More reflections on SICKO

I imagine that unless you are a beneficiary of the current healthcare system, it's impossible to remain unmoved after watching Michael Moore's SICKO. The main thrust of the movie is that America as the world's most prosperous nation has failed to provide a healthy environment where everyone can continue to produce and benefit the society.

The movie shows that in America, life is OK when you are healthy and greater when you are wealthy and can afford to dole out the thousands of dollars to pay for surgeries and medical emergencies yourself. What SICKO is calling our attention to is that the way the current healthcare system is set up isn't working well for most Americans.

Since the healthcare industry is such a big part of the American economy, and because of its powerful interest groups, it's going to be a daunting task to get beneficiaries of the current system to let go of their stranglehold. "It can't happen in America," I've heard many people say after hearing about or watching SICKO.

I believe that it can happen here in America. Despite the enormous challenge and opposition we must anticipate let's not despair. Let's have hope.

We don't know how it will happen, but if America needs a miracle, let that miracle happen now that Michael Moore has set the ball rolling by generating enormous public awareness about a national malaise. This awareness needs nurturing with hope in our hearts sustained by wisdom of the ages that what we can conceive individually and nationally we can achieve.

Once Americans set their mind on something and decide to solve a problem nothing stands in their way. When this miracle is all done, the healthcare system in America will be one of the top seven in the world, which is America's natural position in international affairs. This is exciting.

Most Americans believe that there's a Higher Power that intervenes in human affairs. This is the time to call upon that Higher Power to bring the positive changes in the healthcare system for the benefit of all concerned under grace in perfect ways.

I don't know how this miracle will occur. What I know is that I’ve peace and the most wonderful feeling in my heart as I dream that every child, man and woman in this great country lives without fear of having to go to see a doctor, and that the healthcare available for every American is as secure as it is in Canada, Britain and France, and better than in poor Cuba.

How long, O God?

How Long, O God?
Out of the depths I have cried unto Thee, O Lord! Lord, hear my voice.
-Psalm 130

Set yourself to rest in this darkness as long as you can, always crying out after him whom you love
-The Cloud of Unknowing

How long, O God,
Will this last?

This yearning
Of the bride for the bridegroom,
This merging of water droplet that I am
Into the boundless ocean that God is,
The fusion of this little
Candlelight of awareness
Into the limitless sunlight
Of the all-pervading consciousness?

How long, O God,
The tearing apart of this blinding
Inner darkness,
The peeling away of what is not?

When shall I see what is
Beyond my own blindfolds
Beyond blindfolds from others
Beyond the cloud of unknowing

To behold the Sun
That never sets
The Divine Light within?

How long, O God,
Will this darkness last?

How long, O God?

Winter 2006

Michael Moore's SICKO and Mother America's Tasteless Healthcare Meals

“If you haven’t tasted the meals other mothers have prepared, you think your mother is the best cook,” says an African proverb. Michael Moore’s movie SICKO shows us how tasteless Mother America’s healthcare meals have been.

Last night (Saturday June 23rd) we were among a packed audience at Seattle's AMC Pacific Place Theatre that watched a sneak preview of Michael Moore's comedy about 47 million unisured Americans with no healthcare in the richest country on Earth and the insured who are denied their benefits when they most need them.

From one horrifying healthcare story to the next, SICKO documents the miserable plight of countless Americans the US government has betrayed to the American Medical Association, health insurance agencies, HMOs and pharmaceutical companies.

Human life, for these powerful businesses and interest groups, appears worthless, and all that seems to matter is the multi-billion-dollar profit they make off the people's suffering, pain and blood. It’s like a hen sucking the yolk out of its own eggs.

SICKO unmasks the glaring hollowness of American economic prosperity, military superiority, and democratic ideals. What's a nation's wealth or worth if it fails to care for its sick children, if it fails to heal its wounded in the line of duty and if it fails to aid its helpless elders, widows and pregnant women?

Is this the America George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and the other founding fathers had in mind? Is this the beacon of democracy, the land of milk and honey, of freedom and justice under God for all?

In SICKO Moore juxtaposes emotionally wrenching scenes with generous and entertaining humor that sow the seeds for an open and honest discussion of the shameful state of America’s healthcare system.

If free universal healthcare is good for Canadians, the French and even Cubans why is it not good for Americans?

With SICKO Moore establishes himself as a master social critic who informs the people and lets them decide.

Since imagination is everything, the next step for the US is to visualize Mother America as the best cook on the block. Visualize universal healthcare for all Americans. Imagine that all the good things about the French and British and Canadian healthcare systems are right here in America, because energy follows thought! Being able to imagine the health care system we desire is the next step toward making this dream a reality.

Visit SICKO web site

Serving others is the answer

I’m not a fan of Thom Hartmann per se but I met him when he came to Seattle last year on a book signing tour. I think he’s a cool guy. Most everything I know about Thom, from the magical stories of Master Stanley and Herr Muller and of the mountain dwellers in South America warning the developed world to change the course of impending doom they are on in The Prophet's Way, to what I know of his radio talk shows on Air America, I learned from my significant other.

I woke up yesterday with a desire to skim, yes, skim Servers of the Divine Plan, a book I bought about a month ago. I had no idea why I had that feeling, but I followed it anyway. I flipped through the pages and what caught my attention was the story of “The Sheep and the Goats” from The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ.

As I read it, I wondered how it would fit into my reflection of yesterday on "What Matters Most." I finished the blog without adding it because it didn’t seem to fit.

My significant other comes back from dropping our son at school. She’s excited and tells me about what she’s just heard on Thom Hartmann’s radio talk show.

Thom had a man on who was talking about growing up a Southern Baptist Christian. He said although Matthew Chapter 25 is a pivotal message of Jesus , his church downplayed that message while growing up. Thom Hartmann and his guest were talking about politics and Christianity and they used the parable of “The Sheep and Goats” to show that ultimately the Christian life is about serving others.

Needless to say I was shocked. I had just finished reading the same passage. I felt as if God was speaking directly to me. What was God telling me? I asked myself.

This passage comes after Jesus and his disciples “were lost in prayer for seven hours” on Mount Olivet. It was a special day because “the curtain had parted” and they stepped “beyond the veil into the secret courts of God.” Because his message of the day was particularly important he whispered and called the hidden name of God. The parable of the “Sheep and Goats” was one of the teachings of that unique moment.

“The curtain had parted” and “the secret courts of God” may mean that Jesus and his disciples entered what is often described as the liminal zone, or the non-local universe, that space where time ceases and distance collapses. They were together in the void, in a state of pure consciousness, in the Kingdom of God.

Throughout that chapter, Jesus repeated more than thrice the need to be prepared: “be ready every moment of the day and night” he told his disciples. When they least expected the coming of the Lord, he would appear.

For me, the “coming of the Lord” means the day I’m called back to God. Jesus said that when that time comes my actions and thoughts will come to scrutiny. What will matter most, then, will be service to the race.

In The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ, The parable says that there will be a judge who will separate the sheep from the goats. The judge will tell the goats: those found unprepared and wanting:
“Your life was full of self; you served the self and not your fellow man, and when you slighted one of these, you slighted and neglected me.”

And those who qualified to be in sheep camp the judge will say, “You served the sons of men, and whatsoever you have done for these, that you have done for me”

This, of course, is a parable. Since I’ve been wrestling with what matters most, it seems to me that here’s another layer, another answer to my struggle. What matters most, then, is service to others. That service must be selfless. It must be with the attitude that I am serving the Creator through them.

I hope that this blog I’m posting here, the work that I do, and my life will be of service to others. Because I desire to be ready and to hear the judge tell me on that day: “You served the sons of men, and whatsoever you have done for these, that you have done for me.”


If you need more information follow these links:

Two Versions of the Parable of the Sheep and Goats
From The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ. Section XVI Chapter 158 verses 33-48

From The Message Matthew 25, 31-46
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2025;&version=31;
Servers of the Divine Plan http://www.thenewcall.org/book_sdp.htm

Rebecca Dawn

What matters most?

I have two friends named Ed: one a UU Minister, the other a religious contemplative, a monk in the world. As I think about their lives and what is going on in our world, I wrestle with the all-important question we all must answer “What matters most in my life?”

As I reflect on Rev. Dr Ed Brock's ministry, the lives of the people around me, the spirit of the age, and my own life, I deal with a nagging question. I hear it when I wake up in the morning. I hear it during the day. I hear it as I go to bed.

"What matters most to you?"

Time is flying. So many sunsets to see, so many bird songs to hear, so many flowers to smell, so much honey to taste, so much to touch and feel.

I work part time in a library. Every day, hundreds of books, DVDs, compact disks, and other media pass through my hands. I barely have time to read even the titles. For someone who grew up in an African village without libraries, someone who loves books, this is like being a child in a candy store--my wildest dream come true.

What I've learned handling this amount of media is that I can't read or watch or listen to everything. Here, too, the nagging question arises: "What matters most to you?"

Last Sunday, a friend, Ed Del Arroyo (the other Ed) took his vows to become a Peace Pilgrims monk. I met Ed three years ago at Seattle University's School of Theology and Ministry. It was at one of our reflection days where seminarians gather to prepare for the coming quarter. He, another student and I formed a triad for the "Shalem process." Ed had been a Benedictine monk, a mental health nurse, a TM practitioner, and had been to India. He came to STM for a graduate degree in theology. For over a year now, Ed and I, with Karen and Deb, two other STM students, have been meeting once a month in each other's homes.

After the ceremonies in what the Right Rev. Father Alan Kemp of the Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch Malabar Rite in Gig Harbor called the cathedral in nature in the middle of pine trees without walls, we had a reception for Ed at Deb's house where we wished him well. We ate and drank and talked. And we asked ourselves: What matters most?

We agreed that connecting with and maintaining a constant communion with our inner selves was the most important task for us and for the world. We said that all our actions should be premeditated and intentional. Without constant union with the Spirit within, our lives are shallow. Next come meeting our basic needs followed by our own service to the world.

I've experienced peace and disquiet simultaneously recently. Peace because all my life, I’ve worked to connect with my inner spirit for guidance and strength. Disquiet comes since there's so much to do to live from this center, to meet basic needs and leave the world a better place.

This disquiet alarms me as I perceive the conundrum of the age. We're the generation most likely to leave this world worse than we found it. We have made the greatest scientific discoveries but we've used these inventions for the most part to deaden the spirit, enslave others and destroy the earth.

What matters most for me, then, is reconnecting with my inner core, and with those who have connected with their inner spirit to create a positive global consciousness to take us out of the nightmare of the age.

Shalem Institute

Seattle University’s School of Theology and Ministry

Peace Pilgrim

The Catholic Apostolic Church of Antioch: Malabar Rite

Environmental Issues

Ed, We wish you the best

In winter 2003, Rev. Dr. Ed Brock asked me to study all information we could find on small groups in churches. He wanted to adapt what was known about small group ministry in other churches to the Edmond Unitarian Universalist Congregation.

After three months of research, I designed a small group ministry model for EUUC. In summer 2003, Rev. Dr. Ed Brock asked me to coordinate the Covenant Groups we were forming. From summer 2003 to fall 2005 I was the Covenant Group Coordinator at EUUC.

We started with three groups and when graduate school work and my part-time work did not permit me to continue doing the work well I handed over twelve groups to Sylvana Rinehart. More than fifty people were active members in these groups that met twice a month. In this tribute, Sylvana describes how Rev Dr Ed Brock worked with her to coordinate small group ministry activities at EUUC.

In the second post, Richard Penny writes about how Rev Dr Ed Brock with assistance from church growth consultant Alice Man helped the church to move from a pastoral size congregation (50 – 150 active members) to a program church (150-350 active members).

Covenant Groups at EUUC
Sylvana Rinehart

In September of 2003, Ed started the Covenant Groups at EUUC because he knew that for the church to grow, new members had to experience a close network of friends within a year of being at the church. It was a good place to mix “old” and “new” people from the church. Ed was attracted to the Covenant Group model and its success in other churches.

He invited the congregation to participate and 15 members attended a workshop at a local UU church and thus the foundation was established.

Then along came our beloved Kwami Nyamidie who did a lot of research on CG and he became the first CG leader.


Over the past 4 years, we have had several cycles of groups. One has been meeting since the early days and I think its success comes from its host, Virginia Miller. She serves wine!

I’ll always remember with fondness our meetings at Ed and Alphise’s home in the evening to go over the model and training of facilitators and co-facilitators. Ed made it a point to be present and to go over Covenant Group ground rules. I will never forget coming back from a trip to Spain & Portugal and still being on jet leg and Ed and Kwami casually naming me the next coordinator because Kwami needed to dedicate all his time to his theological studies. How could I refuse under such persuasive charm?



Ed also encouraged us to hold a workshop at EUUC. He arranged to have the “father” of Covenant Groups in the Unitarian Universalist churches, Rev. Calvin Dame, come out and we had over 15 churches in the Pacific Northwest attend the Covenant Group Jamboree. At the time Covenant Groups didn’t have a budget, and Ed had me attend a meeting of the Puget Sound UU council and request funds. I don’t think it was thanks to my presentation we got funding – I know it was thanks to Ed’s involvement with the group and his power of persuasion that we were able to pay the bills for the Jamboree.



In closing, I think that the Covenant Groups have been a tremendous success at EUUC because Ed has dedicated time and effort to ensure that newcomers and old timers participate in this extended ministry of the church.

I’ll miss the 4x5 cards he hands out to people asking them to be part of a CG saying “want to be part of a CG – call Sylvana ….”

Would all the CG members please stand and join me in thanking Ed for his vision, leadership and participation in the CG...


From pastoral to program church
Richard Penny


I am pleased to have this opportunity to thank and recognize Ed Brock for his seven years of ministry to the church.


The list of specific accomplishments during Ed’s tenure is lengthy, and I know that others have and will say much about all the innovative initiatives that he has led and have resulted in a richer, more vibrant congregational life.


But I want to make a much larger point, and that is that Ed shepherded us through a transition from a pastoral to a program church. This is a huge and difficult transition to make. It involves not only an increase in the quality and variety of its programs, and numerical growth, but redefining the roles of the religious professionals and how we choose to organize ourselves.



Toward the goal of recognizing and successfully managing this transition, Ed organized and found the funding for a series of workshops led by nationally known church consultant Alice Mann about church development. These workshops were attended by our Learning Team and from participants from the entire District.



There are a number of initiatives Ed helped start that are now part of the fabric of our congregation. For example, Ed was an early an avid proponent of giving away our plate offering to causes outside our institutions. This program is now a flourishing and important part of our life as a congregation.



But I wish to end my comments by speaking about Ed’s character as human being. As I believe almost everyone in this group is aware, a few years ago Ed and Alphise decided to adopt children. And so over the span of several years they made two trips to China, returning with the infants Allie and Lilly. For many of us, the decision to have children, made in the early twenties, is done in the context of considerable ignorance of the difficulties involved. But Ed and Alphise adopted children as they approached the age of 50, an age when they were quite worldly wise. No doubt they understood the financial burdens of parenthood and the travails of childrearing. Nonetheless, Ed and Alphise chose to bring these children into their lives and into the lives of our congregation. These speak so loudly about their strength of character, their giving nature and optimism about the future.

On behalf of my family, I want to express our love, our appreciation and our best wishes for Ed, Alphise, Allie and Lilly. And as Ed advances to new roles in the Unitarian Universe, we are confident he will continue to work in wondrous ways. Ed, we wish you the best.

When I think about Rev Ed Brock

I’ve been posting the comments that some members of the Edmonds Unitarian Universalist Church made about Rev Dr. Ed Brock’s seven-year ministry. Tomorrow, I’ll post the comments that the Covenant Groups Coordinator made about Ed’s Leadership. Today, I’m posting the words of the President of the Board of Trustees. Sometime next week, I'll post my comments about the reasons for posting all these comments. I'll attempt to give my comments about the joys and challenges of being a Unitarian Universalist Minister.

“When I think of Rev Ed Brock”
Victor Place
President, EUUC Board of Trustees

When I think about the Reverend Ed Brock there are many things that come to mind.

I see the person Ed; I think about the role that he plays in peoples lives.

I think about the father, the husband, the son, the leader, the brother, the friend, the social activist, the minister, and the student, the man of good words and of good work.

I think about the man who for so many of our Sundays has worked to bring us words to contemplate during our week -- words to impact us, to remind us about being in the river of life; words to inspire us to appreciate, or to encourage us to act.

I think about being connected to what is alive in us.

I think about Ed modeling social activism in Florida during the elections and the search for personal truth in his interest in Non Violent Communication.

I think about a man who this congregation has watched create a family, who we watched become a father, a parent; who many of us could knowingly and warmly watch struggle with the tasks, and bathe in the bliss, of being a new parent. And while Ed was creating his family he also nurtured the life of this congregational family.

This congregation has grown and developed over these seven years with Ed as our minister. As it is in nuclear families, when one person changes or grows it effects the change and growth in the other members, so it is in the life of our church family.

We have, in collaboration with Ed’s leadership, and the will of the congregation, created new programs that reflect our values and principles.

Peace and Justice, Sustainability, Covenant Groups to name a few.

We have made efforts in being a Welcoming Congregation, we are working towards becoming a Green Sanctuary, and we have expanded our giving to our local and world communities. We are investing in our youth and the growth of our congregation.

We have all been moved, or inspired, or challenged, in some way affected by our relationship with Ed and I want to take this time to thank him for his gifts to us.

Religious education, music and summer services

Today, I share two presentations of Rev Dr Ed Brock’s ministry. Faith development of youth and children is one of the cornerstones of Unitarian Universalism. In his seven years' ministry at the Edmonds Unitarian Universalist Church, Rev. Dr. Ed Brock emphasized "helping children make meaning of their experiences." Cathy Liu Scott presents Rev Dr Ed Brock's impact on Religious Education at EUUC.

In the second presentation, Nancy Gladow’s highlights Rev Ed Brock’s contribution to a robust music program and his introduction of summer services.


Helping children make
meaning of their experiences
Cathy Liu Scott

Ed, two years into your ministry here at EUUC, our religious education program entered into a difficult time. The end result of this period of difficulty was that a Director of Religious Education who had been here for several years, and who was well liked by many, decided to leave.


During this time, you provided stability, support and encouragement for our religious education program as we were trying to find our way.


You saw how essential a robust Religious Education program is to the life and future of our congregation. You understood the importance of finding a seasoned professional to help set the tone and stage for a permanent DRE.

Toward that end you sought the highest caliber leadership in the role of interim DRE.

In that first year of search for the right person, you spend much time and effort recruiting Lena Breen, who was both a UU minister and a DRE with a national reputation. In the succeeding year, you spent much time and effort recruiting Lynn Bacon, a DRE with a national reputation, and a wealth of experience, as for years she had led the largest UU religious education program in the country.

Under the guidance of these two women, the quality, tenor, and size of religious education programs grew. The teen program was strengthened, a new Coming of Age program was launched, teacher recruitment was strengthened, and the quality of the entire program increased and broadened in different ways. You encouraged both Lena and Lynn to become an integral part of our worship services.

In these and other ways you have helped us see the role and potential of DREs in new ways. And this has led to results. Laura McNaughton has carried forward the new standard of excellence. And now, for the first time in the history of this church, we have begun a search for a new full time DRE.

Ed, thank you for playing your part in the development of the religious education program of EUUC, both what has been and what is yet to be.




Music, summer services and
empowering members
Nancy Gladow

I will begin by reflecting on two quite different ways Ed has influenced our congregation’s life.


Recognizing how important music is to worship, Ed worked with the Music Committee and the board over a period of several years to create a position of music director, a broader position than choir director; and to give the role both more hours, and a much broader scope. As a consequence we have had a music program that, as you see this morning, has grown in depth, breadth, and quality over the years. Some of the changes have been adding a children’s choir, opportunities for youth group members to perform, bringing in special guest musicians, and of course the pleasure of hearing our regular choir perform, regardless of what service we choose to attend.

Recognizing the need that some members of the congregation have to get together in the summer, Ed got us started having summer services for the first time in the history of the church. In the first and second year of their development Ed planned the services and John Park carried them out. Many members now look forward to the summer services as a chance to consider a broad range of topics in an informal atmosphere that provides ample room for discussion. This addition to our congregation’s life, has greatly enriched our community.

While today’s reflections will focus on how Ed has affected our congregation, it is important to remember that anything that happens needs many hands. Although Ed helped birth many programs and activities, he was also very good at finding people within the amazing pool of talent within the membership of EUUC with just the right skills to take them over. It is only through a partnering of a minister with members of the congregation that positive changes are sustained. Now, although Ed is leaving for other endeavors, these programs live on.

Thank you, Ed.

A voice to tell us what we need to hear

Rev. Dr. Ed Brock is a Unitarian Universalist minister. Unitarian Universalists believe in the inherent worth of each person and the interconnected web of all life. Unitarian Universalists have shaped the course of justice in America and in the world in the tradition of inspiring ministers such as Theodore Parker who said in a sermon, "The arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

Sunday 10 June 2007 was the last day of Rev. Dr. Ed Brock as minister of the Edmonds Unitarian Universalist congregation. At that service, seven people spoke about Ed's ministry. On Monday, I posted my remarks. In this second installment, I share with you the email that John Tucker of the Peace and Justice committee wrote to Ed. John read this at the service and has granted me permission to share it.



Dear Ed:

I appreciate what you have done to bring the Edmonds Unitarian Universalist Church along the path from a pastoral church to a programchurch.

I appreciate the spiritual help with which you graced me and my family.

I appreciate the support that you gave to the formation of the Peace andJustice Committee.

I appreciate the fact that you took a stand against the invasion of Iraqand the diversion of focus away from the forces that attacked us on 9/11. That was in October 2002, five months before the invasion. You warned of "…urban battle in the streets of Baghdad with thousands of civilian casualties."

I appreciate the boldness with which you denounced the use of torture and extraordinary rendition by the United States.

I appreciate that you spoke out against the erosion of liberty in thiscountry, evidenced by the illegal detention of people, the denial of theright of habeas corpus, the assault on the Constitution, and the spying on US citizens.

Some of your sermons were not appreciated by the entire congregation. Some members even called them unpatriotic. While the sermons were not nationalistic, they were the height of patriotism. There is a world of difference between nationalism and patriotism.
With the wisdom of hindsight, it is easy for us to see that you were right, but you had the foresight and moral courage to speak out at a crucial time.

I will miss you on Sundays, but I hope to hear your voice in other venues, telling us the things that we need to hear.

John Tucker, Peace and Justice Committee

To read a selection of Rev. Dr. Ed Brock's sermons, follow this link : http://www.euuc.org/ministerspage/sermons.htm

A Dad's Final Words

I met Dan at a restaurant. We talked about his father, a World War II veteran, who appeared in a movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor. Dan's father said that his son needed to be strong so he turned the house into a prison camp. His father was the torturer and Dan was the prisoner. He believed that to survive any war, Dan needed to prepare for it. Torturing him was that preparation. When Dan's dad was about to die, here's what he said.

"Dan, I've been hard on you. I’ve caused you much pain. I don't want you to remember that about me.
"You've always asked me to go fishing with you. When you were young, we only went fishing together only once. That day you caught a fish. I saw the delight in your eyes. I was so proud of you. You made me happy.
"My son, when you think of me, forget the pain I caused you. Remember that day you and I went fishing together."
Then he passed away.

Farewell, Ed and Alphise

Sunday, 10 June 2007, was the last Sunday of the church year at Edmonds Unitarian Universalist Congregation. It was also Rev. Dr. Edward Brock's last day in the pulpit, ending his seven years as minister of this 330-member- liberal religious community.
"I believe...that my time for leadership here has passed. There is a need for new energy and talent to lead this wonderful congregation to even greater heights of achievement and service," Rev. Dr. Ed Brock wrote in a letter of 18 May 2007 he sent to Members and Friends of EUUC.
At the parting service, I was among seven people who spoke about Rev. Ed. Brock's legacy. Here's the full text of my talk.

Farewell, Alphise and Rev Dr. Ed Brock
Kwami E. Nyamidie

I was born in Togo, West Africa, a land far away....For someone from far away, it is important to find a welcoming community...

I found my community at this church...Being involved in this church changed my life. I came here through Alphise and you, and met Bruce, and one thing led to the other. I went to seminary and graduate school.

Now I am on my own course of ministry; my choices include becoming a minister or DRE. I have chosen a path that seems genuine to me, the work of spiritual direction. I am now building my spiritual direction practice.

One of our hymns speaks of how our community of faith gives us roots and wings. Roots ground us in what is firm and sure, and wings give us freedom. You have helped in giving me roots that ground my being; I am now preparing to take wing to rise as the spirit of life guides me.

Someone has said that we all have different needs at different stages of our lives. For me, this church, and you, Ed, have helped me make important decisions at a critical point in my life. For that I am deeply grateful.

Through this church and you, Ed, I have built relationships with some people here that will last a lifetime. For that also, I am deeply grateful.

As this congregation looks to its future, may you build a "community that nurtures spiritual growth, celebrates the interdependence of all life, and works to bring justice and compassion into every dimension of the lives of its members."

Ed, as you venture into your future, may you experience constant enrichment of your life and ministry.

Here is link to the sermons of Rev. Dr Ed Brock

On keeping new members

Visitors decide whether or not to stay in groups, organizations and religious communities by asking the following questions: “Will you remember my name? Will you accept me as I am? Will you listen to me? Will you care?”
Mind you, potential members don't ask these questions openly.
Established members would like to answer: “Of course, we will remember your name. Of course, we will accept you as you are. Of course, we will listen to you. Of course, we will care.”
But our visitors who never return are those who know what our answers were. Members of the group didn't remember their names. They didn't accept them as they were. They didn't listen to them. And they didn't care.

Rereading Croiset the Clairvoyant

I'm rereading the 1964 edition of J. H. Pollack's paperback on Gerard Croiset (1909 – 1980), who showed unusual psychic powers. "The Man Who Mystifies Europe" used his gifts to find missing objects, documents and people, repair machinery, and heal the sick, solve crimes. "The Dutchman with the X-Ray Mind" was one of the earliest "guinea pigs" of parapsychology and was the subject of Professor Tenhaeff at the University of Utrecht.

It's humbling to read what "the Miracle Man from Holland" did. It's more puzzling that some people are still so vehemently opposed to discussions and even mention of the things that Croiset and people like him have lived and died for. Totally baffling.

As I reread the life story of the man with the radar brain, an ordinary event in his life spoke most to me. It was in 1958. He was flying from Milan, Italy, to the Schipol Airport in Amsterdam. A heavy fog forced his plane to land in Brussels, Belgium. When the news of the landing was announced, "The Wizard of Utrecht" burst into a hearty laughter. The Dutch woman passenger sitting next him looked at him as if he were crazy.

"Why am I laughing?" Croiset asked the woman. "Here I am, the great Croiset, and I couldn't see that we wouldn't be able to land in Amsterdam!"

The author comments: "This ability to laugh at his own antics and to freely admit it when he is wrong are perhaps Croiset's most endearing qualities."

I'm still working on that.

Message from the other side

I met a young man today who told me that his mother had died ten months ago. Dan had asked his Mom to send him a sign if there's an afterlife. Here's Dan's story.

When Mom was getting ready to die, I had this conversation with her.

"Mom, I've had two near death experiences. You know the stories. The first one happened when I was 18. While playing football, I fell face down and was seriously injured. I saw my body lying on the field. The next thing I saw was my going through a spinning tunnel at the end of which a man in glowing white light took me through a door into a beautiful cave. He told me to go back to this physical plane to let people know that we should respect Mother Earth and all living things. You remember I told you this story after the accident, Mom?"
"Yes," she nodded.
"The second near death experience I had was when a Cadillac hit my car when I was coming back from the bank. Again I saw myself outside of my body. The man in white light who had taken me into the cave the first time appeared to me again and asked me what I was doing about the message he had given me. I said I was doing nothing with it. He then said I should return to my body and accomplish my life's mission."
I looked into Mom's eyes.
"Mom, sometimes it feels as if I've made these stories up. I'd really appreciate it if you could find a way to confirm to me that there's life after death when you're gone. That what I saw was true."
"How can I do that? Maybe there's no way to contact you when I'm gone."
"Do something extraordinary that will prove to me that you're alive in a different form on the other side."
After some brainstorming, Mom and I agreed that she would find a way to repeatedly turn the electricity off and on.
When the time came, my son was holding one of Mom's arms and I was holding the other.
"I said, Mom, if you need our permission to go, it's ok to go whenever you're ready. You're going to meet Grandpa and Grandma and your daughter who left us earlier. She might even come to escort you."
Mom's face beamed with a broad smile. She gazed into the ceiling as if she was looking at someone coming towards her. All of a sudden, my son and I saw her chest rise as if it was being inflated. When it lowered, she was gone. We felt a loosening of her hands in our palms.
"Oh my God,” my son exclaimed.
Mom died in the middle of November last year.
One May evening we were out on the other end of our farm getting ready for a barbecue with friends. From a distance we saw houses shining with interior light. Then my son said, "Look, Dad," as he pointed to our house about a mile away.
At first I didn't see anything. Then as I looked closer, I saw a dark cloud moving into the house. As it hovered over the house, the lights went off while every other house around still had electricity. There was nobody in the house.
The lights came back on again. Then off. And the dark cloud melted into the night.
A few days later I remembered what Mom and I had discussed.
Was it Mom coming to let me know that there's life on the other side of the curtain?

Creating a world of magic through thinking and feeling

Thoughts are things. Strongly visualizing an event or object we desire tends to make changes happen or show up in our lives.

Sasha lived in Puschino, a small historic town with a population of 20,000. During a fierce dog and cat fight, a dog attacked Sasha, the Russian teenager when she tried desperately to rescue her cat.

The dog's sharp teeth and claws bored deep wounds into her right arm. Sasha's arm was swollen to her shoulder. She had been hospitalized for more than a week now. Her arm worsened. She couldn’t move her swollen fingers. Her hand turned blue, her arm-pit black blue, and dark patches covered her swollen arm.

The doctors in this small town noted for its scientific research discovered that she had blood poisoning. The doctors scheduled Sasha for surgery and possible amputation.
Sasha didn’t want her arms amputated.

In the second week in the hospital, Michael, a teenage friend and college student in Moscow traveled 75 miles home to visit her parents. He heard about what had happened to Sasha. He brought her three roses in the hospital. One of the roses was fiery red, the other had red and pink and the third was dark red. She loved roses; the beauty of these roses struck her in an unusual way. Was it because she secretly admired Michael? Sasha saw the perfection in the roses. Was she transferring her love for Michael to the flowers?

Sasha’s eyes were full of tears as she wanted the the same perfection in the roses to manifest itself in her. Throughout the evening until early dawn, she cuddled with the roses, kissing them, playing with the leaves and petals, loving them for what they were as well as what they symbolized. She felt deep peace and release. She became one with the roses.

When the nurses and the doctor came by in the morning to get her ready for surgery or possible amputation, they couldn't believe their eyes. Alexandra's arms took a turn for the better. The swelling had diminished. The wounds were healing and the color of her skin changed from dark blue to her normal skin. Roses marked a turning point in her healing. Sasha’s arm was not amputated.

Ten years later, Michael became a scientist and married Sasha, who became a teacher. The couple moved to the US, where Michael is a research scientist and Sasha works with children and volunteers with non-profit organizations in the Seattle area where they now live with their two children.

The power of the mind over the body and our circumstances may not be as dramatic for everyone as it was for Sasha. But the story points to the mysterious power of thought when it is energized with deep desire.

If thought is fire, then events and situations and all visible things are the smoke that that fire creates. Just as there's no smoke without a fire, there are no events, or circumstances in our lives without the thoughts that generated them in the first place. Strong consistent feelings are fuels that convert focused intention into physical realities.

When we act as if we know or believe or even suspect that what we think matches what we live, we are able to consciously trigger forces that bring about synchronicities and the miraculous in our lives.

Yet, the effects of thoughts on everything we do in our lives holds true for everyone whether we know it or not. In other words, even if we are unaware of the workings of this mysterious force, the process still works. I wonder if Sasha knew that contemplating the roses could contribute to her healing. It was something she did naturally. And I wonder if Michael brought the roses to heal Sasha.

We're the results of our thoughts and the compelling thoughts of others around us. In this story, Michael's thought was expressed as love for Sasha through the roses. We live in an interconnected thought field. Our thoughts flow through this field drawing what is similar to us and repelling away what is contrary to our usual thought patterns.

All manifesting techniques — prayer, treasure mapping, mental treatments, to name a few examples — have their basis in this uncanny understanding: Thoughts are things. When we have a handle on what happens in our mental workshop, we are able to gain a larger measure of control over what happens in our outer world.

Waking Up Together With Pachamama Alliance

"He who goes to the river alone, gets eaten," says an African proverb. In The Fire from Within don Juan tells Carlos Castenada about the cost to an individual whose dreambody gazes alone at the Eagle's emanations, the fluid in eternal motion behind all that is.

"Seers who gazed at the Eagle's emanations without their dreambodies died, and those who gazed at them with their dreaming bodies burned with the fire within. The new seers solved the problem by seeing in teams. While one seer gazed at the emanations, others stood by ready to end the seeing."

There's much talk today about global awakening. New Age groups and religious organizations are talking about waking up from our sleep. Scientists are uncovering greater mysteries of matter. One such discoveries is non-locality, the concept that at the subatomic level time and distance as we know them are inexistent. Ready or not events are calling us to challenge our assumptions and to wake up to new paradigms of reality.

Waking up involves a lot of dedication, understanding, and compassion for ourselves. But it also involves working in a group with others.

This Saturday, June 9, in Seattle, WA., Mill Valley, CA. and Arlington, VA., the Pachamama Alliance will be organizing a symposium called Awakening the Dreamer. This will be a great opportunity to meet and work with others who are also waking up from their dreams.

Visit the Pachamama Alliance http://www.pachamama.org/
For additional information about the symposium in Seattle visit: http://www.forthegrandchildren.org.

Visitations and learning from the least

Sun Lady has been hospitalized since Sunday. She had surgery. I visited her this morning. She's doing fine. But she says, "I can't go for a race now."
I said, "You've done some amazing things, like climbing Machu Picchu, Peru." She smiled.
Yesterday, a friend asked me what I thought about the earthworm as my totem.

I said, "No, not the earthworm. Too yucky."
Then my friend said, well, let's find out what an earthworm totem might mean.
As a totem the earthworm symbolizes regeneration, renewal, survival and rebirth. I said to myself, "I'm all for regeneration, renewal, survival and rebirth. Do I need to do anything to make the earthworm my totem?"

Your Health, Holograms and an Earthworm in a Plastic Jar

A friend and I were talking about the holographic universe yesterday. I said to her that the earthworm was an example of holography. The earthworm demonstrates the holographic principle of the "whole in every part." When you cut an earthworm into pieces each piece becomes a whole earthworm.

Just in case you need to refresh your concept of a hologram, here’s a quote from Michael Talbot's book The Holographic Universe:

"In the movie Star Wars, Luke Skywalker's adventure begins when a beam of light shoots out of the robot Artoo Detoo and projects a miniature three-dimensional image of Princess Leia. Luke watches spellbound as the ghostly sculpture of light begs for someone named Obi-wan Kenobi to come to her assistance. The image is a hologram, a three-dimensional picture made with the aid of a laser, and the technological magic required to make such images is remarkable. But what is even more astounding is that some scientists are beginning to believe the universe itself is a kind of giant hologram, a splendidly detailed illusion no more or less real than the image of Princess Leia that starts Luke on his quest.

Put another way, there is evidence to suggest that our world and everything in it -- from snowflakes to maple trees to falling stars and spinning electrons -- are also only ghostly images, projections from a level of reality so beyond our own it is literally beyond both space and time."

When I came back home yesterday, I learned that my fiancée and her eight-year son visited a friend who had a big yard with a stream. The boy found an earthworm which he brought home. They showed me the earthworm in a plastic jar. At first, I was unhappy that he brought the earthworm home because the earthworm was taken from its habitat and it's probably going to die. I hadn't reflected on my day. Also, I was thinking of my good friend who was going through appendicitis that night.

This morning, as I reflected on yesterday's event, I saw the synchronistic link between my observation during the day and the live earthworm at home.

When I was using the earthworm as an example of holography, I was a bit uncomfortable. I didn't know what scientists would say about it. I haven't read anything linking holography to earthworms.

Then I did a search on the Internet. After reading the Norwegian medical doctor Vilhelm Schjelderup's article "ECIWO Biology Institute of Shandong University: The Living Organism as a Biocybernetic Unity," everything made sense to me. ECIWO means Embryo Containing Information in the Whole Organism and is a new branch of biology founded by Professor Yinqing Zhang of Shandong.

The article describes the biological implications of the holographic universe and its application to acupuncture and other complementary alternative medicines.

I feel comfortable now about the analogy and I am grateful to my step-son for bringing home the earthworm to open my mind to the biological and medical applications of holography.

Read the article here: http://www.eciwo.sdu.edu.cn/h01.html

The Double Awakening

Sunrise here wakes the Pacific Northwest --and me. The sky is blue and clear. The heralding songs of the early birds are silent now and the night's darkness is gone.

Awake, I'm awake.

As I bask in the coolness of the morning breeze, I know it's afternoon in London, sunset in Addis Ababa, midnight in Sidney and dawn of another day in Vladivostok. While others are awake, some are sleeping. It all depends on where you are.

This interplay of light and darkness, wakefulness and sleep, brings to mind Old Father Raven, the extraordinary bird whose life animates all that is. As the Alaskan myth goes, Old Father Raven hid in darkness and one day woke up all by himself. He discovered who he was. He awoke into self-awareness.

But waking from the sleep of darkness does not always happen spontaneously. In the “Hymn of the Pearl,” we read that a King sent his young prince to Egypt to bring home a pearl that a wild serpent guarded. The Egyptians attacked him, took his possessions and drugged him to sleep. Through his psychic powers, the King knew from far away what was happening to his son. The King's wise men wrote a letter that they delivered to the prince in his dream. He read it. He woke up. He overcame the serpent and brought the Pearl back home. The King honored him.

As I wake up with sunrise this morning, it occurred to me that there’s another way to wake up. I desire to wake up spontaneously like Old Father Raven. Or maybe like the prince, there’s a letter being sent me by the King’s wise men in the events of my life. I desire to wake up from my long sleep, ready to bring home the Pearl at such a time of great awakening like this.

Joys and sorrows of living

We spent the first part of our day going over the goals we set for our family at the beginning of the New Year. Again, we're filled with gratitude for what we've accomplished but struck by so many things we've left undone.

Above all, I’m full of awe about the unexpected events happening in our lives and the lives of those around us: Friends have moved out of state. Some have quit their jobs and others have gone into new professions. A couple has become pregnant just before the husband's vasectomy. Some are recovering from surgeries. I've made new friends through unbelievable synchronicities.

In the later part of the day, I heard about a friend who is going through a lot of trouble away from home. It felt as though she was being swept over by waves and was drowning in the middle of a tempestuous sea. Because the problem she was going through was complex, there was nothing I could do but say a prayer with friends for her.

My eyes opened once more to the pain and suffering in the world. The millions of hungry children, the fate of countless homeless men and women, the neglected elders and terminally ill dying away from the gaze of the world, the many people dying of curable disease and the millions killed in unnecessary wars.

The sun is setting now this beautiful Pacific Northwest day and my heart is torn between the joys and sorrows of life around me.

June Goal Tracking: Revisiting Our New Year Plans for 2007

June is here. Five months ago, many Americans greeted the New Year with ambitious goals and high expectations. Because we're almost half way through the year, this month is a natural for reviewing the goals we set and the plans we made at the beginning of the year.

Our family began 2007 with gratitude. We listed all we were thankful for: new car, new job, parties, fun trips, our friends and relationships. Getting to Bill Clinton and Thom Hartmann at Benaroya Hall. The "thank you" list was long. Our lives have been enriched.

Then we set our family and personal goals for the New Year – we looked closely at entertainment, home improvement, immediate and extended family, friends, work and school, health and fitness, and spirituality. We also had a category called other goals.

I have dug out of my paper piles my four-page "Goals for 2007." This June, we'll go over them. We'll celebrate our victories, discover what we are neglecting and attempt to get back on the right track. We'll adapt or discard goals that no longer serve us. Above all, we'll review all that we are grateful for.