Showing posts with label First principle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label First principle. Show all posts

Friday, August 25, 2023

The universal nature of which I am a manifestation?


I said before that of yourself you can do nothing, but you are not of yourself. If you were, what you have made would be true, and you could never escape. It is because you did not make yourself that you need be troubled over nothing. Your gods are nothing, because your Father did not create them. You cannot make creators who are unlike your Creator, any more than He could have created a Son who was unlike Him. If creation is sharing, it cannot create what is unlike itself. It can share only what it is. Depression is isolation, and so it could not have been created. T-10.V.5:1-8


Schucman, Dr. Helen. A Course in Miracles (pp. 349-350). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 


We are not the author of our own existence. We had to come from somewhere, to have been made from something. We are an extension of our Transcendent Source and what we have made, thinking it is ourselves, is but a fabrication of the ego. Being an extension of our Transcendent Source we have security, peace, and bliss. If we believe we are simply the object of our own ego creation, we will be depressed.


In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person which comes from our Transcendent Source and is not of our own making.


The question we all struggle with consciously or unconsciously is “What makes me tick?” Am I merely the consequence of social construction or deep down is there a universal nature of which I am a part? To what extent am I aware of the universal nature of which I am a manifestation?


Wednesday, August 23, 2023

How are our souls doing?


Sickness and death seemed to enter the mind of God’s Son against His Will. The “attack on God” made His Son think he was Fatherless, and out of his depression he made the god of depression. This was his alternative to joy, because he would not accept the fact that, although he was a creator, he had been created. Yet the Son is helpless without the Father, Who alone is his Help. T-10.V.4:1-4


Schucman, Dr. Helen. A Course in Miracles (p. 349). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 


So we think we are the authors of our own life. We all know where babies come from. We are usually joyous at the birth of a body. But what about the soul that is incarnated in that body whose manifestation grows as experience in the body is obtained? This soul can become more aware or depressed. There is a difference between growing old and growing up. All bodies grow old but not all souls grow up. The ego focuses mainly on bodies and is threatened by the soul because as the soul becomes more aware, the ego diminishes and is eliminated.


In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Inherent worth and dignity comes from the soul not the body.


What condition is your condition in? When we say we need to “get into shape” we usually are referring to the condition of our body. What shape is our soul in? To what extent do we explore the awareness of our Higher self as distinguished from our ego selves? What is that part of us that can observe our cognitive, affective, psychological, social, physical, and spiritual functioning? Are we living examined lives? If so, how is our soul doing?


Monday, August 21, 2023

To what extent do you see the Divine Spark in others?


Do not forget, however, that to deny God will inevitably result in projection, and you will believe that others and not yourself have done this to you. You must receive the message you give because it is the message you want. You may believe that you judge your brothers by the messages they give you, but you have judged them by the message you give to them. Do not attribute your denial of joy to them, or you cannot see the spark in them that would bring joy to you. It is the denial of the spark that brings depression, for whenever you see your brothers without it, you are denying God. T-10.V.2:1-5


Schucman, Dr. Helen. A Course in Miracles (p. 349). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 


When we deny God we project our fears onto others in a multitude of forms. The failure to see the Divine Spark in others leaves us depressed and forsaken. If we would experience love we have to share it.


In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person by seeing the Divine Spark in each person we interact with and think of. This perception of the Divine Spark in each person gives rise to peace and bliss.


The practice of Unitarian Universalism involves searching for the goodness in each person we meet. In Alcoholic Anonymous they say, “Take the best and leave the rest.” When we find the goodness it is good to acknowledge it, celebrate it, and express gratitude for the golden nugget we have found.


The seventh skill of spiritual intelligence according to Cindy Wigglesworth is the awareness of the worldview of others. This skill involves developing curiosity about the beliefs, values, opinions, practices, history, and traditions of those who come from cultures different from our own. The practice of the platinum rule is “Do unto others as they would have you do unto them.” To what extent do you know about and understand the religious beliefs of other faith traditions?


Sunday, August 20, 2023

What makes you tick?


The rituals of the god of sickness are strange and very demanding. Joy is never permitted, for depression is the sign of allegiance to him. Depression means that you have forsworn God. Many are afraid of blasphemy, but they do not understand what it means. They do not realize that to deny God is to deny their own Identity, and in this sense the wages of sin is death. The sense is very literal; denial of life perceives its opposite, as all forms of denial replace what is with what is not. No one can really do this, but that you can think you can and believe you have is beyond dispute. T-10.V.1:1-7


Schucman, Dr. Helen. A Course in Miracles (p. 348). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 


The ego is so stupid. It attempts the impossible which is to get the person to deny their Transcendent Source. How can a person be made out of nothing? How stupid does the ego  think we are? We are an extension of our Transcendent Source and to deny our TS is to deny our very self. Now that is depressing.  We think we can deny our TS and author our own existence but this is impossible and to think we could do this is just stupid.


In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person which is a very wise appraisal. UUs know whence they have been created and to where they return from their free and responsible search for truth and meaning.


The first skill in spiritual intelligence according to Cindy Wigglesworth in her book The Twenty One Skills Of Spiritual Intelligence is “awareness of one's own world view.” Do you know what makes you tick? Do you understand the social, psychological, biological and spiritual factors that have contributed to your consciousness? Some people are much more self aware than others. What are the resources that contribute to your self awareness on a daily basis and have helped you become self aware throughout the course of your life? Name them and share your awareness with another human being.


Saturday, August 19, 2023

Are you living up to your highest ideals?


In many only the spark remains, for the Great Rays are obscured. Yet God has kept the spark alive so that the Rays can never be completely forgotten. If you but see the little spark you will learn of the greater light, for the Rays are there unseen. Perceiving the spark will heal, but knowing the light will create. Yet in the returning the little light must be acknowledged first, for the separation was a descent from magnitude to littleness. But the spark is still as pure as the Great Light, because it is the remaining call of creation. Put all your faith in it, and God Himself will answer you. T-10.IV.8:1-7


Schucman, Dr. Helen. A Course in Miracles (p. 348). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 


The great gospel song, This Little Light Of Mine’s, first lyric is “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine,” The Divine Spark is in each one of us and when we recognize and acknowledge that Divine Spark within us, we not only can let it shine, but we can fan the spark to flame and “Great Rays” manifest.


In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person which is inherent in the Divine Spark within. When we recognize the Divine Spark in ourselves we see it also in other people. In Matthew 5:15 Jesus says, Neither does a person light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.


To what extent do you look for and listen to your higher self setting the ego aside? Socrates said that an unexamined life is not worth living. Are you living an examined life? Do you take time everyday to examine your conscience and ascertain to what extent you are living up to your highest ideals? This awareness of your ego self and your higher self is one of the 21 skills of spiritual intelligence. The examination of conscience is an important daily spiritual practice.


Sunday, May 29, 2022

Values clarification - Choose, prize, and act on the inherent worth and dignity of every person.

Saturday, February 20, 2021

In Diversity is our strength.

 


The world we are entering is going to be far more diverse than ever before, with ever more types of ideas, industries, jobs, companies, and people. And these people are going to be of all backgrounds, races, colors, and creeds, believing in all kinds of gods or none at all. To succeed in this world, we will have to learn to manage diversity and gain strength from it, rather than feel threatened by it. Cities do that better than anyplace else. They are built to be factories of assimilation and amalgamation.


Zakaria, Fareed. Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World (p. 143). W. W. Norton & Company. Kindle Edition. 

By now smart people have figured out that “Make America Great Again”, MAGA, the slogan of Trumpism was code to 30% of Americans who want to make America white again. Problem is that ship sailed a long time ago and in five states non whites outnumber whites and in most American cities.

  1. What do you think about this browning of America?
  2. Will whites come to embrace it and value it or continue to feel threatened and resist  it?
  3. How will the coronavirus pandemic affect the way we view our diversity?
Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.

How does Make America White Again align with UU principles?

Friday, March 6, 2020

Lenten Reflections, Day Ten, Second Friday of Lent, Look for the Divine Spark in every person.


Day Ten, Second Friday of Lent
Look for the Divine Spark in every person.
Matthew 5: 21-26
21“ You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not murder’; and ‘whoever murders shall be liable to judgment.’  But I say to you that if you are angry with a brother or sister, you will be liable to judgment; and if you insult  a brother or sister, you will be liable to the council; and if you say, ‘You fool,’ you will be liable to the hellf of fire.  So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are on the way to court with him, or your accuser may hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. 26Truly I tell you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

What’s up with being angry with others? What makes you make them responsible for your unhappiness? Do you want to give them that kind of power over you?

Jesus tells us that giving people the power to make us unhappy is no way to live. Our brothers and sisters are part of the interdependent web of existence along with us. We are all in this thing called “life” together. 

As part of us, if we hate them, we hate a part of ourselves. If we hate a part of ourselves we place ourselves in hell. As long as we hate those who are a part of ourselves we imprison ourselves and we can’t be released until we join with those with whom we are angry and see our common humanity which is our mutual inherent worth and dignity.

Today, look for that Divine Spark in every person, even your enemies and those with whom you disagree and even hate. Jesus tells us that the path of the kingdom is to merge with that which is holy in every person.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Daily Reflections, Day Thirty nine, Do I Want Love Or Fear?


Day Thirty nine
Do I want love or fear?

“Miracles are examples of right thinking, aligning your perceptions with truth as God created it.” ACIM.T-1.1.36:1

Right thinking is when we bring our thoughts into alignment with the world of the Spirit rather than the world of the ego. The world of the Spirit is the truth as God created it rather than the ego which is made up of illusions of our own making.

Our goal is to become aware of our own holiness which is joined with and part of the holiness of others. The miracle is nothing, in and of itself, other than a shift in our focus from the world of the ego to the world of the Spirit. This shift is always within our decision making ability.

We do not have the power over external circumstances and events, but we always have control over how we wish to respond to those circumstances and events. This power can, indeed, seem miraculous.

Today, I will remind myself several times, on what I want to focus my mind. Do I choose the Spirit and the world of Love, or the ego, and the world of illusion? I will ask myself whenever I am upset, “Do I want Love or fear?”

This reflection on the choice between Love and fear is related to the first principle of Unitarian Universalism when we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person.

All the Daily Reflections can be accessed here.

Editor's note:

One of the goals of UU A Way Of Life is to help people become aware of their holiness. One of the tools, activities, to achieve this goal is reflection on one's own interior spiritual life. These reflections can be fueled by many ideas and the ideas in this first year of Daily Reflections comes from A Course In Miracles.

The Daily Reflections posted here will also, when appropriate, reference various aspects of Unitarian Universalist Theology. Your help is appreciated by posting comments.

Monday, December 16, 2019

Daily relfections, Day Twenty, Reach out and touch someone

Day Twenty
Reach out and touch someone

“Miracles are teaching devices for demonstrating it is as blessed to give as to receive. They simultaneously increase the strength of the giver and supply strength to the receiver.” ACIM, T-1.1.16:1-2

Are we separate or all part of the same Oneness? Some say that humanity is the Body of Christ. If we all are extensions of Love, then we share the same being. If we share the same being, what we do to a perceived other we do to ourselves. When we share, both the sharer and the person shared with are strengthened and blessed. This joining in Oneness, simply put, is a miracle.

There are many examples of the enrichment that comes from sharing such as telling a joke, singing in a duet, a quartet, a chorus, working with another, or many others, on any project. There is an Irish proverb:, “Many hands make light work.”

Back in the 1970s Bell telephone had a commercial which suggested that we “reach out and touch someone.”

As Unitarian Universalists we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and to accept one another and encourage each others spiritual growth.

Today, facilitate a miracle happening by sharing yourself with another in loving kindness in some small way.



Sunday, December 1, 2019

Daily reflections, Day Seven, To bless or condemn

Day seven
To bless or condemn - that is the question.



“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.” T-1.1.3:1-3

Have you noticed yet in your life that basically we have only two choices: love or fear? Fear is born from the separation and leads to judgement, resentments, guilt, blame, playing one up and one down. Love leads to wholeness, completeness, joining, joy, and peace.

So at any given time we can ask ourselves what is this behavior for? Am I attempting to join or to separate? Unconditional love knows no judgement, no exclusion, no resentment, no blame. Unconditional love would not have us feel and think of ourselves as a victim. Love asks us to be forgiving and to give up making other people and situations responsible for our unhappiness. Our happiness comes from our awareness of being One with the All. Some people call this “cosmic consciousness” and other people call it “enlightenment.”

The first principle of Unitarian Universalism asks us to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. This principle applied asks us to question, “What is my purpose here? Am I trying to heal a sense of separation or am I intending to blame and punish and exclude?”

Today, when you feel angry, resentful, repulsed, see this as a forgiveness opportunity and ask yourself, “Do I really want to make this person, this situation, responsible for my unhappiness.” If the answer is “no” then ask your Higher Power to help you love this person and at least in your mind extend the blessings which you yourself enjoy being at one with your Higher Power.

Are you coming from a place of love or from a place of judgement? Coming from a place of love is natural, anything else is an illusion which you have made up and are projecting.

As the Beatles sang decades ago, ”Love is all there is.”

Saturday, June 22, 2019

You might think it's okay to harass and abuse immigrants, but UUs think it's not okay.


You might think that it's okay to abuse, lock up, separate families, deport undocumented immigrants but it's not okay because Christian tradition teaches that we should welcome the stranger because all of God's children have inherent worth and dignity and are to be treated with justice, equity, and compassion.

This, we Unitarian Universalists have covenanted together to affirm and promote.

Friday, April 19, 2019

Today's lesson, number 94, "I am as God created me."


Today's lesson, number 94 in A Course In Miracles, is "I am as God created me."

How could we be anything else?

We have forgotten, though, who we are because of the socialization and conditioning we have been subjected to by society.

In this socialization and conditioning we have been taught that we are many other things, all superficial, and illusional. We have created many false selves.

Unitarian Universalism reminds us as we convenant together to affirm and promote our seven principles that every person has inherent worth and dignity regardless of his/her socialization and conditioning. In other words, deep down, at our core, we are as God has created us.

This inherent worth and dignity is our natural inheritance as much as we told otherwise, and led to believe, by the social dynamics and self judgments we are caught up in and subjected to.

Today, forget all the drama, and see past all the pseudo selves which society imposes on us and encougages us to adopt and remind ourselves that we, in our essence, are as God created us, the beautiful beings of creation who are extensions of God's unconditional love.

For a video commentary click here.

Sunday, March 24, 2019

Today's lesson, 75, The light has come.


Today's lesson, number 75 in A Course In Miracles, is "The light has come."

As we undo the grievances, resentments, fear, and guilt we experience on the path of the ego through forgiveness and our joining with the nondualistic Oneness of Life, we experience the peace and joy of the light within.

The first principle of Unitarian Universalism asks us to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. This requires that we recognize, acknowledge, and appreciate the Divine Spark in every person, even our enemies as Jesus told us we should do.

With forgiveness which leads us to an awareness of the light, we experience peace in ourselves and in our relationships with others. We come to a deep and abiding consciousness of the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

Today, we can take several moments thoughtout the day to say with gratitude, "The light has come." The light dwells within me and I extend it throughout the world to everyone and everything I see and encounter. We ask the Holy Spirit to fascilitate this awareness and assist us in its extension.


Truth is my light.

Friday, March 15, 2019

Today's lesson - My happiness and my function are one


Today's lesson, number 66 in A Course In Miracles, is "My happiness and my function are one."

We have already learned that our function is forgiveness. Remember that forgiveness is rising above the perception of separation and joining with Cosmic Consciousness, the Oneness of the Divine.

Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote the respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part, and the inherent worth and dignity of every person.

Some UUs say that they are first and seventh principle people because they have come to realize that their happiness and function are based on these two principles.

If our function is forgiveness to heal the separation, then happiness and peace are automatically experienced in the carrying out of this function. This fact is the basis of today's lesson that "My happiness and my function are one."




Saturday, March 9, 2019

Today's lesson - "I am the light of the world."


Today's lesson, number 61 in A Course In Miracles, is "I am the light of the world."

This lesson gets to the same idea as expressed in the first principle of Unitarian Universalism, the inherent worth and dignity of every person.

The key idea to keep in mind is that the "inherent worth and dignity of every person has nothing to do with the ego, the glorified individual self, and everything to do with the Divine Spark within which reminds us from whence we have separated ourselves and is still a basic and primal part of our awareness.

In the separation of our egos from the Divine which the Course teaches is an insane illusion, the Holy Spirit, or the memory of our Divine essence, stayed with us and never separated because this Divine essence is who we really are. It is with our mindfulness of this "light" that we can say along with our affirmation and promotion of the inherent worth and dignity of every person, that "I am the light of the of world" or perhaps a better way of saying it is "The light of the Divine world is me."

Univeralists have taught this in the America for 250 years that we are the manifestations, deep down, of Unconditional Love. It is this awareness, this consciousness that is heaven - on earth - as it is in heaven.

It has been predicted that the future of Univeralist theology will move beyond the idea of universal salvation to the awareness of universal holiness in the here and now manifested by inclusion, compassion, generosity, appreciation, joy, and communion. It is this manifestation of universal communion, Oneness, that sanctifies the world.





Sunday, February 10, 2019

Today's lesson - God is my strength. Vision is His gift.


What is the goal of Unitarian Univeralism? What is its purpose? What is it trying to achieve? Does UU have a mission and a vision?

UUs are quick to tell people that they have no creed. They have no dogmatic test for membership. They are just as quick to tell people that their major interest is Love. The contemporary UU campaign is called "Standing on the side of Love."

The fatal flaw of Unitarian Univeralism is the narcissistic belief in self determination without the concomitant acknowledgement of the Higher Power whatever a member wants to conceive of that Higher Power to be.

It is this fierce independence and need for control that derails the mission and vision of Unitarian Univeralism. When Unitarian Universalists fail to acknowledge that there is a Higher Power and that it is this Higher Power that is the source of their strength, they have become lost and they are wasting time. When UUs become lost they have no vision and their lack of vision contributes to muddling if not misguided conflict.

The mission of Unitarian Univeralism is to sanctify the world by helping people become aware of their holiness. They do this through their covenantal understandings of seven basic principles which are based on the perennial psychology emanating from many sources throughout human history.

Today's lesson, number 42, from A Course In Miracles is "God is my strength. Vision is His gift." "God" in A Course In Miracles is the nondualistic Oneness, and the Vision is the Atonement or the healing of the separation which generated the ego which is an illusion bringing much pain and distress to humans. Vision involves the Oneness and guiltlessness of God's creations. It is the basis of the first principle of UU which is the inherent worth and dignity of every person.

It is this vision of the inherent worth and dignity of every person because the person is part of the Divine that gives UU its strength and its vision which comes, of course, from God.


Friday, January 11, 2019

How does the affirmation and promotion of this first principle ameliorate feelings of shame?


"People with post-traumatic stress disorder often feel contaminated or damaged in some way. And, again, there are feelings of failure. Trauma survivors tend to blame themselves for not preventing what happened. They may feel like they failed to communicate their humanity to the perpetrator: If I could have shown that I’m a human being, surely this person wouldn’t have continued to do that to me."

From the interview with Dr. Anne Hallward in the January, 2019 issue of The Sun

Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. How does the affirmation and promotion of this first principle ameliorate feelings of shame?

UUs recognize and acknowledge that we are not our bodies. We are souls in bodies not bodies with souls. This recognition and understanding has huge implications for diminishing the genesis of shame.

Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Will you choose holiness in place of the ego?


Wanting more, faster, better is no way to live.
Grasping does not engender contentment.

Love is not possible when manipulation is the way of life.
When is enough, enough?

When less is more, pacing is better than speed, and good enough is enough
Heaven will descend on earth and it will be as it is in heaven.

Unitarian Universalists know this because they relax in their covenant with each other. There is no need for speed, or to expect things from each other they cannot give, or to always expect more that what is possible. UUs after all affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person which is intrinsic and not extrinsic, and the respect for the interdependent web which is discerned in the now not in the past or the future. UUs intend to sanctify the world within which every person choses holiness in place of the ego.


Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Where does gratitude come from?


The path of the ego is full of the allures of wealth, fame, and power.
Attachment to the promises of the ego have brought people to ruin.

Contentment with the simple things produces joy and bliss.
Wants and needs are two different things that the wise distinguish.

Saying "no," knowing when to stop, prevents destructive side effects of excess.
Resting in simplicity provides a richness of experience abundantly.

Unitarian Univeralists convenant together to affirm and promote the respect, some say love, of the interdependent web of existence. In this, the inherent worth and dignity of all beings is recognized and acknowledged. In this recognition and acknowledgment, gratitude arises which is all encompassing.


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