News for November 2007
St. Thomas Christians in epochal meeting
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Saturday, November 24, 2007.
SANTA CRUZ – Dr. Bernard Archbishop Price and Father Rich Heredia of Lancaster’s Mar Thoma Orthodox Catholic Church attended the first global meeting of St. Thomas Christians on Saturday, Nov. 17, at Garfield Park Christian Church here.
The meeting was sponsored by the Federation of St. Thomas Christians, Order of Antioch.
“In attendance were His Holiness Moran Mar Joseph Narsai; two metropolitans, from France and India; five U.S. archbishops; and more than 15 bishops, also from the United States,” Archbishop Price told the Valley Press.
Archbishop Price and Father Heredia celebrated the divine liturgy on behalf of His Holiness Moran Mar Joseph Narsai, patriarch of the St. Thomas Christians in the United States.
The meeting marked the 115th anniversary of the consecration of Moran Mar Vilatte and the 44th anniversary of the consecration of Moran Mar Joseph.
Edited: November 24th, 2007
What I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving, part 7
I am thankful for a spiritual philosophy of life that stresses gratitude as one of the main tenents of the teaching. Knowing that gratitude is the cornerstone of a life filled with all forms of abundance, I express it and it becomes my invisible means of support and comfort. As Norman Vincent Peale taught “…a basic law: the more I practice the art of thankfulness, the more I have to be thankful for. Thankfulness tends to reproduce in kind. The attitude of gratitude revitalizes the entire mental process by activating all other attitudes, thus stimulating creativity.” Norman Vincent Peale.
“The more gratefully I fix my mind on the Supreme when good things come to me, the more good things I receive, and the more rapidly they will come. Gratitude leads my mind out along the ways by which things come; and it keep me in close harmony with creative. Look for the good!!
And strangely I am thankful for the not so good experiences in my life, because they give me the opportunity to learn and grow. Things are perfect exactly as they are or they wouldn’t be that way–even if I’m not enjoying the experience and process.
This is the impetus for the Antelope Valley Interfaith Council’s theme for its Thanksgiving Eve service being THE ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE.
Rev. Maxine Schiltz, founding Pastor of Revealing Truth-a metaphysical center.
Edited: November 14th, 2007
What I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving, part 6
I have many blessings in my life. One of the reason’s that my family and I
can enjoy our current quality of life is impart due to our own hard work and
the struggle and sacrifice of past generations. I give thanks to family and
friends for the choices and options we enjoy due to their efforts. I am
blessed with wonderful family, friends, and service to God and my community.
For me a life full of meaning comes through meaningful work whether it is to
family, friends, God and community. Self actualization through service.
Deborah Shelton
President, AVIC
Edited: November 14th, 2007
What I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving, part 5
Within Wicca, we acknowledge that we have many wonderful things in our
lives, be it family, friends, comfortable home, transportation, or good
health. We also acknowledge that we actively manifest our reality by
affirmations. Our Gods contribute to our personal responsibility,
and that we are reaping what we have sown in our lives.
I give thanks for my life in a country where I can worship freely the
religion of my choice, and I continue to choose to support others
who can share a vision of a land of the free and home of the brave.
May Goddess and God bless our country and all it’s inhabitants, human,
animal, and plant, as each one has the spark of the Divine within.
Elder Priestess Lisa Morgenstern
credentialed through Covenant of the Goddess
National Public Information Officer, Covenant of the Goddess
HPS Dragon¹s Weyr Circle
Antelope Valley Pagan Pride Day Coordinator
Edited: November 14th, 2007
What I’m thankful for this Thanksgiving, part 4
I am grateful for my parents still being alive and well.
I am grateful for the Wisdom of the ages that assists in the enlightenment of all beings; and the sun of this wisdom that shines everywhere upon all people equally through varied and numerous Teachings.
I am grateful for the precious and beautiful eternal moment of the everlasting here and now; to have all my limbs and senses intact, giving me the freedom and ability to fully encounter and experience all the wonders of life; and to finally have enough wisdom and maturity to appreciate it all.
Dianna Rimer – Buddhism, Center of Light
Edited: November 13th, 2007
