I update my personal quotes at the end of each year. I'm late doing that this year. But here are highlights from sermons given in 2021. Enjoy. -RevJC
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“I am realistic about being happy. My formula for my happiness is based upon my location and environment. I live in a state that gets precipitation 114 days per year. Some days there will be precipitation in your life. Let the rain come. Rain is rebirth. We need the sunshine and rain to grow. 114 days out of 365 is about 30 percent that you’ll have precipitation in your life. That’s 3 out of 10 days or 2 out of seven days. If I’m happy 7 out of 10 days or 5 out of seven days—I think that’s a pretty good life.”
“I define happiness as 'The joy you feel while pursuing your passions or goals.' In fact, that is my definition of success. It’s not about money or situation but about your decision and intention.”
“You find it [happiness] by changing your perspective on living. It’s not about saying 'I want to be happier' rather it's about believing YOU WILL BE happier. You have to will it to be so.”
“You ever been to a Third World country? You realize really fast that the First World teaches about having but the Third World teaches about happiness. Many people I’ve met overseas appear to be happier than most Americans and why is that? Because they find joy in the everyday that’s right in front of them; they’re not waiting for the world to change to be happy. Nelson Mandela found joy even as he was unjustly imprisoned for 26 years. Your immigrant ancestors found joy in the laughter, songs and smiles even as they lived in utter destitution.”
“Happiness, joy, and contentment is all always there 'standing at the door knocking'. You determine when to let them in. And it’s not a selfish quest. You hear that from people… Don’t listen to that. Fishing for your higher self is not selfish. It is your purpose for being here. May it be so.”
"Word is Bond"
“'In the beginning was the Word and the Word was God.' In the beginning Source or Energy existed as a void--as oneness--containing all possibilities; and then there was a vibration, a sound. Energy was put in motion and BOOM the cosmos and eventually matter solidified into the planets and suns and moons--the cosmos was born. You were born with the word and sound.”
“Sound is vibration; vibration is sound. We know the power of sound and vibration. You can play a beat or tone at a high enough frequency, and it can break glass. You can play the sound softly and it can soothe. You can mix sounds together and make harmony. This is the WORD made flesh. By your vibration, sound and frequency you create like God creates. That’s the point. When you speak you create like Spirit creates. And by your words you can give life and love or death and hate.”
“This is ancient wisdom I’m dropping on you. You are a magician. Words spell things. You are forever in a spelling bee. Like a magician you put a spell on others by the words you use.”
“The magic is not in a wand or ritual or some sleight of hand technique, rather your power to 'do justice, love mercy and walk humbly' is in the words you use. It’s in your gestures, it’s in your tone. It’s in how you vibrate as a human being. You can cast spells that bring joy and hope and comfort and love, or you can do the opposite. You can speak truth to power with words of connection and community. You can use your words to raise consciousness by opening minds and hearts. You can speak words that embrace or words that erase.”
“Folks from NYC like to say, “Word is bond”. Think about that… Your word is your bond. A bond is an adhesive. Something sticks to something. We are sticking stuff on people all the time for better and for worse. Make your words count for something good. May it be so.”
Dr. King (Courage & Hope)
“When you are at the precipice of dying to or for something like Dr. King did—as you prepare for another rebirthing process—you will get thrown into the deep waters of life. How bad do you want it? You will have to swim or tread or learn how to swim really quickly and this can be terrifying. Facing your demons is scary. But like the old stories go you have to look fear in the eye (sit with all those crazy thoughts) and just let the fear pass you over. Dr. King had fears but his courage was greater and he was willing to sacrifice his life for his dream.”
“'This too shall pass'. Every time you make peace with death (your fears) you take another step forward in your process of knowing yourself as a holy and eternal being.”
“In Dr. King's time, like today, there was a major cultural shift happening. Things got violent, turbulent and messy. But here’s the truth: The thing that keeps society moving toward that ''more perfect union' is the struggle and our collective hope for better days. Don’t lose courage and hope during this shift. As long as the dream of a beloved community stays alive inside of you, it will live in the collective consciousness. When you show courage in the face of fear in any aspect of your life, you build courage for the whole of humanity.”
“Our society is going through an identity crisis. Are we going to be a nation for all souls or just some souls? I believe the former, therefore we must continue to experience cycles of death and rebirth of our national identity until freedom comes to all sentient beings on the planet.”
“King knew that fear and violence are outward expressions of how violent we are with ourselves. He knew that society was just a projected dream of clashing and colliding cultural realities of the masses and the ugliness and beauty that we see is a macro projection of what is on the inside of each of us.”
“The thing I love about black culture is that we are a resilient people. Most of us are here because someone survived a slave ship or a sugar or cotton plantation. I am the product of mentally strong people. I’m proud of that. You should be proud of your culture too. Every culture that survives today has proven itself resilient.”
“Remember your ancestors’ courage and all who died for the sake of your freedom--so you could have this sentient moment of human awareness. We stand on their shoulders. And that is why, more than anything else, we must keep believing in love, hope, and human reconciliation. By believing we WILL it to be so.”
Thank you, brother Martin, for your willingness to see the good in people. Thank you for believing in us when we didn’t believe in ourselves. Thank you for your tenacity; thank you for your vision; thank you for your selflessness. Thank you for your love. May it be so.”
“Being resilient is what healthy cells do—they seek health. Your mistakes are really your lessons. A lesson will be repeated until it is learned. Therefore, you can look at your life as a journey and not a judgment or prison sentence. If you shift how you perceive, you will receive a different message. You will attract and create that which you are. Why? because you are a fractal pattern--a Fibonacci sequence of cyclical matter.”
“What you pay attention to grows for better or worse. Be careful what you are giving your attention to. Focusing on toxic thoughts over time weakens your spiritual and physical immunity. Your resiliency--your ability to get back up--gets harder and harder without a shot of love which helps to reframe the situation as a lesson in living instead of condemnation. May it be so.”
“As we seek complete liberation of the mind, body and spirit we must remember the lesson Taoism teaches: to flow like water—flow like the starlings—flow like a school of fish. Leaning in when we need to and stepping away when we need to. The truth is, we need the contrast. Not drama but the contrast (the tension) to grow.”
"Freedom brings with it, accountability. To be accountable means I know I have a responsibility to the whole. In biomimicry this is easy to see with other organisms. Some are very independent, but most are packs, swarms and colonies of participation. Look closely and you will see the hibernation and participation. You will see the yin and yang—the soft and hard. That is God. Freedom means going away to expand yourself, but it also means coming back with that knowledge to serve the communities you love. Nature is the best teacher. We are nature.”
“What is God? I think God is energy that is unbound, pure freedom and awareness. But God is also accountable to that which God creates. As it is said, ‘Thou art that’. God’s nature is our nature therefore we must seek freedom with accountability if we are to live responsible lives. My friends, this is your essence. Discover or rediscover this so that your life may have real meaning and purpose.”
“In Hinduism God is energy or Prana. In Chinese philosophy the one power is Chi or in Japan, Ki; or if you are from the Native American Lakota tribe it’s Wakan; or Pneuma for the Greeks. Holy Spirit for Christians. God is that life force that waxes and wanes. 'Wax on, wax off'. That is the lesson. You wanna be free? Get with the flow. Inside, outside, above, below, down, up, north, south, east, west. It is written: ‘As above so below’.”
“This yin and yang energy--contracts and expands but grows onward and outward, forever. It is pulling us toward a better version of ourselves. The path to love and freedom is inevitable for humanity. Try to relax more and enjoy the ride.”
“The equal and opposite reaction--Newton’s theory-- is when the energy for justice and love wanes. Like the moon’s phases, humanity has phases too; and when we wane (diminish, dwindle) we act up and push back against lovely people, places and things. All of the fear-based ‘isms’ are manifested during this time and unfortunately lives are lost. But the universe naturally expands or waxes toward freedom. Why does it work this way? We are all at different stages of growth and so systems metaphorically and literally go back to pick up stragglers who’ve been left behind. All are destined for freedom in this lifetime or another. Spirit draws all unto itself.”
“If understood, freedom with accountability isn’t a yoke. It is more of a harness to keep balance. When you realize that there is something universal pulling you (at your stage of faith) to pursue finding your real freedom, spiritually speaking, surrender to it. Listen to its tugs on your life. They will not stop until you reconcile whatever it is you are here to do.”
“I go out into the world as an individual (representing myself but also more than myself); then bring that knowledge and wisdom back to the whole because we are ONE. 'The last shall be first and the first shall be last'. The writer isn’t just talking about rich vs the poor but rather about the universal nature of the PRANA energy and our interconnectedness. When I don’t honor my connection to the whole—the group suffers—and I suffer. Solomon Burke, a blues and soul singer wrote, in his vernacular, that 'None of us are free if one of us is chained—none of us are free.' It’s not perfect English but the idea is perfect. May it be so.”
Forgiveness
“We are on a repeat cycle of hurt people, hurting hurt people. Forgiveness ends the cycle of abuse.”
“The actual etymology of the word forgiveness means 'to give up completely' or 'completely forget'. Jesus said forgive 70x 7. To get the true meaning you have to understand Jewish mysticism (gematria) where numbers matter. The number 7 is symbolic of completion. The tradition was to forgive a person seven times in those days. So, saying 70 x 7 is probably not saying forgive him 490 times but rather it is the writer’s hyperbole. It is an emphatic statement. Forgive them many, many, many, many times. 70x7—means until you have completely forgotten or better stated until the harm has no power over you. I’m not telling you when to forgive someone but there will come a time when you must if you choose to live a spiritual life.”
“If we cannot forgive the perpetrator and let it go, completely, then we are in fact still yoked to them and not truly free. They’re still in control. You are effectively still giving your power away to the abuser.”
“If we don’t deal with those hurts, over a long period, they turn toxic. Sadly, I’ve met people stuck in the 1940s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90, to the present; unable to let go of past hurts. The pain goes deep. I get it and we must make space for those who are long sufferers. Grace is always needed.”
“We all need grace. Many people pause and say grace before a meal. That is exactly what grace is. You pause and make space for the sacred to enter.”
“The great teacher said, ‘Forgive them, they know not what they do’. That’s all of us as human beings at one time or another. We all do harm. We are all caught in complicit webs of cause and effect—clashing and colliding realities of misperceptions. We are all victimizers and victims. That abuser was abused. That molester was molested. That racist was fed the lie of superiority. Grace is needed.”
“Grace asks us to pause and look at the players and their motivations and actions. ‘They know not what they do’. And neither do we all the time. As First World people we are living on the backs of Third World labor. These workers work for pennies laboring for our technology, coffee rice, and the like. Grace with compassion (meaning with passionate sympathy) is needed by all.”
“‘Sir, he hurt my family and devastated me.’ Forgive. Sir, ‘he slaughtered my people, he was reckless and lied over and over’. Forgive 70x7. Forgive again and again and again (you may not forget) but forgive until it has no power over you. Have you lied, hurt people, been reckless? Make amends. Forgive yourself. Spend your life making up for the misery. Forgive them.”
“What does forgiveness feel like? It feels good. The sharpness of what happened dulls. The thing has no impact anymore. The hurt does not anger you or fill you with heaviness. You feel separate from it— it feels distant—like another lifetime. It doesn’t cause a lump in your throat or bring you to tears or anger any longer. You don’t lose sleep over it; you don’t want revenge. When someone speaks about it—you don’t feel uncomfortable. You feel compassion and a deeper understanding of yourself and others; and for the complexity involved. You have truly moved on. You are free. May it be so.”
“All the major world religions were started by people of color--non-European people which includes Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity to name a few. When some realize Jesus was a brown Jew and Buddha was a brown Indian you should see the look on their faces. We live under a false religious construct.”
“Suffering is better understood today as angst, dissatisfaction, fear, uneasiness, or anxiety. You can’t get that inner-negative to shut up. You can’t stop worrying. This is a better example of what Buddhist suffering is.”
“The Buddha did not find his answer to suffering, anxiety and uneasiness through pleasure or deprivation. Extremes lead to extremes. Extremes destroy life. He found his answer to suffering when he discovered moderation or the middle way. Buddha also found himself while sitting in nature under a tree. Don’t forget that. He was outside in the natural world when he had his breakthrough. There under a bodhi tree, Buddha realized he was connected to everything; he saw and understood the underlying workings of nature which gave insight into human nature.”
“Now in an awakened state, he realized he’d been wound too tightly. The highs could not be maintained. The lows were deep and hopeless. But he could manage them both by choosing a “middle way.” Homeostasis is what we call it today.”
“When we spiritually transcend suffering, the Buddha taught, we experience Nirvana, heaven inside us and outside us. The kingdom within (radical acceptance of what life is). For him Nirvana was the completion of one’s life/death cycle of rebirth. The flower has blossomed and has completed its purpose.”
“One big lesson from Buddha’s story is this: If you want to relieve your anxiety, stop being a control-freak. Let go. See that bigger picture and then let go of some or all of the responsibility for it—especially when it begins to consume you. Let it go. Pick it up again when you can engage with a middle perspective.”
“This is a higher spiritual teaching, friend. When you experience highs and lows in life and are not vengeful or spiteful; when you move toward acceptance; looking at things honestly and objectively, you begin to see that much of life is gray not black or white. Much of what you see as conflict is fear and misunderstood perceptions on all sides. You must transcend the dichotomy. Go beyond 'us' versus 'them' and see the totality and complexity. That will humble you toward acceptance and acceptance takes one to liberation; and liberation is Nirvana.”
“When you have risen above ‘us' versus 'them’ you know that what you do to others you do to yourself. You know that violence is primitive and for a lesser evolved soul. You know this! And, as the Buddha did, you begin seeing the underlying workings of nature. You see all of life as cycles and patterns of matter. Pythagoras said that God is math. We too are patterns and cycles that add up to our evolution.”
“You can look up the Fibonacci sequence if you want to learn its math. You will see that the simple natural pattern is everywhere. There’s intelligence there. A flower must bloom. A caterpillar becomes a butterfly. Things become what they are destined to become. Buddha said, 'As I awaken all awaken." We are all destined to be buddhas—destined to evolve beyond the primitive animal nature toward a new species that has not fully been defined yet. I have great hope!"
“We live in a reality where we are all victims of psycho-social programming that is, in many ways, destructive. Our current structures are based on immoral racial and social foundations. This foundation has many cracks; it’s faulty and in need of major constructive repairs.”
“Re-education and reprogramming are what’s needed about the history, structure and nature of the ‘made up’ stories on race we have learned. We have all been programmed to see ‘them’ versus ‘us’ or that ‘we’ are better than ‘they’ are and to see black and brown bodies as the ultimate racial other. This is THE GREAT WORK we must do (reprogramming) so that humanity can manifest its greatness–when ALL can experience true freedom from every mental and physical tyranny in the mind that manifests in the material world.”
“Isabel Wilkerson is right: The mythical narrative of ‘divine will’ related to India’s 3000-year-old caste system; and the Bible’s ancient story about Noah’s supposed ‘curse of Ham’ (Canaan) have been used to justify all kinds of racial and social tyrannies.”
“In India the caste system was outlawed in India in 1950 but the tradition continues even as it is continually protested. The Dalits— ‘untouchables’ handle the lowest level jobs in society like picking up dead carcasses, feces, and garbage. They are seen as unclean and impure—and btw they are the darkest hued people in the culture. You see this colorism prejudice all over the world—the effects of colonialism’s domination and subjugation. Amends and reparations are necessary to balance this toxicity.”
“In America, the ‘curse of Ham’ or Canaan was used for a long time—hundreds of years. The clergy, merchants, farmers—anyone with power used this biblical justification to rationalize slavery and the brutality of black bodies.”
“There’s a scripture in the New Testament: Ephesians 6:5 ‘Slaves obey your earthly masters’ which was used to justify the subjugation of black and brown bodies for hundreds of years. If you exegete the passage, Paul’s letter to the Ephesian Christians was really teaching that ‘life is hard but persevere and live with virtue.’ But it got twisted years later by those in power to say, ‘Be a good slave’. Words can be distorted and manipulated by shadowy forces.”
“Someone cynically said to me ‘show me a problem religion is trying to solve that it didn’t first start.’ The priestly caste will be judged harshly by future generations, and we are already witnessing the decay of organized religion as we know it. The surviving faith traditions will be more open, authentic, and egalitarian with their adherents.”
“What’s the difference between caste and racism? Isabel Wilkerson says that caste is the hierarchy and racism is the structure. Hierarchy and structure—like 'kissing cousins.'”
“Hierarchy is about movement within the system and what is expected of your pedigree, so to speak. The structure (racism) is all the laws and rules that keep the ‘hierarchy of expectation’ in place. Caste/Racism is why there are still so many white male CEOs and politicians even as the world becomes more and more racially diverse.”
“As a black man who grew up in Southeast Washington, D.C., I had a rank, class and caste. I have managed to become a successful person due to my education, a lot of support, love, and some luck. I have been fortunate. But I can never fully escape my caste because of my skin color.”
“What is caste and racism for me? It represents taking advantage of natural systems of collaboration to control people, places, and things for one’s own benefit. Caste and racism exist because of people’s out-of-control narcissism so the few can dominate the resources of the many.”
“It’s not the pyramid of duties (of caste) that is corrupt. It’s not the divisions of labor, rather it’s what we do to the people–how we treat them. We need to pay them more and give them more time to enjoy their lives and stop working them as if they are machines. We have to move away from our agrarian expansionist aggression and England’s old industrial work formula (of greed) to create a modern 21st century society where technology works for us instead of us working for the technology. We do this by moving, as Dr. King said, from ‘thing-oriented to people-oriented’. Everyone deserves to work, eat, and live in a safe and healthy community. We can build this over time. We can reshape and redo this world by daily debugging the system.”
“All work has worth, value, and dignity. All workers deserve equity and fairness, access to education and healthcare, and safe communities to live in. Those who are at the top must use their power to create a new story that embraces instead of erases. And we must use our power to contain those shadowy forces that for millennia have sought to control human free will.”
“Be committed to the re-education process. SEE black and brown people and all those placed in lower castes in a fairer and more compassionate light. Notice them and understand their suffering. They too are the Imago Dei, the Image of God. When in the grocery store, see the full humanity in the workers. When the yard guy comes over to do your lawn, see them and converse with them and pay them more than they ask. Noticing is half the battle. When we notice, we shift our thinking and when enough of us shift our mental consciousness, since we are one connected organism—we change the material world.”
“The world we have is the world we have collectively created. We created this world through religious myths based on notions of superiority and we can change this world with new more inclusive stories based on the enduring principle of love. When we change the narrative, we change the reality. It’s just that simple and just that hard. As Gandhi said, ‘Be the change you wish to see’. May it be so.”
