Center for Spiritual Living Midtown

Einstein at CSL Midtown - Rev. David Barrett

What if Albert Einstein were a guest speaker at CSL Midtown? What would he say? Is our teaching really that different than anything that he has ever said? Did he ever think religion and science were two separate entities? He said, "There is no true science which does not emanate from the mysterious. Every thinking person must be filled with awe and wonder just by looking up at the stars." Come experience just what that 'awe and wonder' is.

A Higher Class of Problems

People who live their life ‘large’ have already demonstrated that they can handle the simpler problems. That’s how they got where they are. As we learn to handle the problems that come up in our life, life doesn't necessarily get easier. It just gets more interesting, more exciting. The more we demonstrate our ability to overcome simpler problems, the more we grow. And the more we grow, the more opportunities we will get to deal with life on a more challenging level. Our level of problems indicates our level of belief in ourselves. And our level of belief in ourselves indicates our level of belief in this power we call God.

How Free Are We in Our Freedom

We celebrate freedom this holiday weekend and it is a great weekend to celebrate. There is a freedom even greater than the celebration of a national freedom, and it is in Universal Freedom. When you truly understand the word “Freedom”, you will no longer feel bound by any person, place, or situation.

How to Control A Control Freak - Rev. Paul Gonyea

It’s true that we need to take control of our life. If we don’t, we end up reacting to everything going on outside of us, which makes us anxious, resentful, frustrated, jealous and unhappy. To make good use of the Power of Life, to use our inner spiritual strength and capabilities, we definitely need to be proactive instead of reactive. But the control we need to exert the most is not a psychological and physical control of external events and circumstances, which is the direction we usually go — it’s the mental and spiritual control of our own ability to choose, which is something very different. It’s the ability to choose those people and things and situations we do or do not want to have in our life, and the ability to decide what we can do about it in our own consciousness, at the level of cause.

Standing In A Powerful Place

We stand in a powerful place this very moment. We stand between Love and Law, we stand between Jachin and Boaz, and we stand between Passover and Shavout…. All meaning the same thing, all of it being said for thousands of years. Let us recognize the powerful place, and activate it.

Standing In A Powerful Place

We stand in a powerful place this very moment. We stand between Love and Law, we stand between Jachin and Boaz, and we stand between Passover and Shavout…. All meaning the same thing, all of it being said for thousands of years. Let us recognize the powerful place, and activate it.

My Ol Man Sez - Rev. Paul Gonyea

We need to recognize that the beliefs we hold about our own abilities, about how smart or dumb we are, how talented or incompetent we are, how attractive or ugly we are, or how lovable or unlovable we are, are learned beliefs. We learn them, for better or worse, by listening to people we admire and respect, people who have a lot of credibility, like our father or our mother. As we’re growing up, as our mind and our personality are developing, we gather beliefs about ourselves and accept those beliefs as the way we really are. That’s why, if your father tells you as a child that you’re not very smart, or if your mother tells you you’re not very pretty, it can take a long time to find out that these are their misguided opinions rather than statements of truth 

Lessons From St. Francis - Rev. Paul Gonyea

The socially acceptable response to those things in this world that some people call “evil” has always been to fight it and to conquer it. When the average non-spiritually-aware person is confronted with hatred, or injury, or doubt or despair or darkness or sadness, they want to do something about it. If someone hates us, we hate them back. If someone injures us, we try and injure them more so they’ll stop. That’s the way humanity has dealt with issues like these for thousands of years. People even justify it “in the name of religion,” or “in the name of God.” Of course, we don’t have to look any further than the Middle East to see how well that approach works. 

Happiness in Tehran - Rev. David Barrett

It’s interesting to see how the Iranian government arrested the group of singers that were singing the song” Happy”. The Truth of the matter is, there is a happiness at the center of our being that cannot be taken away by any religion nor government. At the center of our Being there will always be Joy, Love, Happiness, Abundance, Creativity, and Vitality. Knowing this as our threshold, we shall always strive to know it is there.

Memory Is Looking Backwards - Rev. David Barrett

In honor of Memorial Day, we will reflect on what the holiday means for each of us as American’s, as a community, and individually. More importantly, we will look back at what memorializing in all aspects of our lives both good and bad.