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.

Is everything going to be all right?

How does quiet overcome noise?
How does soft overcome hard?
How does yielding overcome force?
How does rest overcome effort?

Two steps forward and two steps back. We have gone no where.

Balance is always there, behind the scenes, working to rectify the extremes.

In Unitarian Universalism we know about the interdependent web of existence.
In Unitarian Univeralism we engage in the free and responsible search for truth and meaning.
In Unitarian Univeralism we acknowledge the inherent worth and dignity of each person.

What more could one want?
What more could be done?

UUs rise above the machinations of the ego recognizing that Tao is the Ground Of Our Being and everything is all right in spite of our fears.

Can we keep our balance in a turbulent world?

When life gives you white water, get a surf board.

Turbulent times are best navigated with balance.

Exert too much or too little and you lose your balance.

Rome wasn't built in a day. There are a lot of ways to skin a cat.

In spite of what you have been taught, Life is not mechanical, it is organic.

Retreat from the extremes and find the center. It is in the center that balance is found.

If you would find peace, harmony, bliss, it will be in the Ground of Being not in the ten thousand things.

Unitarian Universalists know about the center because they covenant together to affirm and promote the interdependent web of all existence of which they just a tiny part.

Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of all persons, and in this awareness they find refuge.

Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion and with this principle they evolve to the heavens where Oneness abides beyond the ten thousand things.

How is it that Unitarian Univeralists are a people of deep faith?

The wise person understands the Unitarian Univeralist covenant and practices it diligently.
The average person likes the fellowship of UU and attends now and again.
The foolish person has learned about the Unitarian Univeralist covenant and laughs.

Without laughter, the UU covenant would not be what it is.
More than anything, Unitarian Univeralists do not take themselves seriously but instead respect and encourage the free and responsible search for Truth and meaning.

Having encouraged the search, UUs don't know where they are headed.
Having encouraged the search, UUs often times feel lost.
Having encouraged the search, UUs never celebrate the arrival.
Having encouraged the search, UUs never expect to achieve.
Having encouraged the search, UUs teach the importance of the journey and are skeptical about the destination.
Having encouraged the search, UUs are people of deep and abiding faith but have no answers.
Having encourged the search, UUs rest in their respect for the interdependent web of all existence which is beyond understanding.

Shall this too pass?

The ten thousand things emerge from the Tao and return to the Tao.
It seems, with distance, all like a dream.

The interdependent web waxes and wanes; like the tide of the ocean, it comes in and goes out.

We are here and then we are not.
Other people are here and then they are not.
The old in and out, the coming and going, the up and the down are all part of the same thing.

Unitarian Universalists affrim and promote the responsible search for truth and meaning.
With this search to find that Truth, we find it is not in the manifestation of the ten thouusand things.
Truth is to be found in the Ground Of Our Being, in the Energy which fuels the ten thousand things.

Wisdom is achieved in knowing, not the ten thousand things, but in the Tao which manifests them.
Unitarian Univeralists call this Tao "the interdependent web of all existence" which abides eternally.

Unitarain Univeralists find calm in knowing that with whatever is going on, whatever is happening, this too shall pass.

How is bliss made possible?

Before things come down they must go up.
Before things fail there must have been success.
Before people become weak they have been strong.
Before things are received they must have been given.

We stand back, gain perspective, and see the complementarity of reality on the ego plane.

Why get upset because things will come full circle often after great suffering and anguish.
And then there will be joy and celebration for a while until the cylce continues on its way.

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning and this search often takes them up and down, over and back, to good times and bad, and with frustration and despair, and relaxation and hope.

Beyond the search for truth and meaning Unitarian Univeralists are aware of and affirm and promote a respect and a love for the interdependent web of existence of which they, and all things, are a part. It is in the awareness of the interdependent web of all existence that bliss is made possible.

When is enough enough?

It is easy to get burned out.
Do this, do that. It must be done.
We're counting on you. Don't let us down.
Without you we would fail and the failure will be all your fault.

Promises have been made but don't seem to actually been kept.
We wind up with little but fatigue while they enjoy the ride.

We would back down, turn away, give up our efforts but we feel guilt and ashamed.
This is not the results of our covenant we signed up for.
This is not how things should be.

Things are out of balance and seem skewed.
We have to say "No."
We come to realize that when enough is enough, that's enough!

And so we retreat to the comfort of the Tao and let the chips fall where they may.
The cries of disparagement go over our heads
For while the system is distressed and needs recalibration
We are finally liberated and free.

Unitarian Univeralists intend to rectify the injustice in the world.
UUs affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations
But just as often injustice, inequity, and attack occur.
UUs take comfort in their covenant which affirms and promotes a respect for the interdependent web.

Do you have a respect and love for the interdependent web of existence?

Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote seven principles and the most important principle of all, under which the other six fall, is the respect for the interdependent web of all existence.

Here at UU A Way of Life ministries we go beyond "the respect" for the interdependent web of all existence to the Love of the interdependent web of all existence.

It is from the interdependent web that all other things are separated and named. In the Tao Te Ching it describes for us the "ten thousand things" which are separate manifestations of the Tao but not themselves the Tao because the Tao is beyond description.

A favorite bar card reads, "If you think you know what you are talking about, you are full of shit." Blunt, to the point, meant to make one laugh at our arrogance and lack of humility.

The seventh principle fills us with humility and also, gratitude. We come to appreciate the whole. The system has a balance, an equilibrium of its own, which we can and should respect if we can rise above being enamored with the separate parts.

As the Buddhist monk said to the hot dog vendor "Make me one with everything."

What is an example of what the interdependent web of existence looks like?

The idea of rugged individualism is a myth pernicious in its consquences tearing the social fabric assunder. The idea that a single individual can pull him/herself up by his/her own boot straps is an illusion. We all need help whether we recognize it or not, acknowledge it or not, appeciate it and are grateful or not.

Here is a quote from Elizabeth Warren which appeared in the Sunbeams section of the November, 2018 issue of The Sun magazine.

"There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. 

Nobody. 

You built a factory out there — good for you. 

But I want to be clear: 

you moved your goods to market on roads the rest of us paid for; 

you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate; 

you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. . . . 

Now, look. You built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or [you had] a great idea? God bless! Keep a hunk of it. 

But part of the underlying social contract is you take a big hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along."

Elizabeth Warren

From The Sun, November, 2018

For what should we be grateful?

One of the helpful tools of science is deconstruction. We break things into their component parts. Having observed and anlyzed the phenomena, we play with it, manipulate it, figure out what else to make of it, and how to use it.

Linear and reductionistic approaches to understanding things on the path of the ego has given human beings great power, even the power to destroy themselves.

The spiritual impulse is to put things back together, to appreciate the systemic whole. This appreciation leads to a marveling at the balance, the equiblibrium, and the mystery that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

In Unitarian Universalism, in our covenant to affirm and promote seven principles, we make note of, acknowledge, respect, and come to love the interdependent web of existence of which we are a part. We come to realize our utter dependence  and with this realization a tremendous humility and gratitude arises.

Do you listen to your intuitive sense?

The saying is "The path to hell is paved with good intentions."

Those who are a lot of talk seldom do.

Those who do, seldom talk.

If we think we know what we are doing, we are probably fooling ourselves.

Where is the trust in the intuitive sense of God's will, the Tao?

Relax and listen.

In the quiet, remember from whence you have come and to which you are headed in return.

In Unitarian Univeralism, we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Knowing about this inherent worth and dignity, we no longer need to judge, to change, to fix. We can accept with gratitude, empathy, and compassion the divine spark in all the beings around us and to whom we relate and with whom we interact. We are very aware of, and affirm and promote, the interdenpendent web of existence which has an energy and balance beyond our fathoming.

Are you pushing the river?

Have your noticed that the harder we try the more tense we get and the more likely we will choke up?

Have you notices that we often find ourselves trying to put a round peg into a square hole?

Have you felt demoralized because you are working harder than everyone else who doesn't seem to care as much?

Have you ever thought that you were right and surrounded by idiots?

Dr. Carl Whitaker, the pioneering family therapist, told his students, "If you are going to be missionaries, you will get eaten by cannibals."

If you are trying harder, working harder, insisting more vehemently than everyone else, alarm bells are ringing that something is wrong.

You may be pushing the river. You'll get there if you relax and just go with the flow.

Unitarian Univeralists know this because they rely on their covenantal relationships based on seven principles. These principles nourish and guide their relational lives. They know that it is easy for those relationships to get skewed and out of sync if their principles are ignored or mis-applied.

In Alcoholics Anonymous they have slogans such as "Easy does it." and "Let go and let God," and "One day at a time."

In Unitarian Univeralism we convenant together to affirm and promote our first principle,  the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and our seventh principle,  a respect for the interdependent web of existence. Some UUs call us first and seventh principle people.

These principles are imbued with an awareness of the Tao which resonates with eternal beauty, goodness, truth, and balance. Relax and lfit up your awareness to the Oneness of the Divine.

Have you been lied to?

Walking the path of the ego one finds drama of all sorts: love vs. hate, birth vs.death, gain vs. loss, beauty vs. ugliness, goodness vs.evil, truth vs. deceit.

We are led to believe that we have to choose, but how can we have one without the other? Things are one half of the whole. The path of the ego is full of deceit, illusion, suffering and anguish, as well as genuineness, reality, joy and happiness.

It is all part of the interdependent web of existence which we have created in our separation from the Divine.

Spiritual traditions have taught us that we can rise above the path of the ego and become one with the Spirit, the foundation of existence. Luke Skywalker called it "The Force."

In Unitarian Univeralism we call it the "covenant." In A Course In Miracles, it is called the Atonement. Whatever we call it, what really matters, is that we know we are One.

Living on the path of the ego there is always something. If it is not one thing, it's another. It's not until our tolerance for nonsense is exhausted that we finally realize that we have been lied to by the ego and that there must be a better way.

Can you handle paradox?

Acceptance and appreciation of paradox is a sign of maturity.

F. Scott Fitzgerald said that the test of a first rate intelligence is the ability to hold two contradictory ideas in the mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.

Unitarian Universalists in covenanting together to affirm and promote the respect for the interdependent web manifest this kind of first rate intelligence.

UUs understand that to yield and be the bigger person is tranformational.

UUs undertand that to bend and keep one's balance allows one to be upright.

UUs understand that to re-cycle the old is to create something anew.

UUs understand that to simplify one gains the whole world of well being.

UUs understand that the more one knows the more one understands how little one really knows.

UUs understand that the last shall be first and the first shall be last.

UUs understand that no matter how low one goes, one still possesses inherent worth and dignity and is part of the Divine.

What keeps UUs going through dark times?

There are times when the living gets tough. We find ourselves in dark places, very dark places.

There are times when we want to give up, even want to die. We think, "It would have been better if I were never born," and "I've had enough. I don't want to go on."

At such times of despair when there is no hope to be found, what then?

There is a dim, weak sense of Life. Against our egotistical will we are called to continue into God only knows what. We don't want to go on, but something beyond us wants us to.

That something beyond us some call the Tao, some call Grace which has been described as "amazing", some call it the Holy Spirit, and some with no other name call it simply "faith."

Faith keeps us moving in the darkness through our despair. We intuit that in spite of everything horrible, destructive, evil, Life goes on.

We are living a mystery. We are living the question as Rilke said.

Unitarian Univeralism teaches that the covenant based on seven principles will somehow see us through, of which the first and the seventh are the most important: the inherent worth and dignity of every person no matter what, and the love for the interdependent web of existence of which we are a part.

As was said in the 60s by way of encouraging one another, "Keep the faith!"

Is humanity the manifestation of Love in the Universe?

The Tao is the essence of existence from which the ten thousand things arise.

We watch the ten thousand things come and go like the news cycles of cable news. Here today, gone tomorrow. From where did the drama come and to where does it go?

Emotional arousal is like the phases of the moon: it waxes and wanes. It is like the tides of the ocean: it rises and falls.

The one constant thing is the Tao, existence, which is eternal. We are born and we die but the Tao of which we are a part is forever.

Unitarian Univeralists know about the ground of our being which we affirm and promote in our seventh principle which is to respect the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. Instead of "respect", the word should be "love" for Love is what we are and of which we are a manifestation in the universe.

Do you try too hard or not hard enough?

From whence does right action come?

It does not come from trying too hard.
It does not come from getting too far out ahead of others.
If we become missionaries we will be eaten by cannibals.

We have to take things where they're at, not where we want them to be.

We have to know when to hold em and know when to fold em.

There is a time to lean in and a time to step back.

Repect for the balance which the situation calls for is an attribute of wisdom.

Be alert and go with the flow.

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote a respect for the interdependent web of all existence.

In the end will it all be okay?

Jesus tells us to love our enemies, to do good to those who persecute us.

Gandhi said that "an eye for eye makes us both blind."

The Tao Te Ching says, "Accept disgrace willingly. Accept misfortune as the human condition."

The bumper sticker says, "Shit happens."

Another bumper sticker says, "Mega shit happens."

Living with an ego and a body we are consumed by fears.

Embarking on a spiritual path we leave fear behind as we rise above mundane concerns and focus on the Divine embrace of the Universe.

Unitarian Universalists who commit themselves to the covenant based on the seven principles have recognized a Higher Power of Universal Unconditional Love that whispers to us gently, "It's all okay in the interdependent web of existence of which we are just a small part."

Clinging is not good for the soul.

Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be.
The future is not ours to see.
Que sera, sera.

Kurt Vonnegut's tag line was, "And so it goes..."

Things come and things go. They come into being and go out of existence riding on the winds and waves of Tao.

The Buddhists tell us not to become attached. Attachment causes suffering, and yet we become attached any way. For some people, change is much harder than others. The clingers have it tough. Things have to be wrenched away from them. Things have to be pried lose.

Unitarian Universalists are more likely to go with the flow. They covenant together to affirm and promote the responsible search for truth and meaning knowing that truth and meaning is in flux. Unitarian Universalists know that life is about the journey not the destination. Unitarian Universalists are not interested in getting people into heaven but heaven into people.

And then, when it is all said and done, there is the Unitarian Univeralist abiding faith in the love for the interdependent web of existence of which we are just a part going along on a magic carpet ride through life attempting to balance in the center of it all.

Is it the time?

As Unitarian Universalists we covenant together to affirm and promote the interdependent web of existence. We explicitly acknowledge the systemic quality of the component parts and recognize that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

And so as we observe the injustice in the world, we know that justice will emerge. When we observe sexual abuse in the world, we know that sexual love which creates new life abides. When we observe the ugliness of human behavior, we know that goodness will arise. When we observe the deceitful and fraudulent, we know that truth and genuineness endures.

As holy people, our faith is in the ultimate blessing of Life which is obstructed by the works of the ego. As a holy people, we rise above the drama, the harm, the sorrow, the attack, the exploitation, the abuse, and remind ourselves and others that there is a better way.

Constructing and utilizing the things of the ego that block our awareness of Love's presence is childish and ridiculous. Ridiculousness abounds and seems pervasive as we walk the path of the ego, and yet we sense and come to know that we can turn off the path of the ego onto to the path of the spirit whenever we choose.

Our tolerance for pain, though, is very high, and often it doesn't dawn on us that there is a better way until our pain and suffering reaches crisis proportions. Sometimes we rhetorically ask, "How bad do things have to get before it dawns on us to change our ways?"

The answer, of course, is "now." Now is always a good time and if the question arises in our mind whether a positive change would be desirable, then the time for that change is now.\