First week of advent - Thursday

As we prepare for the remembrance of the divine in the world in the myth of a fragile baby born to a teenage mother in a barn, we should also remember that we were all fragile babes at one time. Were it not for the protection, care, and nurturance of others we would not be reading this article right now. In considering this we become aware of our radical dependence on others without whom our lives would not have endured and blossomed.

Advent is a time, as we reflect on our radical dependence, of enormous gratitude to others. The best expression and manifestation of this gratitude is in sharing what we have with others. We give our gifts whether they are physical objects, psychological attention and comfort, spiritual hope and blessings.

This blog is a gift to you, freely given because of what we have received, hopefully full of spiritual hope and blessings. Pass it on if you like or not. You undoubtedly have gifts of your own to share.

Body or soul: Which is for sale?

The first principle of Unitarian Universalism is to covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Are we talking about the body or the soul when we talk about inherent worth and dignity? The mistake is to focus exclusively on the body and forgetting about our souls. This confusion is a major source of anguish and sorrow for us humans.

Who can be safe and secure and at peace who has an enemy? Belief in enemies is to believe in peril, insecurity, and war. This is the situation of most of humanity who sees enemies around every corner, hiding under every tree and stone ready to terrorize and traumatize. This perpetual state of anxiety, this continual war on terror is not the Will of God but a state that humanity has created and imposed on itself. If God's will is something different from what humanity wills for itself, humanity even fears the Will of God which is only for love, peace, and joy, but is opposed to what humanity has been choosing for itself.

Humanity's fears are for its bodies not for its souls. In our spiritual growth we come to understand and appreciate that it is our spirits that matter ultimately not our bodies. Bodies are nothing but organs and molecular structures which are constantly changing and impermanent. Bruce Cockburn sings a song in which the lyric is "there is a day when we all have to be pried loose."

And so we should refocus from our bodies to our souls and consider what, if anything, is the enemy of our souls? Mature souls know that the biggest danger is that we give our soul away or sell our soul to the devil temporarily under we eventually are found again.

Question of the day

If you or another person you are close to were to grow spiritually how could you tell?

First week of advent - Wednesday

Are we body or spirit? We are both, but which is more important? Which is the means and which is the end? Does the body exist to enable the spirit or does the spirit exist to enable the body?

There are times in life when we have to choose our focus. We have to decide which we will champion. Do we free the body or the spirit? Jesus chose the spirit and we still tell the story over 2,000 years later.

The myth is that God so loves the world that He incarnated the divine in His main child, Jesus. We have made Jesus into someone special almost ultra human, different from the rest of us. But Jesus tells us in A Course In Miracles that this mythic belief is not true. He is no different from the rest of us. We are all brothers. Jesus, though, became enlightened, and as an older more enlightened brother he tries to help us find the way to enlightenment as well. Jesus continually taught us that the spirit is free while the body is subject to physical constraints.

During advent we remember these lessons: that love and freedom are a free gift to our spirits if we could give up the idolatry of the body which is simply a means of communication.

UUs covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. This affirmation and promotion comes to a crescendo at this time of the year. Let us be clear, though, that this is about our spirits not about our bodies. It is about fellowship of all of humanity as we join together in peace and joy in our mutual creation.

Question of the day

When we have nothing else to lose, we give up our fears and move forward. Peace enters our heart and we realize that it is what it is and it is, in the last analysis, all okay. Did you ever come to this place in your heart? Why is such a place dangerous to society with its vested interest in maintaining the status quo?

What makes the Buddha laugh?

A person told me one time he didn't like Unitarian Universalists because they were too serious, too earnest, even self righteous seeming to think they were superior to people whose religious beliefs tended to run in a literal and funamentalist track.

I understood his point and I too have run into UUs who impressed me because of a sanctimonious judmentalist attitude like a reformed smoker. And yet, I have also known UUs who have a great sense of humor and don't seem to take themselves seriously at all. They seem easy going and accepting of everyone even people who seem to be more spiritually immature and childish.

An indicator of spiritual maturity is a rising above the ego and seeing beyond the mistakes of our brothers and sisters to their oneness with us in God's creation. This seeing beyond is what some call "forgiveness." In simpler, more vulgar language, it is overlooking the bull shit and side stepping the drama.

People are more than their problems and often they can't see that, but we that can have a role to play in gently laughing at the absurdity. When our brothers and sisters can laugh along with us we have joined with them in what A Course In Miracles calls a "Holy Relationship."

Why is the Buddha sometimes depicted as smiling? What is the Buddha amused by. What makes him laugh?

First week of advent - Tuesday

Mother Teresa said a couple of things which are relevant and appropriate during this advent season of preparation for the remembering of the divine.

"Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person."

Mother Teresa

"Each one of them is Jesus in disguise."

Mother Teresa