Quote from St. Augustine

KOGIWU (ko-gee-woo) – an acronym for the Kingdom of God is Within U – a reminder that faith is an everyday journey

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us. ~St. Augustine

KOGIWU and Luke

KOGIWU (ko-gee-woo) – an acronym for the Kingdom of God is Within U – a reminder that faith is an everyday journey

Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you shall be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.
-Luke 6:37-38

If you would like to learn more about KOGIWU, visit the About KOGIWU and How to Apply KOGIWU to Your Life posts on this blog.

KOGIWU: Religion or Spirituality?

KOGIWU (ko-gee-woo) – an acronym for the Kingdom of God is Within U – a reminder that faith is an everyday journey

I often get asked whether or not KOGIWU is religiously or spiritually based. A belief in God begins many times with a person’s religious foundation that has typically been passed down through generations. For one reason or another, people change religions. My sense is that, for the most part, this is not because of a change in their fundamental beliefs but to try to find a religious institution whose doctrines they believe in.

Spirituality, on the other hand, is separate from being in line with the doctrines of a specific religion. I became so intrigued with finding the right answer to this I enrolled in Spirituality Matters – an on-line course through Boston College’s Department of Theology. Father Michael Himes, who led the course said it so well -

“Spirituality is seeing the sacred in the ordinary.”

Recognizing the presence of God in many facets of everyday life allows us to recognize the sacred in the ordinary. I believe KOGIWU can be both religious and/or spiritual. It is whatever is right for you. In reminding yourself of KOGIWU each day, your thought at that moment may have a religious basis and sometimes it is simply because you are recognizing the sacred in the ordinary. Either thought strengthens your faith and that is powerful. KOGIWU!

If you would like to learn more about KOGIWU, visit the About KOGIWU and How to Apply KOGIWU to Your Life posts on this blog.

KOGIWU and Luke

KOGIWU (ko-gee-woo) – an acronym for the Kingdom of God is Within U – a reminder that faith is an everyday journey

A passage from Luke inspired KOGIWU. The Kingdom of God is Within You is from Luke 17:21.

Yesterday, I saw the following on a bumper sticker.

For nothing is impossible with God. Luke 1:37

You gotta love Luke! KOGIWU!

If you would like to learn more about KOGIWU, visit the About KOGIWU and How to Apply KOGIWU to Your Life posts on this blog.

Einstein Quote

KOGIWU (ko-gee-woo) – an acronym for the Kingdom of God is Within U – a reminder that faith is an everyday journey

“I want to know God’s thoughts, the rest are details.” – Albert Einstein

I happen to love this quote from Einstein. My sense from it is that Einstein lived with KOGIWU!

If you would like to learn more about KOGIWU, visit the About KOGIWU and How to Apply KOGIWU to Your Life posts on this blog.

KOGIWU and Lent

KOGIWU (ko-geee-woo) – an acronym for the Kingdom of God is Within U – a reminder that faith is an everyday journey

Today, the first day of Lent marks a time of reflection for Christians. One cannot help but imagine Jesus’s forty day journey. What were his thoughts during those days? Could this enlightened man have had any sense of the impact he would have in the world?

Traditionally, Lent has its customs of fasting, prayer and sacrifice that are given a renewed vigor for almost six weeks prior to Easter. These traditions evolved from recognizing the sacrifices Jesus himself made. I was wondering, however, what would Jesus want our custom for Lent to be? My sense is that fasting, prayer and sacrifice may be a piece of what he would want for us. In addition, my guess is that Jesus would want us to deliberately live with God-consciousness. When we live our life with God-consciousness and with the awareness that the Kingdom of God is within all of us, life is more complete. What better time to become consciously aware of this effort than during Lent?

This Lenten season deliberately think about living with God-consciousness. Use KOGIWU to remind you of this. Maybe you still want to give up chocolate or soda? I encourage you as well to do one act of kindness everyday as an example of recognizing our gift to live with God-consciousness. May I recommend – Extend yourself to a neighbor who may be in need. Take extra care holding a door for a stranger. Visit a nursing home with baked goods. Call an old friend you haven’t been in touch with for a while. Pray for someone you need to forgive. Love. These small tasks deliberately each day can have a transforming effect on the way you look at like.

If you would like to learn more about KOGIWU, visit the About KOGIWU and How to Apply KOGIWU to Your Life posts on this blog.

KOGIWU and the Pretzel

KOGIWU (ko-gee-woo) – an acronym for the Kingdom of God is Within U – a reminder that faith is an everyday journey

I read a fun fact in the Partners in Faith newsletter this week. With Lent approaching, there was a section describing fun food facts for Lent. The newsletter read, “The origin of the pretzel traces back to the Roman Empire when Christians ate it as the bread of Lent. Since they abstained from many foods, this simple bread was made of water, flour and salt. The pretzel was shaped to represent arms folded across the chest in prayer.”

So next time you eat a pretzel with that classic loop we’ve never considered more than one option of pretzel shapes, say a prayer…think KOGIWU!

If you would like to learn more about KOGIWU, visit the About KOGIWU and How to Apply KOGIWU to Your Life posts on this blog.

Faith and the Choir

KOGIWU (ko-gee-woo) – an acronym for the Kingdom of God is Within U – a reminder that faith is an everyday journey

The other night I had the pleasure of being in the audience of my daughter’s Middle School Winter Choral Concert. She attends an Independent secular school. The program was beautifully choreographed, the high school students and middle school students performed their own songs and sang together as a group for a final Irving Berlin piece.

The songs they sang so beautifully were a mix of contemporary music along with traditional favorites. I was struck and pleasantly surprised that there were a few non-secular songs woven into the program. Joyce Eilers My Lord was sung with such enthusiasm. It was wonderful. I later learned that particular arrangement of My Lord is one of the most popular choir selections ever. I Believe from the musical Spring Awakenings was a beautiful piece that was performed and it has a very spiritual tone.

Hallelujah!, the chorus from Handel’s Messiah was the last piece the High School Concert Choir sang. The director shared with the audience that the Hallelujah! at 268 years old is the most recognized piece of music in the world.

On our ride home we talked about how interesting the trivia was about the Hallelujah! My daughter shared with me that just that night the #1 song downloaded on ITunes was a song of the same name, Hallelujah performed by Justin Timberlake and Matt Morris during the Hope for Haiti Telethon. The lyrics for this Hallelujah were written by Leonard Cohen. I thought how wonderful that Hallelujah, a word that is a thanksgiving or praise to God, has endured the popularity of so many years and now is the forefront in pop culture. That’s KOGIWU!

If you would like to learn more about KOGIWU, visit the About KOGIWU and How to Apply KOGIWU to Your Life posts on this blog.

The Blessings of Blogging!

KOGIWU (ko-gee-woo) – an acronym for the Kingdom of God is Within U – a reminder that faith is an everyday journey

I loved the article in today’s Boston Globe about the Pope’s message telling priests to tap new media to get their messages out. The article discusses the different media encouraged by the Vatican as well as highlights the multimedia communications the Vatican is already using. My favorite line of the article is the first sentence – “Pope Benedict XVI has some new advice for priests struggling to get their message across: Go forth and blog.” You can read the article in its entirety below.

The internet is certainly a wonderful tool to send great messages. I will continue to “go forth and blog!” KOGIWU!

If you would like to learn more about KOGIWU, visit the About KOGIWU and How to Apply KOGIWU to Your Life posts on this blog.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2010/01/24/spread_gospel_online_pope_urges/

The Circumpunct as a symbol of God

KOGIWU (ko-gee-woo) – an acronym for the Kingdom of God is Within U – a reminder that faith is an everyday journey

I recently finished reading Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol. Admittedly, I am a Dan Brown fan. This book seemed to engage me more than his others perhaps because it is set in Washington D.C. I was not as aware of the symbolism represented in our own capital whereas in The DaVinci Code, for example, I had anticipated a bit where his symbology might lead to. I found The Lost Symbol a thrilling story, a page turner I just could not put down. What intrigued me most in The Lost Symbol and kept my attention fervently was the symbology in this book.

The understanding of the ‘ancient mysteries’, however one interprets them, is woven throughout the book. In searching for the answer to the ancient mysteries, Brown’s main character, Robert Langdon, is presented with much theory about what the mysteries possibly may be. In this discussion, The Kingdom of God is Within You, is mentioned on three separate occasions. One of the characters teaching Landgon about these mysteries, Peter Solomon, is so grounded in his belief that those that are enlightened with the mysteries have an understanding that God and man are not separate and that the truly enlightened understand the kindgom of God resides within each and every one of us. Certainly, as the author of the KOGIWU blog (!), this subject matter resonated with me.

One thing amongst the many I learned from this book was that the circumpunct is the universal symbol for God. A circumpunct is an O within an O. You can view the circumpunct in the O of the KOGIWU logo above. In The Lost Symbol Peter Solomon describes the concourse where the Washington Monument stands. It is a “circular concourse made entirely of white stone…expect for two decorative courses of dark stone, which form two concentric circles around the monument.” Yes, a circumpunct. These references to what exists in Washington are factual and intriguing. Once I read about the symbology of the circumpunct, my dear friend who creates logos for so many of my ideas changed the original O to the circumpunct. It is funny, once that change was made on the logo, many of us looked at it and thought, hmmmm, this is the way that was meant to be. It was KOGIWU!

If you get a chance, pick up The Lost Symbol. It is more than worth the read.

If you would like to learn more about KOGIWU, visit the About KOGIWU and How to Apply KOGIWU to Your Life posts on this blog.