Showing posts with label Sunday Sermons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sunday Sermons. Show all posts

Sunday, December 5, 2021

Language makes a difference


There is a Unitarian Universalist church where the minister is called a "speaker." The sermon topic is listed with the prefix being listed as "speaker: ________________________."

"Speaker" not preacher, homilist, teacher, pastor. Simply "speaker."

There are "speakers" every where. Why do we need one delivering a talk from a pulpit during a worship service?

UU sermons have turned into TED talks and motivational speeches. They are full of psychobabble and saccharine, sentimentalized notions about some mundane topic. They rarely are about the nurturing of spiritual development which is the prime mission of the church.

People don't go to churches for worship services to listen to a speaker. People go to church for encouragement in their spiritual development. This is rarely found in a UU church or in any other denomination. No wonder church attendance and membership is dropping. 

People, on survey, increasingly say that they are not religious but they consider themselves spiritual. Where to they find their spiritual nurturance? Not in UU churches where the pulpit is filled with speakers, unfortunately.



Friday, October 8, 2021

What do UUs hear at church on Sunday morning?

 


What do UUs hear at church on Sunday morning?

UU preachers have "freedom of the pulpit" meaning that they can preach on anything they want to. How do they decide what topics to cover? What are their objectives in choosing their topics and delivering their sermons? Is there any rhyme or reason or is it a local decision based on the preference of the preacher and what the preacher thinks the congregation wants to hear?

There is an interesting article in the New Yorker published on 10/07/21 entitled "What American Christians hear at church." which describes studies done of on line sermons both before and after the pandemic.

It is relatively easy to listen to UU sermons from various congregations because they are posted on-line on platforms like YouTube. The sermons range from poor to mediocre to excellent. In rating them what would be the criteria an evaluator could use? There are multiple criteria such as informative, entertaining, inspiring, etc.

The most important criteria is to what extent does the sermon promote the vision and the mission of the church?

The question of to what extent does the promote sermon the vision and mission of the church can be answered only if there is a clear vision and mission statement. The mission and vision of Unitarian Universalism is articulated in the seven principles that people covenant together to affirm and promote.

The prime mission of the church is to encourage acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth. Using this as a criteria there are few sermons that encourage spiritual growth. It seems that UUs are much more focused on social justice and feel good psychobabble.

Given that preaching is the corner stone of worship, and in UU congregations so much of the preaching is off the mark, is it any wonder that the denomination is stagnant if not loosing members?

UUs don't even have a shared model of spiritual growth let alone resources that facilitate the development of it. This lack of shared model for spiritual growth is a huge deficit in Unitarian Universalism limiting its ability to carry out its mission and achieve its vision of achieving salvation for humanity.

Let's focus on models of spiritual development and then see to what extent sermons preached in UU churches facilitate it.

Sunday, September 13, 2020

Sunday Sermon 09/13/20 - What's a miracle?




 What’s a miracle?

Some people believe in miracles, some don’t. Some people think of miracles as magic and some people see them as metaphors which facilitate a shift in apprehension.  The first chapter of A Course In Miracles gives 50 principles of miracles if you would like to learn more about them.

The third principle of miracles is very important. In A Course In Miracles it is stated “Miracles occur naturally as expressions of love. The real miracle is the love that inspires them. In this sense, everything that comes from love is a miracle.”

As the Beatles taught us, Love is all there is.

The miracle is the shift in perception from the world of the ego to the world of the soul. The world of the ego plays games like, “give to get,” and “one or the other.” It is what the economists call a “zero sum” game meaning that there has to be a winner and loser. There cannot be two winners. Whatever slice is taken from the pie leaves less for others. Life becomes a competition for resources.

The world of the soul is the opposite, everyone's a winner and there is plenty, enough for everybody. Unitarian Universalists have seven principles and the first one is that we affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. This is the basis of the Universalist faith that God loves everybody unconditionally. There is no hell other than  the hell we create in the world of the ego. The soul, being an extension of Divine Love, knows only peace and bliss.

Thomas Harris, the psychiatrist who was a disciple of Eric Berne, another psychiatrist who is the father of Transactional Analysis, said there are four life positions. I’m ok and you're ok. I’m ok and you’re not ok. You’re not ok, but I’m ok, and you’re not ok and I’m not ok. Elizabeth Kubler Ross, another psychiatrist who pioneered the models for the grieving process, supposedly said, “I’m not ok and you’re not ok, but that’s ok.”

Jesus tells His disciples when they ask Him how to get to the kingdom, “to love as I have loved.”

Jesus is known as a miracle worker not only for the magical activities He is described as having participated in but for His love. The magical activities are not important. They are just entertaining to grab the listener or the reader’s attention. The moral of the miracle stories, if properly understood, is love is to be shared and enacted in our care for one another.

The miracles reside in the blessing, the grace, that is extended from the miracle worker to another. UUs covenant together to affirm and promote not only the inherent worth and dignity of every person but also justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.

Whenever we affirm and promote these two principles we do miracles.

Blessed be and may it be so.

Sunday, February 9, 2020

Sunday Sermon - You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world

Matthew 5: 13-16

Salt and Light

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.
As a Roman Catholic Unitarian Universalist I take Jesus' words as reported in Matthew 5 seriously, maybe more seriously than other UUs.
UUs don't like to proselytize. They don't put an emphasis on sharing their faith the way other more evangelical denominations do. Why they prefer to keep their faith to themselves and not make an effort to share it, seems a bit of a puzzle.
One of the primary reasons, perhaps, for the lack of evangelization by UUs is that they don't understand their faith, themselves. Most UUs seem to be in a muddle. They have little conceptual understanding of their faith and so they have difficulty sharing it in a coherent way with others.
Part of this muddle is the result of the lack of training in the basic principles of Unitarian Universalism and an understanding of the six sources. UUs seem more interested in coffee and donuts and social action than a deeper spiritual understanding of their faith.
The salt of Unitarian Universalism has lost its saltiness and so what is it good for other than to be thrown out and trampled under foot? UUs are too worried about being politically correct and not offending anyone that they have  become conflict avoidant until the pressure of disagreement becomes so great that schism occurs. UUs would rather leave the denomination than rectify the errors which often confound and beleagure it. 
Due to the muddle of Unitarian Universalism, there is little light to share among the nations. Occasionally there is a glimmer, but it is quickly extinguished and overcome by darkness. From what can the light of the faith emanate when the faith itself is so murky?
And so, perhaps, it is time for a revitalization of the UU faith when a sense of mission and vision and values are rejuvenated and a fire is created to warm humanity in its glow. Perhaps Unitarian Universalism needs to return to its foundational principles and teach its members what they are and how to share them with the world. Unitarian Universalists believe in the Unconditional Love of God and its inclusion of all humankind and all of life on this planet. UUs need to be more vigorous in sharing their principles with the world.
If the understanding of your faith is clear to you, go forth and share it, and salt the earth, and beam the light.

Sunday, January 19, 2020

Sunday Sermon - Jesus teachings are highly recommended.


Jesus teachings are highly recommended.

John 1:29-34 
29 The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God.”

Who do you say that Jesus is? What is He to you?

Christians say that He is God, the Second member of the Trinity.

Most Unitarian Universalists say the Jesus is not God and there is no Trinity but only One God. Some UUs might say that Jesus was a prophet and a teacher of God but not God himself.

Whatever you want to believe, John said, in so many words, “This guy is the real deal and you should listen to Him.

Is Jesus a son of God? Yes, as we all are. Perhaps it is easier to consider Him an old brother who guides us, teaches us, shows us by His good example a better way to live.

In A Course of Miracles, Jesus tells us that He is no different from us other than that he has remembered who He is, a child of God. Most of us have forgotten that fact, and believe what we have been taught in the world of the ego. Jesus tells us that the world of the ego is nonsense and has no bearing on who we really are.
Jesus tells us in so many words, “You could have the peace that I have, if you only knew that you are part of God and as such know that God loves you.” The Universalists have taught this, and known this from their religious experience. The Unitarians spend too much time in their heads and have never embraced the idea that what Jesus taught is very rational and makes good sense if you can get past the form of things to their essence, which is love.

So, John, in today’s gospel tells us that Jesus has come and He’s worth listening to. I have listened to Jesus my whole life and have learned a lot. Like John, I highly recommend Jesus’ teachings to you. We will hear and study more about Jesus taught in word and deed in weeks to come.



Sunday, December 29, 2019

Sunday Sermon - The slaughter of innocents goes on today in our name

12/29/19 First Sunday after Christmas


Matthew 2:13-23 The Escape to Egypt
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,
 weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

This story is sometimes called the slaughter of the innocents. It is a story similar to what is happening under the Trump administration at the Mexico/US border when children are being separated from their parents, put in detention, and several of them have died. This policy is being implemented for political reasons even though it is inhumane and inflicts trauma on children, parents, and probably the people charged with enforcing this policy.

What is the effect of this behavior on the rest of the country, and the world, and especially for the people who support this policy by voting for the people who create and enact these policies?

The spirit of Jesus has been recognized again as being born among us at this time of year as we remember His birth. Jesus, being protected and cared for by his step-father, Joseph, was removed from danger and wasn’t among the other male children killed because of the threat that Herod believed Jesus posed to his power and rule. Currently in the U.S.  there are many children who have been removed from their protectors and placed in institutional custody. These innocent children have no idea about U.S. politics and the lengths to which Trump administration officials and their supporters will go to inflict harm on them and their families.

What are we, as a people of faith, to do when such ugliness is perpetrated in our name? In a democracy, we, the people, have the power to remove such people from office and to work to change the minds and hearts for those who support them. We have a moral imperative as Unitarian Univeralists to do our best to make sure that all human beings are treated with dignity and respect and that justice, equity, and compassion are generated in our human relations.

It is sad to realize that things haven’t changed much in 2,000 years in our moral lives as human beings. Atrocities continue to be committed by ruling powers, and in the face of this horror and ugliness has come a Spirit from God encouraging us to find a better way and choose again.
           


Sunday, December 22, 2019

Sunday Sermons - Fourth Sunday Of Advent, Tune in to the right frequency

12/22/19 Fourth Sunday of Advent


Tune in to the right frequency.


12/22/19 Fourth Sunday of Advent

Tune in to the right frequency.

Matthew 1:18-24 New International Version (NIV)

Joseph Accepts Jesus as His Son

18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[a]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet[b] did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus,[c] because he will save his people from their sins.”

22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”[d] (which means “God with us”).
24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.

I have always liked this story even before I became a Psychiatric Social Worker and a family therapist. But once I became a professional therapist and began working with families, I have come to love this story all the more.
            Jesus, from the view of society, was a bastard child of an unwed mother until Joseph made a socially accepted wife and son out of them, something his society had stigmatized and would have punished, had the members of Joseph’s community had known.
            Joseph was going against the grain, he was taking a mature and differentiated stand against the norms and attitudes of his society in making Mary his wife and Jesus his son. Joseph’s decision and action is auspicious for Jesus’ life. I wonder if Mary and/or Joseph ever told Jesus the truth about his paternity? I wonder if Mary and Joseph had ever told anyone?
            Joseph was a courageous man, whom I admire greatly, who willingly took on the role as Jesus’, step-father. I have never heard Joseph referred to as the patron saint of step-fathers and yet as I write this, today, I will always think of him this way from this point forward.
            This story in today’s gospel is about Jesus, his lineage, and his birth, but at a deeper level it is a story about Joseph and Mary’s marriage and Joseph’s commitment to form a family in an unconventional way based on a dream.
            The moral of this story, looked at from Joseph’s point of view, is that going against the norms and attitudes of society to do good often takes great courage and is done with trepidation unless one has a rich inner spiritual life which is based on listening carefully and quietly to the will of God.
            One of my favorite sayings about the Christmas season I found on the sidewalk sign of the United Methodist Church in Brockport, NY several decades ago which said, “You, too, can hear the angel’s song if you tune in on the right frequency.” Joseph was tuned in to the right frequency and provided Mary and Jesus with a home that nurtured their growth and well being. Joseph was a heck of a man who we would all do well to emulate. As a family therapist I take comfort and validation from Joseph’s example with many of the families I work with.
            Jesus is coming and will be born in a barn in three short days. Jesus and his family are poor, and they are migrants, and they are oppressed by the taxes of the Romans. And yet, they have love and virtue, and are the spiriturally richest family in the world. They have enacted a story which has survived over 2,000 years and is celebrated worldwide year after year being told with great joy bringing peace and good will to all the world.

Happy Advent 2019!   


Peace on earth, good will to all


Sunday, December 15, 2019

Sunday Sermon, Third Sunday of Advent, Waiting For The Awakening. Love Is In The Air.

12/15/19 Third Sunday of Advent
Waiting for the awakening. Love is in the air.




Matthew 11:2-11 New International Version (NIV)

2 When John, who was in prison, heard about the deeds of the Messiah, he sent his disciples 3 to ask him, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?”

4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy[a] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

7 As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? 8 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. 9 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written:
“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way before you.’[b]
11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

What was John doing in prison? The gospel doesn’t say and you get the sense from the story that John didn't really care nor did anyone else. All John wanted to know was whether Jesus was the promised one. Is Jesus the real deal that everyone has been waiting for?
            When Jesus is told about John’s question about whether he is the promised one, the Messiah, Jesus, true to his teachings, doesn’t say one way or the other, he says to the messengers simply tell John what you’ve seen. As Jesus has said at other times,“By their fruit you will know them.”
Have Jesus’ teachingshealed? Yes, and there are plenty of examples. It’s the healings that have occurred, not who I am. Jesus communicates that John is asking the wrong question, it is not about identity, but about the healing shift in perception from the things of the world of the ego to the things of the world of Spirit.
After the messengers leave to go back to John to report on what they’ve seen in their interactions with Jesus, Jesus tells the people around Him that John is a great guy. John is wise in many ways and some might say one of the wisest but even at his wisest John isn’t any more important than they are.
The third Sunday of Advent is known as “Gaudete Sunday” which means “Rejoice Sunday.” We are taking time to rejoice that the symbol of our holiness is about to be born among us. We can sense it in the air. We don’t normally think of Phil Collins’ song In The Air Tonight as a Christmas song, but it should be added to the discography of the Christmas season.
John could sense the awareness of Love was increasing in the air and this is cause for great rejoicing.


Sunday, December 8, 2019

Sunday Sermons - Get your stuff together because the Prince of Peace is coming


Matthew 3:1-12 New International Version (NIV)

John the Baptist Prepares the Way

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’”[a]
John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with[b] water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with[c] the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
On this second Sunday of Advent, Matthew lets it rip with this fiery story about John the Baptist who told people that they need to get their stuff together because the Kingdom of God is at hand.
Then Matthew goes off dissing the Pharisees and the Sadducees saying that their teaching falls flat without actions and it is by their fruit that you will know them.
Matthew seems to threaten people saying that if you do good you will find the kingdom and if you do bad you will "burn in unquenchable fire." Matthew is teaching with a metaphor relating the suffering that comes from doing bad or being wrong minded to burning in flames like wheat chaff after the threshing.
What Matthew is talking about sounds a lot like karma. You reap what you sow.
The point of the story is that John the Baptist was trying to help people find their way. In Unitarian Univeralism we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning, and where to search? John the Baptist is telling people that the search is not in the external world but an inward search for the coming awareness of the Divine presence in our lives.
Our awareness of the Divine presence is within our reach but we have to look for Love in the right places and a being is coming who will help us find the way. However first, we must tune in to the right channel or we won't be able to hear the Divine song. So clean up your act by eschewing the things of the ego and make way for the awareness of the Divine.

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Sunday Sermons, First week of Advent, 12/01/19


December 1, 2019 First Sunday of Advent



Today, is the first Sunday of Advent. We are awaiting the birth of Jesus. He is coming to this world to enlighten us and show us the way to the world of the Spirit out of the world of the ego.

Every now and then there is a person born among us who becomes enlightened. It can be a Buddha, a Jesus, a Muhammad, a Lao Tsu, or any number of any other saints whose holiness is so apparent that we can’t miss it if we look closely and appreciate what we see.

People sometimes say that most of us are so deeply asleep, and shut down, and so confused that we wouldn’t recognize a Jesus, or a Buddha, or a Lao Tsu, or a Muhammad if they appeared in our current times and we met them.

To recognize Jesus we would have to be purified in our mind. If we are still caught up in and enamored by the things of the ego, we wouldn’t know Jesus or Buddha from Joe sixpack. For recognition it takes a sensitivity, an awareness, a desire to behold holiness. Most of us wouldn’t know holiness from titillating, sensationalized, celebrity enthrallment.

How do we get ourselves ready for the birth of Jesus into this world so that we would recognize him? How do we get our heads screwed on straight, and get ourselves on the right wave length?

First we have to be willing to give up the false promises made by the things of the ego. Will they really make us happy? Will all the shopping and gift giving at this time of year especially if it stresses us out and fills us with mixed feelings make us and others happy? We need to reflect and prioritize the things that truly make us and others happy. Consumption of material objects probably is not terribly high on the list while sharing time with loved ones and other people might be.

Second, we have to forgive all the people that we hate and stop making them responsible for our own happiness. We need to realize that we are not victims, but the beloved children of God who are richly and deeply blessed each and every second of each and every day. When we get into this frame of mind, Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tsu, Muhammad would be very recognizeable and give us great joy in meeting them.

Third, knowing that we are blessed by the Unconditional love of God, our Creator, we naturally want to extend this joy and peace throughout the world and we join with Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tse, and Muhammad in this mission.

Jesus is coming in four short weeks. Are you ready? Set aside the things of the ego and make space for His message of Love and Peace. What will you give up? What will you set aside? How will you make room for what Jesus’ birth has to offer?


Sunday, November 24, 2019

Sunday Sermon - The Truth will set you free.


Luke 23:35-43 The Message (MSG)

34-35 Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them; they don’t know what they’re doing.”
Dividing up his clothes, they threw dice for them. The people stood there staring at Jesus, and the ringleaders made faces, taunting, “He saved others. Let’s see him save himself! The Messiah of God—ha! The Chosen—ha!”
36-37 The soldiers also came up and poked fun at him, making a game of it. They toasted him with sour wine: “So you’re King of the Jews! Save yourself!”
38 Printed over him was a sign: this is the king of the jews.
39 One of the criminals hanging alongside cursed him: “Some Messiah you are! Save yourself! Save us!”
40-41 But the other one made him shut up: “Have you no fear of God? You’re getting the same as him. We deserve this, but not him—he did nothing to deserve this.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you enter your kingdom.”
43 He said, “Don’t worry, I will. Today you will join me in paradise.”
Today's gospel reminds me of Donald Trump putting down and smearing the truth tellers at the impeachment hearings.
Trump's Republican defenders join in the sneering with Nunes and Jordon being the worst, but all the Republicans got in their licks.
Adam Schiff and many others, trying to get to the bottom of things for the American people, get attacked, mocked, villified, bullied, and made fun of.
The Repubicans and their supporters have no fear of God, or maybe deep down they fear punishment and vengeance, otherwise why would they behave as they do?
The impeachment hearings have become a major morality play being performed in the front of the American people and the world. And in light of today's gospel WWJD, What would Jesus do?
Jesus would calmly take it all in and not judge and nor condemn. Jesus would forgive and for those who acknowledge their sins, and accept forgiveness, they would join him in paradise. But for those who don't and continue to be bitter, resentful, scared, and attack, they are already in their own hell and it will continue until they chose otherwise.
The story of the crucifixion is not about a man being murdered by the State as much as the Truth being butchered, mocked, belittled, subject to extinguishing by the powers that be. But the Truth cannot die because the Truth is that which is. The Truth can be ignored, defamed, distorted, denied, but it cannot be killed. You might think that we humans would have learned this lesson by now. However we are too self serving, too self deceptive, too arrogant, to acknowledge the Truth even when it is apparent before us.
The lesson of Jesus' crucifixion is not about blood sacrifice as so many Christians insist. As the Universalists know, God does not require nor want sacrifice. What God wants is the acknowledgement of Truth for without it we are consigned to hell and with it we enter into heaven.
The Truth will set us free, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth, but there are those who are afraid of the Truth and they create a living hell in our midst. Jesus shows us that the way to deal with deceit and injustice is to forgive for Jesus is quoted as saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
This Thanksgiving as families gather there will be plenty of forgiveness opportunities. There is no need to defend and argue for the Truth for if you have accepted Truth into  your heart, you will already be free.
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