Guilt and punishment or love and correction?

The second principle of Unitarian Universalism is "justice, equity, and compassion in human relations." On the surface, this covenantal agreement to affirm and promote these three things seems reasonable and desirable and yet in our society and daily interactions we rarely behave as if we genuinely believed these things. Our whole society, corporations, schools is based on retributive justice based on the Code of Hammurabi, "an eye for an eye."

Do you believe in guilt? Do you believe that human beings are inherently defective, inadequate, and prone to sin for which they should be punished to teach the offender a lesson as well as all others who would be deterred from similar sins and crimes by seeing a brother or sister punished?

The law here is simple: if you believe in guilt and punishment you, yourself, will be found guilty and punished. Most of us deal with this fear of being found guilty and punished by telling ourselves that we are not like the offender. Somehow we are different. Some of us more humble will say to ourselves as we find guilt assigned and punishment perpetrated, "There but for the grace of god go I."

It is said that we reap what we sow. The law of karma, simply stated, is, what goes around comes around. When we believe in guilt and punishment we are making our bed and we will have to lie in it.

Is this the world we want to believe in? Do we want to continue to believe in the original sin which makes all human beings innately damaged goods from their births? This belief has consequences, consequences which we have not seen and deep down do not want and if we can get past our fears, we come to know are not true.

The Children of God cannot sin. Make mistakes, yes, but sin? No. God, our creator, does not condemn us and certainly does not punish us. We do that to ourselves. So, the question becomes, do we want to follow the path of the ego and  condemn and punish, or the path of the spirit and correct and teach? Is there a better way? Yes, of course. Is punishment the path to peace and healing or is it love and deep understanding? Compassion and forgiveness?

Suggested Spiritual Practice of the day #6 - Lectio divina

Engage in reading a book on spiritual ideas for 15 minutes every day. These practice is called "lectio divina".

For more click here.

Share your favorite spiritual books on this blog by sending your suggestions to davidgmarkham@gmail.com or leaving your suggestions in the comments.

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

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Prophetic voices and events - Ivan Illich - Deschooling Society

Ivan Illich came to fame with his book Deschooling Society published in 1971.

The book that brought Ivan Illich to public attention was Deschooling Society (1971), a radical critical discourse on education as practised in "modern" economies. Giving examples of what he regards as the ineffectual nature of institutionalized education, Illich posited self-directed education, supported by intentional social relations, in fluid informal arrangements:

Way before his time, Ivan Illich, envisioned homeschooling and learning networks on the internet.

There is increasing dissatisfaction with government schooling and the rise of alternative educational resources is in ascendance. For more check out the Alternative Education Resource Organization (AERO).. 

 

Question of the day

If you ruled the world, would you be greedy and mean or would you be generous and fair?

Two paths: the path of the ego or the path of the spirit

Of the six sources articulated for the living tradition of Unitarian Universalism the first is "Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life." Sounds good in theory doesn't it? But are you ready? Are you ready for that "direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder...?" Not everyone is. Most people in our contemparary culture have chosen to go down a different path, the path of the ego. The path of the ego seductively entices us with materialism, power, sex, and illusional drama. Most people in our contemporary culture think the things on this ego path are real when postmodern philosophy has taught us that they simply are "social constructions."

The Dali Lama said that the purpose of human life is happiness. Profound statement. But what does it mean? The next question, of course, is, "what will make me happy?" It is in answering this question that the fun begins and people get lost in the wilderness.

Spiritual teachings tell us over and over and over again that the ego cannot make us happy. The ego promises to and seduces us into all kinds of things and activities and eventually we come up empty handed and in despair.

The spiritual path, though, leads to not only happiness, but joy, and bliss.

The Creator, our Higher Power, God, the Universe, the Ground of our Being, whatever we choose to call the Ultimate is always happy because it is the Ultimate's creation and the Ultimate could not be anything but pleased with the Ultimate's creation which the Ultimate only desires to share because sharing is part of the Creation itself. As part of this Creation we have a choice: to pursue the illusions of our separateness and what we think will make us happy in the kingdom we have created, or to pursue the Kingdom of Our Creator by discerning and following the Creator's will.

Discerning and following Our Creator's will is the narrow gate which Jesus talked about. The saying, "Many are called but few are chosen," at one level makes sense because not everyone chooses to follow the spiritual path of discerning and following God's will initially, but eventually everyone will come around to it. It's only a matter of time.

For those of us who have chosen the spiritual path to discern and follow God's will, it is our purpose to help our brothers and sisters make the same choice when they are ready. For those who follow the ego's path changing to follow the spiritual path can be a big change. It can be for some the easiest most natural thing in the world when they are ready, but becoming ready sometimes is very difficult and painful and entails much suffering because of all the mistakes that are made.

For those of us following the spiritual path, it is our job to forgive ourselves and our brothers and sisters for their mistakes for they know not what they do. Forgiveness is the path to gratitude and gratitude in the moment, the Holy Instant, is the path to the Kingdom of the Ultimate, the"direct experience of transcending mystery and wonder.".

Suggested spiritual practice #5 - Give something away

In many religious orders, priests, monks, brothers, nuns, sisters take a vow of voluntary poverty. Most of us are not following a religious vocation but we can benefit from a life of simplicity. It is a good practice to give some of your stuff away periodically. Maybe you can give it to a friend, on a re-cycle list in your area, or to the Salvation Army, Goodwill, or Volunteers of America second hand store. The spiritual life strives for simplicity and to give up our attachment to things.

Practice giving things away periodically like one day per month. It is better if you give things away personally one to one rather than through second hand store. However you do it, though, your spiritual life and others will benefit.

For more click here.