mask actors wore to amplify their voices.

In Jungian psychology, the persona is the façade or social mask one presents to meet the demands of a situation.

In each of these cases, the persona is how one presents oneself to a public…to readers, to theatre patrons, to the public at large. Continue reading »

Pentecost

The Good News Written

Romans 8.14-16

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Mother! Father!”

it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

From the Odes of Solomon, Ode 6

As the wind moves through the harp and the strings speak, so the spirit of the Lord speaks through [me] and I speak though divine Love. Our spirits praise the holy Spirit; for there went forth a stream, and it became a river great and broad. Indeed… it spread over the surface of the earth, and it filled everything. Then all the thirsty upon the earth drank, and thirst was relieved and quenched. From the Most High the drink was given… Alleluia!

Acts 2.1-4

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.

Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them.

All of them were filled with the holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

John 14.11-12, 14-17

Believe me that I am in Eternity and Eternity is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves.

Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I Am dwelling in Eternity.

If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

And I will ask for you to be given another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees nor knows Truth. You know the spirit of Truth, because it abides with you, and it will remain in you.

The Good News Proclaimed

Preached by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins at the Sunshine Cathedral on Pentecost Sunday, May 23, 2010.

“Come O holy Spirit, all our hopes renew!”
This is Pentecost Sunday, a very dramatic and exciting day in the Church year. This is the day when we imagine the Church being invigorated with the very breath of God, raised from the ashes of despair and defeat to become a new phoenix-like presence in the world.

In reality, the evolution of the Church was just that, an evolution; but in communal and ritual memory Luke gives it a day of birth, a day of beginning, a day of coming fully alive and waking up to its purpose and potential. And so we play along, and as we do, maybe we’ll find ourselves waking up to our purpose and potential today. Continue reading »

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Easter 7

The Good News Written

The Wisdom of Irwin Gregg

“Our consciousness is developed and established by our attention. Whatever we give attention to becomes a part of our consciousness. If we are giving attention to the good, we’re full of the consciousness of good…Therefore, we need to take care of our predominate states of thinking and feeling and direct them toward the good. Our consciousness provides the channel for demonstrating out here what the Presence of God offers us.”

John 17.22-23, 26

Dear Abba, I have given the world the glory that you have given me, that they may be one as we are one;

I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

The Good News Proclaimed

Preached by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, May 16, 2010.

I once asked my great-aunt Gladys to explain to me how prayer works. She said, “Oh honey, prayer is just realizing that God is as close as your breath, your thoughts, your deepest desire.” And I said, “huh?”

So Aunt Gladys said, “think of it like this: One day three men were walking and got lost. They came to a large lake and needed to get across it somehow.

The first man prayed, “God, give me the strength to cross this lake.” Poof! The man’s arms and legs became huge and, therefore, very strong…and he swam all the way across the lake in about three hours.

Impressed with the power of prayer that he had witnessed, the second man prayed, “God, give me the strength and ability to cross this lake.” Poof! The man is suddenly in a rowboat and he safely crosses the lake in about two hours.

The third man sees how this worked out for the other two, so he also prayed, “God, give me the strength, ability, and intelligence to cross this lake.” And Poof! God turned him into a woman. She then looked at the map, finds the bridge and walks across it in about 30 minutes.

It’s a silly story, but it does show that prayer is an art, and must be practiced, and as we become more efficient practitioners, we experience more from our prayers. If we imagine God as a far away dictator or judge or kindly grandparent, we will find our prayers feeling empty and not offering much empowerment for our lives. When we remember that God is right where we are…that it is in God that we live and move and have our being, then prayer isn’t begging a far away deity for favors, it is recognizing the presence of God already with us, and allowing that presence to do what it wants to do…which is to comfort, strengthen, guide, uplift, and renew us. Continue reading »

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Easter 6

The Good News Written

Revelation 21.10-14

And in the spirit I was carried away to a great, high mountain and shown the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel…

It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites; on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.

And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles.

John 14.26-27

The Advocate, the holy Spirit, whom the Eternal will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

The Good News Proclaimed

Preached by the Reverend Robert L. Griffin at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, May 9, 2010.

The Advocate, the holy Spirit, whom the Eternal will send in my name, will teach you everything,
and remind you of all that I have said to you.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.
I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. (John 14.26-27)

If you could look into a crystal ball and could see into tomorrow, what would you do differently today?  If you could look into tomorrow, and knew you were going to receive a job promotion or a pay raise, what would you do differently today?  Conversely, if you could look into a crystal ball and see that you were going to be let go from your job after 5, 10, or 29 years, what would you do differently today?

If you looked into the infamous crystal ball and saw that you were going to win the lottery, what would you do differently, today? If you knew that you were going to become incapacitated or even incarcerated tomorrow, what would you do differently, today? Continue reading »

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Easter 6

The Good News Written

Revelation 21.10-14

And in the spirit I was carried away to a great, high mountain and shown the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.

It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel…

It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites; on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.

And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles.

John 14.26-27

The Advocate, the holy Spirit, whom the Eternal will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.

The Good News Proclaimed

Preached by the Reverend Michael A. Diaz at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, May 9, 2010.

Do you remember the time when people wondered what happened to good old wholesome TV shows with only heterosexual characters involved? Apparently, they never happened. In any case, Happy Mother’s Day to you all. Continue reading »

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Easter 5

The Good News Written

Revelation 21.3-4

…See, the home of God is among mortals. God will dwell with them… they will be God’s peoples, and God will be with them to wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.

Acts 11.2-4, 12a (NRSV)

When Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him, saying, “Why did you go to uncircumcised men and eat with them?” Then Peter began to explain it to them, step by step, saying… “The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us…”

John 13.34-35 (NRSV)

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.

The Good News Proclaimed

Preached by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins at the Sunshine Cathedral on Sunday, May 2, 2010.

Our Acts reading is a little uncomfortable for the more reserved among us. The bible speaks very frankly about bodies. In our society, one does not often speak of circumcision in mixed company, but the bible is not a product of our time or our culture. Circumcision was an important sign of distinction in antiquity. Men from “those” communities were not circumcised, but the men in “our” community were. Peter, at least initially, thought that distinction was important and needed to be maintained, Luke tells us in Acts that he comes to see the matter in a new way. Peter says, “The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us.”

Think of all the dividing lines in our lives:
A couple of weeks ago a British guest at a well known hotel in Naples made a request that he and his family not be attended by any hotel staff who were non-Caucasian or who spoke with an accent (meanwhile, I did mention he was from the UK… in the Ouachita Mountains, we would have thought he had an accent). Unfortunately, the hotel honored his request and told a 15 year employee who was African American to not wait on the customer’s family in the hotel restaurant. The employee, insulted by such a dehumanizing request, filed a discrimination suit. Since then, I’m glad to report the hotel has issued a public apology to the employee and has admitted they should not have accommodated the customer’s racist request. As far as the unenlightened customer who made such an outrageously insensitive and pointless request, I hope at least once in his life he hears these words and takes them to heart, “The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us.” Continue reading »