UUs and Mother Nature

Frank, I am with you in spirit in supporting our brothers and sisters in Florida and yet there is part of me that finds myself feeling angry. It is known that behavior has consequences. Florida and Texas are red states that voted for Bush, Romney, and Trump. As Allen Frances writes in his new book, "Twilight Of American Sanity: A Psychiatrist Analyzes The Age Of Trump", Donald Trump is not the problem contributing to the problems in our contemporary society but the people who voted for him are as they chose him to unleash his destructive policies.Trump is a climate change denier who pulled us out of Paris Climate accord and has filled his cabinet with climate deniers and people like Rex Tillerson who has become rich promoting fossil fuels knowing full well the negative affect they have on CO2 and climate warming. 

The huge storms we are seeing now were predicted by climate scientists like James Hansen and others, and are no surprise but predicted. And yet the electorate lives in a delusional world which Mother Nature is now challenging with reality of what we have done to our Mother, the Earth. Al Gore told us this was happening in his documentary An Inconvenient Truth, and Florida and Texas went for Bush anyway. Then they went for Trump.  So now guess what? Their suffering will increase in part due to the damaging policies their elected officials have promulgated.

Jesus said as He was being killed on the cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." And, without being at all condescending and patronizing we can pray for the poor citizens of Texas and Florida who voted for representatives who don't have their best long term interests at heart, forgive them father for they know not what kind of demons they have allowed their governmental officials to unleash with their misguided policies.

My heart goes out to the suffering, but I also hope that they learn from their suffering and change their hearts in the direction of healing our planet for the benefit of human kind and Mother Nature. This means at the macro level joining together to promote policies that ameliorate, not destroy, and  benefit the majority of the earth's inhabitants not just the 1%. In a democracy, our vote in the ballot box has long term ramifications and we are seeing our past voting decisions contributing to perverse policy development play out in contributing to political decisions with harmful consequences.

We have a lot to offer as UUs helping our collective psyche to identify its self destructive beliefs and behaviors in the service of acting together to benefit all of human kind. To identify the societal forces that contribute to delusional behavior of the majority can be a focus of our work. Without being sarcastic or mocking I would like to ask the citizens of Texas and Florida who championed de-regulation, drilling, pipelines, cheap fossil fuel, putting coal miners back to work, etc. how is that "Make America Great Again" thing working for ya?

Reality has many definitions but one of the most important is the empirical one of natural law. What we, as humans, think and believe is not as influential a factor on life as what Mother Nature actually has happen. So in evaluating the truth of our beliefs and opinions we should put the biggest weight on "How is that working for you?" Climate change denial, and policies and behavior destructive to the environment on our planet, while beneficial to some in the short run, have dire consequences in the long run. The question to monitor is, "Will the hurricane damage in Texas and Florida change the voting behavior of those suffering in the red states?" Mother Nature is a consistent and dependable teacher which leaves an observer to wonder how long does it take for some people to learn?

Take care,

David

Artists often function as prophetic women and men UU's second source

The function of the artist, according to Kurt Vonnegut, is to make people like life better than they did before.

   

Have a magnanimous day

The UU Way Of Life is a life of magnanimity. Aware of the abundance of the Spirit of Life's love for us, the most natural thing is the desire to extend it by sharing. Notice the generosity of UUs for a dose of inspiration and well being.


 

Two worlds: Choose

We live in two worlds: the world of reality and the world of the ego. Not everyone realizes that there is a world of reality beyond the one we think is real on the ego plane, but God's love is always there for us which we are told in A Course In Miracles is our natural inheritance. Our challenge is to remove the obstacles and blocks to our awareness of God's presence. Our UU faith involves a strategy to help us remove those blocks when we implement the seven principles.

The free and responsible search for truth and meaning will ultimately bring us to the reality of Love's presence in the world which, at times, is very difficult to see and experience.

Our UU faith bolsters us in the storms of life

Gerald, you told me about your wife's behavior and verbal constructions which seem to you delusional and abusive. Her statements are full of recrimination and false blame which used to be very distressful to you until you considered the dysfunctional and erroneous thought system she has conjured up to justify her view of the world and especially of you, and you have learned to rise above it and forgive her.

It is written in A Course in Miracles, "The insane protect their thought systems, but they do so insanely. And all their defenses are as insane as what they are supposed to protect." T-IV.5:4-5 This observation is accurate at the individual level as well as at the national governmental level as we witness the functioning of President Trump and the congress. These insane thought systems appear to change reality because that is their purpose, but at a higher level, we sense that these thought systems not being true, they do not change the reality of the Love of God which we UUs have chosen to join with.

Our UU faith in Love and the seven principles bolsters us in the storms of life which lately meteorologically and metaphorically are at hurricane intensities. We realize that at the spiritual level, "it's all good" while on the ego plane it is what some people refer to as a "clusterfuck."

To some it seems absurd that we elected to represent us, people whose thought systems are so disturbed, and we marry and get involved in special relationships with people who are as crazy or even crazier than we are. Peace occurs when we realize that the answer is to forgive ourselves and others for our insane belief that special relationships can save us from ourselves. The President and the congress can't save us nor can your wife, Gerald. In the end, hope is found in the epiphany that no one outside ourselves can save us, we each have to take responsibility for turning our will over to the Oneness of life or the independent web, as we UUs like to call it, of which we are just a part.

Part of our Universalist faith is the idea that God loves us all unconditionally. I know that is hard to believe sometimes but deep down we know it is true. At some point humanity will realize this, and accept and join the Atonement which will be achieved when everybody loves everybody all the time. We are making progress as a species and we have a long way to go.

May you be aware of the force that is with you,

David

 

Are white people worthy of redemption?

From Krista Tippet's interview with Ruby Sales on On Being on 08/27/17

Where Does It Hurt?

The civil rights icon Ruby Sales names “a spiritual crisis of white America”
as a calling of this time. During the days of the movement,
she learned to ask the question, “Where does it hurt?” It’s a question we scarcely
know how to ask in public life now, but it gets at human dynamics that we are
living and reckoning with. A probing conversation at a convening of 20
theologians seeking to reimagine the public good of theology for this century.

For more click here.