Darkness descending (11.30.14)

Good morning. Happy Sunday!


Do we live in love or fear? Do we live in separatism or in unity? Do we value people or stuff? Is it our ego or our higher self that guides us? Something to consider as we spend more cold days inside, hopefully taking some time to meditate on who we are.


There is an air of desperation descending over the planet like a soft, dark cloak. I feel it in subtle ways as I interact with individuals and realize that nothing can come between people and protecting their own. Evolutionarily speaking, that is perfectly normal as we tend to subconsciously strive to do anything possible to get our DNA into the future. People appear to be in the process of forming clans or tribes, which in fact may be the only way to survive the coming dark times. This is, however, going against the norms of socialization that has been the predominant way of life at least in the United States for the past 60 or so years. The celebrated nuclear family is falling apart in many cases and giving way to people who either spend their lives primarily alone or people who create new "families" through friendship and extended family relations.

It may very well be these extended groups of close knit people that will be able to work together in survival mode as the economic collapse continues. This is great, and if these tribes could then work with other tribes in a system of reciprocity, we might just make it (if the earth doesn't heat up enough to kill all life).

But what happens when you don't find your tribe? What happens if your clan is more about hate than love? There is a lot of isolation and separatism happening in the modern world. Why?

Our country is dividing along racial lines over the Ferguson issue. (Maybe this line has always been there.) Or perhaps the dividing line is cops versus the rest of the public. There is no doubt (except to those who identify with the police) that the militarization of the police and the incidents of police brutality, which are on the rise, is creating a chasm of division in our culture that is resulting in violent outbursts of fear and righteousness.

This fear is causing people to arm themselves against each other, against opposite ideas. Everyone seems to need a gun to protect themselves from the "others."

There is also a division of the have and have nots. And that division is getting larger. There is certainly a small portion of our world that has most of the money, and in fact, they influence and "control" most everything else, including the militarized police.

But, that attitude, trickles down into the rest of the world, where people still believe that if they acquire more, they will somehow be able to reach the levels of power and respect they see those with the money have. It is subtle. And most people would deny that they participate in this mindset. Some people in fact have stepped out of this system to live with independent ideas (Buddhist monks for example), but this is not the norm or the thinking of the mainstream. So, you have something I don't, and perhaps I want that thing too (let's use the common example of food), but you are only going to share a little, or none, because you have to protect your own. You begin to defend your food with violent means (guns) if necessary, and hoard more and more to make sure you and your "clan" survive as the world gets crazier and crazier. After all, why should you share?

Those who have a little bit more than those who don't start judging those without as being lazy and worthless and.... Meanwhile, those who don't have start judging those who do as being selfish and greedy and....

The division grows. The anger grows. The violence grows.

This is what our country, the United States of America is coming to. We have a lot of corrupt systems who are mostly for profit. Violence is a means to an end. The government we trust to help those without is also so corrupt that, in fact, they have turned into for profit entities funded by the higher ups (the 1%) who control them. There are quotas with dollar values placed on certain people, although these organizations would be quick to deny such. Think prison or human services child protective agencies. And some of those people get killed as a result of being forced, perhaps violently, into these systems designed to make our society a better place.

The division grows.

Some people have accused me of being angry, of my energy changing, and I agree that this has indeed occurred as the holidays set in. It happens every year as I see people step outside of themselves in the name of consumerist holidays to shop and shop, regardless of their own personal impact on the planet, or humanity as a whole. Because it comes back to the "clan" or taking care of our own. And violence seems to be the norm as people defend their right to defend. I feel a lot of frustration as I watch these divisions grow.

Unfortunately, we have to look at the bigger picture here, which most people are too blinded by the pretty lights and chasing of things to even notice.

All lives do matter, regardless of age, race, gender, economic worth, or whatever other divisions we have come up with to keep humanity separated. The isolation must end. We must unite as One.

The dark times are upon us now. Not only as we suffer through short, cold days, but as we look around us and see what humanity has come to. There are many divisions among the people, and they are growing.

There is fear, which most people are living in, and there is love, which most people aspire to but can't quite shed the fear enough to get there. I am no different. I struggle on a daily basis to remember that all people are a part to the Whole, that all people are a reflection of me. This mundane life I live does not lead itself to being spiritually aware all of the time. Ego exists and ego thrives on separation and fear.

As I try to protect my children from the insanity around me, at the same time I know it is futile. As I try to find my tribe of like minded people, I realize without global cooperation it is a lost cause. We will never be able to overcome the fear of the masses. This is the dark shadow that is settling around our Mother Earth like a second skin. It is this fear that will destroy us and the planet we live on. Fear.

So, as we struggle through another year of consumerist driven holidays, let us try to remember that we are more than the ego, more than our stuff, more than a human. We are spiritual beings, and when we release our ego driven fear, we just might recognize the spirit within that other person, even that misguided human who stands before us with a gun, so possessed by their own fear, that they are willing to kill us. Inside somewhere is the spirit that is a part of us. We are all One. Some of us just can't see it yet.

I renounce the fear. Every single day, I begin again, because it is a spiritual journey, and as I step away from fear and ego, my heart opens a little bit more and is able to express love out into the world. It is love that heals individual souls and will ultimately heal the planet. Love. We have to let go of the fear, in spite of the cruelty of individuals and the cruelty of groups. We have to learn to love. As a HUMAN RACE we have to make love our source of energy and our exchange. Love is the answer.

Love to all.

~Rev. Kerry

What are we willing to give up? (11.16.14)

Good morning. Happy Sunday.

When our emotions run rampant, we have an opportunity to learn from them, and from ourselves.

We can use emotional moments to discover who we really are and our reactions to others tell us a lot.

Can we stand firm in our belief systems and embrace our own truths while being attacked by those who disagree?

What is it that really matters?

I personally believe in making the world a better place, and that includes promoting peace and peaceful living as well as healing and living in harmony with our Mother Earth.

I'd like to think most people agree, but when it comes right down to it, do people really want to give 110% to create a sustainable world?

What are we willing to give up to make the world a better place? Does that fit within our current belief systems, and if not, are we willing to change our beliefs or adopt a new system? Are we willing to accept a new paradigm? Things have to change drastically if humanity is to survive. We have to make personal sacrifices or at the very least make personal choices that result in more sustainable and peaceful living.

Are our actions living up to the standard of our beliefs? In addition to talking the talk, do we walk the walk?

How can we do anything but our very best in striving to create the best life, the best legacy to leave to our children?

Perhaps it is not time for society to embrace the necessary steps to save the Earth. Perhaps we as a species are finished and nothing anyone can do or say will matter one way or another. (Not even my personal rants against consumerism and weapons.)

It is ironic how angry people get when you suggest they abandon the beliefs that are causing world destruction. It is not that I intend to offend, just suggest that these belief systems are a major part of the problem as far as our planet survivability is concerned.

Why are people not getting angry about the destruction of the air, the water, the poisoning of the food? Why are people not getting angry about being the puppets of the corporatocracy, brainwashed to consume more and buy, buy, buy all in the name of so called holidays?

Why are people not getting angry where it really matters? Why is it that discussing gun ownership brings people to violent reactions? Makes me wonder if the weapon ownership is a result of underlying violence anyway. How does a person claim to be a person of peace while fighting so hard for the ownership of weapons?

As a culture, as a people, who are we? Who are we that we would choose to defend our rights to have weapons instead of laying down those weapons in a unified stand for peace?

Who are we that we would tell ourselves that we love our planet, that we care, as we continue to travel the world on our vacations, as we continue to consume at an alarming rate, as we continue to build unsustainably, as we continue to drive our gas eating machines around...all in the name of progress.

I'm not buying it. The hypocrisy is overwhelming.

If we expect to live beyond the year of 2050 (which is now a conservative estimate of when the planet will no longer sustain human life) we have to do better than this.

We can't continue killing each other for resources. We can't continue to use these resources as if they never end. We have to keep carbon in the ground if we are to have any kind of chance for future survival. In order to do that it becomes necessary to give up the consumerist life, but also the consumerist attitude. It becomes necessary to view one another as a part of ourselves, to lay down our weapons and instead embrace each other with compassion and love.

If we are not willing to take the steps, we must at least admit we are choosing to be a part of the destruction of humanity and the destruction of our home planet.

It may become necessary to take a stand...people or profit? Humanity or consumerism? Earth first or ego first?

Which side are you on? What are you willing to do to make a real difference?

Love to all.

~Rev. Kerry

Competition (11.9.14)

Good morning. Happy Sunday!

Let's talk about competition. Is it good or bad?

In the American culture, and perhaps most westernized societies, we grow up thinking competition is a healthy thing to have and to foster in our young. Isn't that what makes people strive to be better? Competition?

But is it really such a healthy thing?

What if we were to look at competition in another light. What if we could see competition for what it really is, another form of separatism? What if we recognized that every time we participate in competition with another we are forgetting that we are all One.

This tradition of competing against others for everything is not going to make our world a better place. On the contrary. Isn't it competition...global competition...that creates war? Competing for resources. Competing in religious dogma. Competing for power. Competing in weapons. Competing in...well, you get the idea, I hope.

It starts at a very early age. My baby spoke at 1 year. Her talented child walked at ten months. And his two year old already speaks a foreign language. Why is this necessary? Why does it matter? What are we trying to prove?

It's all about the competition. If we can help our children succeed early in life, which usually means somehow being better than those around them, then they are ahead in the game of life. They have the tools they will need in a competitive world. They will make it. They will survive. The more they win, the more successful they become.

Isn't this the predominant message in our society? Competition is what it's all about. Who is smarter, thinner, richer, prettier...who has the best job, who makes the most money and who has the most stuff? I guess they win. But what do they win?

Happiness? Satisfaction?

This need and drive to compete has blinded us to what really matters. We can't even begin to build a meaningful, sharing community without taking a long hard look at what role we are playing in the competition game.

While we may think we are fair and just and act humanely, if we take a closer look, we will see it, the negative traits of competition: jealousy, low self-esteem, righteousness, elitism, separatism...

It all comes back to them against us. When we get right down to it, we don't really want to share our resources anymore than anybody else. Do we? When we are all struggling just to get by it becomes very difficult to take another look at our own behavior, and really examine what is going on.

But, it does not have to be this way. We don't have to be competitive. In fact the more we release the need to compete, the easier it gets. If we don't, I'm afraid humanity is doomed.

As we clutch our resources closer, and fight off potential enemies, we are driving the competitive machine. We have forgotten that we are all in this together, that we are all One. We all live and breath and share the air and water and food. When we fight over these resources, we are creating a world of greed and hatred.

Isn't every living person entitled to clean air, clean water and clean, edible food? Shouldn't that be a human right? When did these simple and basic necessities become commodities? When we started competing and hoarding our resources.

There is a huge error in the human mind. I suffer from it too, quite often. It is the belief in lack. But it doesn't even really exist. It is a construct of the mind, like time.

Abundance is the natural order. The world is filled with abundance, and there really is enough for everyone. If we began to loosen up and let go of those things we feel the need to clutch close to our being, we would see the abundance all around.

There really is enough food to feed everyone on Earth. There is. There is enough space for everyone to live. There is. There is enough.

Unfortunately, there are a few that would have us believe otherwise. They gain at our expense. If they can keep us in competition, we fight for resources, paying more, working harder, and keeping the capitalist/ consumerist machine going, making a few richer and richer while the rest of us continue to struggle to get by.

It isn't necessary.

We can find joy in simplicity. Less is more.

There is joy in sharing the abundance. There is joy in giving extra things to others who need them. Then we have some, and they have some too. And, we just made a friend instead of an enemy.

But what about how hard I worked to get what I have, you might wonder?

Okay. I hope you have everything you need. But, I know you don't. It never ends, this desire to have more, to be better...this competition.

It only stops when we stop it.

It's time.

Love and light to all.

~Rev. Kerry


"The world has enough for everyone's needs, but not everyone's greed," --Mahatma Gandhi.