"God: Source of AllGoodGifts"

Speaker:Dr. Steve McSwainAuthor, Interfaith Activist and Spiritual Teacherwww.stevemcswain.com

WELCOME

St. Mary of the Lake

White Bear Lake, MN

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives;

the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

   9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you,

then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you

would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

   13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only

a few find it.

--Matthew 7:7-15

God: Source of All Good Gifts

“In any relationship where two people agree on

everything, one of them isn’t necessary.”

- Anonymous

Must You Agreewith

EverythingYou hear?

7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives;

the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

   9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you,

then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you

would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

   13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only

a few find it.

--Matthew 7:7-15

God: Source of All Good Gifts

Introduction:"...how much more will your Father in heaven

give good gifts to those who ask him!"

So, For What Good Gifts Would You Ask?

CONFUSION…

Pleasure…

People…

Possessions…

Position…“You Never Get Enough

of What You Don’t

Need!”--Unknown

Older, Wiser Fish asked by

Younger, Inexperienced Fish,

“Where’s this place they call the Ocean?”

(1)JOYInsight into the Real Place of

Happiness?

Rumi, Sufi Poet, "I have livedon the lip of insanity..."

Jesus said, “The Kingdom of GodIs within you.” (Luke 17:21)

Father Thomas Merton,"As soon as a person is disposed

to being along with God..."

What Is the

Kingdom of God? Where is theKingdom of God?

(2)PURPOSE

The Capacity to Know Why You Showed Up?

"Tomorrow, and tomorrow

and tomorrow..."

Shakespeare, MacBeth

"Without knowing what

I am or why I'm here, lifeis impossible."--Leo Tolstoy

“You were born to walk with God,So why would you walk alone?”

Quotation taken fromThe Enoch Factor

(3)REASON

PERMISSION TO QUESTION EVERYTHING?

"Question Everything...Learn Something...Answer Nothing!"--Euripides

“The unexamined lifeIsn’t worth living.”

--Socrates

(4)SILENCE

The Capacity to Know Solitude, Silence and Stillness?

"Where there is

silence, one finds

the anchor to the

universe."

--Lao Tzu

"Pray without ceasing."1 Thess. 5:17

"Be still, and knowthat I am God."

Ps. 46:10

”Silence is the Voice of God” – Mother Teresa“Silence is the Voice of God in the Corridors of a Noisy Mind

(5)ACCEPTANCEThe Capacity to Accept What Is?

To Even Accept the Unacceptable?Romans 8:28

"What could you not accept,if you but knew, that everythingthat happens is planned by One

who has your best interests at heart."--A Course in Miracles

"When you've learned the lesson thatlife's difficult times are designed to teach youyou'll stop having those particular difficulties."

--Unknown

(6)COMPASSION

The Power to Love Yourself, Others, and to Even Love Your Enemies

"Do unto yourselfwhat you'd have your self do to you."

--Slightly Different Rendition of Matt. 7:12

“What you fight survives;

what you resist persists.”

--E. Tolle

• You do to others what youdo to yourself

• You do to yourself what youdo to others

(7) PRESENCEThe Capacity to Live in the

Present?• Toward the Past = memory, regrets, guilt, and shame

• Toward the Future = worry; see Matt. 6:19-20; 25-34

Typically, THOUGHTS move inone of two directions.

Do you know what thosetwo directions are?

PRESENT = PRESENCE

Byron Katie and “THE WORK”

(8)DIVINE-CIDENTS

The Ability to See the “Conspiracy of Improbabilities”?

“Synchronicity”“Meaningful Coincidence”

Carl Jung

"A COINCIDENCE is...God behaving incognito."

--Unknown

“You cannot but be at theright place @ right time."

-A Course in Miracles

(9)DEATHThe Capacity to Die Before You Die

"I'd like to achieve immortality by not dying!"--Woody Allen

“Today is a good day to die.”

--Native Americans

“Just do the dancethat you’ve been shown;

By everyone you’ve ever known.Until the dance becomes your own.

In the end, there is one danceYou’ll do alone.

--Jackson Browne

“There’s only one thing worse than death…”

(10)GENEROSITY

The Ability to Be FOR-GIVING• The capacity to FORGIVE

• The capacity to GIVE

I GiveExhale

I ReceiveInhale

The Spiritual Law of Givingand Receiving

“To carry a grievancein your heart,” said

Nelson Mandela,“is like drinking poison

and believingit’s going to kill your enemy.”

“Forgiveness: The fragrancea violet shed on the heel

that crushed it”– M. Twain

“If there’s a deficit in giving,There’s deficiency in grace.”

Luke 7:36-46

"God: Source of AllGoodGifts"

Speaker:Dr. Steve McSwainAuthor, Interfaith Activist and Spiritual Teacherwww.stevemcswain.com

THE END

St. Mary of the Lake

White Bear Lake, MN