Rise above it.

The emptiness engendered by fear must be replaced by forgiveness. That is what the bible means by “There is no death,” and why I could demonstrate that death does not exist. T-1.IV,4:1-2

Anxiety is the most diagnosed psychiatric disorder. Panic attacks are frequently experienced and complained about. People used to complain about “nervous breakdowns.” It is this anxiety and panic which the Course calls “emptiness engendered by fear.” 

The antidote for this fear is not chemicals but forgiveness. Jesus was crucified on a cross after terrible torture and yet He is reported to have said as He neared death, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” I imagine Jesus saying this with a laugh.

It takes a very big person to rise above this mental, verbal and physical attack and demonstrate a well being of spirit in spite of the death of the body and ego.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested in step three that we make a decision to turn our willfulness and lives over to the care of God. Jesus did it to show us it could be done.

In Unitarian Universalism people join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person which emanates from the Transcendent Source which is the Ground of Being which we call “Life.” Some deny a belief in God but they cannot deny a belief in Life.

Today, it is suggested that we replace our fears with forgiveness which means that we rise above whatever is terrifying us by placing our faith in Unconditional Love.

Removing the blocks to the awareness of Love’s presence

The purpose of the Atonement is to restore everything to you; or rather, to restore it to your awareness. You were given everything when you were created just as everything was. T-1.IV.3:6-7

As it is written in the introduction to the Course “It does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love’s presence, which is your natural inheritance”. Intro: 6-7

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step eleven, that we improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation. This is a helpful suggestion but it follows from the previous ten steps which suggest ways of removing the blocks to this conscious contact with God. The program benefits best when it is worked as a whole.

In Unitarian Universalism people covenant together to affirm and promote a love for the interdependent web of all existence of which human beings are a part. This principle encourages members to view the whole, the holy, and not just the separate parts. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts and in that realization separation is healed and the Atonement is experienced.

Today, declutter, purify, liberate yourself from the separate aspects of your experience, your monkey mind, and rest in the Unconditional Love of God.

Where do you focus your perception: on the dark or the light?

Darkness is lack of light as sin is lack of love. It has no unique properties of its own. It is an example of the “scarcity” belief, from which only error can proceed. Truth is always abundant. 

T-1.IV.3:1-4 A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace. 

Darkness is a metaphor for scarcity, for lack. The Course defines “sin” as a lack of love. The idea that there is a lack of Love is an error in perception with the focus being on the world of the ego instead of the world of Spirit. The world of the ego is based on conditional love where there is often a lack of love which  is scarce as compared to the world of Spirit which is based on Unconditional Love where the truth is that  love is always abundant.

The Universalists taught that God’s love is unconditional while the Calvinists taught the opposite, that God’s love is judgmental and withheld and used as a reward and a punishment.

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step eleven, that we improve our conscious contact with God to experience God’s unconditional love.

In Unitarian Universalism it is a foundation of faith that God’s love for God’s creation is unconditional. However, what human beings have created leaves a lot to be desired because human beings, pursuing the desires of their egos, are on the wrong track.

Today, we refocus our perception from the darkness of the world of the ego to the light of the world of Spirit, Unconditional Love.

Have you lost your mind?

The miracle joins in the Atonement by placing the mind in the service of the Holy Spirit. This establishes the proper function of the mind and corrects its errors, which are merely lacks of love. Your mind can be possessed by illusions, but spirit is eternally free. If a mind perceives without love, it perceives an empty shell and is unaware of the spirit within. But the Atonement restores spirit to its proper place. The mind that serves spirit is invulnerable.

A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace.T-1.IV.2:6-11. 

The Holy Spirit, Unconditional Love, brings about the miracle which is a change in focus from the world of the ego to the world of Spirit which facilitates the Atonement which is the healing of the separation of human beings from the Unconditional Love of God. When the mind perceives without the miracle it is seeing an illusion: that is an empty shell without its Divine spark. The Atonement restores reality and this reality is invulnerable.

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested in step eleven that we improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation. AA encourages the restoration of the right mind.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person which is a view of the Atonement and this view is a miracle.

Today, how one would use the mind: in service of the Holy Spirit or the ego?

Let go and let God.

Holiness can never be really hidden in darkness, but you can deceive yourself about it. This deception makes you fearful because you realize in your heart it is a deception, and you exert enormous efforts to establish its reality. T-1.IV.2.:1-2

A Course in Miracles . Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

Anxiety disorders are the most frequently diagnosed psychiatric disorders in the United States. Why would this be? There are many factors which contribute to anxiety disorders but perhaps the major one is self deception. There is a fear to look within because of deep seated shame. People create a facade, an avatar, a false self which is pretentious and then wonder why they are fearful of being exposed, of the truth coming to light.

People increasingly in our culture deal with this anxiety with chemicals, prescribed by doctors, and unprescribed obtained over the counter or from the street. The use of chemicals is magic employed to manage a spiritual problem.

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested in the first three steps that we admit our lives are unmanageable and that we turn our willfulness over to our Higher Power.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning which takes us within exploring the truth about ourselves.

Today, take a few minutes to consider your secrets and what contributes to your keeping these things about yourself and your life hidden. Consider telling your secrets to someone you trust and as they say in AA, “Let go and let God.”

Evolutionary spirituality - a model for our UU faith.

Evolutionary spirituality, as I understand it, transcends previous forms of spirituality through two crucial insights that serve as its foundation. The first insight comes from an enhanced recognition of the spiritual nature and behavior of the intrinsic values of beauty, truth, and goodness. And the second insight involves what is coming to be known as the “spiritual teachings” of evolution itself.

………………………….

Properly interpreted, the evolutionary unfolding of nature and history, as well as the evolution of human consciousness itself, represents a kind of revelation that serves as a useful criterion for evaluation—a reliable standard of measurement—for practically all spiritual truth claims.

McIntosh, Steve. The Presence of the Infinite . Quest Books. p.6 

Evolutionary spirituality rests on the idea that the universe is pursuing perfection. It is on a trajectory which Teilhard de Chardin called from “alpha to omega.”

Each of us, personally, is called to become our better selves. Every society and culture is called to become its better collective. The people on the earth, homo sapiens,  are on the path of perfecting itself. This is based on faith and is a grand narrative.

Evolutionary spirituality believes in continuous quality improvement in the realm of the good, the true, and the beautiful. It is in this development that our hopes as individuals and as a species here on earth arise.

Unitarian Universalism is poised to be a facilitative factor for this spiritual evolution if it can clarify its mission to utilize activities to achieve this vision of universal enlightenment. What are the practices that nurture this kind of spiritual development? Implementation of our seven principles in our daily lives in the life of our church in the world is a good place to start.

Language makes a difference

There is a Unitarian Universalist church where the minister is called a "speaker." The sermon topic is listed with the prefix being listed as "speaker: ________________________."

"Speaker" not preacher, homilist, teacher, pastor. Simply "speaker."

There are "speakers" every where. Why do we need one delivering a talk from a pulpit during a worship service?

UU sermons have turned into TED talks and motivational speeches. They are full of psychobabble and saccharine, sentimentalized notions about some mundane topic. They rarely are about the nurturing of spiritual development which is the prime mission of the church.

People don't go to churches for worship services to listen to a speaker. People go to church for encouragement in their spiritual development. This is rarely found in a UU church or in any other denomination. No wonder church attendance and membership is dropping. 

People, on survey, increasingly say that they are not religious but they consider themselves spiritual. Where to they find their spiritual nurturance? Not in UU churches where the pulpit is filled with speakers, unfortunately.