The Path Ministry

  Topic: The Path Take on the 10 Commandments The Christian Ten Commandments, in order: You shall have no other Gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it Holy. Honor your father and mother. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Let’s take these apart and examine them one at a time for any value they may have, shall we? The first commandment is mostly an expression of god’s insecurities. He knows there are other, better gods out there, but he insists that his worshippers ignore them and focus all their adulation on him. When your spouse does this, it’s considered emotional abuse. I do not know why Christians put up with this kind of treatment. The second commandment is confusing. What kind of graven images? My grandmother was a wood carver and created several pieces of art that could be considered “graven” ...

  Topic: The Unspoken Obligation of Privilege Today’s sermon, which is kind of aimed at white people, is about something that is not often discussed: The obligation of anyone with a degree of privilege to use it to help those without. Possibly the most elegant way this obligation has been phrased comes from American novelist and social critic Toni Morrison (1931-2019): “If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.” The Living Blood, which is the second book in the African Immortals series, written by gifted author Tananarive Due, addresses this obligation in a somewhat oblique way. Our heroine Jessica is using her blood, which can cure virtually any illness or injury, to help as many people as she feels safe helping. There is great danger in doing so, as there are avaricious men who would kidnap her and her daughter and keep them captive, slowly milking them for blood. Then they would sell the blood for bill...

  Topic: A Grateful Heart This sermon is about blessings from the Universe and keeping a grateful heart. As Cicero says: “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.” The Path prayer begins with: “I open myself up to the Universe and its blessings with a graterful heart” because practice of all eight Virtues starts with recognizing and appreciating life’s blessings. Always start with what you have and what you can do, not what you lack or your obstacles. Gratitude means maintaining a positive and optimistic attitude and doing your best to pay it forward. It means never taking the Universe or any specific part of it for granted. Tell people that you love and/or appreciate them. Take the time to play with the dog. Smile at strangers. Be nice to others, not because they are nice to you, but because that is just who you are. This kind of mindset takes Effort and Mindfulness, as well as a great deal of Self-Control. Some people are suffering so...

  This sermon is about what it means to be a truly good person, and how ethics and morality should be based around what is right rather than the threat of damnation and eternal torment. To illustrate this idea, here are three quotations from three different sources, all of which pretty much say the same thing: “A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.” -Albert Einstein The question I get asked by religious people all the time is, without God, what’s to stop me from raping all I want? And my answer is: I do rape all I want. And the amount I want is zero. And I do murder all I want, and the amount I want is zero. The fact that these people think that if they didn’t have this person watching over them that they would go on killing, raping rampages is the most self-damning thing I c...