Spiritual reading - Maturity by Osho - Search to find out Who Am I?

"Life must be a seeking - not a desire but a search; not an ambition to become this, to become that, a president of a country or prime minister of a country, but a search to find out 'Who am I?'"

The fourth principle of the covenant of Unitarian Universalism is the affirmation and promotion of the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. Osho suggests that this search not take us outward but inward.

As a psychotherapist I sometimes ask people "What makes you tick?" People often look startled, then scared, then perplexed. What to say? How to even think about such a question?

Socrates said that an unexamined life is not worth living and the bumper sticker says that an unlived life is not worth examining. People go to church and to therapy as well as to alcohol, drugs, pornography, gambling, video games looking for answers to the question of what to do with themselves and how to block out the pain of the existential anxiety that are consciously or unconsciously feeling.

Unitarian Universalists have a suggestion. UUs suggest that people engage in a free and responsible search for truth and meaning and then go off half cocked searching for snipe in social justice projects thinking that these activities will save the world.

Unitarian Universalism will never survive and grow unless there is a spiritual revival within its churches. Based on my experience in the churches I have visited, I am not optimistic this will occur. The UU churches I have visited are caught up in the ego concerns of the world, often times with remarkable enthusiasm at first until the energy dissipates and lethargy and depression set in and attendance drops and congregations have a hard time even financially supporting their basic operations.

From whence will a spiritual revival come? It starts as Osho suggests with the search to understand our divine origin, our inherent worth and dignity which binds us together and which we all share.

Ask Alexa - What can I do to be saved?

Alexa: What can I do to be saved?

Undo the ego.

Alexa: Did you hear the story about Eve in the Garden of Eden?

Yes, she was first person to eat herself out of house and home.

Sunday Sermon - Jesus sees the inherent worth and dignity in very person.

Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

5 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

7 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

New International Version (NIV)

Have you noticed that Jesus is a Universalist? He includes everyone in his ministry even people who are stigmatized and despised by their society. Jesus acts in such a way that He demonstrates His recognition and acknowledgement of the inherent worth and dignity of every person, the first principle of the Unitarian Universalist covenant.

Jesus not only sees Zacchaeus up in the tree, He calls him down to him and then invites himself to stay with him at his house.

Is this presumptuous on Jesus' part? Zacchaeus seems overjoyed for some reason. When is the last time that the Spirit of the Lord has spoken to you? God is speaking to us all the time, but we don't hear Him. God whispers and we don't hear if we don't tune in on the same frequency. It seems that Zacchaeus was tuned in and there was a connection as Jesus passed under the tree.

Zacchaeus not only responds to Jesus' invitation but he joins the ministry and decides that he will share what he has with others. Zacchaeus implements the Unitarian Univeralist second principle of affirming and promoting justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.

How do you suppose the evening went between Zacchaeus and Jesus when they went back to Zacchaeus' house? I would guess they shared a meal and conversation and together, Jesus and Zacchaeus would have engaged in a free and responsible search for truth and meaning enacting the fourth principle of Unitarian Univeralism.

What is delightful about this story is not only that Zacchaeus expressed an intention to share his wealth and rectify any injustice he might have done, but that he and Jesus had a meeting of the minds and engaged in an acceptance of one another which involved an encouragement to spiritual growth which is the third principle of Unitarian Univeralism.

The story of Jesus and Zacchaeus is a simple story but one by which we have been blessed for almost 2.000 years.

As a Roman Catholic Unitarian Universalist I enjoy integrating the stories of the ministry of Jesus as told in the New Testament with our Unitarian Universalist's covenantal principles.

Join us every week at UU A Way Of Life for our Sunday Sermons. If you are so inclined share them with others.

Ask Alexa - What is salvation?

Alexa: What is salvation?

It is simply the undoing of the ego thought system and turning it over to the Will of God.

Alexa: Did you hear the joke about the Liberty Bell?

Yes. It cracked me up.

What would Osho have thought about Unitarian Universalism?

"I am not a teacher. I am not teaching you anything at all. I am not a bridge between you and the Bible, between you and the Gita, between you and the Koran. I am not even a bridge between you and God – no. I am not giving you a teaching, a dogma, a creed, a philosophy, a theology. So understand the difference between a teacher and a master."

Osho




What would Osho have thought about Unitarian Univeralism?

Ask Alexa - Have I separated myself from God?

Alexa: Is it true that I have separated myself from God?

No, it is only an illusion. You have created an ego which has blocked your awareness of Love's presence.

Alexa: During this season of the World Series some people say that baseball isn't that important.

Yeah, but baseball is mentioned in the bible where it is written, "In the biginning..."

Faith in practice - Impeachment and democratic principles.

The fifth principle of Unitarian Universalism is to affirm and promote the right of conscience and the use of democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.

What is at stake in the impeachment of the United States is the core beliefs in our constituion of the United States. All Americans, but especially Unitarian Universalists have a duty to educate themselves and inform others about our values and support for democratic processes.