Center for Spiritual Living Midtown

SOM Basics Talk IV -The Living Spirit of Life- Reverend Paul Gonyea

"It's important to remember that just knowing these principles, as powerful and exciting as they are, doesn't change anything in the world around us. Of course, it’s an important first step. It changes the way we look at the world, which is definitely a good thing. But to be really effective in changing our life experience, this knowledge has to be put to good use. If we can’t figure out how to use what we have learned, to get this Power to do what it does, so we can create a better life for ourselves and a better world for everybody, everywhere, from here on out, then there isn't much point in wasting our time learning about it."  

SOM Basics III - Seeing the God in the World Reverend Paul Gonyea

"This teaching, this philosophy, this way of seeing the world, is not about fixing problems....it’s about seeing new and greater possibilities that already exist, and then putting them into place. This Power really has too much sense to try and fix something that isn’t working. That’s the nice thing about being a Perfect Intelligence; it's smart enough not to waste time on stupid things. God never wastes time. It simply goes about doing what it does, which is creating all things new."  

SOM Basics II - SEEING THE GOD IN US | Rev. Paul Gonyea

"Spiritually, we are all perfect. But spiritual perfection doesn’t mean that we don’t make mistakes. It means that we can consciously use our god-given intelligence to learn from our mistakes and not to repeat them. Emerson said, “We lie in the lap of immense intelligence and are organs of Its activity and receivers of its truth.” That means we aren’t helpless tools, or mindless instruments following God's orders; we are ORGANS of its activity. We carry out the business of creation by using the same Mind that created everything. In fact, this Divine Intelligence is NOT just something we use, it is NOT just something we have; it is what we are."  

SOM Basics I - A Better Kind of God- Rev. Paul Gonyea

"The Truth is, this Power can only do for us what we allow it to do. And what we allow it to do is limited by what we believe it can do, and what we believe we deserve. In other words, if our idea of God is limited, like the image we believed in as children, then our life will also be limited, because the life we live can never be greater than the kind of God we believe in. However, if we believe that God is Infinite Mind --- if we believe that It is Life, Love, Light, Peace, Power, Beauty and Joy, and if we believe that it is Pure Consciousness, endlessly evolving in the world IN, AS, and THROUGH us --- that gives us a whole lot more room to grow."

2014 is a Controllable Thing- Rev. David Barrett

Janus is the Roman God that is two-faced, one face looking backwards, and one looking forward. January is named after this God. To look back at the prior year, a time to tie up loose ends, and be grateful for ALL that transpired in 2013. And to look forward, not in anticipation, but in expectancy, in the knowing that 2014 doesn't happen to us... that we actually happen to 2014.

What Child Is This? - Rev. Paul Gonyea

"The Christmas story about a child, born  into a dangerous and inhospitable world, should show us that there is always a seed of hope, a spark of joy, being born inside of us, ready to grow into something that will change our life. It can come to us even when our world seems to be falling apart. Metaphysically speaking, this child, the Christ child, is not the Messiah, at least not in the physical sense of the word. Instead, it is a Divine Idea; it is a newborn spiritual consciousness that's perfectly capable of saving us, not from original sin, but saving us from the consciousness of limitation that

the world tries to impose upon us from the day we are born." 

How Far Away is Christmas Island? Rev. David Barrett

For some refugees, it is 200 miles from the island of Java to Christmas Island, an island of refuge of Australia for those being persecuted for religious reasons. Thousands of people are risking their lives for this freedom. So 200 miles stands between them and their freedom, but some of us have shorter distances between where we are now and our sense our freedom lies. Some have a distance keeping them from their 'freedom', some have time keeping them from 'freedom', some have people keeping them from their 'freedom'. But we know something greater, we know the distance to freedom and it is a lot shorter distance than you think. We'll find what that 'distance' is on Sunday.

Shop 'til You Drop | Rev. Paul Gonyea

"Every day we go out into the world under the assumption that we have only a certain amount of time, energy and money to spend on things that will make our life better. Meanwhile, there are people everywhere who are doing work they love, enjoying a satisfying relationship, living in a healthy body, with all the money they need to do the things they love to do. Every one of them was born into the same world we were. They all have exactly the same amount of time that we have: 1440 minutes every day --- use it or lose it. Their body was originally designed to work the same as ours, maybe with a few minor exceptions. And their prosperity comes, not from their job or their parents, but from their beliefs about themselves and the world they live in, which --- once again --- is the same world we live in. So what's the difference between us and them? They're just smarter shoppers, that's all."

A Pilgrim walks into a Synagogue... | rev, David barrett

It is a rare weekend when the Thanksgiving weekend and the Hanukkah celebration fall on the same weekend so we will not only look at the historical significance of both celebrations, but also too, look at their spiritual implications. Then we will take that information and apply what it means to US, our personal lives, on this Thanksgiving Weekend /Hanukkah week of 2013.

Always the Last Leaf to Fall - Rev. David Barrett

As we going into this season of change, we realize that our entire lives are about change and it seems like there are three ways to approach it: 1) Be the first leaf to fall and follow the mood of the minute; 2) Be the leaf to fall in the middle of Fall when all the other leaves seem to fall; or 3) Be the last leaf to fall, holding on for not wanting to change. None of these are good nor bad, but there is a 

deeper choice, a deeper knowing when the right time is to make a

change.