Showing posts with label unconditional love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label unconditional love. Show all posts

Thursday, June 27, 2019

A Course In Miracles and Unitarian Universalism - Unconditional love

From A Course In Miracles:

T-21.III.1. All special relationships have sin as their goal. For they are bargains with reality, toward which the seeming union is adjusted. 

Forget not this; to bargain is to set a limit, and any brother with whom you have a limited relationship, you hate. 

You may attempt to keep the bargain in the name of “fairness,” sometimes demanding payment of yourself, perhaps more often of the other. Thus in the “fairness” you attempt to ease the guilt that comes from the accepted purpose of the relationship. 

And that is why the Holy Spirit must change its purpose to make it useful to Him and harmless to you.

Schucman, Dr. Helen. A Course in Miracles (p. 451). Foundation for Inner Peace.

Comment:

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote, in their third principal, the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth.

The Universalist faith is based on the faith in unconditional love. Therefore, UU is an inclusive religion and exludes no one nor condemns them to hell.

Condtional relationships based on exclusivity and specialness separate and divide in which the ego rejoices, but God is the Tao, the Oneness of which we are all a part and from which we came and to which we will return.

The Spirit Of Life loves all of creation unconditionally. In this experience there is much peace.

May you experience the peace which is your natural inheritance.

Saturday, January 27, 2018

Love is not something you do, it is something you are.

The Universalists got it right. The Universalists believed and taught that God loves God's creation unconditionally. How could it be otherwise? The Universalists called their brothers and sisters to love one another and the world likewise.

It is written in A Course In Miracles, "You do not know the peace of power that opposes nothing. Yet no other kind can be at all. Give welcome to the power beyond forgiveness, and beyond the world of symbols and limitations. He would merely be, and so He merely is." T-27.III.7:6-9

Wow!

And Osho says that Love is total, not perfect, total. By "total" Osho says he means wholeheartedly, no holding back of anything.

Unfortunately,  on the path of the ego, we think we love but it is conditional. We will love if..........., and we come to realize that this conditional love is not Love at all. True love is unconditional. We love because we want to love. Our love is not opposed by anything. This unconditional love is what ACIM calls the peace of power that opposes nothing and which Osho calls "total."

So, on the path of the spirit we don't hold back, we have no reservations, we love totally and in doing so we become Love.

This teaching of the Universalists is needed in our world today. UUs can engage in a missionary mission to share their faith and vision. The Universalist understanding is a light in the darkness, a light that needs to spread and grow. We, Universalists, have our mission and our vision and we can engage in joyful work to hasten the achievement of the At-one-ment.

Sunday, January 14, 2018

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.

Thursday, December 21, 2017

What matters the most to UUs


UUs covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. What does "free and responsible" mean? It does not mean, as is often misconstrued by outside observers, that UUs can believe just anything they fancy. UU faith is not based on anarchy, nihilism, and whims. Unitarian Universalism does have certain principles. It is not an unprincipled faith. Sometimes these "principles" can be thought of as values and these values imply that certain beliefs matter. What matters to UUs? In it's simplest form, it is Love of which we all are a part. This Love , in which UUs believe, is unconditional.

It is written in A Course In Miracles that "No belief is neutral. Every one has the power to dictate each decision you make. For a decision is a conclusion based on everything you believe." T-24.Intro.2:3-5

What is it then that you believe? And based on those beliefs, what do you value? A quick way to hone in the answer to these questions is to fill in this blank, "What matters the most to me in my life is ___________________."

It is written in ACIM, "To learn this course requires willingness to question every value that you hold." T-24.Intro.2:1

Are we willing to do this?  Unconditional Love is a most difficult teaching. Jesus said we should love our enemies, love the people and things that scare us. Our spiritual growth depends on it.

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

When You Try to Change People That’s Not Love, It’s Domination

By Broderick Greer, "When You Try To Change People That's Not Love, It's Domination" on the On Being blog on 10/27/17

"Public theology is at its best when it creates the space necessary for people of various gender identities, religious affiliations and non-affiliations, ethnicities, and economic levels to be known as their full selves, not pushed into a mold not meant for them. It is being less concerned about finding surface-level common ground than about holding space for people’s unique experiences of divinity and humanity."

For more click here.

Editor's note:
What I have learned in life of 71 years is that love comes in many forms. The form is not what is important or significant, the love is.

Public theology is creating the places and the connections where this love can manifest.


Saturday, November 4, 2017

Love does not die - just changes form

I was taught and many other people too in my Catholic upbringing that the body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. A Course In Miracles makes it clear that the body is not the temple of the Holy Spirit but relationships are. It is written in ACIM: "The Holy Spirit's temple is not a body, but a relationship." T-20.VI.5:1 Section VI, The Temple of the Holy Spirit describes this idea in more detail. It is our relationship with our Creator and our fellow Creations in which the Holy Spirit abides. Jesus told us the same thing in the New Testament when he said, "Where two or more are gathered together in My name, there I will be."

Rev. Marlin Lavenhar at All Souls Church in Tulsa Oklahoma gave a wonderful sermon on October 29, 2017 entitled "Gone But Never Forgotten" in which he makes the point that love never dies. Bodies do, but not love. Love just changes form. Love is eternal. People with highly developed spiritual awareness know this. It is another indicator of spiritual maturity.


Sunday, August 13, 2017

The love of God does not require sacrifice

Unitarian Universalists have a rich tradition of believing in the unconditional and universal love of God. UUs do not believe that unconditional love requires sacrifice of any kind. UUs do not believe in the traditional Christian God that requires sacrifice of His son's to appease His anger at His creatures' sins.

As human beings we are very confused believing that love requires sacrifice. This may be true of conditional love of the ego but it is not true of the unconditional love of God.

What is not love is fear and the ego relishes fear. It is written in A Course In Miracles, "You believe it is possible to be host to the ego or hostage to God.”


More specifically it is written, “Your confusion of sacrifice and love is so profound that you cannot conceive of love without sacrifice. And it is this you must look upon; sacrifice is attack, not love. If you would accept but this one idea, your fear of love would vanish.” T-15.X.5:8-10

And so we fear the Love of God because we believe that God’s love demands the ultimate sacrifice, the loss of our ego whether through enlightenment or death.As human beings we are very confused believing that love requires sacrifice. This may be true of conditional love of the ego but it is not true of the unconditional love of God.

What is not love is fear and the ego relishes fear. It is written in A Course In Miracles, "You believe it is possible to be host to the ego or hostage to God.”


Heather's mother, Joanne, told Heather repeatedly in so many words, "I'll love you if you get good grades, do your chores, keep your room clean, and stop fighting with your brother." Heather craved her mother's love and so felt guilty when she didn't please her mother. It seemed her mother always wanted something and whatever Heather did was not good enough.

Heather's older brother, Michael, told her, "Mom is a bottomless pit. Nothing you do will ever be good enough for her. Mom reminds me of the joke about the little girl who asked her mother why it was raining and the mother said, 'Because God is crying.' and when the little girl asked her mother why God was crying, the mother said, 'Probably because of something you did.'"

Heather didn't laugh much. She said, "Is God like mom?"

Michael said, "That's what they say. That's why I don't believe in God. What kind of God would want His son to suffer and die on a cross to appease His disappointment with His creations' mistakes? Why did He create them that way to begin with? The whole story seems screwed up to me."

"I don't believe in a God like mom," said Heather. "That would be a hell."

Michael said, "My God loves us unconditionally just the way we are. We having nothing to fear from my God."

Heather said, "I like your God. Can I believe in Him too?"

Michael said, "Yes, of course. It's up to you."

"Is there a church that believes in your God," asked Heather.

"No," said Michael, "but you can read about Him in a book called A Course In Miracles when you get older."

"I love you, Michael," said Heather.

"I love you too, Heather," said Michael, "no matter what."

Tuesday, July 18, 2017

The third principle applies to our family relationships not just to our congregations

The third principle of Unitarian Univeralism asks that we covenant together to affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations. This is a very challenging principle in our congregations especially when it is often so difficult in our own families and relationships.

Why am I so unhappy in my love life? My wife and I have been married 14 years and we have two kids. I don't think I love her any more but if I leave her she will be devastated and I'm worried about how all this would affect the kids. I have grown increasingly depressed. I find myself drinking more and looking at other women in a lustful way which I know is wrong. What should I do?

This is a very common situation and we live in a society which tends to psychologize these situations instead of seeing them as opportunities for spiritual growth.

Most people don't know what love is. They describe it as a feeling of euphoria which often is transient because the infatuation, the honeymoon, can't last forever. The failure to understand love at a deeper level leaves them confused and depressed.

As has been described earlier, at a broad level, there is two kinds of love:conditional and unconditional. On the ego plane, we believe in conditional love, "I'll love you if...." People think they need to earn love, or merit it. This kind of conditional love is not really love because what we deeply crave is unconditional love which is , "The worst about me is known and I am loved any way."

Our society believes in a God who loves His creatures conditionally. The bible is full of such stories of a judgmental God who exercises His wrath at sinful humans and yet Jesus, in the New Testament, presents us with a different God like the story of the prodigal son and the adulterous woman who loves us unconditionally.

Two definitions of love that are best are : to know the worst about someone and love them anyway. It's rare but sometimes we run across it most often between a parent and a child. The second definition is to care as much about a partner's growth and development as you do about your own, and to expend the effort to nurture, encourage, facilitate that growth and development.

Most problems in our human relationships are based on fear. We are terrified of being hurt, disappointed, betrayed, rejected, abandoned, attacked and so we think and behave in ways to defend ourselves and attack what we believe are the signs of that of which we are afraid. If we are aware enough, we recognize that the very things we think we see in the other that engender our fears is present in ourselves. This self recrimination and self loathing then gets projected onto the other with a vengeance.

It is not only important, but essential, for a person to be loving for the person to know that he/she is loved unconditionally by his/her maker, the universe, life. As Jesus tells us repeatedly, God not only loves us but loves us abundantly. When we know this, we can share that love generously with others. If we don't know that, then, yes, we can feel out of love because we have put ourselves there.

If we feel "out of love" it is important to find ways to take better care of ourselves so that we can feel more satisfied and fulfilled in our lives. With that satisfaction and fulfillment comes a generosity that engenders the ability to create unconditional love in our relationships.
Print Friendly and PDF