A Joyful Practice

A Quick Note, Links, & Excerpts Related to Life (a post-practice Monday post) January 20, 2025

Many blessings to everyone, especially those observing Maha Kumbh Mela. May everyone breathe deeply and savor the richness of living a three dimensional life!

May you be safe and protected / May you be peaceful and happy / May you be healthy and strong!

This is a short post-practice post for Monday, January 20^th (with excerpts). It includes some links that will direct you to a site outside of this blog. The 2025 prompt question was, “What is on your mind and on your heart?” You can request an audio recording of this practice or a previous practice via a comment below or (for a slightly faster reply) you can email myra (at) ajoyfulpractice.com.

In the spirit of generosity (“dana”), the Zoom classes, recordings, and blog posts are freely given and freely received. If you are able to support these teachings, please do so as your heart moves you. (NOTE: You can donate even if you are “attending” a practice that is not designated as a “Common Ground Meditation Center” practice, or you can purchase class(es).

Donations are tax deductible; class purchases are not necessarily deductible.

Check out the “Class Schedules” calendar for upcoming classes.

“I want to use as a subject from which to preach this morning a very familiar subject, and it is familiar to you because I have preached from this subject twice before to my knowing in this pulpit. I try to make it something of a custom or tradition to preach from this passage of Scripture at least once a year, adding new insights that I develop along the way, out of new experiences as I give these messages. Although the content is, the basic content is the same, new insights and new experiences naturally make for new illustrations.”

— quoted from the “Loving Your Enemies” sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (11/17/1957)

The third Monday in January is one of several different occasions throughout the year when people (myself included) invoke the words of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King. While some turn to the obvious “dream” or “how long” speeches and while others quote passages from his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”, this is a day when I usually turn to one of MLK’s sermons. I usually pick one of his favorites, one that he delivered multiple times over his career. In fact, there is one in particular that I referred to for many, many years — before I decided to switch things up with another of his favorite go-to sermons, called “Loving Your Enemies” (which I have cited during a variety of different classes).

This year, I decided to go back to that sermon I started referencing years and years ago — and that I think about every day. I decided to go back, because every version of the sermon contains a message that I think is particularly important right now, a message about “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life”.

“And there are three dimensions of any complete life to which we can fitly give the words of this text: length, breadth, and height. Now the length of life as we shall use it here is the inward concern for one’s own welfare. In other words, it is that inward concern that causes one to push forward, to achieve his own goals and ambitions. The breadth of life as we shall use it here is the outward concern for the welfare of others. And the height of life is the upward reach for God. Now you got to have all three of these to have a complete life.”

— quoted from the “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life” sermon at New Covenant Baptist Church in Chicago by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. (04/09/1967)

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University includes a collection of MLK’s sermons, speeches, and writings. Included in that collection are various versions of the aforementioned sermons (and other sermons that he delivered in different locations).

Click here for a partial transcript of the 1967 version of “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life” (provided by The Seattle Times).

CLICK ON THE EXCERPT TITLES BELOW FOR MORE ABOUT MLK (& INAUGURATION DAY).

Happy Wisdom Day: To Noble Kings

Listen for yourself!

The Day of Introductions (the Wednesday 1202021 post)

There is no playlist for the Common Ground Meditation Center practices.

If you are thinking about suicide, worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, you can dial 988 (in the US) or call 1-800-273-TALK (8255) for the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call this TALK line if you are struggling with addiction or involved in an abusive relationship. The Lifeline network is free, confidential, and available to all 24/7. YOU CAN TALK ABOUT ANYTHING.

White Flag is a new app, which I have not yet researched, but which may be helpful if you need peer-to-peer (non-professional) support.

If you are a young person in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgement-free place to talk, you can also click here to contact the TrevorLifeline (which is staffed 24/7 with trained counselors).

### YOU CAN LIVE A COMPLETE LIFE! ###