Those Crafty California Unitarians…

Apparently, our secret is out.  Someone in California has discovered that rather than the mild-mannered, obscure liberal religion that we masquerade as, we’re really a well-oiled underground political machine.

If we had that kind of shadow power, what would we do with it?

Legislative ministries are popping up in UU churches around the country.  Direct-action social justice work right at the source.  What impact could we have here, if we chose to…?

How many ways to pray?

Prayer has always both fascinated and repelled me.  As a child, growing up in the forms and rituals of the United Methodist Church, I got hung up on whether I agreed or disagreed with the words I was saying.  As I grew into young adulthood, I longed to leave words behind and simply experience the sacred directly, bypassing the head altogether.  Now, I find that here, as in many other places in my life, I long for synthesis and integration.  I long for a prayer life, again, that is neither rigid nor accidental, but full of life and intention.

One of the things that attracted me to the practice and the study of Spiritual Direction was the sheer variety of ways in which human beings seek to access the sacred.  Spiritual Direction is one way…and a way in which one can have a chance to explore one’s ways, one’s paths, the places we stumble and succeed, the ordinary and the profane and the sacred…and find what is meaningful in all of it.

In this article from the NY Times, the author explores his own ambiguity about prayer across several traditions and philosophies, including spiritual direction.

Interested in finding a spiritual director for yourself?  You can locate one near you here.

The Universe is Fearfully and Wonderfully Made…

Some of you will argue, of course, that the Universe is not “made” at all, but simply is, self-created and self-sustaining.  Whatever the Ultimate Truth about it all may be (and I certainly do not claim to know it), there can be no doubt that our own Earth, fragile and beautiful and amazing as it is, is only the tiniest, merest slice of amazing.  Fortunately, we are granted a bit of perspective once in a while from NASA, most particularly from the arresting images provided by the Hubble Space Telescope.

I, for one, am deeply grateful for images such as these.  They put Humanity into perspective, they encourage humility and an acknowledgment of limitations, and wonder, and mystery.  How, peering into these vast and gorgeous slivers of space, can we possibly imagine that it is all about the Humans, after all?

Some find despair in such revelations, but I find comfort in being reminded how truly small, insignificant, and temporary I am.

Click on the Butterfly Nebula for a slideshow.

"Bidden or unbidden, God is present." --Desiderius Erasmus

More Things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio…

Like this beautiful creature, which graced the wood wall outside my office window today.  It is the aptly-named Giant Leopard Moth.

"O all ye things of tenderness and grace! Bless ye our minds and lift us up forever." --Harry Youlden, from Hymns for the Celebration of Life

Bible, meet the 21st Century

There are many versions of the Bible floating around this world.  Your local bookstore contains several (the merits of which I will not debate here).  But it starts to get really interesting when we get a glimpse into much older versions, scriptures that were being compiled and copied in a time long before the printing press, and much closer to the actual beginning of Christianity.

Often, very old manuscripts are not really available for public scrutiny.  For one thing, most of us don’t read Greek.  Plus, they are incredibly fragile–too much light or air could crumble these things to dust in little time.  (This is why many of our country’s most important documents are kept in special air-tight and light-limited storage in the National Archives.)

But now, one of the world’s oldest known copies of Christian scripture is available for all the world to examine in minute detail on the Internet. This copy dates back to the time when Christianity was beginning to come into its own.  A lot of important things were happening in the 4th Century–the Nicene Creed was codified, and along with it, the “right” and “wrong” ways to be Christian.  So polish up your Greek, and find out for yourself just how accurate that King James Bible translation really is.

The Relevancy of Unitarian Universalism…

In case you doubt what I have been pointing towards for some years now–that Unitarian Universalism is not as relevant as it could, should, or imagines itself to be, here is some news that might convince you otherwise.

Somehow, given our movement and our values, it seems to add insult to injury that one of our great forbears, Thomas Starr King, was not only replaced, but was replaced by that paragon of me-first culture, the Gipper.

The question is…what do we need to do now and in the future to make ourselves culturally, spiritually, politically and nationally relevant once again?  Is it possible?

UU Minister Speaks Out in DC

One of our own, the Rev. Rob Hardies of All Souls UU Church in Washington D.C. is featured prominently in this article which examines the slow progress being made in African-American communities around gay rights and gay marriage.

I thought the article worth passing along.  One, it is an interesting intersection of racial and sexual politics–one that is significant, I think.  Two, it’s a wonderful example of a UU minister speaking out as a public witness for what we uphold as important.

Thanks, Rob.

Happy Birthday, Unitarian Universalism!

This arrived in my inbox today.  Perfect timing!  I was just arranging a class, to be held this summer.  We’ll do three parts:  Unitarian History, Universalist History, and UU History, post-merger.  It’ll be held the third Wednesdays of June, July and August, with a potluck at 6:30 and the class beginning at 7.  A grand way to celebrate!

Happy 48th birthday to the UUA!

On May 15th, 1961, the

Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations

came into being.

Today, we thank you for all your many gifts,

that have sustained the work of the UUA these 48 years

and invite you to share your stories of

Unitarian Unversalism with us.

Click here to share a story of how

Unitarian Universalism has

touched your life.

Gifts from Memphis!

As I prepare for the Southwest UU Conference Spring Meeting, during this weekend, I have also had a little time to venture out from my hotel room and greet Memphis.  It’s a city I’ve never been to, before.

Before I ever lived in a city, I always thought of them as abstract things.  Just sprawling gatherings of people and commerce, all piled up on each other.

But since I’ve had the opportunity to live an urban life, from within cities, I have come to know that they have their own character and energy, like any organism does.  So when I get an opportunity to visit a new city, I am always looking for something deeper than the tourist attractions, or the obvious high points.  I’m listening for a rhythm.

Tonight, I found some other travelers.  They were unexpected.  Darlene and Wes, both in their eighties, were my companions at a table at the rooftop party I decided to crash (since I could get in free, and the view was amazing).  While 20- and 30- somethings stood in line for drink tickets, and eyed each other, Darlene and Wes got up and danced swing variations to Pat Benetar and other 80’s standards.  When i asked them if they often attend parties like this back home, they replied, “Oh, yes!”  When I engaged them in conversation and asked how long they’d been married, I was put in my place when Darlene replied that they were traveling in order to celebrate their 25th anniversary of un-marriage.  They don’t live together, either.  All the things I had constructed in my head turned out to be false.

I had gone out from my hotel room hoping to meet some people I hadn’t known before, as a stranger in a new place.  What I found was a far greater gift—I was confronted with my own assumptions about “a certain age” and then I had them overturned.

I am deeply grateful for the reminder–Just ask the questions…and then listen.  Listen without judgment, without assumption, and *with* humility.  Gifts are waiting, everywhere.

Atheists in the Pulpit!?

Goodness, what will they think of next!?

Atheists in the pulpit are old news, here in Unitarian Universalism.  Nonetheless, I enjoyed this post by conservative Baptist leader Albert Mohler.  I found his indignation sort of funny…but there are also some really interesting theological points about the non-existence of God and what that may or may not imply.

What do you think?  Is atheism antithetical to being a good pastor?

(And by the way…the answer to his blog’s question is no…at least not the God he means.)