Third week of advent - Saturday

There are three phases in human development: you believe in Santa; you don't believe in Santa; you are Santa.

The three phases of awareness are of the divine are; you exist as part of the divine; you separate into an ego apart from the divine; you recognize the interdependent web of which you are a part.

Christmas is about the awareness of the divine again as the ground of our being.

May the awareness of Peace and joy be yours this season and from now on in your life.

In case you were wondering................

Many people want an audience more than a relationship.

Question of the day

What contributes to your forgetting your divine essence?

In case you were wondering..........

A human being is a seed of the divine with inherent worth and dignity waiting to germinate

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. The question is not whether human beings have inherent worth and dignity but rather whether that inherent worth and dignity is actualized? It is latent, hidden, and must be realized. It is in realizing our latent worth and dignity that is the purpose of religious practice, not belief mind you, but practice. Osho calls this practice "meditation." Now days in some circles, this practice is called "mindfulness." I like to call it, "loving mindfulness."

Osho has said,

"Man is a seed, but just a seed – he is of great potential, but nothing is actual. The seed can die as a seed without ever becoming a tree, without ever coming to flowering. Man is a seed of light. But ordinarily man is not resplendent, man is not luminous, for the simple reason that the shell of the seed is hard and there are no windows. Man remains enclosed in himself; hence the darkness on the faces of people, in their eyes. But if the shell can be broken – and it can be – then great light is released. It is an explosion! That explosion brings ecstasy. That explosion brings you the eternal. That explosion makes you aware of your eternity,

There is no way other than meditation to break the seed. One has to go on hammering with meditation. One never knows how long it will take because each individual is different. No individual is predictable because people have lived different lives in their past and they have accumulated different personalities. A few people have very thin layers: just a little hit is enough, just the shadow of the whip is enough, not even the whip is needed. But a few people are really thick-skinned: unless you go on hammering, their inner light, their inner splendor, cannot be released. And one never knows how thick the layer is.

One thing is certain – it may take a little longer or a little less time, that doesn't matter – the shell of the seed can be broken, the breakthrough is possible. And that is the only hope for man because only through that breakthrough do you become aware that God is. Then life has meaning, significance, beauty, benediction."

Osho. First in the Morning: 365 Uplifting Moments to Start the Day Consciously, p.13

Third week of advent - Friday

Rev. Dr. Galen Guengerich, pastor of All Soul's Unitarian Church in New York City has written that gratitude should be at the center of Unitarian Universalist theology. There seems to be some social science to validate his position.

This emphasis on gratitude seems to be especially significant at this time of year, advent, when we remember the divine light that empowers our world. When we share that light in the expression of gratitude,  we experience a boost in joy.

Try it.

See what happens.

Let us know in the comments.

Question of the day

When peace and love come into your life, will other people be able to tell? How?