Would we welcome the baby, Jesus, into our community?

Pax Christi USA has developed a tool kit to be used during lent on immigration reform. For those of us with a Christian backround we are well aware that Jesus and his father, Joseph, and his mother, Mary, were immigrants who fled from Israel to Egypt.

Herod, in his paranoia, had all the 2 year old children in the region under his domain killed. The United States has faced its own dilemma recently with what to do with immigrant children. There was a proposal in my own home town, Brockport, NY, to develop a former Walmart Store for residential care for these immigrant children which would be funded by the Federal government, but many local people opposed it, including our Congressman Chris Collins, and these children were sent away as they were not welcome in our town. Brockporters would have sent Jesus away and that is very sad. We have forgotten that we are one family under God. May we remember this Lent, repent, and change our attitudes and ways.

Matthew 2:13-23

When they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise,
take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search
for the child to destroy him.” Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for
Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet
might be fulfilled, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the
massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the
time he had ascertained from the magi. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the
prophet:

“A voice was heard in Ramah,
sobbing and loud lamentation;
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she would not be consoled,
since they were no more.”

When Herod had died, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and
said, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s
life are dead.” He rose, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he
heard that Archelaus was ruling over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back
there. And because he had been warned in a dream, he departed for the region of Galilee. He went
and dwelt in a town called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be
fulfilled, “He shall be called a Nazorean.”

What does forgiveness take?

Today is Ash Wednesday

REFLECTION FOR ASH WEDNESDAY

By Joan Chittister, osb

Joel 2:12-18 | 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2 | Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Jesus' words make short shrift of public wrestling with inner goodness. "When you give alms, keep it a secret. When you pray, do it quietly. When you fast, don't look wan." The religion of Jesus, in other words, is not a religion of show. It is not a religion aimed at public approval. It is not even religion intent on the kind of pious exercise that is called witness. No, Jesus' words make Lent a way of life, rather than a ritual.

The message of Lent is clear: Alms are for self-giving; prayer is for personal growth in the mind of God; fasting is for self-discipline. What you get out of this kind of religion is not simply a change of liturgical cycles. What you get out of this kind of religion is a change of person. But when the person is changed then other actions will show it, and not all of them will be called "religious" by establishment types....

Editor's note:

I don't know how many UUs celebrate Lent and Ash Wednesday, but as a former Roman Catholic, I do. I suspect there are many UUs with a Christian background who also celebrate Lent especially those with more affinity for the Universalist side of the family. The Universalists believed fervently that God is love. The lenten practices are intended to make us more aware so that we will choose the good rather than continue to be distracted by the dramas and ego nonsense of every day life. We give alms and help others because it makes us and them feel good. We pray most often to give thanks because we are grateful and acknowledge the interdependent web of which we are a part. We fast because it alters our consciousness and makes us more alert and we learn to tolerate minor suffering with good cheer.

Jesus constantly reminded us that we are not of this world. He said to be IN the world but not OF the world. The Buddha talk us that the way to peace and to avoid suffering is not to become attached and to recognize the impermanence of life.

The overall message of lent is to remind us to love one another as we Universalists believe God loves us.

The long history of UU distrust of centralized authority

In my research and study to understand better the dynamics that contribute to Unitarian Universalism being such a small denomination when it has so much to offer the world, I stumbled across this paragraph in Richard Trudeau's book, Universalism 101 on page 61:

"Another reason for Universalism's decline had to do with Universalists' fear of centralized authority. In 1792, Universalists in Newport, Rhode Island, were reported to be reluctant even to meet with each other for Sunday worship, for fear of the ecclesiastical structure that they felt would inevitably follow from holding regular meetings. (And some say that Unitarian Universalists today have a problem with authority!) To the every end of its independent existence, the Universalist denomination never allowed its national organization to have significant authority."

This quote appears in Trudeau's book under the section headed "Universalist Decline."

I have encountered this negative attitude toward centralized authority at Pullman Memorial Universalist Church in Albion, NY when I was a member there in the mid 2000s. Some members of the congregation resented and were opposed to paying the member fee to the UUA even though the church gladly requested and utilized UUA services.

The fear of centralized authority has limited the viability of the denomination in the nation and world because its operation is left to local volunteers who are constantly reinventing the wheel trying to create and maintain an effective and efficient and customer satisfying social architecture within which worship, education, and service can occur.

There is a subtle balance  in power and control between local and centralized authority. The UUA and the local churches need to find ways to collaborate and cooperate for the benefit and viability of the denomination. A stronger voluntary accreditation system would be a step in the right direction.

Tuesday night class - The ulitmate paradox is that we have to lose ourselves if we are to attain inherent worth and dignity

What are you doing for lent?

Wednesday, February 18, 2015 is Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning in the Christian Calendar of Lent. Lent is a period of recollection, intensive pensive awareness about the meaning of life. In the Roman Catholic tradition it was a period of voluntary penance, giving something up, and fasting. There is nothing sacred about the ascetic practices of self deprivation in and of themselves, but rather as a means of altering our consciousnesses so we can be aware of ourselves and our place in the Universe. Lent is a time of giving up our hubris and practicing humility and recognizing that we are only a small part of the interdependent web.

Lent can be a time in our Unitarian Universalist tradition of practicing the seventh principle by making small sacrifices for the sake of other living things and our planet as a way of acknowledging our interdependence. Lent is a time for making ourselves small so that we can open space for other human beings and other things which make up the web of life.

If you would, will you share your intentional Lenten practice this year with us on UUAWOL by leaving a comment about what you are intentionally doing to remind yourself and maybe others of our interdependence?

My Kind Of Church Music - Holy Now, Peter Mayer

I went to church yesterday, Sunday, 02/15/15, with my friend Don and it was a wonderful service partly because John Akers played and sang Peter Mayer's great song, Holy Now.