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What beliefs about money did you learn before you were old enough to question them? At CSL Ballard, Rev. Michael Auch opened our October theme, Dances with Shadows, by sharing his own money ghosts: not worthy, not deserving, not enough. Drawing on Ernest Holmes and Don Miguel Ruiz, this reflection looks at where these shadows come from, why they stick, and how to spot them sooner. Plus, a simple gratitude practice to try tomorrow morning.

What happens when you affirm "I am at peace" with clenched fists? At CSL Ballard, Rev. Marilyn Sprague closed out our Sacred Embodiment month with a talk on living in alignment, when what we affirm matches how we live. She drew on Ernest Holmes, Louise Hay, and her own story about a pain that wouldn't heal until she made a different choice. Plus, a simple practice for listening to your body, and a Core Council update.

Would you still choose the life you're living if no one else were watching, and no one else's voice were in your head? It's a question worth asking about every role you play.

Rev. Liz Mirante opened her talk by admitting something a lot of us don't say out loud: living easily in our bodies isn't always simple. This week, we looked at where those beliefs actually come from — religion, family, culture — and what it takes to build something better than criticism.

On Sunday, Rev. Liz Mirante closed out our Fear and the Furious theme with a tool for healing an old belief, not just managing it. You didn't install that belief. It got wired in around age five, long before you had any say. Revisit the three-part practice to release it, and why faith has to come before you feel any different.

Fear is loud, but that doesn't make it right. Rev. Marilyn Sprague joined us from Portland to explore what happens when we meet fear differently: as a messenger to learn from, as a story to rewrite, and as an invitation to let love lead instead. Courage doesn't require fear to disappear; we just have to be curious, compassionate, and say yes anyway. This reflection looks at what fear tries to tell us, and what it means to choose love in the middle of it.

Rev. Dr. Larry King told us fear only lasts 30 seconds, biologically speaking. Everything after that is on us. His talk on fierce clarity covered some brain science, a joke about a monster under the bed, and a five-step way through fear that's simpler than it sounds. He also asked: after the pause, after the clarifying, is action even required? Sometimes the answer is no.

A lot of us grew up where anger wasn't allowed. Yet, anger is a powerful tool. It's its own energy; it's information and fuels action. Angry feelings can be uncomfortable, in part because we aren't taught or given tools to adequately or appropriately express them. Examples of types of anger include the mama bear anger that protects and defends, and the bully anger that takes other people's power away and shuts them down. Both are harmful. So how can we use anger for good?

On Sunday, Rev. Larry asked us to guess: genetically, how much do human beings actually have in common? Our responses, shouted from the audience, were pretty spot on! It's 99.9%. No matter your skin color, height, quirks, or whether you're built for a marathon or a porch swing, that's only a wee tenth of a percent.

In community, we have more power than we think we do, and more than we have alone. It’s part of why what happens in our sanctuary on a Sunday morning matters, and extends beyond our walls. Whenever we walk into something new, whether it’s a job, a congregation, a friend group, or any transition, we ask ourselves a version of the same question: Is there a place for me here? We're wired for belonging. And

Most of the time, we don't notice our running monologue or the habitual thinking underneath everything, deciding what to criticize or excuse in ourselves, as if wholeness had to be earned. It doesn’t. We're already whole. There's no destination to reach. Science of Mind core concepts can help us be more conscious and live lives from a place of wholeness.

Looking back, we had a month of love, culminating in Pride Day this last Sunday. Rev. Michael reminded us we're already swimming in it. Rev. Liz said to plant your flag. Rev. Jim said love means reaching for the better response. And Rev. Larry closed it out with one question: What would love do?

Love isn't something that arrives when conditions are right. It's a force — Martin Luther King's word — and an active one. SOM founder Ernest Holmes said it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find any situation that doesn't respond to love's creative and healing power.

Some of us likely grew up in an environment where questions weren’t welcome. Whether that was school, family, or church, we learned that toeing the line, not asking questions, and not talking back were the correct behavior. We were expected to believe what we were told (how many heard our parents say, “because I said so!”?). For some of us, that didn't sit well. If we’ve learned nothing this month, talking about doubt, it’s that doubt isn’t the opposite of faith. It’s an impe

What to do when doubt shows up, especially self-doubt, and how to transform it.

It may sound cliche but love is all around us. It's everywhere, all the time, all at once. When we see love as a way of being, rather than a feeling, it gets easier. It's all part of Oneness, the universal expression of divine connection. We just can't always see it, with so many distractions and active efforts to divide us. And yet, if we act from a place of love, we become love. We are love, at our core.

What to bunnies, eggs, and presence have to do with each other? Easter is filled with symbolism and Rev. Jim Boone brought all these home with his talk, Living with Presence and Deep Awareness. Kicking off with Oh, What a Beautiful Morning, sung by an amazing group of humans, we kicked off Easter joyfully, mindfully, and with practicality.

Closing our 5-week "What If?" series with a service that brought the house down, we're challenged us to be "possibilitarians" — see possibility even in dark times and dare to act from love. Themes were co-creation, courage, and transformation, the spiritual reset we need right now. If you're looking for a spiritual community that asks you to think, question, and dare — come find us.

Want to change the world? Be a beetle. Say what? Rev. Larry took us on a journey through the jungle where bioluminescent beetles light the way. What does that mean for us? You don't have to be special to light the way for others; do what lights you up.

Rev. Don Beaty took us to the edge on Sunday - not in a cliff-hanging way, but in a quiet way that asks for contemplation. What do we do and value that's worth the "calories" we spend? IF we take nothing away from last week's message, take these three words: courage, compassion, and curiosity. Then add calories - as in, how do we spend the energy we have in ways that matter?