Feel Blessed All the Time | Rev. John Riley

Thank you, Deborah, and good morning. Morning, morning. Well, today is the big day. Yes, yes. Hey, what’s happening today? Super Bowl. Yes. The Super Bowl of chips and avocados. 

Did you know that this is the day of the Super Bowl of chips and avocados. You know, they’re talking about, some people are talking about making Monday a national holiday because, half of the country is hungover, I suppose. I don’t know. I think it’s perfect. A national day of chips and avocados. What do you think ? I think this is the day that more Americans consume more avocados than any other day of the year. So I think it’s appropriate. One moment, please. No, I don’t have an avocado that, oh, that would’ve really been good. Dang it. Darn. You know sometimes I just, you know, my good ideas come just a three minutes too late. 

Blessed

I wrote about three talks this week. I wrote my original talk, and then, you know, I was inspired last night, and then I wrote, I think, like two more talks this morning. I have no idea what’s gonna come out of my mouth today. And the printer doesn’t work, so I’m just saying… if it’s all right with you today, I’ll have my notes with me. Is that okay? Is everyone cool with that? One of the things I love about the Super Bowl is that it’s played rain or shine. It could be hailing, snowing an earthquake. I don’t know about an earthquake, but it’s always played. Yes, yes. It’s their rain or shine. What a wonderful metaphor for Spirit. 

So, here’s our talk. I’m blessed. Rain or shine. I am one with Spirit. I am blessed. Rain or shine. I am one with Spirit. I am blessed. Rain or shine together. I am one with Spirit. I am blessed. Rain or shine, and so it is now. That was really good. But you know, this is the Super Bowl of chips and avocado day. So let’s give it our super bowl of chips and avocado energy to it. Ready? Oh, what was it again? Yes. I’m one with Spirit. I am blessed. Rain or shine together. I am one with Spirit. I am blessed. Rain or shine. And so it is. Thank you very much. Good night. 

It has been a week, you know, this last Sunday, it was raining, and then it was shining, and then it was raining, and then it was shining, and it was just a weird, you know, fingers of rain flowing through our atmosphere. And the next day, a friend of mine and I went to the De Young Museum to see the Ramsey exhibit, the King of Kings, Ramsey exhibit. I don’t know if you’re familiar with King Ramsey from Egypt, the, I guess the most, most powerful prosperous king. They built most of the temples in Egypt and had all of the gold. So I was excited to see the exhibit, and we, got there, we were blessed because it was so sunny. It was a nice sunny day. We got there a little bit early, so we started to do laps around the little amphitheater that’s outside of the young museum.

It’s beautiful. It’s still winter, so there’s nothing blooming, but just being outside, being in the sun, and being able to walk around, it was just a fantastic time. Then it was our time to go in. So we, we walked in and we, we got in line and, and sooner or later, you know, we, we were in the line waiting. And, you know, that’s one of those lines that zigzags back and forth. Well, we stopped right at a point where there was somebody on the left of me and somebody on the right with me. And, by the way, there were like 18 children field trips that day. Oh, wow. It was fabulous. All the kids having fun. You’re running around, getting in line, getting ready to see the, Rams ex exhibit. And so they’re, they’re up in front of us and they’re, they’re doing kid things, right?

You know, they’re all doing their little clapping things, and they’re talking, and we’re in a, we’re in an enclosed area. So, you know, the noise level starts to get a little high. And I’m just kind of sitting there, and the person’s left of me goes, “oh my gosh, I can’t believe this”. I’ve listened to kids all my life. Haven’t I heard of the inside voice? And, then the person to the left of me says, “when are we supposed to be in, when are our tickets?” It 10 o’clock. It’s already 10:15. Now, for the record, it was only 10:12 So here I am in the middle of this, you know, complaining to the left of me, complaining to the right of me. I just kinda smiled and look at the person on my left. And she’s sort of explaining why she’s complaining, right?

Well, I used to be a teacher, and haven’t they heard of inside voice? And you know, I have three kids, and the youngest is 14. And that’s the inside voice, just saying. I said, “well, maybe they need to learn the museum voice.” I don’t know. And then my friend turns to me and says, “you know, I’ve gotten to the point where I’m not complaining as much, right? Because I’m using all the spiritual principles, and I’m just not complaining as much except for when I’m around someone complaining.” And so we had a great conversation about complaining about the complainers. Anybody, anybody ever do that now? Come on. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely. And you know what? This is normal behavior. So take a deep breath.

Anytime we start learning spiritual principles, all of a sudden, we find ourselves there – all of a sudden we discover, “Hey, I’ve been practicing daily, and I don’t complain as much.” All of a sudden, we realize, “you know, life has gone a lot smoother, a lot more, you know, gentle and easy, except for these guys, right?” We always have those exceptions. And, what happens naturally is that the idea is we’re still judging, but now it’s a matter of judging. You know, God, these guys really need to find Unity, right? How many have ever said that? Because we’re still, we haven’t gotten to the point. See, this thing is we’re still judging other people, and that’s, that’s where we need to get over that hurdle. And when I found myself in that situation, I was thinking about it. Yeah, I know what you’re talking about. Yeah. They’re not bothering me at all. Yeah, that’s right. Huh? Hell caught me, the minister for nothing.

And then we got into the exhibit. Now, you know, with 17 or 18 kids, schools of kids running around, it was great, you know, it was fun. I was walking around, very calm, and you know, the kids are, you know, darting back and forth and in their little packs, you know how kids do it, right? And, I was sitting there reading and reading one, and I have to get kind of close because maybe I need new glasses. But reading the little plaque on there, and one kid runs up…he’s like, this tall… he runs up. [Oh, I gotta get a picture.]

And I’m like, “okay, yeah, no, no, I’m not complaining. No, that’s cool.” I’m telling to myself. And then after a while, you know, it, the room started getting narrow. It was in a narrow passageway, and there were a lot of people, a lot of kids, and a lot of traffic. And it started to get a little warm. And I was just thinking, just thinking, gosh, you know, I could really use a little more airflow right now. You ever have that feeling? And I noticed myself each time thinking, “you know, I’m not gonna complain.” I’m just gonna notice I almost g gosh, they should, oh, wait a minute. Wouldn’t it be nice? I, you know, I could use a little more airflow. So that’s the data. And I wasn’t complaining, honest

And at the end of the, at the end of the exhibit, you know, it opens back up, and we were out, and I felt a big relief. So there was some stress going on in there, and that’s okay. There was some things that were happening that I didn’t like, and that’s okay. I was able to be in it and be with those little kids and understand where they were coming from that time. Not every time, right? We can’t do it. We’re, well, maybe we can, but what I have found is that there are times when I dip in and dip out of the spiritual practice. That’s why it’s daily dip in and dip out of it. And when I’m out of it, the quicker I can remind myself, wait a minute, you know, it’s okay. You’re safe. Get back on my cue card, get back on, my spiritual principle card, right?

Spiritual Experience

Get back in living that expression of love and faith and living that expression of self-awareness, of open-heartedness, and being willing to be in the situation and not be diminished by it. So in spiritual growth, I often hear people get to that point where they’re like, “gosh, this is so great.” I want everyone else to know about it. And we do. But not everyone else is ready to go there. And it doesn’t mean that we’re more advanced with them, because sometimes we’re not right. Sometimes we’re in the dip of our spiritual experience, and sometimes we’re at the peak of our spiritual experience. And the best way that I have found, to express to people the benefit of the spiritual principle of what Unity has to teach, of what new thought has to teach, of just being open to what Spirit is saying to you, is to be open to what Spirit is saying to you.

There will be times in our life when it is raining when it is storming, Spirit is there, and there will be times in our life when it is sunny, and it is beautiful. Spirit is there rain or shine? Spirit? Is there rain or shine? You are blessed because you are the expression of that Spirit. The I am principle says that God is within, like, the ocean is in the wave. There is no separation. You are the manifestation of that consciousness here to bring into manifestation more of that consciousness, more peace, more compassion, more empathy, and more understanding. You’re here to be that and to be it in your own unique and special way. Each of us has within us something special to give to the world. Yes, yes. So my daughter has a wonderful gift. She is they’re a dancer. And I was driving them to dance one morning, this was like two days later this last week.

And it was doing that raining, sunny thing, rain, and shine. And we’re driving into the parking lot just over here at Coley. And it starts pouring. And right in front of us, it’s blue skies and the sun’s over there, it’s like shiny. And I opened the skylight in the car, and it’s completely clear, it was blue sky above me, and yet it’s pouring on me. And I’m like, oh my gosh, isn’t this cool? And it, I call it, you know, blue sky rain. I just made that up. Someone can tweet that. Put my name next to it. Thank you very much. Blue sky rain. It was a blue sky above, and the rain was pouring in. And, isn’t that cool? And she, you know, earphones in and on the phone, “Uhhuh.” So we drive around the, around the corner, I’m like, “oh, look, somewhere, there’s gotta be a rainbow. Let’s, you know, you wanna find the rainbow?” “I’m good.”

Okay? I drop her off, and off she goes. And I would define the rainbow. That’s not the rainbow. That’s a pretty cool rainbow. But I did find it. And here’s the thing. It’s not that there was, you know, anything wrong with what she did, she just wasn’t into it. And how much of how many times in our lives do we, you know, someone, we hear something from someone and then we tell a story about it, and then we make something up about it, right? So we start telling our story. And what I’ve learned, because this is my third that at age 14, the door is either open or it’s not, has nothing to do with me. It does not mean that I’m not loved by her. It does not mean that she doesn’t have respect for me, doesn’t mean anything other than she wasn’t into it.

I was into it. I dropped her off, and I found the rainbow. I sat there for three minutes, then drove on rain or shine. There was a rainbow, rain or shine. There is Spirit. Now it’s interesting because probably maybe three months ago, like on the day, we used to get in the car and she would plug her phone in and we’d listen to her music. Then now, the pattern is we get into the car, she puts her earplugs in, and listens to her music. And I said, “you know, you’re welcome to plug it in.” And “I’m good.”

You know, we used, or I would say another time, I say, well, do you wanna, you wanna play some music? And she just goes like, this points to her earphone. And then I said to her, you know we used to share the music together, and she just kinda gives me that shrug. As if to say, “not anymore buddy.”

Core Unity Practices

That was, those were my words that I’ve made up there. So whatever the situation is, right? It’s if we are grounded in that Spirit, in that holiness, in that glorious within us, there is a rainbow. We are blessed. Rain or shine doesn’t mean that everything is going to go perfectly. It just means that we can be grounded and we can, we can stay centered, and we can show up as our best self and we can show up as our best self. So on the way home from the young, my friend and I were talking about, well, what’s the practice? How do you know, how do we do this? And the words that came to me was non-resistance. Non-Resistance. And this is a core Unity practice, right? Non-Resistance. And let me tell you what, it’s not. Non-Resistance is not giving up. Non-Resistance is not laying down, becoming a doormat, rolling over, becoming a victim.

That’s not non-resistance at all. Non-Resistance is simply making room for what is happening in this present moment. Making room for the rain, making room for the, I’ve got my earbuds on. Why are you talking to me? Who do you think you are? , those are my words again, right?  my story. So making room for what we are, for what’s happening. Become the observer, become the observer of our thoughts, noticing how we’re reacting emotionally. Noticing how we are reacting physically. Noticing the words internal or external that we’re using, the story that we’re telling. When we can start to become the observer of what’s going on in this noodle of ours, then we have the opportunity to shift out of that pain and suffering and move back into the expression of Spirit. You know? Another part of non-resistance is using the resistance. You know, when we find ourselves triggered or frustrated, or ang angry or, you know, upset, that’s gold for us.

We’re not resisting it, right? We are resisting it. So use that resistance to allow you to ask and look within to say, okay, what is within me that I, that’s begging to be healed? What expression of joy, which expression of Spirit is begging to be released in this moment that I’m covering up? So we can use the resistance as that evolutionary growth opportunity that e evolutionary trigger that evolutionary practice. What if none of our triggers were actually triggers? They were just opportunities for growth. Yeah. And every once in a while, I’m walking down the street and, when I’m in the dip, right? I’m thinking, well, that was just your opportunity for growth, buddy. Yeah, we don’t want to do that. I’m just saying, I’m modeling that, that part of it. Use the experience, use the resistance so that we can have empathy, curiosity, and include a perspective that we may not have understood before.

We may not have had before. So in those situations where we are experiencing the storm, can we have empathy for another? Can we hold space for that spark of divinity within them? Even if we don’t see it? Can we have curiosity instead of automatically telling a story about what’s going on over here? Someone walks up to me and doesn’t react the way you want them to react. And the words that go on in our head are judging them, are creating a story. Well, they’re like this. So can we be curious about, oh, I wonder what’s happening with them today and just send them the energy of love, and can we include their perspective?

Spiral Dynamics – We Are Always Evolving 

Ken Wilbur, he’s the author of “The Theory of Everything” and his integral theory is what I’ve been studying lately. The integral theory of how we can move from this current state of consciousness. He’s done a lot of work and studied Carol Graves. And so that idea of spiral dynamics that we’re always evolving, we’re always moving upward, that our consciousness is always growing and changing in an upward progression towards unknowingness of our oneness with Spirit. And the challenge that we have here is that we’re all stuck. Not everyone, he says maybe seven to 10% have gone beyond this, but we’re stuck in the idea that I am right? And you were wrong throughout that spiral, throughout this different energies or these different ideas from tribalism to, you know the authoritarianism to the self achiever to the, even the green planet, we have to do something about the world.

Every one of these has a shadow side that is, I am right and you were wrong. And until we can open up and accept and understand someone else’s perspective, we don’t have to agree, but we can honor and say, okay, that’s a perspective. I’m understanding you and here’s my perspective, and transcend the war that happens when we want somebody to agree with us when we’re fighting somebody. So the idea is to include the other person and transcend those things that create separateness. Because the next evolution is not just knowing oneness intellectually, but experiencing oneness. And how can we experience oneness? How can we raise the consciousness of the planet if we’re not willing to experience oneness with somebody who we do not agree with? We don’t have to agree, but we have to, the goal is to understand more about where they’re coming from so that we can honor each other.

Now, I know it’s great when you’re all spiritually on the high. You know, we’re, we’re good. I’m, I’m, I’m accepting you, I’m listening to you, but you’re not listening to me. So how can I live in that situation? Get back on that expressing Spirit. They don’t have to agree with you. Everybody wants unit people to know about unity. And, you know, maybe 20% of the population is ready for it. So just be it. The best way to talk about unity is to be, it is to live that empathy is to live that compassion. It’s to live that love. It’s to express it. And on the days that you’re not, just notice it without any shame or blame and allow it to come up again. Allow it to resurface. That’s really the idea of non-resistance. It’s holding space for another’s authentic self holding space for another’s Christ consciousness, if you will, their divine spark, their higher self, whatever you want to call it, holding space for it.

Even if you can’t see it, even if they’re not expressing it, even if it’s not there, if we can hold space for it, then we can allow ourselves to see it when it does appear. Does that make sense? Someone asked me about, you know, the exhibit, the exhibit of, Ramsey and how wonderful it was. And it was very interesting because when we got in there, there was a big monitor and they were displaying the glories of Ramsey and all of the temples that he built, he built, and all of the wealth and prosperity that existed, but he didn’t build them. They were all built by Nubian slaves. And all of his exhibits, all of his tombs and temples were ransacked, and everything was stolen. So there really wasn’t a whole lot there. It was very interesting, it was very intellectual, and I enjoyed it. But the realization of it was, wow, I’m sitting here and I came here to see all those beautiful gold statues, and all of that gold was stolen, and all of the, those statues were built by slaves. Why am I excited to see this?

Unity and Growth 

So I came away with it from the perspective of I’m glad I went because it opened me up to something new. It opened me up to another idea that I had been blind to something that was hidden from me. And don’t get me wrong, I still love – one of my favorite exhibits when I was a little kid, probably 10, my sister took me to see the King Tut exhibit down in Southern California. Amazing. It was incredible what we’ve accomplished, and can we continue to accomplish things where we are, including everyone? Can we grow to the point where we are, including those people on the other side of us that are complaining?

I think that’s the real challenge of our generation. That’s what needs to happen, is that, and here I am, I think I’m shaming people, but I think this is where evolution is growing. I think the evolution of consciousness, consciousness is there. And if we can include all of those who haven’t got there yet as the beloved, then we can get there. If we can imagine these great opportunities for us to change the climate, for example, then we can get there. If we can imagine having an opportunity where we can be in a room and have those feelings of, oh, you know, I’m feeling cramped, I’m feeling stifled, that’s the data, but I’m okay because Spirit is with me. Rain or shine. Now, last night we had an incredible play. Raise your hand if you were here last night. How was it? It was unbelievable. It was, it was, it was truly amazing. It was a powerful play. I dunno, do we have a count of how many were here in the audience? Anybody? 170 people here in the sanctuary? There were 23 amazing actors. You can give them a round of applause. They were amazing. Now, I may be biased. I get you, I may be biased, but I tell you, there were two actors. They were on fire.

Our own Frank d Martini and Paul Cilo were part of the play. Yep, yep. They were amazing. They played two of the justices, the stoic and silent. And they pulled it off perfectly. I was inspired. It was an incredible opportunity for us as a community. And I’d like to thank a few people, just a few who made it happen. Felix, can you put the thank you slide up on the screen? First off, I want to start with Karen Friedman. Karen, would you please stand? Karen was the team lead for this project, and she saw the play in Oakland, I think I don’t know how many months ago. And saw it and said, we have to bring this here. And I said, “that sounds great. Go do it.” And she did. And so the team and I can’t read everyone’s name from up here: Paula, June, Linda, Lynette, Linda and Brenna were the team, and Karen were the team that pulled it together. They were brainstorming how we were gonna do it. And then, you can see all of the names of people who volunteered throughout the project to make this happen. It takes a village. Yes, yes. If you were part of this extraordinary experience, would you please stand, including you, Karen? Yeah. Give him a round of applause. Now stay standing, stay standing. We’re going to bless you. Do you remember our Unity blessings? Everyone, we love you. We bless you. We appreciate you, and we behold the light in you. Thank you so much for your service. I made the slide this morning, and I forgot to put two people’s names on it that I really need to, and that’s Polo Jones, and Felix, who’s in the booth.

So let me tell you, you can go ahead and turn off that slide now. Felix and Polo, we’re a beautiful sanctuary, low-tech. We didn’t have live streaming before the pandemic. Did you remember that? Beautiful sanctuary, low tech, Polo transformed this into a theater that allowed us to have 22, 21 speaking actors all miked and have this experience for us. Now, we’re not the current theater, but we are, it was a powerful experience that he was able to immerse us in, to help us, immerse us in. So thank you Polo, and thank you, Felix, for handling the cameras.

The actors were phenomenal. And they came here from where? Everywhere. They were everywhere. And they came here to do this for us. And they were amazing. Would you say the thing that I just admire, by the way I’ll introduce Dr. Cindy Akron in just a moment…who was the playwright. The words in the play were 100% from the transcripts of the trials. They weren’t all of the words because that would’ve been a play that lasted as long as the trial. But they were so well selected, so well selected to express, in my opinion, the suffering that little black kids had to go through because of segregation, the suffering that their parents had to go through, and wondering if their kids are gonna be safe.

The fact that the relationships between the kids and the families and the neighborhood, right? The rest of the white neighborhood was fine, was wonderful, and yet the kids had to go travel miles away across train tracks to get to their school and to stand out in front of their school, waiting in the snow and the rain for the school to open. When there’s a school just a few blocks away, the actors were able to bring this to life and to really help you feel the suffering and to help you feel that there’s something not right. And it never said, you know, those people are wrong. It just said the law was wrong. The law that was created was wrong. It was a beautiful play that was talked about, that showed that the people had no problem whatsoever in this scenario, in this example. And I’m certain there were protestors along the way of the trial, so I’m, don’t get me wrong, there was a lot of battle around it. But the play was a wonderful play to show what we can do and what still needs to be done. Because if we’re going to live this principle we talk about of oneness, then we need to include everyone.

And I’m not saying it’s easy because, you know, those people are complainers, and sometimes I get a little upset about it. But if we can remember that within them there is the possibility, the potential, the Christ consciousness that I am not seeing, cuz I’m seeing through my own lens, if we can remember that, then we can have a little bit more compassion in the world and we can do the work that’s ours to do.