Lightworks!
The Rodan Foundation's Publication for the Metaphysical Church of Enlightenment, October 2024
In 1981, Reverend Clarke Carraway founded The Rodan Foundation with the intention of creating a powerful, growing community of awakening beings who experience love, peace, prosperity, unity, healing, harmony, and revelation through learning and service. The Rodan Foundation, recognizing the Law of Cause and Effect, expresses gratitude for the many blessings it reaps from the community's experiences.
Welcome! Join with us in our dynamic weekly services where we discover our true purpose in an emerging world. Experience the revelation of our collective awakening to the power of love, the wonder of our multi-dimensional capacities, and the joy in reclaiming earth as our home. Sunday mornings provide the opportunity to celebrate life with like-minded beings and experience personal reassurance and empowerment through the spiritual messages of Reverend Carraway's mediumship. We look forward to your participation enhancing our community.
You have kind genes! Seriously. We all have. Kind genes are some of the oldest in the human genome. We’re talking 100 million years at least, but the roots go back around 700 million years. Ancient! Kind is our legacy. We’re supposed to help each other. It’s our deepest nature. It’s when we’re not kind that we introduce ourselves to stress, because we go against our nature.
So how did we get kind genes? Well, long ago, a very long time ago, our ancient ancestors learned that helping each other out was much safer and healthier than serving the self only. There were no supermarkets in those days. Food had to be hunted or found.
Sharing what we had, working together, supporting each other, teaching each other, having fun together, caring for each other; these are the things that worked to keep our ancient ancestors fed, watered, safe, and thriving.
The inclination, then, to help each other, to support and encourage each other, plus the good feelings of living, playing, and enjoying time together, got passed from one generation, to the next, to the next, and the next again, all the way to the present day. Over this time, the instinct to be kind, to share, care, and support, and the good feelings went together as a package and were knitted into our DNA. Today, it’s why kindness feels good.
The satisfaction we get today, that sense of it being the right thing to do when you help someone, give someone a lift with some well-chosen words of encouragement or support, buy someone a coffee, even hold a door open, is those ancient community vibes at play. And the positive feelings come along for the ride.
If you ever wondered why kindness feels good, right, satisfying, this is why. And it’s backed by science. Lots of research now shows that kindness boosts happiness and is protective against depression and anxiety in the long term. It even counteracts stress. Kindness turns down stress regions of the brain and ramps up positive mood regions. It even leads to lasting physical changes that help us better weather some of life’s rainy days. I think of all this as Nature’s Reward.
It’s Nature’s way of giving you a High Five and saying, “Well done! Your actions are supporting the survival and thriving of the human species. Here’s a wee squirt of happy hormones for your trouble.” But Nature is not quite done with just some happy hormones.
Nature’s reward package - Other things happen too. The effects of our kind genes run deep. There’s a relaxing of the nervous system, reduction in blood pressure, reduced inflammation, reduced oxidative stress (free radicals), slowing of ageing, a support to the immune system, faster healing of wounds, and much more. These are just some of the things that come in Nature’s “reward package.”
So next time you find yourself helping someone, checking in, offering words of encouragement or support, even letting someone ahead in the supermarket queue, give a nod to your kind genes and those ancient community vibes at play. It’s the ancient version of what you said or did in that moment that got us this far, and what you’re doing now is helping it go a bit farther.
Now accept the delivery of Nature’s reward package. These seemingly little things you do go much farther, and are much more important, than you realize.
By Dr. David Hamilton, drdavidhamilton.com, 8/24
Calendar of Events and Special Offerings
NOVEMBER 3RD: ALEX WANG PIANO SOLO! Alex Wang is in the 6th grade at Ralston Middle School in Belmont. He studies the piano with Ms. Sumi Nagasawa, and trumpet, and guitar under Mr. Eric Leong's guidance. Alex frequently performs piano in the studio recitals and plays trumpet in the symphonic band in school. Alex's hobbies are reading, skiing, and basketball.
GUEST LECTURE BY KELLY CHESSEN. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in psychology, Kelly knew there was a different path for her life than being a traditional therapist. She both volunteered and managed a Suicide Prevention and Crisis line before moving to corporate as a Data Crisis Counselor. She then discovered NLP and hypnosis in her own need to heal her traumas. Kelly went on to get certified in NLP at the NLP Institute of California and as a Certified Hypnotherapist at the HCH Institute. She then realized that after years of helping people through their moment of crisis, she wanted to reach people on a deeper level. She now helps people shift into a better version of themselves using solution-focused hypnotherapy and NLP. Today Kelly will lecture on, 'Demystifying Suicide Prevention.' **DAYLIGHT SAVINGS ENDS! TURN CLOCKS BACK ONE HOUR!**
NOVEMBER 10TH: LIGHTHOUSE STRING BAND! Back by popular request! Join us for an uplifting musical experience with The Lighthouse String Band, a group of talented musicians from all over the Bay Area, playing mostly Scottish and Irish music through a wide range number of exciting instruments, from violin to mandolin, fiddle, guitar to accordion. Today Reverend Carraway will be lecturing on, 'Cut Yourself Some Slack.'
TESTIMONIAL CIRCLE: After the service, everyone is invited to join an informal testimonial circle, where participants share how they are living positivity and love in their daily lives. Bring miracles, large & small. Or just come and be present in the sharing.
NOVEMBER 17TH: MICHAEL PEAVLER PIANO SOLO. Michael Peavler, making his debut with us, is a 5th grader at St. Pius Elementary School. Under the guidance of Sumi Nagasawa, Michael has been exploring all genres of the music, from traditional classical to contemporary and performs in the studio recitals. Outside of piano, Michael loves singing, playing tennis, football, basketball, wrestling, and outdoor camping. Playing duets with her older brother today, Sawyer Peavler is a 3rd grader at St. Pius Elementary School. Outside of piano, Sawyer also loves singing, playing tennis, art, and gymnastics.
GUEST LECTURE BY ALEXANDRA CHRIST. In the depths of despair, Alexandra found herself in a battle with her own body chemistry—medication that was meant to heal instead plunged her into crying fits and suicidal thoughts. Alone and overwhelmed, she often curled into a fetal position, grappling with darkness. But in that bleak moment, a flicker of hope emerged. With the unwavering support of her family, friends, and a compassionate new doctor, Alexandra made a powerful choice: to live her life to the fullest and thrive. Join her as she shares her transformative journey of healing, hope, and the incredible strength that can emerge from even the darkest places. Today Alexandra will lecture on, 'From Suicidal to Electrifiable.'
NOVEMBER 24TH: THE SEASON OF US! Our (Troubadours of a New Millennium) is a Heartfelt Musical Duo who play exclusively from a Conscious Loving Space. Stephanie Greivell performs on the Alto and C Foot Flute. Bill Stanfield plays all Guitars (6 and 12 – Acoustic and Electric). Their music incorporates a madrid of musical styles - their Infectious Grooves can't help but stimulate your spirit and touch you at a Deep Soul Level. Today Reverend Carraway will be lecturing on, 'Acceptance Is Not About Giving Up.'
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COMMUNITY OFFERINGS:
Healing Community: Beginning at 9:45 during our meditation, please tune into your realm of perfection and release your concerns and receive the benefit perfection has to offer you. The Rodan Foundation holds prayer for our List of Divine Fulfillment, a list of recognition. It is so named because our community praises and recognizes the outpicturing of love and perfection in the lives of those on the list. If you wish to participate with our List, we invite you to place the names & situations for which you desire help in our healing basket on our greeter’s table.
Testimonial Circle: On the second Sunday of the month, everyone is invited to join an informal testimonial circle, where participants share how they are living positivity and love in their daily lives. Bring miracles, large & small. Or just come and be present in the sharing.
The Haven: The Spiritual Evolution Class: Channeled through the mediumship of Reverend Carraway, the Tuesday evening class provides an in-depth opportunity to experience expanding awareness of self and life. It is an ongoing flow of revelation designed to promote personal awakening and responsibility, transformation and empowerment. For more information, please speak with Reverend Carraway after the service.
The I Love Me Meditation Series: is now available on Insight Timer – a meditation website and app with millions of meditations available to listen to for free! Every time one of our meditations is played, a donation is sent to The Foundation. You can give financially to The Rodan Foundation, just by listen-ing to the meditations. Sounds like a win-win for sure! You can also greatly support us by giving us stars, and commenting, and sharing the meditations on social media. Please Spread the word and share with others.** https://insig.ht/MMX7e6KBtub
Our Community Love Offertory for the Month of November
supports Second Harvest of Silicon Valley
Our community is in crisis. Record-high food and gas prices, a housing shortage and the financial devastation caused by the pandemic have prompted another surge in the need for food assistance. We are now serving about 500,000 people every month. When anyone reaches out to Second Harvest, we are there to serve them. To meet such an extraordinary level of need, we have doubled the amount of food we source and distribute since the pandemic began. Free groceries from Second Harvest ensure that no one in our community has to choose between paying rent or putting food on the table.
One of the many ways you can support us...
As you help the economy with your Amazon purchase, you may also help The Rodan Foundation by shopping from smile.amazon.com. Under the 'search' area, you'll see the word 'supporting' and a description of a chosen charity. Hover over the name and you'll see a 'change' option listed next to it. Click 'change,' search for The Rodan Foundation, and choose us as your charity. We will receive 0.5% of the price of all your eligible smile.amazon purchases!
You can also visit our support page to make a tax-deductable donation directly to The Rodan Foundation.
Reverend Carraway is available for spiritual counseling, Jin Shin Do sessions, as well as for ceremonies marking mile stones in life. For more information, please see him after the Sunday service at The Metaphysical Church of Enlightenment or contact us.
