Intention + Commitment = Success

Healing Rays: A Progressive, Positive, Practical Weekly Reflection by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins, M.A., M.Div., D.Min.

“Let us waste no further time looking for the secret of success or the key to happiness. Already the door is open and whosoever will may enter.” Ernest Holmes

When we think of a great human being, who comes to mind? Mother Teresa? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? Nelson Mandela? Each was talented and intelligent to be sure; but what seems to be the greatest contributor to the difference these people made is their willingness to give their all to something they believed in. A full commitment to something larger than them is what made these people great.

When we set a clear intention to do something and make a full commitment to it, the Universe seems to conspire with us to guarantee our success! The all-inclusive, interconnecting Spirit of Life is always willing be our partner in any venture that is motivated by goodwill and that is fueled by our clear intention and total commitment.

It is better to set a goal too high and only achieve 80% than to set a goal too low and achieve 100%. The 80% of the grand goal will usually prove to be more than the 100% of a modest goal. Let’s believe in ourselves, set lofty goals, commit to those goals, and trust the Power of Life to support us as we pursue them. We can overcome obstacles and achieve wonderful results in our lives.

Durrell+

© Durrell Watkins, Sunshine Cathedral, 2009

Arthur Nobile, Jr. plays Widor on the Rodgers/Ruffatti Organ

Remembering Hiroshima

Today is the 64^th anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima. From that attack, about 144,000 people were killed (about half from the initial blast, the others from wounds and illnesses that resulted from the blast). Over the next few decades, hundreds more would develop cancer or leukemia as a result of the radiation from the attack. Most casualties were civilians.

I am glad that no other war has ended in nuclear holocaust; and I do hope that nuclear weapons will never again be used.

I’m not writing to defend or condemn the actions of a war that took place decades before my birth. I know the Japanese Empire was given an ultimatum before the attack was launched and I know that Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor is what officially drew the U.S. into WW2. I’m not interested in rehashing the rationale for the use of such deadly force at Hiroshima; nor am I interested in trying to discern if in the end such action was ethical or necessary. What’s done is done.

What I do want to do today is honor the lives of innocent people lost in every war. I want to acknowledge the horror of Hiroshima, the brutality of war, and the sacredness of human life. And, I want to express an on-going wish for peace in the world and a constant desire for the day to come when conflicts can be settled by means other than violence.

For those who lost their lives at Hiroshima in 1945… Rest in peace.
For all who have lost their lives because of any war at any time… Rest in peace.
For those who risk their lives in service of their country… May you never be unnecessarily placed in harm’s way.
And for our world that longs for peace, justice, and stability… May an Abiding Peace bless us and keep us, now and always. Amen.

Arthur Nobile, Jr. on the Rodgers / Ruffatti organ

Arthur Nobile, Jr., will be featured in concert at the Sunshine Cathedral on Saturday, August 22^nd, at 8:00 pm. Tickets are available online here or in the Cathedral office.

Sharing the Light: How Can I Be Good Enough?

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 Light University Academic Dean Robert Griffin on the subject of “How Can I Be Good Enough?”. We invite you to join us for an enlightening conversation on Sharing the Light.

Choosing Our Destiny

A Progressive, Positive, Practical Weekly Reflection by the Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins, M.A., M.Div., D.Min.

“We build our future, thought by thought,
For good or ill, yet know it not.
Yet so the universe was wrought.
Thought is another name for fate;
Choose then thy destiny and wait,
For love brings love and hate brings hate.”
— Henry Van Dyke

My grandmother was an elementary school teacher. But she didn’t become a teacher in the conventional way. She didn’t go from high school to college and start teaching at 22. She got married at 17 and decided to go to college two years later. It was during WW2 and there was a teacher shortage. She entered a special program that allowed one to get a teaching certificate without a degree. She went to college for one year and then started teaching. Of course, after the war, the state raised the standards for teachers so that within a few years all teachers were required to have a Bachelor’s degree again. However, those who had received the non-degree certificate where allowed to keep teaching (but they were paid less than degreed teachers).

My grandmother decided she wanted to complete the degree, so every summer for 10 years she went to school until finally she did complete her Bachelor of Science in Education degree. Her sister got her degree in the exact same way and went on to earn a Master of Education degree, and their brother earned a Bachelor’s degree and two Masters’ degrees after serving as a pilot in WW2. All three retired from the profession of teaching.

What’s the point of this bit of family nostalgia? Just that these relatives demonstrated to me that achieving goals may not be quick or easy, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t possible. We may have to find creative ways to achieve our goals. We may have to wait years before our dreams are fully realized. But deciding on a goal, believing it is possible and remaining committed to it until it is realized however long it takes is the recipe for ultimate success. By choosing to be committed, optimistic, and determined and by not giving up too soon, we may find that we are able to do exactly what we had always wished was possible. As it turns out, most of what we wish for really is possible. Our job is to “choose then [our] destiny and wait…” Let’s keep moving forward toward our goals!

Durrell+

© Durrell Watkins, Sunshine Cathedral, 2009

Pastor Responds to Tel Aviv Shooting at Gay Community Centre

The Reverend Doctor Durrell Watkins, Senior Pastor of Sunshine Cathedral MCC in Fort Lauderdale, FL, reads a statement responding to the shooting in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Saturday evening, August 1, 2009, which killed at least three people and injured at least 10 others.