Why we struggle and suffer

The Wardeskas and Julie Wade are going to lead the adult forum this Sunday.  The topic is a Ted Talk called “Why We Struggle and Suffer” by Michael Dowd. 

If you'd like to preview the video, just click on this link: http://youtu.be/DDMOF7qtlh8. 

Please join us. We'll be delighted to see you.

Maimonides and beliefs

Two items for our discussion on Sunday morning, November 25. First are two of the tenets of Moses Maimonides, a preeminent Jewish scholar of the 12th century. The one of these tenets is the notion of true beliefs versus necessary beliefs. For example Maimonides held that a true belief is that God is the perfect master of His emotions, never the victim of his own passions, while a necessary belief is that God may become angry if humans sin. This is a belief necessary to prevent people from sinning. While this example is obvious, other of our beliefs are more subtle. The second of Maimonides' tenets we'll consider is seen within his statement, "If you want to know God, seek to understand science and nature." We'll hold this up to the light while we consider a synopsis of recent findings on "Why we don't believe in science." Read a preview by clicking here. The intersection of these topics should be illuminating. Please be warmly welcome, regulars and newcomers alike. And if you attended last week and have more "In heavens..." bring them.

No meeting on November 11

We are making way for 10,000 Villages! But we'll meet next Sunday, November 18. Hope to see you then.

Here's what's on tap for November 18th: (not this coming Sunday, but the next one)


Several years ago, I started writing a list of things, small things I imagined would describe conditions in heaven. There was some pleasure in doing this, and I discovered that the smaller the thing I described, the more fun. Here are a couple of examples, some better than others. I'm leaving lost of room for improvement:

"In heaven, your pets all smell good."

"In heaven, when you're sitting on the toilet and you realize late, that the toilet paper roll is empty, there's always another roll within easy reach. And the other roll is the really good stuff."

"In heaven, you never drop your favorite coffee cup unless it's empty, and you always manage to catch it before it hits the floor."

"In heaven, when the phone rings, it's someone you'd forgotten how much you liked."

"In heaven, the remnants of egg-yolks aren't so hard to clean off your plate."

This coming Sunday, I want to share more of this, and I want to collect your "In heavens." If you happen to read this ahead of time, be thinking about it.

Please join us, we'll be delighted to see you, and we should have some fun.