Sunshine Cathedral Blog

Q & A with the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins

Question: Do you have any tips for meaningful, quality meditation?

Answer: Meditation is simply quieting our discursive thinking.

Sit in a straight back chair (comfortable enough you won’t experience pain, but upright, so you won’t fall asleep). Focus your eyes on a small object, a flickering candle, or place right in front of you on the wall (or close them if that keeps you from getting distracted). Breathe naturally, but follow your breathing… just notice your breath going in and out.

And that’s it. Don’t “think” about anything… just enter into the Silence, and stay with it.

If random thoughts pop up (and when you are new to meditation, they will), simply notice them; don’t judge them or get upset because they floated across your mind. Just notice and release them and return to your breath.

If you can’t just jump into the Silence, you can pray your way into the silence. Do that by repeating a bible verse over and over (silently, non-verbally), like a mantra. Psalm 63.1 is a good one, “O God, you are my God, eagerly I seek you.” After a couple of minutes of that, just sink into the stillness and follow your breathing. If thoughts pop up, notice them, release them, and return to your breathing. If you can’t seem to do that, return to your mantra for a while, and then ease back into the Silence.

You can also try “Lectio Divina.” There are Lectio Divina exercises in Spirit & Truth. Just read a passage from a sacred or inspirational text. Then notice what word or phrase jumped out at you when you read, and think about that word/phrase for a while. Then, mentally, respond to that word or phrase. After you’ve read, reflected, and responded, move beyond this internal dialogue into the Silence and just sit quietly for several minutes. This is another way of praying your way into the Silence.

Meditation becomes easier once it becomes habitual. So every morning or every evening, at about the same time, meditate.

If you can’t seem to sit still, try movement meditation, such as Yoga or Tai Chi or Qi Gong exercises. Even walking meditation is good. Simply walk in a circle around the room, very slowly, eyes forward, feeling the full impact of each intentional step, conscious of your breathing the whole time. If you have access to a labyrinth, walk within that maze-like pattern, quietly, slowly. Walking meditation is something I particularly enjoy.

Finally, set realistic goals in the beginning. Don’t try to meditate for a whole hour. Try five minutes. If in five minutes you have 45 completely tranquil seconds with no discursive thinking, you will have done well. After five minutes become easier, increase to 10, then 15, then 20. If you can never get past 20, just stick with 20. If you enjoy the practice and want to increase to 30 or 45 minutes, do it incrementally. Any attempt will be useful as long as you stick with it.

by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins

“Fear develops a malignant magnetism by which it draws to itself the objects feared, just as a magnet draws a piece of iron, and thus increases our miseries.” Paramahansa Yogananda

It is important to remember that fear is focus, and what we focus on we tend to drift toward, attract, or create in our lives. When we focus on defeat, or on what could go wrong, or on why things are unlikely to succeed, or on why something might be very difficult, we are actually setting our course for the very things we don’t want. But even though we don’t want them, if we are focused on them, we are bound to move in their direction or attract those very things into our experience. Hope is always the better way. When we focus on what we do want, what we wish to achieve, what we believe is possible, on all the ways things could work out well and for our benefit, then we begin to move toward, attract, or create those better conditions in our lives. Fear is focus, and so is hope. Where we place our focus is entirely up to us.

Sharing the Light is an Internet talk show where Reverends Durrell Watkins, Robert Griffin, and others discuss theological questions of interest to our community.

In this episode of Sharing the Light, Sunshine Cathedral’s Senior Pastor Durrell Watkins speaks with Director of Media and Justice Ministries Robert Griffin. We invite you to join us for an enlightening conversation on Sharing the Light.

by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins

“What’s encouraging about meditation is that even if we shut down, we can no longer shut down in ignorance. We see very clearly that we’re closing off. That in itself begins to illuminate the darkness of ignorance.” Pema Chodron

Question: In the past few months, I have lost my partner to cancer. We were both active in the Church, and, together, we loved worshiping with you. When I attend now, I feel a presence there that I did not before. I am brought to tears by many of the sermons preached and singing at communion. Could it be that, through the loss of my loved one, God’s love for me is being reinforced within my spirituality or am I just feeling too emotional?

Answer: We all know that grief is painful, but it’s important to know that it is also a healing process. As you move through your grief, you may be experiencing the warmth of community, the power of beautiful memories, or the appreciation of all the good that remains in your life. It could also be that in the discomfort of loss you became even more open to the healing power of Spirit, and now open to the Spirit more fully, you experience the power of Spirit more dramatically. And finally, spiritual growth, like all growth, is also a process. It could simply be that after years of reading, praying, studying, filling your mind with positive messages, you have merely grown to a new level of spiritual maturity and awareness. Whatever has sparked your spiritual renewal, I wouldn’t dismiss it as being “too” emotional, but I would encourage you to make the most of it and be thankful for the sweetness of deeper communion that you are experiencing. And certainly, God does offer comfort in our times of trial. I trust that God will bless you as your journey continues!

by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins

“…now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6.2

We hear a lot about corrupt regimes, a struggling economy, various epidemics, crimes and ethics violations, natural disasters and accidents… the news we hear is often unpleasant. As if the news of the day isn’t problematic enough, we even have to hear prognostications of doom for the year 2012. Really?! As we fill our minds with this constantly negative news, we begin to feel less and less hopeful in our own lives. We almost start to expect things to go badly from day to day, and such expectation robs our lives of joy and power.

We need to remember we are people of faith. We believe in possibilities no matter what the current news climate is like. We believe in the power of hope even when situations seem hopeless. We believe that circumstances don’t dictate our feelings and we know that nothing can rob us of our sacred value. When we are tempted to feel down about what others are saying about one thing or the other, let’s use the words of the Apostle Paul as an uplifting affirmation: “NOW is the time of God’s favor; NOW is the day of salvation.”

In this moment, we are divinely favored. In this moment, all is well. Let the news and the prognostications be whatever they may be; we can choose to remember our truth: NOW is the time of divine favor. NOW is the day that all is well. And so it is!

Sharing the Light is an Internet talk show where Reverends Durrell Watkins, Robert Griffin, and others discuss theological questions of interest to our community.

In this episode of Sharing the Light, Sunshine Cathedral’s Senior Pastor Durrell Watkins speaks with Director of Media and Justice Ministries Robert Griffin. We invite you to join us for an enlightening conversation on Sharing the Light.

Question: I watched a couple of the “Sharing the Light” messages on YouTube, and I was curious if you believe that the bible is the word of God. What is the purpose of the bible for Christians?

Answer: The writer of what we call John’s gospel said the “word” was an eternal Reality and that it was made “flesh”. The institutional Church has always interpreted that to mean Jesus was the word (voice, messenger) of divine truth. In the Hebrew scriptures, the “word of God” was the prophetic word spoken by the prophets to their particular communities. The bible that we have is a collection of sacred stories that the Church canonized hundreds of years after the writers of those stories had died. So, when we call the bible the “word of God”, it almost suggests that God dictated every word, or that God somehow channeled a heavenly message through human vessels… in other words, that God wrote the bible. I must say that I do not believe that. We find too many human prejudices in the bible that I could never attribute to God. And we find information that we now know to be scientifically inaccurate. We also find inconsistencies in the bible (like two contradictory creation accounts).

So, while we may euphemistically call the bible the world of God, we must not mistake that to mean the “words” of God. The bible is a collection of stories written, edited, translated, interpreted, and taught by humans. The bible covers multiple cultures and it covers about 1300 years of writing. The stories are wonderful in that they show people struggling to make meaning in their lives and they share their experiences, beliefs, hopes, disappointments, creativity, and growth. We aren’t meant to idolize their stories, but to courageously follow their example. We are meant to ask our own questions and share our own stories. As we follow the brave examples of the biblical characters, then the divine word comes alive in us. I find the bible to be very important, but only after we liberate it from the limitations of literalism that we have traditionally tried to place on it.

by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins

Eternal Essence of Life within me,
I acknowledge your presence expressing in, through, and as my life.
I trust that you are guiding me always to wonderful opportunities, helping me to see and seize the possibilities around me.
I allow you now to erase from me all fear, all regret, all belief in lack or limitation, all false notions of inadequacy, scarcity, or separation from you.
In the place of these error thoughts, let me now be filled with hope and joyful expectation of Good. Let me now demand and accept the blessings of health, happiness, success, supply, peace, wisdom, and love. As I am blessed, let me be a blessing to others and may all people come to know of their unity with you.
I feel your presence within me, and I am made whole, perfect, and complete. This is my truth and for it I rejoice. Alleluia! Amen.

by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins

“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” John F. Kennedy

I came to Sunshine Cathedral in the summer of 2006. Since that time I have been to two Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) international General Conferences, an MCC Region 7 cluster conference, 4 International New Thought Alliance Congresses, 2 MCC Large Church Pastors gatherings, and I have completed my Doctor of Ministry degree. During this same time, Rev. Robert Griffin has attended a number of conferences and has completed his Doctor of Ministry degree. Likewise, since coming to Sunshine Cathedral in the Fall of 2007, Rev. Michael Diaz has completed his internship for ordination, attended several conferences, and has now completed the coursework for his Doctor of Ministry degree (which he will receive in 2011).

The pastoral leaders of Sunshine Cathedral clearly are committed to life-long learning and continual professional development. When you study, take religious education courses, attend conferences, read and reflect on Spirit & Truth, watch Sharing the Light on our You Tube channel, attend worship and remain open to new ideas, you are feeding your mind and spirit and allowing yourself to grow. As you continue to learn, evolve, stretch, and grow, you are modeling the power of learning also, and someone will notice and follow your example. That means that as you are learning, you are leading; and that makes you a minister of Good News! Let’s keep learning.