Unity of Love & Understanding

Quote of the Week

Things may happen around you, and things may happen to you, but the only things that matter are the things that happen “in” you.

By Dr. Eric Butterworth

THIS SUNDAY
December 10, 2023
Live Zoom Service
Meditation begins promptly at 9:50AM Pacific Time
Service begins at 10AM Pacific Time

Topic for Sunday December 10, 2023
Peace On Earth

This is the season of Peace on Earth and Goodwill to All. However there are wars raging across this planet. As the words of a famous song say, “Let Peace begin with Me!”
Let’s come together this Sunday and begin this Season by establishing Peace within ourselves and then for the world.

The link for our Sunday Service is NEW each week:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83531661307

Each Sunday you will be admitted from a waiting room
This is being REQUIRED by Zoom

Please click on the link and join the Service at least 10 minutes before we start at 10am Pacific time for a short meditation.

You will be muted when joining. Please stay muted during the service unless you are having a problem.
We are recording the service and will stop the recording after the Prayer of Protection and a Final Prayer. We will unmute you at that time.
We can then have our usual “Sharing” amongst our group only live.
We look forward to hearing your input about the topic and your feedback about the service.

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

Peace On Earth

John Lennon wrote, “All we are saying is Give Peace a Chance.” It is difficult to feel that this is the season of Peace on Earth when you turn on the television and see war raging in Gaza or the Ukraine. However, being mesmerized with the images of deaths and suffering doesn’t help those situations.

I am not saying that we should be oblivious to those situations but rather step back and begin with an image of Peace and Love within our minds, hearts and souls. Peace as well as violence begins with individual participation. Whatever one thinks, speaks and acts from establishes Peace or turmoil in their life and the lives that they interact with.

Every war began with a negative thought and every Peace treaty began with a positive thought. The thought that our leaders choose determines the state of Peace. Remember that individuals select the Leader that represents them. Therefore the individual’s thoughts and desires have the ability to change any situation.

In many churches that I know, the congregation sings a “Peace Song.” The most striking words are, “Let there be Peace on earth and let it begin with ME!”

If you desire Peace on earth, that Peace must be established within yourself. One direct pathway to Peace is “Forgiveness.” You can’t have hate or revenge in your heart and establish Peace. When Jesus was asked how many times that people should be forgiven, he replied 70 times seven or an idiom for “forever.” He gave us the perfect example when he was crucified and dying on the cross. He said about his killers, “Forgive them Father, they don’t know what they are doing.”

We need to make Peace a personal goal before we expand it outward to the world. However, Peace can spread quickly when person after person sets the desire and walks the walk. It is ALL our responsibility to collectively establish Peace on Earth.

Peace & Richest Blessings Always,

Reverend James Daly

Prayer Is All You Need

We are immersed in the “Season of Giving” for many around the globe. There are special sales advertised for just about any gift that you could possibly imagine and many you had no idea that they existed until now. It is the largest business season for many organizations. The bulk of their sales occur during this period of time until after the New Year.

Unfortunately this commercialization has diluted the caring and loving tone of the season. However, You have the opportunity to change that.

I have found that giving and receiving are a circular activity. The more that I “give”, the more that I am blessed in many unforeseen ways. The most memorable gifts are those that are non-material. A smile or a kind word to a stranger is not forgotten. A caring deed to someone in need transforms a day. A simple call or text to check on a loved one is tremendously appreciated.

Holding someone in prayer is an Amazing gift. Many people think of prayer as asking God to do something. My idea of prayer is “seeing” God already in the life of the person or situation.

I read a story once about a spiritual teacher speaking to an advanced young student. “If you can show me where God is, I will give you an orange.” The young avatar in training answered, “If you can show me where God is not, I will give you two oranges.”

That is the basis of my prayers. I want to see God everywhere. God is in every person and every situation. My prayers are to see God everywhere and act as the best person that I could possibly be. I want to spread God’s energy that we call love everywhere that I go and leave it behind for others to step into. To me, Prayer Is All You Need!

Peace & Richest Blessings Always,

Reverend James Daly

Quote of the Week

Lord, make me an instrument of Your Peace
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled as to console;
To be understood as to understand;
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal light.

By St. Francis of Assisi

THIS SUNDAY
December 3, 2023
Live Zoom Service
Meditation begins promptly at 9:50AM Pacific Time
Service begins at 10AM Pacific Time

Topic for Sunday December 3, 2023
Prayer Is All You Need

There are many things that we may want and desire in our lives and in reality, Prayer Is All You Need.
Please join us this Sunday as we learn to embrace prayer as a Blessed Gift in our lives.

The link for our Sunday Service is NEW each week:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83531661307

Each Sunday you will be admitted from a waiting room
This is being REQUIRED by Zoom

Please click on the link and join the Service at least 10 minutes before we start at 10am Pacific time for a short meditation.

You will be muted when joining. Please stay muted during the service unless you are having a problem.
We are recording the service and will stop the recording after the Prayer of Protection and a Final Prayer. We will unmute you at that time.
We can then have our usual “Sharing” amongst our group only live.
We look forward to hearing your input about the topic and your feedback about the service.

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

Quote of the Week

The big hope that never quite deserts me, that I and my kind will study war no more, that love and tenderness and all inner graces of Almighty affection will cover the life of the children of God as the waters cover the sea.

From For the Inward Journey by Dr. Howard Thurman

Hope for the World

The American holiday of Thanksgiving sets the tone of Gratitude for all the Blessings that are in our lives. However, around the world there are wars raging, people dying and starving as well as political chaos in this country.

I have found that looking for and recounting things to be grateful for is an uplifting and productive exercise. It seems that the more good that I look for, the more good that I find. I even have a Gratitude Journal that I write something in every day.

Some would call me an Eternal Optimist and I proudly accept that designation. I have found that accepting and expecting positive things appears to have created a consistent flow of positivity in my direction. I am not saying that everything is Perfect. I just work with the challenges and look for the lessons to be learned.

There is much to be concerned about but I firmly believe that we will learn from our mistakes and continue to move forward as the human race. This will require that the majority of humans on this planet reclaim their emotional, physical and spiritual power. For too long we have allowed a small group of people to manipulate the direction of the majority. It has been a divide and conquer strategy that has worked remarkable well throughout these millenniums.
As humankind awakens to the fact that race, color, religion and nationality have been the weapons of division, we begin to see each other differently. We have all had a part in this divisiveness and now we have an opportunity to release ourselves from the spell. We are ALL Children of God. We are ALL Brothers and Sisters. This is what I am truly grateful for now and every day. It is time to open our eyes and stop being blinded by anything to the contrary! The Buddha said it succinctly, “We Are ONE!”

Peace & Richest Blessings Always,

Reverend James Daly

THIS SUNDAY
November 26, 2023
Live Zoom Service
Meditation begins promptly at 9:50AM Pacific Time
Service begins at 10AM Pacific Time

Topic for Sunday November 26, 2023
Hope for the World

At a time of Thanksgiving we stand firm in our Hope for the World, that all people will see each other as Brothers and Sisters.
Please join us this Sunday as we set the consciousness of Love & Understanding for this World.

The link for our Sunday Service is NEW each week:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83531661307

Each Sunday you will be admitted from a waiting room
This is being REQUIRED by Zoom

Please click on the link and join the Service at least 10 minutes before we start at 10am Pacific time for a short meditation.

You will be muted when joining. Please stay muted during the service unless you are having a problem.
We are recording the service and will stop the recording after the Prayer of Protection and a Final Prayer. We will unmute you at that time.
We can then have our usual “Sharing” amongst our group only live.
We look forward to hearing your input about the topic and your feedback about the service.

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

Clarity from Chaos

I had a conversation with one of our congregants and amazing singer, Lynne Fuqua after service last Sunday. She was telling me that issues and challenges in life just seemed never-ending. When on issue appeared to be resolved there was only a slight respite until another challenge sprung up in her midst. She really wasn’t complaining, just making an observation. My response shocked her slightly. I told her that life is designed so that we are constantly challenged. I explained that with ever challenge there was also an opportunity to learn and grow; to burst through old barriers to another level of understanding.

Joseph Campbell, one of America’s greatest comparative mythologists said, “Opportunities to find deeper power within ourselves comes when life seems most challenging.” When everything is going perfectly in your life, there is no reason to grow and expand. In reality you would become stagnate and possibly regress. But there is no need to worry about that in this lifetime. The Universe, God or whatever you wish to call it is constantly placing you in unique challenge opportunities.

So many people think of their life as a physical progression to reach a specific conclusion. In reality you NEVER get it done and there is no ending. Even when our physical form expires, who we are simply changes form. We maintain all that we have learned.

Let’s stop stressing and worrying about the challenges that we are being presented. Instead, ask, “What can I learn from this situation.” Then, learn the lesson and simply move on. The quicker that you learn the lesson, the faster the challenge dissipates.

No longer try to hide or run away from your problems. Embrace them and watch them transform into opportunities right in front of your eyes.
That is how you get Clarity from Chaos!

Peace & Richest Blessings Always,

Reverend James Daly

Quote of the Week

When trapped by walls of disappointment and tempted to panic by disordered thinking, calmness is the only solution for humankind, for the acts of Providence are so hidden it is hard to understand how delicate are the influences emanating from our own mind. There are great changes that come about in the darkest hours where there is no hope and the encircling gloom is terrifying to the heart.

From For the Inward Journey by Dr. Howard Thurman

THIS SUNDAY
November 19, 2023
Live Zoom Service
Meditation begins promptly at 9:50AM Pacific Time
Service begins at 10AM Pacific Time

Topic for Sunday November 19, 2023
Clarity from Chaos

Our moments of highest stress are pathways to clarity.
We become so acutely focused that we break through old barriers.
Please join us this Sunday as we discuss transforming those times of Chaos into moments of Learning and Growing in our lives.

The link for our Sunday Service is NEW each week:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87434895099

Each Sunday you will be admitted from a waiting room
This is being REQUIRED by Zoom

Please click on the link and join the Service at least 10 minutes before we start at 10am Pacific time for a short meditation.

You will be muted when joining. Please stay muted during the service unless you are having a problem.
We are recording the service and will stop the recording after the Prayer of Protection and a Final Prayer. We will unmute you at that time.
We can then have our usual “Sharing” amongst our group only live.
We look forward to hearing your input about the topic and your feedback about the service.

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

The Harvest of the Heart

Just like in nature the Human Consciousness is constantly sowing and reaping what has been planted. As a child we aren’t even aware of the seeds that were being sown by our parents and caregivers. As we grew we may have watched our peers and unconsciously acquired habits by simple imitation. That was the primary way that we learned and grew. As we matured one key for true advancement was “awareness.”

As we look around our life and see the fruits that we have harvested, we can be happy, sad or indifferent about what we have produced. “Awareness” however, points us inward instead of outward blaming others or our life situation for results that are not satisfying. We recognize the seeds within us are the direct cause of the fruit that we have harvested. Science proves to us that an apple seed will NOT bear an orange.

Therefore you don’t get angry at the fruit. If you want an orange then you plant orange seeds. If you want positivity as your fruit then you must plant seeds of positivity. Whatever ideas and beliefs that you plant in your mind, those will bear you fruit. Before you understood and took responsibility for your choices then you simply planted whatever seeds were scattered in your direction. With “awareness”, YOU are the farmer! You are in control of what is planted and what is harvested.

There is also responsibility that comes with that “awareness.” YOU are influencing others with your words and actions. You are consciously or unconsciously sowing seeds in the mind of others.

Your heart will always lead you in the direction that is best for you and those with whom you share this planet. Plant seeds of Love, Compassion and Understanding and you will always have a bountiful Harvest of the Heart.

Peace & Richest Blessings Always,

Reverend James Daly

Quote of the Week

This is the season for gathering in, the season of the harvest in nature. Many things that were started in the spring and early summer have grown to fruition and are ready for reaping. Great and significant as is the harvest of nature, the most pertinent kind of ingathering for the human spirit is what I call the “Harvest of the Heart.”

From For the Inward Journey by Dr. Howard Thurman

THIS SUNDAY
November 12, 2023
Guest Speaker: Rev Bonnie Collins

Live Zoom Service
Meditation begins promptly at 9:50AM Pacific Time
Service begins at 10AM Pacific Time

Rev Bonnie Collins
Topic for Sunday November 12, 2023
Beliefs: Hold on or Let Go

How do we know when a belief has served its purpose? It’s not always obvious. The ability to give scrutiny to what we perceive is very important, including knowing the difference between a hypothesis, a theory and a fact. It’s not so simple. Our emotions are real, but what triggers our emotions sometimes is not.

Come! Let’s explore our beliefs and the deeper meaning of
“Let go and let God.”

The link for our Sunday Service is NEW each week:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87434895099

Each Sunday you will be admitted from a waiting room
This is being REQUIRED by Zoom

Please click on the link and join the Service at least 10 minutes before we start at 10am Pacific time for a short meditation.

You will be muted when joining. Please stay muted during the service unless you are having a problem.
We are recording the service and will stop the recording after the Prayer of Protection and a Final Prayer. We will unmute you at that time.
We can then have our usual “Sharing” amongst our group only live.
We look forward to hearing your input about the topic and your feedback about the service.

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

Prayer for a Friendly World

Robert Burns wrote, “Man’s inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn!” Whether the 18th century or the 21st Century, these words echo around this planet. Slavery, genocide and raging wars have ravaged this planet for many millenniums. You would think that as humankind advanced in knowledge then those reprehensible ways would begin to recede. It appears however that the major change is that our methods have become sophisticated and technologically advanced.

Dr. Thurman writes of mankind, “we are proud and arrogant; we are selfish and greedy; we have harbored in our hearts and minds much that makes for bitterness, hatred and revenge.”

Whether consciously or not, we all have a hand in contributing to the social environment which we are experiencing on this planet. Across the United States I can readily see causes for unrest and bitterness.

We are the immigrants that displaced the Indigenous Native Americans. We are people that used slave labor to create a financial foothold in this nation and the world. To this day we treat people of color in a similar manner. We have just disguised the methods. Somehow the descendants of those immigrants are doing their best to prevent others seeking the security and opportunity of this nation from entering.

The same White Nationalist beliefs that launched the Klu Klux Klan and established N**i Germany seems to be expanding across this land and in other parts of this planet.

Economic disparities are creating a vast divide between the “haves” and the “have nots”.

Religious beliefs have long been a flashpoint for animosity and hatred. Hebrew, Muslim, Hindu, Christian seems to be in constant conflict, in one combination or another.

The social, economic, racial and religious barriers that have existed throughout human history are ALL Man-Made!

The Human race is sitting on a precipice and within a few generations, life on this planet as we presently experience it may either dramatically change or our species may no longer inhabit earth. The situation is also All Man-Made.

A prayer for a friendly world is our opportunity to recognize the part that we are playing right now and begin a healing process. As I wrote last week, that process begins with forgiveness. Then Prayer is simply aligning our Thoughts, Words and Actions with our divine nature. It is seeing as God sees. When we look through the eyes of God we see our Brothers and Sisters everywhere in Everyone. Then our words and actions follow.
We then utilize our total resources to lift each other rather than tear us apart. This is my prayer for you and this planet. Will you join me?

Peace & Richest Blessings Always,

Reverend James Daly

Quote of the Week

Our Father, fresh from the world, with the smell of life upon us, we make an act of prayer in the silence of this place. Our minds are troubled because the anxieties of our hearts are deep and searching. We are stifled by the odor of death which envelops the earth, where in many places brother fights against brother. The panic of fear, the torture of insecurity, the ache of hunger, all have fed and rekindled ancient hatreds and long forgotten memories of old struggles, when the world was young and Thy children were dimly aware of Thy Presence in the midst.

From For the Inward Journey by Dr. Howard Thurman

THIS SUNDAY
November 5, 2023
Live Zoom Service
Meditation begins promptly at 9:50AM Pacific Time
Service begins at 10AM Pacific Time

Topic for Sunday November 5, 2023
Prayer for a Friendly World

We pray for a Friendly World in the midst of wars. What energy have we contributed to this World?
Let’s come together this Sunday and put our Prayers and Actions into motion for a Friendly World.

The link for our Sunday Service is NEW each week:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87434895099

Each Sunday you will be admitted from a waiting room
This is being REQUIRED by Zoom

Please click on the link and join the Service at least 10 minutes before we start at 10am Pacific time for a short meditation.

You will be muted when joining. Please stay muted during the service unless you are having a problem.
We are recording the service and will stop the recording after the Prayer of Protection and a Final Prayer. We will unmute you at that time.
We can then have our usual “Sharing” amongst our group only live.
We look forward to hearing your input about the topic and your feedback about the service.

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

Forgive Us as We Have Forgiven

To this day I will never forget turning on the television on the morning of September 11, 2001 and watching a plane fly into the World Trade Center in NYC. It particularly struck me because I had worked in the World Trade Center for many years before I moved to Los Angeles. As the TV Station replayed the event over and over it was horribly emblazed in my mind.
As I heard about a second plane crashing into the Pentagon and another plane flying into the second Tower of the Trade Center my heart was beating out of my chest. Who were these insane people that planned and executed these disasters?

Revenge has proven not to have been the answer. The American people has spent over $8 trillion and lost thousands more lives since that occurrence with no positive results.

The same chills ran through my body on October 7, 2023 when the news began filtering through about the Hamas attack on Israel. Over a thousand Israelis have been killed or taken hostage. The retaliation has been swift and constant to the Palestinian people in Gaza. There is an imminent ground invasion of Gaza in the wings. What will be the results?

The human history on this planet has been war and then retaliation. It seems to be a constant loop. Maybe it is time to take a dramatic change in our tactics. When India wanted their freedom from the UK they didn’t return gunshot for gunshot. Under the example of Mahatma Gandhi nonviolent resistance was their answer.

There is a principle of the Law of Cause and Effect always in operation. The seeds of this Middle East crisis go back over 4,000 years. The interesting part is that each of the people involved come from the same descendants. The Arabs, Palestinians and the Israelis all trace their lineage back to Abraham. Therefore this an ancient family feud that can only be resolved through Forgiveness. If not Now, then When?

Peace & Richest Blessings Always,

Reverend James Daly

Quote of the Week

By forgiving those who have wronged us, we “let” God act to forgive us. When we do not forgive, we take things into our own hands. Who are we to judge our neighbors? We may condemn our adversaries for the very things that we are guilty of, and continue to do. We may ask God to do something for us that we are unwilling to do for our adversaries.

From The Kingdom on Earth by Dr. George M. Lamsa

THIS SUNDAY
October 29, 2023
Live Zoom Service
Meditation begins promptly at 9:50AM Pacific Time
Service begins at 10AM Pacific Time

Topic for Sunday October 29, 2023
Forgive Us as We Have Forgiven

Forgiveness is a circular act. As we forgive, we are forgiven.
Please join us this Sunday as we explore the Blessing of Forgiveness.

The link for our Sunday Service is NEW each week:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87434895099

Each Sunday you will be admitted from a waiting room
This is being REQUIRED by Zoom

Please click on the link and join the Service at least 10 minutes before we start at 10am Pacific time for a short meditation.

You will be muted when joining. Please stay muted during the service unless you are having a problem.
We are recording the service and will stop the recording after the Prayer of Protection and a Final Prayer. We will unmute you at that time.
We can then have our usual “Sharing” amongst our group only live.
We look forward to hearing your input about the topic and your feedback about the service.

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

Inclusive Healing

Spiritual healing is nothing new in the history of humankind. There are many documented, unexplainable occurrences throughout history that would be considered miracles. Some religions use these healings as evidence that their religion, way of thinking and worshipping is the one to follow. In reality all religions see only a small slice of the totality of the immense power that we call “God.” This is an energy that created this universe and continues to expand and add to that creation. We from our human perspective have no idea of its totality.

However looking around this planet and what we know outside of this planet we can safely say that EVERYTHING is part of this thing that we call God. The energy of that creation resides in everyone and everything that it created. The activities of our day make us forget this fact. We have a simple way to remember and stay consciously connected. It is called meditation.

Deep within us is that Divine spark that connects us all together and provides a gateway to the immense knowledge and power that created everything. Becoming still and clearing a path for its wisdom and guidance results in intuitive hits for our life’s direction. Whether we listen and follow them is our choice.

Walter Starcke relates a personal story about following that inner guide and going to a doctor for a checkup even though he was feeling perfectly healthy. The results showed that he was in advanced stages of prostate cancer. His intuition told him not to be afraid and that everything would be fine and was fine. In the past he had healed many things within himself with affirmative prayer. He had done the same for many others that had sought his help. This time his Inner Guide was telling him to follow the Doctor’s recommendations for surgery. When they performed the operation the medical staff found that the cancer had not spread and it was totally removed. His recovery was exceptional and within 10 days he was back doing lectures at his ranch.

The point here is that there is no one remedy that is better than the other. Both the physical (the doctor and staff) as well as the spiritual (his own faith and the prayers of all his students) were operating all the time. The desire to be a healing presence was placed with the medical staff before they were born. They were simply living out their own purpose and desire. The perfect physical, mental and spiritual idea known as Walter Starcke existed before he was born and was simply playing itself out too.
This is an excellent example, just like the title of his book, “It’s All God!”

Peace & Richest Blessings Always,

Reverend James Daly

Quote of the Week

By judging a human resolution of a problem as being less spiritual, inferior, or less divine, you would be denying the Omnipotence and Omniscience you may claim to believe in. Any either/or approach is purely third-dimensional, purely mental , purely in one’s believing in good and evil—out of which the entire human misconception of existence has been created. It is all God.

From It’s All God by Walter Starcke