Question of the day

The Stoics believed that change is neither good or bad, it just is. It's what we make of the change that determines our attitudes towards it. The stoics counseled acquiesce to the change that cannot be changed, and 12 step programs ask us to surrender to the things we cannot change. Twelve step programs often end with the Serenity prayer. Nietzsche went even farther and suggested that we love our fate, embrace the inevitable. Today we are told to "lean into it." How do you manage the changes in your life? Would you change the way you manage change? How?

The search for truth and meaning takes us to vision which cannot be empirically validated.

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This search will lead us to vision which excludes judgment. The vision is not about information, validation, accuracy. It is about love and peace. It is about heaven on earth which cannot be empirically validated. It is not of this world. The vision of standing on the side of love cannot be measured. It is beyond measurement. In the last analysis it is experienced as a matter of faith.

Every now and then we get a glimpse that there must be something more to life. There is a faint memory of a time and place of comfort, peace, security, and well being. People in distress sometimes say, "I can't stand this any more. I can't go on. There are times when I wish I wasn't here."

"Do you have suicidal ideas, " I ask?

"Yeah, I do sometimes," is the answer.

"What keeps you from acting on your ideas," I ask?

"My kids, my dog, my ___________."

"Well, it's a wonder, given how miserable you are, that you haven't killed yourself by now," I say.

"I just can't bring myself to do it. I guess things aren't really that bad. I keep hoping that things will get better."

And it is this hope that keeps the person from ending their earthly life. And what does this hope consist of and where does it come from and how does it work?

"What is it that you are hoping will be different if you go on living," I ask?

"I just want things to be okay."

"Things are okay already if you could see beyond the drama in your life," I say.

"I guess," is the reply.

And there is a glimpse of a vision of heaven and peace on earth which has been blocked out by the workings of the ego. We have to admit that we are not in charge, not in control, not the agent of cure. We have to recognize, acknowledge, and surrender to a power far greater than our own and let go. In the letting go, we paradoxically experience peace.

Questions of the day

In our society we have become enamored with so many idols like money, sex, power,and intoxicants that we put before our love of God, the ground of our existence, the Spirit of Life, whatever we call our Higher Power. And so the Universe asks us repeatedly to chose between idolatry and love. What do you choose? How many times do we get seduced and have to choose again?

Question of the day

If every person's life is worth a story are you interested in hearing part of what it is?

Editor's note:

Check out Story Corps

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."

Question of the day

When we reflect on the civil rights movement in the United States in the 50s, 60s, and 70s what do you think is the link between religion and democratic transformation?

Editor's note:

This quote is often attributed to Martin Luther King Jr. and he did say it but it was originally said by Unitarian minister, Rev. Theodore Parker.

Question of the day

How can we have a democratic conversation so we can create a more perfect union