Corrina McFarlane ~ Universal Life Minister
Post date: Nov 28, 2011 7:16:24 PM
With pounding heart, she took in what she had just heard spoken and the astonishing realization, which distilled as the utterance reverberated...; Oh my goodness; we are ALL 'servants' to this Divine spark, this miracle of life, this Spirit, All That Is...;
('God' Yes; God if you will, but the 'God' word tends to come with too much baggage).
She sat for a long time as the light faded from the scene and the sweet darkness of the night sky enveloped her. It was truly an Phenomenal moment and a seminal event in her young life.
Having grown up in an extended family network of (Scots/Irish) lay preachers, the territory was not unfamiliar. How and ever, as her Mother was wont to say, by the time she was born the recognized Preachers did not include women, though once a Woman, no less than a Man, her Mother wanted her to know, could and would 'Speak the Word'...
Which brings us back to Molly Ivin's edict that all human institutions ossify after a decade or so, and should therefore be summarily dissolved for Life's Sake!
The founder of ULC, the late Rev. Kirby Hensley, created the ULC in 1959 of the firm opinion that everyone has a right to their internally directed Path, without (necessarily) recourse to organized religion.. He fought for his convictions in the courts, eventually getting ULC established as its own denomination (as 'non-denominational'), and regularly preached his beliefs across the country until his death in 1999.
Hensley echoes A.S. Neill, bold and visionary founder of Summerhill School (founded 1929) in England. Neill's core philosophy, practiced in the school setting and afforded to children from first to senior year, was "Freedom, not Licence"; "Members of the community are free to do as they please, so long as their actions do not cause any harm to others."
The ULC's stated beliefs are as follows:
Objective: Eternal Progression.
Goal: A Fuller Life for Everyone.
Slogan: To Live and Help Live.
Maxim: "We Are One."
WIKI: "The ULC has no traditional doctrine, believing as an organization merely in doing "that which is right"
Each individual has the privilege and responsibility to determine what is right for him or her as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others. The Church (in effect) does not stand between the member and his or her belief system."
Among notable ULC Ministers are all The Beetles; John, Ringo, Paul & George, Richard Branson, Barbara Streisand, Mae West, Doris Day...
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PHOTO GALLERY
"Well done my beloved servant, in whom I am well pleased."*
One late afternoon she took herself off to the place she loved to go as a young girl; out from urban space, across farmland and down to the pond almost hidden by tall rushes. She sat for a long time at the water's edge. There in the dusk without preliminary came the voice;
Corrina was ordained as a Universal Life Church (ULC) minister in 1991, initially at the request of a young couple who wished to be married (on Mount Tamalpais; 'The Sleeping Maiden'), specifically by her, having come to regard her as a spiritual mentor. ULC, it turned out, was a route by which a legal/appropriate credential could be obtained without any compromise to sovereignty in regard to Path & Practice.
The ULC’s ordinations are issued in the belief that all people are inherently ordained, by virtue of being inspired - spark-of-life - into form and that the ULC is merely recognizing this fact. Upon learning of this 'doctrine', the Path was clear since, two years before, Corrina had had an unprecedented clairaudient experience, in the course of an epic personal journey, the undertaking of which had demanded great personal courage.
Night under the stars with grandson Freddie.. we squeeze fresh oranges for juice in the morning
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Corrina & Ryan spouse
Daughter Ninya's Wedding Day
Ninya/the bride, prepares her mother's hair for her own wedding day.
Scottish-English border Featherstone Castle [circa 1230] where one of our wedding ceremonies occurred Summer Solstice 1991 (this photo was taken at the five years after reunion at the castle because all the wedding guests had so much fun)
Cafe lunch in the heart of England with granddaughter Holly and sister Maggi Moon
Corrina & Ryan at Berry Creek Falls
California... And;
Corrina and Ryan in Scotland (Ben Lomond/BenNevis/Scottish Harebell bliss!)
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ROAN...; ROAN... ROAN...
ROAN...; the very utterance Is Peace to this One
ROAN - having the base color (as red, black, or brown) muted and lightened by admixture of white hairs <a roan horse>
ROAN - a valley that curves upward
A sound-form that may have been triggered by the depth with which she had experienced The Secret of Roaninish, based on the legend & lore of the selkies.
ROAN Inish
Definition for roan inish (inish is Irish for 'island'):
Three sisters Heather, Maggi Moon, Corrina
ENDNOTE RE 'God' - Somehow, in her journey deeper into her own sacred territory, her own name for that which is "truly unnamable endlessly named". emerged. There came a day when her lips formed the sound... of the 'One'..; One Beauty Way; One Beauty Being;
The Secret of Roan Inish is an American independent film written and directed by John Sayles, and released in 1994, based on The Secret of Ron Mor Skerry, by Rosalie K. Fry.
Interestingly, selkie has a word-root worth a mention here :
selk: "that which drags its body along with difficulty", originating in an ancient Indo-European root, selk-, meaning to pull, to draw along;
Take this as a gentle caution/reminder; that to think we are only flesh and blood and 5(!!) senses, can effectively reduce this earth sojourn into a big drag!
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AND LASTLY...;
* "Well done my beloved servant, in whom I am well pleased.";
Corrina was raised on the Kings James version of the Bible and in a sect where the spiritual leader bore the title; 'servant of god'. She would recognize then, that this context accounts for the language style and content of the delivery. Her understanding over time is that such an energy 'transmission' (as she experienced it on that numinous day) would always take the form that could best convey the essence of the message being delivered, in relation to the individual who is receiving the same.