Prophetic women and men - Mariannne Williamson - Political strategy is a corruption of our democratic process

Marianne Williamson addresses reparations and the strategic poltical mind

Marianne Williamson is bringing a moral and spiritual awakening to America in her presidential campaign.

Prophetic woman and men - Marianne Williamson announces her candidacy for the President of the United States in 2020

With all the continual hype and speculation about the 2020 Presidential candidates, there was no mention I saw of Marianne Williamson's announcement of her campaign for the Presidency on 01/28/19.

Her announcement speech is well worth listening to. It lasts about 40 minutes.

She makes a number of excellent points which usually are not a part of our political discourse because the media establishment and the politicial establishment shuts them down.

Marianne is contemporary prophetic women who brings our attention to what ails the soul of America.

Marianne Williamson on reparations on CNN on 01/31/19

Prophetic Women and Men - Marian Wright Edelman

Articles about prophetic women and men appear on UU A Way Of Life on Sundays.

Marian Wright Edelman founder of the Chilren's Defense Fund in 1973.

Video = 15 min. Well worth the time.

"God runs a full employment economy"

"Now we are not finished, and we are never going to feel finished until we end child proverty in the richest nation on earth."

"What worries me is how irresponsible we adults in power have been in passing on a healthier earth."

"We must stop investing in war and start investing in the young and in peace."

Book - Why Religion by Elaine Pagels

Elaine Pagels, a scholor of religion at Princeton University, became famous with her first book, Gnostic Gospels in 1979. Since that book she has written several more on religious texts. Her latest book is quite different from her others in that it is a memoir of her personal faith journey.

Growing up in an agnostic scholarly family, Elaine, as a teenager, went to a Billy Graham crusade and became born again at age 15. A few years later, her friend, Paul, died in a car crash and she lost her faith. This traumatic loss precipitated her search for truth and meaning which continues to this day.

She and her husband struggled with infertility and then conceived a son, Mark, who had many physical disabilities and died at age 6. She and Heinz then adopted two children and a year after that Heinz died suddenly in a hiking accident when he fell off a cliff.

Elaine experienced years of grief and loss and while she returned to the agnostic faith of her family of origin, she found strength and comfort in many religious texts she focused on in her scholarly study. This experience of scholarly study seems to lead her to the conclusion that while belief in a personal deity does not make much sense, religion has played an important function in her life and the texts she has studied has contributed to her resilience in dealing with the tragic losses in her life.

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. There can be, perhaps, no better example of the application of this principle in one's life, than the life of Elaine Pagels.

Unitarian Univeralism thinks of itself as a "living tradition" based on several sources one of which is the words and deeds of prophetic women and men. Elaine Pagels is one such woman.

 

Movie - On The Basis Of Sex

On The Basis of Sex is a movie about Ruth Bader Ginsberg's early life and career establishing her expertise in  advocating for women's rights in the U.S. in the later half of the twentieth century.

It is a five out of five on the UU A Way Of Life ministries movie scale and is highly recommended.




Editor's note:
This is not only a biographical story about RBG but a good example of how social change is made in an intentional and deliberate way.

The norms, attitudes, beliefs, practices of a society are highly influenced in a democracy by the "rule of law." The impact of the changes in women's rights in a patriarchal society made by Ruth Bader Ginsberg's and others efforts are enormous. What is taken for granted today and "just the way things are" has not always been the case, and the recipients in todays society of the changes made by those who came before us deserve recognition, acknowledgement, and support.

This movie is informative on multiple levels and inspirational. It filled me with gratitude for the work that has been done to improve the lives of people in our society by what are called in Unitarian Universalism, "Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love."

Prophetic women and men - Fred Rogers

One of the six sources for the living tradition of Unitarian Universalism is the words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love.

That was Fred Rogers.

What have you come here to teach?

The first of the six sources for the living tradition of Unitarian Universalism is "direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder..." The second source is "Words and deeds of prophetic women and men..."

Do you understand your role as a prophet? We are told in A Course Of Miracles that we all our teachers. By virtue of the fact that we are alive and interact with others and with life, we teach what we believe. Some people are more aware of what they believe and teach more intentionally than others. If you were to teach more deliberately, what would you teach?

Did you ever wonder why you were born, what the purpose of your life is?

They say there are no two snowflakes alike. There are no two human beings exactly alike, even identical twins. So why did God go to all the trouble to make each one of us unique?

And why were you born at this point in human history? Why not 500 years earlier or 1,000 years later? Why now?

During this lifetime, your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to figure out why you were created to become the person you are destined to become, and why you were born at this point in human history. There must be a reason, otherwise, why would God, the Creator, go to all this trouble?

How do you discern God's will for you, to become the person you were created to become, and to do at this point in human history, what you came here to do?

The essential strategy of discernment is to ask the Holy Spirit, your muse, the Spirit of Life, whatever you want to call your source of inspiration, for help. Discernment is not a solo activity. We all need help. Not only can we not do this alone, we shouldn't do it alone because we will, undoubtedly, on our own, go astray.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:7-8  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Neale Donald Walsch in his Conversations With God books tells us that God is talking to us all the time. It is we who are not tuned in and not listening.

We are so distracted these days with media and so many consumer choices and so much drama that we rarely pay attention. To tune in and listen to the Holy Spirit, our muse, the Spirit of Life, we need quiet, stillness, silence. The Holy Spirit does not speak above the roar that we create in our won minds and hearts.

What we need to do is shut up. Stop. Step down. Back off. Disengage. Get quiet. Listen.

The Christmas song says, "Do you hear what I hear? A song, a song, high above the trees, with a voice as big as the sea......."

Today, take some time to listen, at least twice, and more if you can tear yourself away, and make time for your muse. Try to understand your purpose in this life and then endeavor to do God's will to Love yourself and humanity.

Prophetic women and men - Kenneth Wapnick died on 12/27/13

Today is the day Kenneth Wapnick died 4 years ago in 2013 at the age of 70. Dr. Wapnick was a psychologist who was teacher of A Course In Miracles. He was involved in the initial development, publishing and teaching of The Course. He knew the author, Helen Schucman, personally, as well as her transcriber, William Thetford.

Dr. Wapnick's legacy is enormous with numerous books and video lectures of his teachings on the course.

Dr. Wapnick is a prophetic figure in our contemporary times who has had a tremendous positive influence on facilitating the spiritual growth of people in our current world. His body is gone but his spirit is very much with us.

For more click here.

Prophetic women and men - Kwanzaa founder Dr. Maulana Karenga

Kawanzaa was started on December 26, 1966, 51 years ago by Dr. Maulana Karenga. It is celebrated for 7 days. You can read more about it by clicking here.

Prophetic women and men - The Christmas Truce in 1914 during World War I

There is hope in the world when we consider the relations between human beings instead of their governments. Mother Teresa said, "Don't wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person."


 

 For more click here.

On 12/24/47 President Truman pardoned 1,523 WW II Draft Resisters

            1947

December 24

Truman Pardons 1,523 WW II Draft Resisters

 

President Harry Truman on this day pardoned 1,523 young men who were still in prison as conscientious objectors who had refused to cooperate with the draft during World War II. There were 15,805 draft resisters during World War II. The 1940 Selective Service Act had included a relatively broad definition of conscientious objection to participation in war, but it obviously did not satisfy thousands of young men who felt that cooperating with the draft only validated the principle of the right of the government to conscript people into participating in war.

A month before Truman acted on this day, on November 23, 1947, a large group of clergy and other activists had petitioned President Truman to pardon all young COs sill in prison. He pardoned more young men in 1953.

Pardoning opponents of American involvement in wars has a long tradition in the U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt pardoned all of those convicted and still in prison under the Espionage Act on December 23, 1933. President Gerald Ford, on September 16, 1974, and President Jimmy Carter, on January 21, 1977, granted different forms of conditional or full amnesty or pardons to opponents of the Vietnam War.

Editor's note:

UU AWOL is starting a daily series on prophetic women and men and events that have inspired us and shaped our communal consciousness. We are all a part of an interdependent web and have influences on each other most of which most are unconscious. In order to facilitate our human growth and development, it is helpful to recognize, acknowledge, utilize, and extend some of the knowledge, skills, and values of people and groups who have gone before us and sometimes are among us still.

There is a history of nonviolence and conscientious objection to war and attack in the world. Often the practitioners of nonviolence and conscientious objection are vilified, criminalized, and condemned until after the violence is ended. Then their courage, bravery, and moral sensitivities are at least recognized if not applauded.

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote the right of conscience in their fifth principle.

Would UUs consider Mr. Rogers one of the prophetic women and men in their six sources?

The second source, the seventh principle, and moments of grace

The second of six sources of the living tradition of Unitarian Universalism is the words and deeds of prophetic women and men. How do we draw upon this source?

A primary way is reading biographies about the lives of informative and inspiring women and men.

Another way I have found is by reading the Sun Magazine which every month has an interview with an interesting and inspiring person and a section called "Readers write" where "Readers Write asks readers to address subjects on which they're the only authorities." In other words, Readers write, invites people to tell stories from their lives. Here is a moment of grace as described by David Armitage in response to the topic for May, 2016 for Readers Write which was "backyards."

in the early 1980s I started a rigorous six-year academic program in Boston that required me to work during the day, take classes at night, and do homework on the weekends. On my first summer off, I wanted to get far away from my studies, work with my hands, and be close to the earth. So I went to live with an Amish family in Pennsylvania. The experience renewed me, and I decided to do it again the next summer.

That year I drove from Boston to Pennsylvania on a holiday weekend, and what was normally a six-hour trip took more than ten hours. By the time I arrived, just before dusk, I was anxious and exhausted.

My Amish hosts had delayed their dinner for me. During the meal I tried to act natural, but I felt full of nerves. My Amish host could clearly tell something was amiss, because at the end of dinner he said, “Come with me.”

I followed him to their backyard, which bordered an alfalfa field. Although his faith discouraged smoking, the farmer lit a cigarette. Three of his children gamboled about while two others clung to him. The farmer stood without saying a word, looking out over the alfalfa. I did the same.

The dark-green field was becoming harder to see in the fading light. The sky was peach at the horizon and deep blue higher up. Stars had begun to appear. Then out of the alfalfa rose fireflies — a few at first, but soon there were hundreds. Their pinpricks of light mingled with the stars: heaven and earth meeting in this humble man’s backyard. I felt my nervousness leave me.

The farmer turned and said, “That’s for you.”

David Armitage
Boston, Massachusetts

Mr. Armitage's story reminds me of the seventh principle of Unitarian Universalism which is "respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part." When we pull back from the stress of our daily routines and get things into perspective, and nature often helps us do that, we can experience an ease and comfort which seems almost miraculous and like a moment of grace.

To visit the Sun Magazine Readers Write in the May 2016 issue click here.

The Brockport Sun Magazine Discussion Group meets on the third Thursday of every month at 6:30 - 8:00 PM at the Lift Bridge Book Shop, 45 Main Street, Brockport, NY to discuss the previous month's issue. While everyone is welcome, registration is required. For further information, contact David Markham at davidgmarkham@gmail.com or 585-727-3663.