What have you come here to teach?

The first of the six sources for the living tradition of Unitarian Universalism is "direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder..." The second source is "Words and deeds of prophetic women and men..."

Do you understand your role as a prophet? We are told in A Course Of Miracles that we all our teachers. By virtue of the fact that we are alive and interact with others and with life, we teach what we believe. Some people are more aware of what they believe and teach more intentionally than others. If you were to teach more deliberately, what would you teach?

Did you ever wonder why you were born, what the purpose of your life is?

They say there are no two snowflakes alike. There are no two human beings exactly alike, even identical twins. So why did God go to all the trouble to make each one of us unique?

And why were you born at this point in human history? Why not 500 years earlier or 1,000 years later? Why now?

During this lifetime, your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to figure out why you were created to become the person you are destined to become, and why you were born at this point in human history. There must be a reason, otherwise, why would God, the Creator, go to all this trouble?

How do you discern God's will for you, to become the person you were created to become, and to do at this point in human history, what you came here to do?

The essential strategy of discernment is to ask the Holy Spirit, your muse, the Spirit of Life, whatever you want to call your source of inspiration, for help. Discernment is not a solo activity. We all need help. Not only can we not do this alone, we shouldn't do it alone because we will, undoubtedly, on our own, go astray.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:7-8  Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

Neale Donald Walsch in his Conversations With God books tells us that God is talking to us all the time. It is we who are not tuned in and not listening.

We are so distracted these days with media and so many consumer choices and so much drama that we rarely pay attention. To tune in and listen to the Holy Spirit, our muse, the Spirit of Life, we need quiet, stillness, silence. The Holy Spirit does not speak above the roar that we create in our won minds and hearts.

What we need to do is shut up. Stop. Step down. Back off. Disengage. Get quiet. Listen.

The Christmas song says, "Do you hear what I hear? A song, a song, high above the trees, with a voice as big as the sea......."

Today, take some time to listen, at least twice, and more if you can tear yourself away, and make time for your muse. Try to understand your purpose in this life and then endeavor to do God's will to Love yourself and humanity.

Suggested spiritual practice #9 - get more sleep

This may seem like an odd spiritual practice but it is one that, when you think about it, can be very soul soothing. Sleep is a way to re-charge our batteries. We can't give what we don't have. When we are drained, burned out, fatigued, exhausted, we cannot find the energy as easily to be kind and loving unless we are kind and loving first with ourselves.

Try it. Get more sleep. See if you don't feel more spiritual.

Prophetic voices and events - Resignations of Agnew then Nixon

On January 9, 1913, Richard M. Nixon, was born in Yorba Linda, California. His political career and Presidency is better known for scandal, corruption, and infamy as he was forced to resign on August 9, 1974 rather than be impeached over the Watergate scandal. His vice president, Spiro Agnew, also resigned due to corruption offenses earlier in the administration's tenure on 10/10/73 after being elected with Nixon to a second term.

Americans who are prone to "exceptionalism" often overlook their own history which is littered with corrupt leaders who they elected to office and then were negatively impacted by their elected leaders mistakes and incompetence.

The culmination of voter ignorance and imperviousness has been their election of Donald Trump to be President of of the United States. Voter ignorance and poor choices should give pause to those who place too much faith in electoral democracies.

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

Question of the day

If you were in the dentist's chair waiting for the dentist to come in and the assistant asked you if you wanted to watch the TV would you say "Yes" or prefer to sit in silence and meditate?

Don't give up - change your mind

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth. The application of this principle is based on a vision of abundance not scarcity. It is based on an intention to share not compete for scarce resources including love and support. The primary action that makes this change in attitude possible from the ego to the spirit is forgiveness. We need to forgive ourselves for our selfish actions and intentions and forgive others. We say to ourselves as Jesus did as they were killing Him, Father forgive them for they know not what they do, and they don't. They have been so conditioned by the path of the ego, they don't know that there is a better way. That's where our Unitarian Universalist faith comes in - to describe and support enactment of a better way.

Remember the saying, "One for all, and all for one?" How about the bumper sticker which reads, "We're all in this thing called life together?"

Our egos want us to see ourselves as separate and having different interests from our brothers and sisters. The ego encourages us to see life as a competition for scarce resources and what our brothers and sisters have means there is less for us. We live in a hell of deprivation and fear.

Why not turn the whole game on its head and see our brothers and sisters not as our adversaries but our allies? How about if we decide that there is enough for everyone and helping each other and sharing is the best way to security mitigating our fears? This is heaven on earth when everybody loves everybody all the time.

All we have to do to enjoy the comforts of heaven is to decide our point of view: do we chose competition and deprivation or cooperation and abundance? The choice is simple.

When we revert to our egoistic thinking and behavior of every dog for himself we need to correct our thinking and behavior and forgive ourselves and others and try again. With patience and persistence we can get it right. Don' give up.

 

Suggested Spiritual practice # 8 - Listen to inspiring music

UUs see Jesus a differently from most Christians. UUs don't see Jesus as any more God than the rest of us. He is an older brother, enlightened, and a great teacher whose memory can help us immensely. His memory of His teachings, values, practices set a great example for the good life. His life was and is a light in the world.