Words of Faith

I do not have a religion, but I do have Faith in a higher power. I have specific practices I do through Yoga and Meditation that allow me to feel more connected to that higher power. I am drawn to Eastern spiritual practices. I have found some common ground with Martial Arts, Meditation, Yoga, Ayurveda,… Read more: Eastern Spiritual Practices -A Conversation with Cheri Michel and Dr. Paula Trimble-Familetti

“Joy: a feeling of great pleasure and happiness.” Oxford English Dictionary Spring is my second favorite season.  Finally, winter is passing. The longer, warmer days, bird calls, green shoots, blossoms’ fragrance … all remind me of renewal and rejuvenation, and bring me joy.  I’ve had to learn to cultivate joy.  Growing up in my WASP… Read more: Spring

My Unitarian Universalist faith calls me to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and it also calls me to the work of justice for all, reminding me that we are a part of the vast reality of this intricate cosmos. Whatever our spiritual leanings, we live in this life in… Read more: Our Sacred Bodies

Happiness doesn’t come easy for me; I wonder if this is what I should be striving for in my life? Is happiness really the ultimate goal in life or is it more about being content in how one is living, what one is doing to make our small world, where we live, a better place?  I’m… Read more: Happiness

https://desertx.org/dx/dx-23/gerald-clarke Art as Sermon In the Coachella Valley it is not unusual for public events to begin with these words: “We acknowledge the Cahuilla People as the original stewards of the land on which we now gather. We are grateful to have the opportunity to work with the indigenous people in this place. We pay… Read more: Art as Sermon, the Indigenous Experience

In June 2011, I had the opportunity to visit the Holy Land on a Fuller Seminary “Just Peacemaking” class trip. Early one Sunday morning during that trip, a friend and I decided to walk the Via Dolorosa (“Way of Suffering”) in Jerusalem. It is the path traditionally understood to be the one Jesus took from the place… Read more: <strong>Walking the Via Dolorosa</strong>

“I live in the low parts now, most days a little hazy with fever and waiting for the water to stop shivering out of the body.  Funny thing about grief, its hold is so bright and determined like a flame, like something almost worth living for.” Ada Limon, “Fire” Winter has always been my least favorite… Read more: Winter as a State of Mind

In 1996 I took four classes at the Pacific School of Religion. They were life-changing classes! During one course, there was a discussion of the couple on the road to Emmaus. I was beginning to think that a woman might be a disciple and the couple might be a man and a woman, or as… Read more: <strong>Let Justice for Biblical Women Roll Like a River!</strong>

[Paula and Marty were married for 40 years. During many of those years, Marty was active in maintaining and adding to the beauty of their church, St. Francis of Assisi. May Marty’s memory be a blessing to Paula, their family and friends and to members of our Desert Interfaith council.] In my faith, we believe… Read more: My Husband’s Journey and Mine

Resolving to Love It’s a new year by our calendar. It’s a new year by the sun and the stars and the moon. It’s a time when so many of us make plans to change who we are, how we are in the world, how we are living in our bodies. We make resolutions to… Read more: Resolve to Love!

By Michael Rosenkrantz, Treasurer, Desert Interfaith Council Recently I was walking and came upon an older woman, Josephine, sitting in her doorway, with her neighbors gathered around. Apparently, the woman had tripped because some of the lights in her bedroom were out and she wasn’t able to see where she was going. She was calling… Read more: Kindness All Year Round

Divine Love More Than Meets Every Challenge  Sometimes we find ourselves in situations where it seems there is no solution, where we recognize that humanly we don’t seem to be equipped to meet a particular challenge. I found myself in just such a situation some years ago. I had just arrived at my next singing… Read more: Divine Love More than Meets the Challenge

Words of Faith, December 2022  by John Marksbury, Secretary,  Desert Interfaith Council The jarringly hot summer hereabouts created a flow of four-legged refugees from the mountains, seeking water and comforts of an irrigated desert floor. Among them was a half-starved, pregnant raccoon desperately needing relief. She eventually found herself in the confines of a friend’s… Read more: Miracle from the Mountains Pictures

The faith community needs to know about Government and non-profit organizations that exist in the area whose purposes and functions might be of benefit to both the communities and their membership.

Video of Salton Sea by Nicolas L. Behrmann

“How Cyber is your Faith? – An Inventory for  us Personally and our Faith Communities”  An interactive discussion led by Nicolas L. Behrmann with input from attendees on January 14th, 2021. Living in Cyber-space presents us with challenges and opportunities. Life in Cyber-space during Covid is forcing us to be creative, innovative and is transforming… Read more: How Cyber is your faith?

What if community organizing, organizational development, strategic planning, project management, group communications, web sites/social media, curriculum development/implementation, music, arts and other skills were applied to create an active, exciting, inviting network of faith and spiritual based communities in the Coachella, Morongo, and Yucca Valleys? Through “The Arts and The Sanctuary Project,” The Desert Interfaith Council… Read more: The Arts and The Sanctuary Project

Amanda Gorman’s “The Hill We Climb” Poem Transcript Dr. Biden, Madam Vice President, Mr. Emhoff, Americans, and the world. When day comes, we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never ending shade? The loss we carry, a sea. We must wade. We’ve braved the belly of the beast. We’ve learned that quiet… Read more: Amanda Gorman’s Inauguration Poem

Written for last thanksgiving 2021, but not published…Nicolas L. Behrmann Perhaps Thanksgiving has always been a complicated celebration. The mix of Native American and pilgrim cultures must have been a difficult experience for all.  In recent times, the logistics of travel, the diversity of family members, food preferences and allergies have added levels of complexity… Read more: Thoughts of Thanksgiving