Episodes

  • Episode 22: Matthew 5: 27-28

    Episode 22: Matthew 5: 27-28
    Jul 8 2019
    Matthew 5:27-28 (KJV): Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Each deed performed, however secretly, leaves its impression somewhere. Our lives unfold, and in-fold, at a number of different levels: We have our public personas, our private lives, and our secret selves. Those with whom we are most intimate dwell with us in our private worlds. They see our faults and shortcomings. They know that we often fail to live up to the images that we project - the people we hope to be seen as in the world. Those who are privy to our private selves may witness some of our struggles, but they also see our complexities, our depths, our efforts; those with whom we are most intimate may also be more aware of the hidden goodness, the kindnesses, the little unselfish gestures that weave through our days. I had a friend that c
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  • Episode 21: 1 Corinthians 12: 12-14

    Episode 21: 1 Corinthians 12: 12-14
    Jul 1 2019
    1 Corinthians 12:12-14: For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. The Diamond Sutra states that there is no self, no human being, no living being, and no lifespan. Its longer name is The Diamond that Cuts Through Illusion because it cuts through these four illusory concepts of self, human being, living being, and lifespan. For example, we don’t think of magnesium as a living being, but listen to what the National Institute of Health says, “Magnesium is needed for more than 300 biochemical reactions in the body. It helps to maintain normal nerve and muscle function, supports a healthy immune system, keeps the heartbeat steady, and helps bones remain strong. It also helps regulate blood glucose levels
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  • Episode 20: Numbers 3: 23-26

    Episode 20: Numbers 3: 23-26
    Jun 24 2019
    Numbers 3:23-26:  The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the tabernacle on the west, with Eliasaph son of Lael as head of the ancestral house of the Gershonites. The responsibility of the sons of Gershon in the tent of meeting was to be the tabernacle, the tent with its covering, the screen for the entrance of the tent of meeting, the hangings of the court, the screen for the entrance of the court that is around the tabernacle and the altar, and its cords—all the service pertaining to these. Nobody reads Numbers. Why would they? In the deep mythology of the Judeo-Christian tradition, we have the tabernacle or arc of the covenant wherein unfathomably dwells the Source/Creator/Great Sacredness in all its majesty and terribleness (see also Exodus 25). Imagine having the Mysterium Tremendum in the box; the seed of the Big Bang in a jar. In Shambhala: The Sacred Path of the Warrior, it says that there is this Tremendous Power belonging to no one, but available to everyon
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  • Episode 19: Matthew 20: 1-16

    Episode 19: Matthew 20: 1-16
    Jun 17 2019
    Matthew 20: 1-16: “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came,
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  • Episode 18: John 3: 16

    Episode 18: John 3: 16
    Jun 10 2019
    John 3:16 (KJV): For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Most Christians are familiar with the phrase “only begotten son” to describe Jesus. In the King James Version of the Bible, this phrase is found four times in the Gospel according to John (John 1:14; 1:18; 3:16; 3:18), but this phrase is not found in the other three gospels. Similarly, in the translation of the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), John is the one Gospel where Jesus is referred to as G-d’s only son. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all reference Jesus as a son of G-d, but these other three gospels (known collectively as the synoptic gospels for their similarities to each other and because of their differences with John) never say that Jesus is the only son of G-d. In fact, Matthew especially emphasizes that we are all sons and daughters of G-d. The most famous prayer in Christianity begins “Our Father which art i
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  • Episode 17: Mark 4: 5-6, 16-17

    Episode 17: Mark 4: 5-6, 16-17
    Jun 3 2019
    Mark 4: 5-6, 16-17:  Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil.  And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away... And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. “To plant a seed or a seedling is to entrust it to the earth. The plant will live or die because of the earth. But the earth also entrusts herself to the plant. Each leaf that falls down and decomposes will help the soil be alive. When we take refuge in the Buddha, we entrust ourselves to the soil of understanding. And the Buddha entrusts himself or herself to us for understanding, love, and compassion to be alive in the world,” says the Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh (aka Thay) (The Heart
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  • Episode 16: Job 39: 1-4

    Episode 16: Job 39: 1-4
    May 27 2019
    Job 39:1-4: “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer? Can you number the months that they fulfill, and do you know the time when they give birth, when they crouch to give birth to their offspring, and are delivered of their young? Their young ones become strong, they grow up in the open; they go forth, and do not return to them. To think of the Book of Job is to reflect on Job’s long suffering; we note Job’s devotion to God, even in his despair, despite the loss of his property, his ill health, and the deaths of all his sons and daughters. After extended dialogue and counsel from friends, near the end of the Book of Job, the LORD speaks. In chapter 38 of Job, G-d speaks of laying the foundation of the Earth (38:1) and ordering the stars (38:31), and then, in the beginning of chapter 39, the LORD asks Job, “Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?” This  man has had all his sons and daughters crushed to death after the roof
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  • Episode 15: Mark 6: 1-6

    Episode 15: Mark 6: 1-6
    May 20 2019
    Mark 6:1-6a: He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. The Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh (aka Thay) writes, “The first source of energy is faith. When you have the energy of faith in you, you are strong. In the Gospel, Jesus said that people with faith could move mount
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