The path to peace

The Universalist side of Unitarian Universalism believes in the unconditional love of God. The Universalists believe as they pray the Our Father that "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." That faith is not in "my will" but in "Thy will."

In leading the spiritual life there are some practices that guide us on the path of the spirit.

The first practice is one of intention. When you wake up in the morning simply ask yourself what kind of a day do you wish to have. Will it be one of love, compassion, forgiveness and peace or a day of anger, judgment, attack, and rancor?

If you decide for a day of love, compassion, forgiveness, and peace ask for the help of the Spirit so that you do not make decisions yourself based on the ego but rather ask the Spirit what would Love have me do?

This action, at first, will fill you with fear especially if the response is not what your ego expected and desired. However, trust the Spirit, and continue in faith that Love is the most powerful path of all. This is the path to peace.

First week of Lent - Let's give up our guns

We begin the first full week of Lent grieving for the loss of students and faculty in Parkland FL.

The United States has more gun deaths than any country in the world because of the idolization of the gun. There are 300 million guns in the United States and Americans think that they will keep them safe. From what is a question that people answer in different ways not knowing that having a gun makes them less safe, not more, from dying from a gun related incident.

The very first commandment which Christians believe came from God to Moses is "I am the Lord thy God. Thou shall not have  any strange gods before me."

While the United States' biggest religion is Christianity, most Christians do not follow the first commandment but have worshiped and idolized guns. The politicians genuflect before the NRA and refuse to ask their constituents to repent and the wages of sin, the turning from God to the gun as a god of safety, reaps the deaths of their children in the schools and concerts in their midst.

According to The Guardian: “Since 1968…there have been 1,516,863 gun-related deaths on US territory. Since the founding of the United States, there have been 1,396,733 war deaths.

If it were not so sad, it could be considered funny, this insanity. We are literally killing ourselves because of our idolatry.

Lent is a time to reconsider. Could we give up our guns this Lent? Would it make our world safer and more peaceful and healthier? You bet. Let's turn to God and away from guns.

UUAWOL weekly report 02/18/18

Weekly report from UUAWOL 02/11/18 – 02/17/18

Stats

1.    During the week of 02/11/18 – 02/17/18  UUAWOL received 710 down 1324 from the previous week.

2.    The heaviest viewing day was Monday, 02/12/18 with 168 views.

3.    The average number of views per day was 101 while the average number of views the preceding week was 291.

4.    The number of views is down significantly probably because of the difficulty of the material presented.

Highlights

1.    A new column has been introduced which provides material for an online course on the Interior Spiritual Life. It is intended that this course will run 16 weeks.

2.    There was an introduction to a new column on Lent which began on Ash Wednesday, 02/14/18.

Plans - Short term

1.    Continue with a daily post about the spiritual life.

2.    Continue with posts from the course on the Interior Spiritual Life 101.

3.    Begin a series of reflections on the meaning of Lent.

Plans - long term

1.    Build a model of UU theology

2.    Create a dictionary of UU terms

3.    Further develop an articulation of the values that comprise a good life.

4.    Describe and encourage deliberate practice of an interior spiritual life.

What do you put before your love of God?

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, and yet, like most people, they have idols which they place before that search.

It is written in A Course In Miracles, "The slave of idols is a willing slave. For willing he must be to let himself bow down in worship to what has not life, and seek power in the powerless." T-29.IX. 1:1-2

Referring to money, the cliche is "You can't take it with you."

Referring to power, British politician Lord Acton said, "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Referring to physical beauty we know that beauty fades.

And yet we humans invest such meaning and significance in our idols and we miss the interior divine connection.

It is written further in the same section of ACIM, "Little child, the light is there. You do but dream, and idols are the toys you dream you play with. Who has the need of toys but children? They pretend they rule the world, and give their toys power to move about, and talk and think and feel and speak for them. Yet everything their toys appear to do is in the minds of those who play with them." T-29.IX.4:3-7

The bumper sticker reads, "Those with the most toys when they die, wins."

The bumper sticker is sarcastic. It is meant to be funny but it is sad and depressing. Is this really what our lives are about? Who wants to live in such a world?

Pick your idols carefully. Better yet, give them up. Set them aside. Hospice nurses tell us that no dying person every said that they wished they worked more. They all say they wish they'd spent more time with their family and friends.

Leave the path of the ego and take the path of the spirit. You and the world will be better off for your choosing the later.

You are okay just the way you are.

What does Unitarian Universalism teach about idols? Francis David, the founder of the Unitarian Church in Transylvania in the 16th century said, "We don't have to think alike to love love alike. Francis David brushed the idols aside and taught that they make no difference, they are not important, hardly worthy of our attention. The important thing is love.

A Course In Miracles teaches that there are many paths to God. The theology is not important. The experience is.

The question is asked in A Course In Miracles, "What is an idol?" The question made me smile and chuckle.

I thought to myself, "An idol is anything that we substitute for God."  We put our idols in front of God all the time because we think our idols will supply what we lack and give us something that will make us happy.

Idols can be money, sex, power, fame, religion, food, gambling, sports, you name it.

I wonder about people who walk around with sports paraphernalia adorning their bodies as if these images enhance their self worth, self esteem, self confidence by not just identifying with a sports team and a player but pretending to be them at some point, an athlete, or a member of the team they idolize.

One of America's favorite reality TV show is even called "American Idol." Whoever is named this year's American Idol will only last for a temporary period until we are on to finding a new idol next season. Idols come and go. They distract us from more substantive questions like why was I born, what is the purpose of my life, what happens to me when I die, what will be my loved one's understanding of what my life was about after I die, what do I think God would want me to do?

The underlying dynamic of idolization is that idols, no matter what they are, divide people from one another; they don't bring people together. Idols set up dynamics of competitiveness, jealousy, envy, exclusion and even animosity, resentment, and attack.

Idols are like the clouds that block the divine rays of God shining on us like the sun. God is always there for us if we would look within, but we look without, looking for love in all the wrong places.

Give up your belief in idols. Turn your attention and focus on the God within and within your brothers and sisters. You are okay just the way you are.

Est quid est

Universalists know that in the realm of the spirit there is no time. The unconditional love of God does not change. The unconditional love of God is timeless. Right?

What if there were no time? What if time disappeared and things just were the way they are and that's that?

What if the Buddhist expression, which has become popular in our contemporary time, "it is what it is", is true?

Peace descends and we rise above the turmoil of change on the ego plane. We enter a blissful awareness born of forgiveness of the ego world.

Is this heaven? It matters not what we call it. It simply is what it is. That's it. Period. Enjoy.

This year Roman Catholic UUs will chuckle their way through Lent

Today, February 14, 2018 is Ash Wednesday as well as Valentine's Day. We, Roman Catholic Unitarian Universalists find this day especially delightful because this first day of Lent coincides with this celebration of romantic love.

A day usually reserved for penitential remembrance that we art dust and dust we shall return is overlapped with Eros. How's that for absurdity, incongruity, and humor? While you are chuckling, notice that Easter Sunday this year is also on April 1st, traditionally celebrated as April Fool's day.

As St. Paul writes in his first letter to the Corinthians, we followers of Jesus are God's misfits, we are fools for Christ.

The best way to celebrate Lent is with a huge sense of humor as we turn further from the path of the ego onto the path of the spirit. This turning requires a giving up, a letting go, a moving away from worldly cares and concerns. We become so much in love and get so excited we forget to eat, our food doesn't mean much to us any more because it is not the pleasure it once was when we have more peaceful things to pursue.

Lent is not so much about giving up but a moving toward Love and therefore a moving away from things of the ego. We focus on things of peace and bliss, and the things of the world are seen as a distraction and maybe even an imposition which becomes an obstacle to the road that we are desiring to travel.

Unitarian Universalist know that God loves us unconditionally and awaits our union with God to extend Love into the world. Lent is about eschewing what would hamper us, constrain us, impede our movement to the divine.

For 40 days Jesus went into a remote area to find solitude and fast so He could spend relaxing time with God. During Lent we emulate Jesus' example as best we are able given our circumstances. Few of us have the resources to be able to go on retreat for 40 days physically, but we can go on retreat mentally by separating ourselves from worldly distractions, annoyances, intrusions as best we are able. We just want some more alone time with the divine in solitude and with similarly minded others.

There are many Roman Catholic UUs and we can bring the richness of our faith tradition to the attention of others who also would enjoy and benefit from our fellowship and practice. As these 40 days pass, UUAWOL will offer some further reflections on the precious treasures of the season.