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Speech Delivered as Keynote Address at Conference on Giving St. Mary in St. Paul, MN
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"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