Worthiness has nothing to do with it. God's love is unconditional

The Universalists had a profound insight - that God's love is unconditional. Hell is something created by humans and is not of God's world.

There is one major hurtle on the spiritual path. That hurtle is the belief that some people are worthy and some are not. Some people are good and others bad. Some people deserve salvation while others are damned to hell. This belief in degrees of worthiness is the path of the ego and is not on the path of the spirit, for God loves all of God's creation unconditionally. It is humans, who have separated themselves from the love of God, who have created these levels of hell.

The correction, of course, is forgiveness and surrendering our will to the Holy Spirit of God.

It is written in A Course In Miracles that problems appear to us in many forms with different circumstances and characteristics and levels of intensity. The Holy Spirit of God cares nothing about the form for the issue is always the same, our willfulness and illusions.

Surrendering to the Love of God fills us with the fear of giving up our egos and that, most of us most of the time, are not willing to do, yet. But there comes a time when our spirits will be pried lose from our bodies and how that goes for us will depend on whether we go willingly or unwillingly. If we have matured enough to not only go willingly but to welcome the incorporation into the Oneness we will find peace and bliss. If we are still immature and our fears prevent us from surrendering, we will have to learn more before we are ready, and perhaps, if reincarnation is accurate, come back again to the school on the earth plane to continue our education.

The bottom line here is that, if anything deserves our faith, it is the Holy Spirit who can help us solve all problems. The best joke I ever heard is this, "If you want to hear God laugh, tell God your plans." That's the funniest thing I ever heard. The best question we could ever ask of God is "What do you want me to do?" Ask the Holy Spirit of God to help us surrender our ego and joyfully join in God's loving will for us.

Love is all there is. Right?

There are a couple of things very unique about Unitarian Univeralism. The first is the idea that there is only one Love. The second is that that Love is universal and unconditional. UUs like most people don't really believe these two things, the founding ideas of their faith. Like everyone else, UUs like to argue that there are different kinds of Love, and that Unconditional Love is discriminating.

Can you forgive someone a little bit? Can you forgive someone for this but not that? Can you really forgive but not forget? Forgiveness which is compromised is not forgiveness at all for it hides deep resentment and fears.

With forgiveness it is all or nothing. This is a difficult teaching, too much for most people. Only the very spiritually mature can forgive wholeheartedly and mean it.

With forgiveness there is no half-assed way to do it genuinely. Either we move on in Love and peace or we are held back by fears and resentments.

Fears are the crux of the problem with forgiveness. We find it difficult to eliminate them because we are pre-occupied with bodies and not with souls. Our bodies can be hurt for sure, but never our souls without our acquiescence and permission.

Deep down we are invincible and there is nothing to fear. We are loved by the Force of the Universe unconditionally. When we realize this, nothing can ever hurt us again. Fears are eliminated by Love. In the last analysis, Love is all there is.

When we damn others, we damn ourselves

UUs convenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. UUs also believe in universal salvation. UUs eschew judgment, condemnation, and exclusion.

It is written in the Introduction to the 21st chapter of the text of A Course In Miracles:

"Damnation is your judgment on yourself, and this you will project upon the world. 2 See it as damned, and all you see is what you did to hurt the Son of God. 3 If you behold disaster and catastrophe, you tried to crucify him. 4 If you see holiness and hope, you joined the Will of God to set him free. 5 There is no choice that lies between these two decisions. 6 And you will see the witness to the choice you made, and learn from this to recognize which one you chose. 7 The world you see but shows you how much joy you have allowed yourself to see in you, and to accept as yours. 8 And, if this [is] its meaning, then the power to give it joy must lie within you."

Have you noticed all the condemning going on currently in our society? Condemnation lends itself easily to sound bites and tweets. It seems that those asked for a statement and opinion on some tragic event, when it involves another human being, use the word "condemn" without knowing anything about the person other than the tragic act that they have been reported to have perpetrated.

Have you noticed how people in opposition to others, especially in political campaigns, are prone to condemn their opponents? From where does this desire and willingness to condemn come from?

Judgment is an arrogant act presuming omniscience on the part of the person doing the condemning. Judgment is a usurpation of the omniscience and omnipotence of a Higher Power which the judger engages in with a hypocrisy which only casts himself in a darkness fraught with guilt and anguish.

A person with a more highly developed level of spiritual maturity has given up judgment and condemnation as inappropriate, illegitimate, and a form of idolatry. A spiritually developed person laughs as the absurdity of condemnation of one human being by another. Condemnation of behavior is one thing, but condemnation of a fellow human being is quite another. As Jesus said, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."

Why is Unitarian Universalism such a hard religion?

Rev. Richard Trudeau writes in his book, Universalism 101, on page 23:

"Abraham Lincoln, though very reserved about expressing his own religious views, once quoted, with apparent approval, an old Baptist who in Lincoln's youth had proclaimed at a public meeting: 'When I do good, I feel good. What I do bad, I feel bad. That's my religion."

To which I would add Dr. Laura's observation that "Feeling good, and doing good, can sometimes be two entirely different things."

To which I would add that I have been doing some good things lately that I don't feel entirely good about like speaking up when I know that my views are not popular with the group I am speaking in front of. In fact, it came to my attention yesterday that some people called my views "vile" and it was asked that I be kicked out of the group, excommunicated if you will. I thought long and hard about my position and I still believe it is the right thing. What should I do?

We are coming up to that time of year when we commemorate the killing of Jesus. I am sure that did not feel good, at least physically, to Jesus and some of the witnesses I would guess were quite distressed, and yet to the Pharisees and the Romans I guess they felt good about it, relieved to be rid of the son of a bitch.

Also, I have been doing somethings recently that feel good like compulsively overeating, but which with my Type II diabetes is bad for me. So perhaps President Lincoln's quote of the "old Baptist" needs a deeper reading.

By the numbers, Unitarian Universalism is not a popular religious denomination. There are many reasons why the pundits give for this phenomenon, but I would guess that a major reason not often recognized and acknowledged is that it is too hard. It is a difficult religion to understand, to identify oneself with let alone practice.

Us UUs say that God is Love and Loves everyone and a deeper understanding of this means that we should strive to become better people to live up to this wonderful grace bestowed upon us. Why are we so mean to ourselves and each other when we believe that God loves everyone?

I'll tell you why. Because we allow our egos to block our awareness of Love's presence. When we take our own egos away or try to take other peoples' egos way we and they cry like two year olds and have a tantrum. Giving up the ego for heaven on earth is a high calling some would say impossible. Not me, I am a dreamer, like John Lennon, and I'm not the only one. Some day perhaps the rest of the world will join us and we will live together as one.

Amen! And so it goes...........................

What Universalists know - that the way to be happy is to do good.

Rev. Richard Trudeau writes in his book, Univeralism 101 that the way to be happy is to do good.

"The loving God of Universalism wants people to be happy in this life, too. To use Hosea Ballou's wonderful coinage, God wants to 'happify' people now. So, God has given us such a nature that we find doing good to be deeply and lastingly satisfying.

In Universalism, the reward for doing good is not salvation in a possible next life but happiness in this one." p. 20

Increasingly these is social science research which has proven this point over and over again that the happiest people are givers not takers. The giving is not so much for the beneficiary but for oneself.

Rev. Kaaren Anderson at First Unitarian in Rochester, NY has said, and I am sure it is not unique to her, that UU is not so much about getting people into heaven but heaven into people.

Are you a generous tipper? Do you give a compliment when you see something done well or you appreciate something as a result of another's efforts? These actions of generosity make us all richer both giver and receiver. This way of thinking is antithetical to the myth or scarcity and the fear of lack.

As Tracy Chapman sings all that you have is your soul and your soul is expanded by its generosity of spirit.

The new Universalism

To access Rev. James Ishmael Ford's article "Embracing the New Universalism" in the Fall, 2014 issue of UU World click here.

Universalism turns Christianity upside down

Richard Trudeau writes in his book, Universalism 101 on page 19 "While mainstream Christianity viewed God as having turned away from humanity because of human sin, Ballou's view was that it was humanity that had turned away from God; and that God sent Jesus not to pay the price, but to remind human's of God's love."

Jesus says in A Course In Miracles: "I was not punished because you were bad. The wholly benign lesson the Atonement teaches is lost if it is tainted with this kind of distortion in any form." T-3.I.2:10-11

We humans create our own hell by separating ourselves from God. God loves us unconditionally, but out of our guilt and fear of punishment we can't believe that God loves us. What kind of God is this that exudes unconditional love? It is the God of Universalism and of Jesus and not the God of mainstream Christianity that has manipulated people with hellfire and brimstone and engendered a belief in a vengeful God who damns people to hell for all eternity. What kind of people would make up and teach such a God? This teaching is what John Bradshaw has called the "poisonous pedagogy."

Jesus was never vengeful, and never engaged in retribution. He said He came to change the Code of Hammurabi which influenced the depiction of a wrathful Old Testament god. Universalism teaches quite of different gospel, one of truly good news, that Love is ever present if we can overcome the blocks to our awareness of Love's presence.

The off center cross symbol of Universalism

Until I read Richard Trudeau's book Universalism 101 I had not known about the off center cross symbol of Universalism. The symbol was adopted by the Massachusetts Universalist Convention in 1947.

After the merger of Unitarianism and Universalism in 1961 animosity has developed in Unitarian Universalism toward the cross symbol of Christianity. This is unfortunate because so many UUs have a Christian experience as part of their religious and spiritual formation. As Rev. Trudeau points out in his book Universalism 101, "Most UUs who disown a Christian background do so because they don't know how to separate Christianity's toxic components from the elements  that could still nourish them." p.16

As I have matured I have come to understand that most so called Christians do not understand Jesus's message and teachings and they certainly don't apply them in their lives. The sign of the cross is not a symbol of expiation, suffering, torture and death, but rather the opposite, a symbol of triumph, transcendence, patient compassion, and the resurrection of the spirit with the eschewing of the body.

The Universalist symbol acknowledges the importance of Christian teachings while leaving plenty of room for other traditions and sources as well, that's why the cross is off center, to make room for other paths.

Having learned of the off center cross symbol I have come to love it more than the flaming chalice. For someone with my background as a former Roman Catholic it respects and supports my positive religious experience with Catholicism while leaving plenty of room for other experiences as well. The flaming chalice is a wonderful symbol as well indicating the divine spark in each one of us and the whole world. Perhaps I can have both. Why do I have to choose? Could I put the flaming chalice within the circle with the off center cross?

What does Universalism have to offer the world?

In Richard Trudeau's book, Universalism 101, he writes, "In 1960-1961, when the Unitarian and Universalist denominations combined, the Universalists - less prosperous, less educated, less confident, and outnumbered five to one - were afraid of being swallowed up.". p.3

Rev. Trudeau titles this section of the book, "You become what you eat" which implies that while the Unitarian side of the newly made family is five times the size of the Universalist side, the Unitarian side will become more Universalist because of its ingestion of Universalism values, beliefs, and practices.

What is the evidence for this idea that Unitarianism will become more Universalist? I don't see it, do you? It is interesting that Rev. Trudeau stops referring to the consolidated entity as a "denomination" and instead, like many people, refers to it as "a movement" which I have never understood. Is UU a religion or an ideology? With its social justice focus it has become more of a social activist movement for liberal causes rather than a religion focused on the spiritual life of its members.

As a result of this loss of spiritual focus, Unitarian Universalism, both dying denominations to begin with, and thus their collaborative consolidation, has been further atrophying. It's slow demise might be accounted for because of its loss of purpose, focus, and mission. Social justice advocacy does not a religion make. If there is hope for future viability for Unitarian Universalism it will be because the Universalist impulse and intuitive wisdom and insight that God is  Love ignites a renewal of spiritual fervor.

The Universalist insight that God so loves God's creation that God's love assures universal salvation and God's creatures no longer have to fear hell so God's creatures will do the good because it is a more satisfying and fulfilling way to live life than to just indulge one's one's momentary sensory desires is compelling and vital. This idea of the good life is not unique to Universalism but to the Stoic philosophers of antiquity.

Unitarians do not just become what they eat but in turn are also, hopefully, eaten by a broader society that finds Unitarian Universalism an attractive and tasty morsel. The challenge becomes for Unitarian Universalism to present itself as an attractive and aesthetically pleasing delight to nourish the broader society. What is more attractive and pleasing to the human experience than Love? As it is written in A Course In Miracles, "The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite."

Universalism's mission is to help people remove the blocks to the awareness of Love's presence and rise above their fears. In order to carry out this mission to facilitate this experience of Love's presence,  Universalism must provide what ACIM calls "miracles" which is a change in perception from the ego plane to the sacred. This shift in perception and understanding naturally leads to a change in behavior for the good. Universalism's miraculous understanding of God's Love is the yeast in the dough which activates a wonderful rise, uplift, in the social dough of society in which it is embedded. To become aware of Love's presence we have to eschew the way of the ego and the world. We do this, especially at this Lenten season, by making small sacrifices to benefit the interdependent web. What will you do today to push aside the demands of the world so that you can relax into an awareness of Love's peace?

It's all good, isn't it?

From Seneca's second letter:

"Judging from what you tell me and from what I hear, I feel that you show great promise. You do not tear from place to place and unsettle yourself with one move after another. Restlessness of that sort is symptomatic of a sick mind. Nothing, to my way of thinking, is better proof of a well ordered mind than a man's ability to stop just where he is and pass some time in his own company."

Reminds me of the old psychiatrist's joke. The psychiatrist says to his patient, "Why don't you take yourself out to dinner alone and see how you enjoy the company?"

I was reading Osho the other day and he was describing the difference between pleasure, happiness, joy, and bliss. We all seek pleasure as all animals do. The meaning of life the Dali Lama says is happiness. The next question is the most important and that is, "What will make me happy?" It's not a bad life if we know how to live it, and if we figure that out we will experience joy which is best described I think as an abiding sense of contentment. When we connect with the flow of the universe we experience bliss which is rare.

I think what Seneca may be pointing to is the fact that seeking pleasure and happiness constantly does not give us joy and certainly not bliss. For joy and bliss there must be a letting go of the pursuit of pleasure and even happiness because we know from experience that all things are impermanent as the Buddhists have taught us. So can we just sit with our pleasures as well as our pain and suffering? Can we just face and observe our own joys and sorrows, pleasures and pain, and say with equanimity "It's all good!"

And what does Unitarianism Universalism have to teach us about being comfortable in our own skin, about being content, about giving up the grasping and greed for material and physical pleasures? It teaches us that we are just a small part of the interdependent web of existence and that our happiness comes from respecting that interdependent web. We need to work towards balance, to rectify the imbalance, and to realize that sooner or later, one way or another, the universe is evolving exactly as it should. This is the basis of our universalist faith, that it all comes out in the wash, that everything, even what we call "bad", serves a purpose even if we don't understand it at the time.