January 8, 2003 Kate Berrigan engages in civil disobedience stunt

Three activists, including Kate Berrigan (daughter of Phil) and Liz McAlister, rappelled down a 32-story skyscraper near the Los Angeles Auto Show and unfurled a banner reading “Ford: Holding America Hostage To Oil.” They had chosen Ford due to its having the lowest average fuel economy of any auto manufacturer, and that it was not living up to the reputation it put forth as being an environmental car company.

You read an article by Kate Berrigan about her civil disobedience activity on the Jonah House web site by clicking here.

Morning meditation - The purpose of life

Daddy, what is the purpose of life?

The purpose of life, dear, is to become the best person that God has created you to become.

How do I do that, Dad?

You do that by taking good care of yourself and by serving the world.

And then what, Dad?

You will live a life of meaning, satisfaction, and fulfillment.

Will I be happy?

Extremely.

Will I be sad and suffer?

You will be sad no doubt, but I hope you won't suffer.

What causes suffering, Daddy?

It is a lack of understanding, dear?

What do you mean?

People are unaware. There consciousness is at a low level. They think everything is about them. Their egos are running their lives.

Egos? What's that?

It's when people are selfish. They think the world is all about them and that they are the center of the universe and everything should happen the way they want it to.

Daddy, I love everybody and I just want the whole world to be happy.

I know dear. That's why God created you and had you be born to make yourself and the whole world happy. Now you have to figure out how you can best do that since God made you special with certain talents and abilities and interests. There is nobody else in the world just like you. So, I think, God probably wants you to do something special.

Really?! Wow. I love you, Daddy.

I love you, and God loves you too, more than anything in the world.

Morning meditation - What are you learning from the story of your life?

"All theology is autobiography."

Kathleen Rolenz, "3-D Jesus", in Christian Voices In Unitarian Universalism, p.61

Rev. Rolenz' comment which begins her essay entitled, "3-D Jesus" made me laugh. Indeed, every person has a story. I don't know if I necessarily would call it theology, but then again, maybe I should. I don't think that most people would think of the story of their life as theology, but then again, I think Rev. Rolenz has a point and it might be a good point. What better statement of a person's theology than the life they are living or have lived. It reminds me of what St. Francis said about preaching when he said something like, "Only use words if you have to." His implication is that our lives should be our sermon and in that sense they are a manifestation of our theology which I think is more often unconscious than conscious.

The lives we live are at one time an application of our theology and a manifestation of our theology. We are taught that "actions speak louder than words" and "watch what people do not what they say".

Most people's lives are spent in attempts to kill the pain of existential angst. They strive for self gratification and mood altering experiences in the quest for the elusive state of "happiness". Most people's theology is based on a worship of the God called Happiness and the sacraments are usually indulgence at the altar of Mammon.

If you ask most people in the United States what would make them happy they will immediately tell you to win millions of dollars in the lottery. If you ask most adolescents what they want out of life they will tell you "to be rich", and if you ask most students what they would like to get out of school, they will tell you "an A."

As Mother Teresa said, the United States is a very spiritually poor country. Our values are very shallow and perverted and it leads to greed, drug addiction, violence, and tremendous suffering. To the rest of the world who have admired the materialism of the United States they have been appalled by our war mongering and arrogance and they feel sorry for our lack of social welfare and quality of life especially for our working class and poor.

If Rev. Rolenz is right that theology is autobiograhpy the United States and the people in it are in serious trouble. There is great hope that Barack Obama will save us but we are the same people who elected George W. Bush not once but twice.

What does Unitarian Universalism have to offer in terms of a theology for application to help us as individuals and a society build more fulfilling lives? The only thing I can see is our seven principles. Outside of that we have a very thin story of our history and traditions. Can it be developed into something that better meets the spiritual needs of people around the world? What is the "good news" of Unitarian Universalism that helps people deal with their existential angst, the pain and sorrows of their everyday lives, helps them celebrate the joys of creating lives of meaning and purpose?

Not much that I can see, but then again, I am hopeful because in terms of my own autobiography, I have found meaning, and purpose, and joy in Unitarian Universalism but it needs more meat. Who or what is the God we worship that is bigger than all the Gods of other religions combined?

If all theology is autobiography, like Rev. Rolenz says, maybe we could start by reflecting on our own lives and then telling each other what we have learned about ourselves as human beings, about relationships with one another, about this world we are living in, and about this thing we call "life".

Morning Meditation - A UU theology

I have been thinking about the topics or concerns that a good theology should cover. The things I have come up with so far are suffering, purpose of life, what gives meaning to life, death, and ethical behavior. There may be other topics as well, but these seem to me to be the big ones that are perrenial.

I am not a theologian, but like most human beings I struggle to make sense of my life and in our society so much of our theology seems dysfunctional that I have been led to make up my own.

For most Americans, the theology of materialism and consumerism is the most influential and powerful. As the bumper sticker says, "The one with the most toys when they die, wins."

The second biggest theology, for men anyway, is sports.

After materialism and sports, relgious faith is small potatoes in American culture.

What Unitarian Universalism needs if it is to grow is a mythic story which resonates with the masses and we have none. People are basically stupid and they love fairy tales. L. Ron Hubbard started his religion of Scientology on a bet that he could scam the people.

I think if UUs were as cynical we could do the same thing.

The Christian theology is laughable when you consider that it is based on a myth of constructive destruction like God killed his son to save humankind. In other words the way to show your love is by abuse and killing. The United States being a Christian nation think they can bring freedom and peace by killing people in pre-emptive wars of liberation that lead to occupation and subjugation.

Jesus and Buddha never taught such cockamamie nonsense and people profess to be their disciples when they disregard their teachings.

Unitarian Universalists have no longer any mythic story except there is ony one God, not trinity, no three for the price of one, and that everybody goes to heaven eventually. How that works is never spelled out but it is a nice thought which goes against the intuitive sense that good is rewarding and bad is punishing.

And so Unitarian Universalists are left with mushy, psychobabble which attracts very few people, and yet there is something there for the more enlightened mind and heart something which says that the transcendent can't be captured in a neat description or category, something which says that the good life is rewarding intrinsically and that evil causes its own suffering in hell on earth, something which calls us to become more and better than we are at the moment.

The Unitarian Universalist theology is based on the idea that life is God and that at its base it is mystery which is to be revered.

The bumper sticker theology of Unitarian Universalism is "My God is too big for any one religion." and then it would be helpful to further describe such a big God in knowing full well that God cannot be described and captured in any theology.

Morning Meditation - Suffering is born out of stupidity

Life is full of suffering. How does Unitarian Universalism account for it?

Christians say that suffering is the result of Original Sin. Buddhists say that suffering is the result of attachment.

I suggest that Unitarian Universalists develop a theology that says that suffering is the result of stupidity, ignorance, and lack of awareness.

As I get older, but I think I always knew this, I am utterly amazed at how stupid people are. They are narcissistic, arrogant, willful, full of hubris, and then wonder why they suffer.

Suffering is different from pain. Pain is a symptom or sign that something is wrong, but suffering is our interpretation of pain and most suffering is unnecessary and nonsense. Of course you can't tell suffering people that because it would not be helpful and so suffering should always be dealt with compassionately. And yet it is our lack of awareness which brings about suffering.

And Unitarian Universalism already offers many ideas to counteract or prevent suffering like the idea that every person has inherent worth and dignity and should therefore be treated as such. How much human suffering is caused because we, humans, fail to act on this simple principle. We demonize our enemies and make them "less than human" which gives us permission to torture, abuse, and kill them.

When the President of the United States uses terms like "Axis of Evil" to demonize the people of whole countries and the congress of the United States rises to its feet in a standing ovation, this country is seriously fucked. I heard nary a word from our religious leaders when the World leaders vilifies the people of North Korea, Iran, and Iraq as if they were subhumans.

Unitarian Universalism has other principles which could explain and reduce suffering which I will write about in future articles. For now my basic point is that we have a Unitarian Universalist theology which can save the world if only we would preach it and act on it instead of staying politely silent.

Whenever our politicians would divide the world into us and them, and in our personal lives we divide our families into us and them, and at work we divide the world into us and them, we are contributing to the suffering in the world.

We need to remember or become aware that we are all in this together and none of us gets out alive. Our human problem is not Original Sin, or Attachment, but human stupidity, and from an evolutionary perspective, I would like to believe that we are becoming more aware.

Morning Meditation - War Made Easy

Yesterday, I spent part of New Year's Day watching the documentary, War Made Easy, based on Norman Solomon's book and it is an eye opener which every person in the world should watch because it describes how governments, even in a democracy like the United States, lie to their people to gather popular support for war which gives their leaders power.

And it has gotten me thinking about how stupid Americans are and easily manipulated. It scares me. We could have had leaders of real character like Al Gore, and John Kerry, and itstead we chose two drunks, Bush and Cheney. You got to wonder where the poor judgment comes from.

And it seems to me that it stems from a number of things but the two major items on my list are a basic lack of understanding of ethics, and a lack of critical thinking skills inculcated by a government run public school system.

There is a huge misunderstanding of the nature of religion and ethics. Most religions engage in unethical behavior which is based on their governance models and the manipulative nature of their leadership. Threatening people with hell and rewarding them with heaven is unethical in the extreme and very manipulative and religious leaders do this to a gullible and naive audience all the time. George Bush aligned himself with God, and freedom, with the good and promised, if we followed him and gave him power, to keep us save from evil. This is child's play and an immature population fell for it.

Our school systems increasingly teach to the test and the task of students, on which they are graded, is give "the right answer." I was teaching at a college level and when I asked my students what they wanted to get out of the course, they are said, "An A." At first, I was shocked, just being an adjunct, and then very disenhearted, that this is a nation of sheep which our public school system has created.

Students are socialized into a society wherein success is measured in terms of "giving the right answer" and so the government finds it very easy when people engage in critical thinking and express skepticism to be accused of being unamerican, communist, supportive of terrorism, etc.

Jesus when challenged was clear, "Give unto Caesar, the things that are Caesar's and to God, the things that are God's."

And what does Unitarian Universalism say belongs to God? Is Unitarian Universalism a social club devoted to progressive politics and causes or does it have a theology worth studying and living? It draws from many religious and nonreligious traditions, but you know the old saying about being a "jack of all trades and a master of none."

It there is one thing that applies to this meditation it would be the Unitarian Universalist value of free and responsible search for truth and meaning, something which is sorely lacking in our weary world. If you don't believe me, watch War Made Easy. And then consider how UU could go about encouraging and implementing it's very important value which is sorely lacking in our nation of sheep.

Morning meditation - Living can be difficult

"The difficult I will do right now. The impossible will take a little longer."

Author unknown

I am a psychotherapist. I am a Psychiatric Social Worker, affectionately known in New York State as a L.C.S.W., Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I have been in the field 40 years having started as a Psychiatric Social Worker Trainee II at Kings Park State Hospital on Long Island, October 31, 1968.

It has been long career and will get longer because I'm only 63 and as a Social Worker who has worked his career in Community Mental Health Centers has never made much money, has very little retirement other than Social Security, and raised 9 children working 3 jobs.

The last week I have been trying to help the family of a client of mine get her hospitalized because she is psychotic and while not an immediate danger to herself or others, meaning suicidal or homicidal, her thinking has become increasingly disorganized, she has developed paranoia, and she has been exhibitng poor judgment, just walking into neighbors homes, driving aimlessly all night long, calling 911 reporting that people have broken into her house, scaring her kids, etc.

With advent of HMOs in the late 80s, it has become increasingly difficult to access psychiatric services for patients and the system of care that I helped build in the 70s and 80s has now been pretty much destroyed.

I have become once again personally frustrated with how inhumane our caring for each other has become with the advent of reagonomics and the culture of greed. Under the guise of cost effective management, and increasing the bottom line for a mercenary health care system which is driven by profit rather than care, people most in need of services can't get them and even health care providers with years of experience and savvy are met continously with bureaucratic barriers to keep people out of care to save money rather than provide care to people in need.

I write about this here because it is a moral issue. We as Americans have to decide what kind of a society we want, one in which people are hungry and food insecure and lacking in health insurance while it spends billions on war and bailing out failing financial institutions or one in which we refocus and meet the more basic needs of people for food, housing, healthcare, education?

As someone on the front lines day in and day out, we are seriously messed up as a people. Unitarian Universalists believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person, but if you've got money and are rich it sure helps you get treated with more dignity and worth. We believe in justice, equity, and compassion if you can pay for it. Otherwise it is a crap shoot as more than a million poor black folks in America's prisons will tell you. We believe in the free and responsible search for truth and meaning but then allow media outlets and our government lie to us continually and rarely object for fear that we will be labled sympathetic to terrorists if we disagree with their policies. We have, supposedly, a respect for the interdependent web and yet soil our nest daily again going for the profit and cost savings rather than respecting the very enviornment that sustains us.

I was awoken last night, at 2:00 AM 01/01/09 saying that my patient was in the psychiatric emergency room and wanting back ground information. I had already called at 7:00 PM on 12/31/08 telling them I was sending her in and Please, Please, Please, don't just send her home.

And so my first conscious act in 2009 was to try to get help for one suffering human being afraid of been rebuffed and rejected as not being bad enough to get the help which she so desparately needs. And I am reminded of the saying, "The difficult I will do right now, but the impossible will take a while longer."

Morning meditation - Things will be fine in 2009

And here we are, December 31, 2008 the last day of the year. In the spiritual realm the date has no significance. It is arbitrarily drawn by us humans to mark time, but to God I doubt it has any meaning other than the meaning which we humans give to it.

In temporal terms it is, of course, significant because it is the end of one year and predecessor to a whole new year and so we are on the threshold, once again, of new beginings and we can create a lot of meaning out of that.

For me, I am not sure what it means. Every year I try to come up with a rhyming couplet like "It will be heaven in 2007" and "Things will be great in 2008" and the one that keeps playing in my head for this coming year is "Things will be fine in 2009."

I am very glad deep down in my soul that Barack Obama is President. He is a man of integrity, of compassion, and he is smart and capable. It will be quite a different world with Barack as the leader of the free world instead of spoiled child dry drunk crowned King by a bunch of plutocratic neo-cons.

I sense the world is on the edge of a new religious awakening. It is an awakening which will take humanity beyond religion to a more constructive ethical understanding of what it means to be a human being who is merely one part of the interdependent web of existence. It is an awareness that is dawning because of the new information technology which allows us to communicate with each other almost simultaneously in real time, and our increasing awareness of our impact on the planet because of our growth in numbers and the degradation brought about by our own activities.

I think there will be a more positive shift in "family values" with an increasing emphasis on local economies, a simplification of family and personal life, and a growing skepticism about materialism and consumer culture to make one happy. We will learn that less is more, and joy comes from relationships not things.

I personally do not see any big changes this year, but I yearn for a further increase in faith and a desire to connect with like minded people in a community of believers who are all rowing the boat in the same direction. As I get older I find this more difficult to find. I am surrounded by idiots but every now and then my life is blessed by good people and I need to continue to focus on these relationships and cultivate their growth.

Unitarian Universalism, for all its weaknesses and difficulties, has been a real blessing in my life, and I look foward to continuing to explore and develop a theology that works. I get excited about the free and responsibile search for truth and meaning, about trying to create justice, equity, and compassion in my relationships with others, about acknowledging and validating the inherent worth and dignity of every person, about understanding better the interdependent web of all existence and how these systems work and relate to one another. I am excited about creating a world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. I am proud to have found a religion which truly believes in the right of conscience and also the use of democratic processes within their congregations and society and large, and I am reassured by the intention to accept one another and encourage one another in our spiritual growth in our congregations.

There is so much negativity in the world by forces of domination and oppression which terrorize the population with psychotic policies like a never ending "war on terror", the demonization of certain sectors of our society like poor people, gays, and immigrants, the crazy idealization and pandering to the rich and super rich with tax cuts, "bail outs", and other government policies which allow income redistribution from the taxpayers to the wealthy. At a personal level there are the problems of unemployment, poverty, addiction, interpersonal violence and abuse, and the dysfunctional dynamics and behaviors which we endure in our parnterships and family life. And yet, there also is love and grace and beauty and reverence and above all else blessings.

And so, there is work to do, in our personal lives as well as in our communities and society and working together for a better world. I am confident that things will be fine in 2009.

Morning meditation - Here I Am, Lord

God, the Spirit Of Life, calls on us to do things and live in ways that, at times, feels like a mighty stretch for us. We are asked to do things that we believe we would have never chosen on our own and yet here we are faced with challenges which seem overwhelming and perhaps, even, not possible to accomplish.

The old joke is, "If you want to hear God laugh, tell God your plans." Life sometimes has surprising things in store for us, and do we shut down or open up? It is only human to be protective, defensive, resistant, and skeptical if not down right angry.

The word "vocation" comes from the Latin word "vocare" which means "to call." A vocation is a calling from God whether it be to be a butcher, a baker, a candle stick maker, a vocation is more than just a job or a career, it is one's life work.

All reflective people struggle with questions about what to do with one's life. Should I get married or stay single? Should I stay married or get divorced? Should I take this job or that job? Should I hang around with these group of friends or find new friends? Should I join this club or church or that club or church? Should I get involved in this activity or that activity? The answers to these kinds of life creating questions are difficult to answer and scare us.

I suggest to people that the way to answer these life creating questions is to ask yourself whether your deciding to do this will help you become the person that deep down in your heart you believe God is calling you to become or detract from it? Will your staying married help you to become the person which deep down in your heart you believe God is calling you to become or detract from it?

We will struggle with God, we will wrestle with God. Our ego often does not want to follow God's will and yet in the Christian prayer of the Our Father we say in part "....thy kingdom come, thy will be down in earth as it is in heaven." "Thy will be done", God's will be done, not mine. St. Paul also says in a letter to Timothy, "If God is with you who can stand against you?" Indeed, bringing your will into alignment with God's will for you makes you and God a dynamic duo, unstopable.

And so, as the song says, "Here I am Lord. I have heard you calling in the night." God often calls us in the murky night. Things are not clear. It is hard to see the light sometimes. God whispers, rarely shouts, and we are too afraid to listen, afraid that something will be required of us which we cannot provide, cannot successfully do, can't imagine how it would be possible for us to do what is asked.

The only way it can work is if we move foward in faith trusting in the Spirit of Life with a humble heart and a commitment to do our best.

Unitarian Universalism does not promise us success only the possibility of a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, and the hope of justice, equity, and compassion in human relations, and the intent to acknowledge and rejoice in the inherent worth and dignity of every person. We profess a faith which imagines the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all, but do we have the courage, the guts, the willingness to do what it takes to pursue it enthusiastically? We cannot do it alone, but in concert with the Spirit Of Life we might have a chance.

Morning meditation - Spirituality explained

Spirituality has to do with a person's relationship with his/her Higher Power whatever they conceive that Higher Power to be. Religion is joining a club, a club with certain rules, customs, traditions, history, practicies, and representatives. Increasingly, especially in first world countries, human beings on the planet earth are opting out of joining religious clubs, but state that they are interested in spirituality. One of the largest spiritual movements in the last 75 years has been AA, Alcoholic Anonymous and other 12 step programs.

The biggest obstacle to joining a religigous club for most people are the creeds they are expected to profess for membership and the obedience and submission expected to religious authority in the person of the clergy person representing the policies and procedures of the organization. My favorite bumper sticker says, "My God is too big for any one religion," and when one resonates with this idea one finds it difficult to submit oneself genuinely to the requirements of any particular religious organization.

Leading a spiritual life requires discipline and practice. It requires a person to reflect on his/her values and to live in accordance with what one decides matters. This is not easy to do and often one finds him/herself deficient in living up to one's own values and principles. And yet, the person recognizes the value in persistance, faithfulness, and commitment.

A good spiritual life is an ethical life in which one orders one's behavior for the benefit of oneself as well as others and the well being of the planet and the solar system.

Since a child, I have had a mantra which is "It's not a bad life if you know how to live it." It is in learning how to live life that spirituality is born. Socrates said, "An unexamined life is not worth living" and a spiritual life is an examined life.

There is in each of us an intuitive compass which tells us whether we are on the right track or not. Learning how to listen to the intuitive compass and making adjustments when we get off track is the essence of a spiritual life. Sometime religious clubs help us listen to our intuitive compass and sometimes they lead us off track. When there is a conflict, to what should we pay attention? More likely than not it is the intuitive compass for if we are listening with humility, with reverence, with open hearted and open mindedness, we are empowered by the universe to fulfill our destiny.

It is this listening to the intuitive compass which is at the heart of spirituality and the authentic life. One Christmas I saw a church sign which had the following words, "You too can hear the angels song, if you tune in on the right frequency."

Too many religious clubs have become noise in the atmosphere. They jam the signal. We need to tune in to a different frequency and that may require other equipment.

Morning meditation - Good News The World Is Waiting For

"To rescue humanity from exile and punishment, God sent Jesus to die on the cross. Divine justice was satisfied by Jesus' perfect willingness to follow God's command, to do what his "father" said - even when his "father" demanded his death." p.43

Rebecca Ann Parker, Blessing The World

And when a country sends its soldiers into foreign lands like Iraq to kill and be killed ordered to by "Uncle Sam" it all seems perfectly normal to a so called "Christian country" like the United States whose children who have been told about a God who kills His own son to satisfy his thirst for vengeance for what human beings have done wrong to thwart His will.

And fathers and husbands standing in for God beat their children and wives sanctimoniously behaving in God like ways to express their wrath not only condoned but encouraged by the religion which they profess.

In our civic life, the public supports the death penalty wherein the State acting in God like ways and kills those who have offended the State in divine retribution which under the law is deserved and justified and sends the message that killing human beings is required if justice is to be served.

The perverse and dysfunctional behavior of human beings gets rationalized in accordance with the cultural myths we have created that God wants His own creatures killed in certain circumstances when His will is thwarted.

Jesus, of course, in whose name, these practices have developed and are implemented, never taught this. This fact is the huge irony of our Western Civilization that the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth are ignored while heinous things are done in his name.

The power of Unitarian Universalism is to point all this out and help redeem the world. The early Universalists did this but then they got distracted, defocused, and the movement is dying. What would inject life into Universalism is to get back to the basics which is what Jesus, Buddha, and the Earth Religions taught about life and the interdependent web of existence.

Jesus and Buddha had very little to say about sex, a major pre-occupation of modern day so called Christians, except in how it is to be utitlized in right relationship, and they had a lot to say about respecting life and compassion.

Unitarian Universalism has the power to offer a model of true redemption and restoration, but its teaching and preaching is weak and its call to people to work together for a better world in new ways is barely audible.

Unitarian Universalism has the tools to redeem the world. Will it get its act together to use them? The first challenge is to create new and healthier cultural myths of free and responsible search for truth and meaning, and justice, equity and compassion in human relationships.

Let's be clear - Unitarian Universalism doesn't believe in a God who wants God's sons and daughters to die to appease God. The old theology has not served us well. It is time for a new theology. As Unitarian Universalists we have a much bigger God we call The Spirit Of Life and it's time that God gets preached. It is The Good News that the world is waiting for that The Spirit Of Life does not want us humans to destroy life to appease it. In fact, destroying life is the ultimate blasphemy as Jesus and the Buddha knew but human beings have yet to learn.

Morning meditation - Dysfunctional theology creates a hell on earth

"The doctrine of atonement valorizes violence as life-giving and redemptive. The interpretations of Jesus' death on the cross as a saving event speak of the violation that happened to Jesus as the will of God and the source of salvation. When this theological perspective prevails, either explicitly or buried within cultural patterns, the violence and abuse that human beings experience or perpetrate become valorized as necessary and good for the salvation of the world."

Rebecca Ann Parker, Blessing the World, p. 32

Rebecca Ann Parker describes in the quote above what Walter Wink calls "the myth of redemptive violence." If God can torture his own Son to save the world, then surely human beings who copy this mythic God are justified in torturing and killing for what they consider to be redemptive reasons.

And so the death penaly, militarism, domestic violence, child abuse, vengeance, retribution, attacks and punishment, are seen as holy work, as doing the will of a mythic God which humans have created in their own minds and culture.

Spare the rod and spoil the child. This hurts me more than it hurts you. I am punishing you for your own good because you deserve it. We believe that misbehavior deserves punishment because justice demands it - do the crime, do the time.

And so in accordance with a dysfunctional theology, we continue to inflict pain and suffering on each other. This is nothing Jesus taught although vengeance and retribution certainly are depicted in the Old Testament and in myths from all historic cultures.

And what is the Unitarian Universalist response to the myth of redemptive violence? Silence for the most part. We have not preached actively against it. We have not promoted models of managing injustice and suffering which offer other options for dealing with misbehavior, crime, personal affronts, slights, and injury.

In our own families have we taught our children how to rectify injustice and forgive? In our personal relationships have we healed them or are they still in disrepair? Do we have a religion that helps us to repair our alienated relationships and make them right again? What are the stories? What are the models that we present for right relationship especially when harm has been done? Do we have stories of restoration and forgiveness that work, that we can teach to others, that offers a new way of life?

We have learned in the third millenium that the myth of redemptive violence is dysfunctional. Can we envision a better way? Jesus does give us a hint when he says that the way to the kingdom is to "love as I have loved". The Buddha offers an idea of detachment and offering a non anxious presence. Clues, but it is up to us to give them life. What is clear is that a dysfunctional theology has created hell on earth.

Morning meditation - Reconstituting the world for the better

"Survival means reconstructing from the ruins a world of hospitality and peace. It means living as one of those who, as Adrienne Rich says, 'with not extraordinary power, reconstitutes the world.'"

Rebecca Ann Parker, Blessing The World, p. 24

Are you one of those with no extraordinary power who can work to reconstitute the world? I'll bet you are. You probably do it evey day helping those you love and care about and people you encounter in your daily routines. Could you do it for people who scare you, who anger you, who disgust you, who are strangers to you?

Unitarian Universalism says that there is inherent worth and dignity in every person. Do you just intellectually agree with this value and/or do you act on it?

Unitarian Universalism says that there should be justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. If this is true why is the world so screwed up?

Unitarian Universalism says that there should be a free and responsible search for truth and meaning and yet our airwaves is full of blather and bloviating which is anything but responsible and certainly is not a search for truth but an attempt to emotionally incite for the sake of entertainment.

It is easy to get discouraged as we witness the unethical behavior around us and yet there are things we can do; we can live our faith which is not the way of the world, but operating on a whole new level.

Emerson says in his essay, Self-Reliance,

"The virtue most in request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs. Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist."

Those of us with no extraordinary power can reconstitute the world for the better. To do so, we will surely be nonconformist. It takes courage, guts, perserverence, integrity, virtues in very short supply in our materialistic culture.

However our Unitarian Universalist faith gives us the power as not extraordinary people to reconstitute the world. This is my faith. I hope it is your faith too.

Morning mediation - The most valuable gift we can give.

Steven Gaskin said that in the last analysis the only thing we have to give another human being is our own state of being.

In our materialistic world we forget that fact if we every realized it.

Back in the 60s we used to describe people has having good vibs or bad vibs.

How does one develop oneself so that one exudes good vibes?

I had a client one time who had been through two terrible marriages and I asked him if he would ever get married again. He said he would if could find the right woman. I asked him who the right woman would be and he said something that stunned me. He said simply, "She would have to be woman who is happy with herself." My cynical thought which I didn't utter was, "Are there any?"

And then to be fair and not sexist, I think a woman could have said the same thing to me, "Yes, I would get married again, if I could find a man who is happy with himself."

And so at this season of gift giving and peace on earth and well wishing it does come down to the basic fact that the most precious and valuable thing we have to give others is our own state of being.

What condition is your condition in?

Morning Meditation - Christmas every day of the year

Emmanuel refers to God with us, or the Messiah, the promised one who will save us all.

Human beings have a savior complex. Kids love Power Rangers and Super Heroes from Superman to Batman to Harry Potter to Luke Skywalker, and then, of course, there is Jesus, or Joseph Smith, or Mohammed, or Buddha.

Human beings look for saviors with special powers because they feel inadequate and defective themselves and they are frightened and lazy and want to be protected and taken care of. The psychoanalysts would say that we human beings "want to get our dependency needs met."

And yet every time a child is born we witness the miracle among us of another Emmanuel. We are amazed and rejoice that God has sent us another one of God's wonderful creations, one of God's sons or daughters. And love once again enters the world and is manifested in a whole new, unique and special way, full of hopes and dreams and marvelous potential.

If you are looking for Emmanel you don't have to recall history 2,000 years ago, although Jesus of Nazareth was a great guy, you can look in your family today, and here are some of my Emmanuels.



Peace Pilgrim said that she looked for the Divine Spark in everyone she meets and focuses on that. She would meet Emmanuel constantly. Supposing we treated everyone we interact with as Emmanuel? We would have Christmas every day of the year.

Morning meditation - Exact change not required

"My hometown, Seattle, was required by the Reagan administration to implement emergency policies in the case of a nuclear attack. One policy read, 'In case of an evacuation due to a nuclear attack, citizens may ride the metro buses without exact change.' This is our world." p. 20

Rebecca Ann Parker, Blessing The World

And the citizens of New Orleans could ride their buses in their flooded city without exact change as can the detainees at Guantanamo and the citizens of Bhagdad and the millions of people without health insurance.

George W. Bush, according to the media, is worried now about his legacy. How about 8 years of lunacy which has set the United States and the world back about 75 years to the days of the depression?

And what is the religious response to such suffering, trauma, lies and deceit?

Rebecca Ann Parker suggests in her essay, After The Apocalypse, three things which would describe a religious response in a post apocalytic world.

The first would be truth telling. Highly unlikely in a world of spin and public relations. Don't expect it from your government. Maybe from historians in 50 years. Certainly not from Fox News, Fair and Balanced, or from the pundits.

The second would be salvaging by which I think she means sifting throught the nonsence to identify what matters. This is based on good values and good judgment. This also is in short supply these days as we are overwhelmed with information most of which is noise in the system rather than anything of value. The 24 hour news cycles of cable TV keeps the crap coming.

The third is identifying guides who know what they are talking about. These more than likely are people who have suffered, resisted, who are self aware and empathic and call it like they see it, i.e. are honest. I know very few people like this but when I encounter them I feel blessed. Most frequently, when I have felt blessed, it is by people in recovery. They have come to terms with themselves and the evil in the world.

I find as I get older that I have less patience for idiots and I am surrounded by them. They often are officious, arrogant, have power over other people, and are highly paid. They often are pretentious, condescending, disdainful if not contemptuous, and haven't a clue. They are the idiots that write the policies for the Seattle emergency plan and who work at FEMA like "You're doing a heck of job, Brownie." and often they get elected to high places like President and Vice President of the United States or lead large powerful companies like Ken Lay and Jeff Schilling at Enron before it collapsed.

They are like the mother of a 14 year old girl I saw in a counseling session yesterday who through her tears told me her mother told her to take her mask off, Halloween was over, implying that her facial appearance was grotesque.

The pain and suffering is immense in our broken world and what do Unitarian Universalists have to offer? Do we have an explanation for this brokeness? Do we have a theology which helps us cope, manage, overcome?

I don't know, but I think I have made a start on sorting a theology out. Here are a few glimmers which I have caught:

UU says that there is no God who is going to save us; humans have to take more responsibility for their own behavior.

UU says that there are seven principles/values that can help us discern what matters in life.

UU says that we can find guides in all faith traditions and from humanism and even atheism if we are open to exploring and searching for truth.

UU says that democratic practices are the best way to agree on how to live together effectively.

UU says that in spite of the illusion of the ego, we are all in this together and that we must come to not only respect that fact, but rejoice in it.

This is a theology of a new age which hasn't arrived yet.

Meanwhile, it's comforting to know that in the case of a nuclear attack our government officials won't require exact change.

Morning meditation - Making Up Our Own Theology As We Go Along

"What do we do when we discover that the religious beliefs we have placed our trust in are not adequate to address the violence and the evil that confront us? What if we discover that our theology hinders rather than helps."

Rebecca Ann Parker, Blessing The World, p. 5

And the joke that preachers have played on the world is to create a myth that God redeems the world by killing his own son. The huge mistake religion has made in the world is to teach that violence is redemptive, that punishment restores relationship, that vengeance is the path to peace.

Upon reflection, it becomes very apparent that the myth of redemptive violence is false. Jesus, himself, did not preach this and in fact preached the opposite that we are to love our enemies and do good to those who would harm us. How the theologians and doctors of the church perverted Jesus' teachings into the idea that God needed Jesus to die for our sins to atone for the wickedness of the human heart is the ultimate irony and misunderstanding of what Jesus taught.

And so in the darkest of hours, like when my two children were killed by a drunk driver, I was expected to hate, to want vengeance on him who killed them, and I did not feel this in my heart and felt that there was something wrong with me, that I did not love my children enough to want him dead, but I didn't and don't and people don't understand this.

I get Jesus. I understand what He said. I went to visit my children's drunken killer in jail and I asked him to join AA. I asked him to look at his life and repair what isn't working for him and for me and our family and our community. He agreed. Who can ask for anything more?

And so we need a new theology of restoration of right relationship when we run afoul. It requires listening, reflection, understanding, taking responsibility, and the making of amends. It is not hard really, just a different and better way.

Unitarian Universalists believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person and the implementation of justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. Unitarian Universalist believe in the interdependent web of all existence of which we a part.

Evil requires identification, acknowledgement, accountability, and the making of amends.

As Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye makes us both blind."

To answer Rebecca Ann Parker's question of what do we do when our theology fails us, it is simple really, we change it to something better. More than just changing our theology we have to live it, and often we do it stumbling, awkwardly, trying to find our way, listening to the small voice within which whispers to us what is right even when the world around us tells us we are wrong and claim that they know what God would have us do.

Morning meditation - Shit happens. Why?

"Your gifts

whatever you discover them to be

can be used to bless or curse the world."

Rebecca Ann Parker

This quote from a Rebecca Ann Parker poem reminds me of the quote from Carl Jung which was something like, "Every addict is a creative genius gone awry."

It is interesting to reflect on the idea that God makes us humans all unique and special and like snowflakes no two of us is identical, and then places us at a particular point in world history. Why?

I don't know the answer any more than anyone else does, but my best guess is because God wants us to become the person that God created us to become and to contribute to God's creation. For this reason God gave us all unique talents and abilities and interests. And we can use them as Parker points out to bless ourselves and the world or to curse ourselves and the world.

As a social worker and a citizen I see the cursing all the time, and I also see the blessing as well. And if you asked me why people curse and bless I have a number of psychological and sociological and theological theories about that question which again, get implemented ultimately in unique ways at the individual level. But if there was one answer to summarize it all, I would say that what curses humanity and the world is narcissism and fear.

Most people are just plain stupid and what I mean by that is ignorant and what I mean by that is unaware or as some people might say, "immature". And when stupid people are scared, fearful of something, look out, you have problems.

On the contrary, people who bless the world are usually wise and loving. They know what matters and they have been able to overcome their fears by reaching out to themselves and others in an open hearted way.

And what is the difference between people who curse themselves and others and bless themselves and others? I think it is whether they have been loved and blessed themselves and are aware of it and greatful. This awareness comes as the result of discipline and hard work administered in a loving way. A lot of people nowdays don't get that. As Mother Teresa pointed out, in the United States we are materially very rich, and spiritually very poor. This has come about because people in the U.S. are spoiled in the sense that they are wealthy and don't know it and are not greatful and avoid the pain and suffering in their midst and in the world. It is an avoidance borne out of narcissism and fear.

Unitarian Universalism is a religion which values the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. We are a people who supposedly want to know the truth of injustice, of suffering, of evil in the world so that we can rectify things, repair the harm, and bless the world, not curse it with our ignorance, our narcissism, our fears.

There was a bumper sticker very popular in the early 90s which said, "Shit happens!" as if we have to be reminded, but I think the point of the bumper sticker was to remind people that it is OK to acknowledge shit when it happens. It is OK. While other religions have a theology that explains the shit such as original sin, lack of obedience to God's will, lack of submission to Allah, etc. I don't know that Unitarian Universalism has an explantion for shit. Why do people curse instead of bless? Is it stictly a matter of individual choice, or social forces, or bad brain chemistry? Are there scientific explanations for the evil in the world or is their some theological explanation which the UUs are missing? What does Unitarian Universalism have to offer when people ask why there is suffering in the world and what needs to happen to cope with it, minimize it, eliminate it? Other religions have an answer. What's UU's answer?

I hope that today, I bless the world in spite of the shit. It is in blessing the world instead of cursing the world that we have a lot of work to do.

Morning meditation - That small voice within: are you listening?

"A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages."

Ralph Waldo Emerson in Self Reliance.

The airwaves are full of pundits.

Rush Limbaugh tells his listeners they need not listen to the news because "I will do your thinking for you."

Public schools crush any independent thought with their exams and grading systems and students live with anxiety and test phobia trying to come up with the "right answers".

The American people are so stupid that they not only once, but twice, voted for two DWI offenders to be President and Vice-President of the United States. They have been duped into foreign wars based on lies and deceit and persuaded to give up their civil liberties with promises that a plutrocracy "will keep you safe."

The pharmaceutical companies have pills now for every human condition from urinary frequency, to restless leg syndome, to malaise. Children are being diagnosed with Bi Polar illness so they can be given powerful neuroleptic drugs which fatten the coffers of the pharmaceutical industry and the psychiatrists who comply with the pharmaceutical salespeople by dreaming up questionable diagnoses.

Churches tell congregants that they too can be rich if they only know "the secret" which is to imagine in your mind the very fantasy which excites you like a 4 year old child believing in Santa. They have turned God into a vending machine and sell fantasies of wealth and happiness complete with rock music and charismatic showman pretending to be representatives of god.

Most mature people know better but have come to doubt themselves. The whole point of advertising and public relations and marketing is to get people to disregard that small voice within which says that this can't be right. It is so easy to disregard that small voice within when there is such flashy and noisy stimulation from without.

Emerson says, pay attention. You know more than you give yourself credit for. You are being conditioned by external forces which don't have your best interest at heart. Emerson's insight gives us hope that deep down we already know the truth. We just don't pay attention enough because we are so distracted and overstimulated.

And so, pay attention to that inner compass. Find a spiritual companion who understands, who cares, who will give you honest feedback about what seem to be your most genuine and sincere intuitions.

Unitarian Universalism has values which support this work of inner transformation. UU says that the voice of conscience is primary, and it encourages the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. UU teaches that every person has inherent worth and dignity even if they don't come up with the right answer expected by those representing the dominant discourse of the day.

Unitarian Universalism promises us that there is grace available from the transcendent if we want to plug in. UU says that there is not just one place to plug in but many and these outlets are to be included in our listening not disregarded as a threat.

UU says that the real Atonement is not blood sacrifice but the At-one-ment, the integration of humanity with all of life in a world community of peace, liberty, and justice for all. But it all starts with listening to our inner voices. God works though us in the world and we will know the way if we just listen and watch for the gleam of light, the sparks of the divine, the grace that is always there, but usually overlooked because we believe that the answers are out there.

Jesus said, the kingdom of god is within us. It seems that Emerson believed the same thing.

Morning meditation - Money or the mission?

Their major concern appears to be hoarding their plummeting stock portfolio and so their values are perverted. I have been though this before with organziations who struggle with the dilemna of "the mission or the money", and usually the money people make a smart ass remark like, "without the money there is no mission" which just turns the participants in the organization into whores whose behavior is based strictly on the money and not other values.

For someone from my background and theological training this is one definition of sin when one's ethical compass gets perverted, diverted by mammon. It of course, is a form of idolatry and so the church has a Golden Calf, but the children of god have been marginalized and are left hungry and freezing out in the cold.

David Markham

I don't know if it is true that money is the root of all evil but Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to pass through th eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to get into heaven.

And I have been in organizations who have fallen on hard times and the people who hold the purse strings come to be at odds with the people who are providing the services accusing them of being fuzzy headed do gooders and not practical and realistic enough. The money then becomes the primary consideration and it becomes worshipped as the primary consideration in the whole organizatonal enterprise. This does not bode will for the future because the mission and values which have driven the organization now become distorted, perverted and the service provision becomes prostituted on the altar of Mammon.

A mercenary attitude and value system is more acceptable in business and profit making enterprises but becomes a serious problem in human services where people, including staff, begin to be treated as objects and no longer as human beings worthy of dignity and respect.

At this point when the money becomes more important than the mission, whether it be health care, education, human service, and/or churches, these institutions and the people who are decision makers in them, enter into the realm of sin.

I have known many good people who have fallen into this trap and who have had their basic good sense and values corrupted by financial concerns. Jesus has plenty to say about this and most Christians ignore it focusing instead on sexual sins which Jesus says very little about.

Jesus drove the money changers from the temple and the curse of relgious institutions is their becoming overly enthralled with money. Good stewardship requires an accountability and good management but money is power and when it is hoarded and greedily misused, and people are hurt, ignored or abused, sin occurs.

My church is sadly in need of salvation because its values have become seriously distorted to the point where the mission has not only been distorted, it has been killed.

You can't take it with you so use it wisely while you are here. As Jesus points out in his parables tonight you may die and of what use will all your money be then?

Madonna, Material Girl, video lasts 4:44.