Prayer for Peace in the World

Dear Heavenly Father,
We repent for our myopic, narrow-minded view of the world. We are sorry for the harm we have caused our brothers and sisters around the world. May we come together in the spirit of unity and compassion. May all wars cease. Help us to look at ourselves before we judge and place blame on others in countries and cultures different from our own.

In this time of turbulence where fires destroy, earthquakes bring down, floods and tsunamis sweep away, help us to recognize your eternal nature remains. Love remains. Love is what binds us all together. Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Jews, and Hindus. We send your love and comfort, Oh God, to those who have lost their homes and livelihood in natural disasters around the world.

We send prayers of hope and support for those who have lost loved ones. We know that you, Lord, are wholely good, and that you do not send calamity to teach us, because that would be antithetical to your nature. You are love, and the Holy Spirit is our teacher, not calamity. Help us and those suffering around the world to find the good in the mist of the pain. Draw us to yourself and closer to one another.

God, give us wisdom to know which relief organizations to give to, and bless those organizations with unusual favor with the governments within the countries in which they serve, so that they may be able to give the best aide to those in desperate need. Strengthen the rescue-workers as they search for the wounded. May they be filled with the very strength of God to continue working against all odds. We ask for miraculous recoveries.

Dear Mother Earth,
Forgive us for taking and depleting your resources without thought of the ramifications. Forgive us for using you to serve our own selfish ambitions and pleasures without consideration of the generations who would follow us. We are sorry for polluting your air, water, and soil. Our hearts are open and our ears sensitive to your cries.

May we all be moved with the compassion of Christ to bring healing to those suffering around the world. May we be the instruments that relieve their suffering and the cause of all suffering. May peace be restored to the earth and to all the inhabitants of the earth.

Amen.



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Limit Yourself

Most inspirational teachings talk about removing the limits from your life. "Unlimited potential," they say! But I want to talk about limiting yourself! Yes, I said you should LIMIT yourself. What do I mean? Limiting your ability to beat yourself up over things you did in the past.

We are humans. We have egos, or "flesh" as the King James Bible calls it. The ego craves our destruction. It revels in our discomfort. This is why the first tenant of Buddhism is "Life is suffering." That's because everyone alive has an ego. So rather than trying to pretend that we do not have an ego/flesh/self-destructive side, I say accept it and then we can move past it.

Here is what I am proposing. Place a statute of limitations on all of your own actions, every foolish decision, every embarrassing thing you have said or done, and all the times you looked like and idiot.

Beat yourself over it. Get mad at yourself, even cry about it. Then let it go!

I believe an appropriate statute of limitation to any action, thought, decision, or deed is 7 years. Some might say, "WHAT?? Why that long?" But let's be serious. Who among us doesn't sometimes bring up things they did or said that embarrassed them when they were kids or teenagers or animosity toward a family member for something that happened long ago? Not to mention the relationships that ended badly or the jobs we never should have quit, or the time we failed to answer the door when opportunity knocked.

Obviously, somethings are not worth dwelling on for the full seven years, but every once and a while, we encounter something that is hard to let go. With that said, it is my belief that even the most egregious offenses are not worth holding on to for more than seven years.

I recently found myself taking a walk down memory lane and stumbling over some old memories connected to a group of friends I used to hang out with...ELEVEN YEARS AGO! First of all, I can't believe how time flew by so quickly. Secondly, I was amazed at how I felt all the same embarrassment and anger that I did back then when things ended badly with that group of friends (all connected to a particular church I was attending at the time). My ego liked feeling the negative emotions. The ego feels safe and content in the darkness of negativity. But the moment I realized what my mind was doing, I made a decision to set a limit on my emotions, an extremely generous ego-centric limit howbeit, but a limit nonetheless.

Seven years. When a negative memory pops up, think to yourself "Did this happen longer than 7 years ago?" If the answer is yes, then say, "Oh, well. It's dead to me now. That is ancient history." You'll be shocked at how many old tapes from the past you pull out and review in your mind on a regular basis.

All the things from your childhood. The job that fired you. The person that walked out on you. The church that ostracized you. That's all dead to you now. It's all ancient history.



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Thinking Outside the Mainstream

People get angry when someone dares to believe outside the mainstream. By definition, the mainstream is how most people believe. However, just because the majority of people believe something, doesn't make it right, moral, logical, or accurate.

"Women are property." "Blacks are 3/5 human." "Jews are little more than apes who killed Jesus." These are all beliefs once held to be true by Bible-touting preachers throughout history. Religion is often wrong and has often deviated from the message of Christ. There was even a time when churches preached "The earth is flat" and "the sun circles the earth" and excommunicated anyone who believed otherwise.

We now know all these things to be falsehoods; yet many other falsehoods persist in our day. Some falsehoods not only persist but thrive and fuel multimillion-dollar organizations that propagate such falsehoods. Am I describing Satanic or Atheistic organizations bent on destroying the message of Christ? No. These multimillion-dollar organizations of hatred, oppression, and falsehood are churches in the mainstream. Mainstream churches by definition are scattered all over the country and the world. They are the ones you see around the corner and on television. But just because they hide behind the title "Christian" does not mean they are Christ-like.

Let me be clear. I am a devout Christian and a sincere follower of the teachings and person of Jesus Christ. I know that not every church is preaching a message of hate (for instance, I attend a great church that is globally-minded and full of compassion), but many do. I would say the message of hatred is the definition of "mainstream" in America. Loving, accepting, and compassionate are outside the mainstream, radical even. Remember: it used to be radical to think that women are equal to men, or that blacks and Jews have human souls.

Jesus thought outside the mainstream. He healed the sick, raised the dead, chastised the high priest, turned over the money tables, spoke to the Samaritan woman, drank wine with harlots, denounced the Pharisees, and walked on water.

The teachings of Jesus and the teachings of mainstream churches are often in opposition to each other. Christ was perfect, religion is not. Jesus said, "Blessed are the meek." Mainstream religion says, "Deny this group of people equal rights." Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers." Mainstream religion says, "Kill that group other there before they kill us." Jesus said, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me." Mainstream religion says, "We are the only ones going to heaven. Everyone else is going to hell."

Jesus' teachings were very simple. In fact all his teachings can be summed into one word: Love. Love God, love your neighbor, love yourself. Mainstream religion has built an empire on doctrines that contradict that simple message. The longer I walk with the Lord, the more I fall in love with him and his message... and the farther I distance myself from the mainstream.




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A Cry for Love

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. -- 1 John 4:18

There is only one source in the universe, which is love, i.e. God. God is absolute and therefore has no opposite. As a result, love has no opposite. However, the absence of love is known as fear. Therefore every act that a human being performs is either an act of love or an act of fear. Every act of fear is really just a cry for love.

So when we or someone else lashes out, is rude, or cruel, it is a manifestation of fear. Usually it's the fear of being taken advantage of or the fear that we will not be liked. So the offender preemptively strikes. Fear says, "Hurt them before they hurt you."

When we struggle with people, let's say a co-worker, who is rude for no reason, (at least no reason that we can see or hear,) rather than responding, "That person is such a b*tch!" We should realize that person is responding to their own fears. A fear that you don't realize how valuable they are. A fear that you think they are stupid. A fear that you are taking advantage of them. A fear that their life is spiraling out of their control. A fear that they have taken a job that is beneath them. All of these fears lead to harsh words and actions which are really just a cry for love.

Racism, bullying, and homophobia are all cries for love. They stem from the fear that says, "I'm afraid I may be no better than those people over there." But the truth is we are all perfect! We just don't know it! It's our fears that shield our eyes from seeing our own perfection. We are each created in the image and likeness of God, who is love.

When we open our hearts to love, it drives out fear. Just like flipping on the light-switch drives out the darkness.





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