There must be a better way.

Tolerance for pain may be high, but it is not without limit. Eventually everyone begins to recognize, however dimly, that there must be a better way. As this recognition becomes more firmly established, it becomes a turning point. This ultimately reawakens spiritual vision, simultaneously weakening the investment in physical sight. The alternating investment in the two levels of perception is usually experienced as conflict, which can become very acute. But the outcome is as certain as God. T-2.III.3:5-10

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

This is an extremely important passage in A Course In Miracles and is the basis for how the Course came to be recorded to begin with. Helen and Bill were in constant conflict in their academic department of Medical Psychology at Columbia Hospital. One day Bill said to Helen, “There must be a better way” apparently meaning  a better way for us to work together. Helen agreed with this statement and then Helen began hearing the voice of Jesus saying, “Take this down “ and Helen began taking notes in shorthand of what she was hearing. 

Helen called Bill terrified that she was hallucinating. Bill told Helen that he thought she should listen and take the notes and bring them in the morning early before work and she could dictate her shorthand and he would type it out on the typewriter. This went on for over 5 or 6 years and became known as A Course In Miracles.

The Course teaches that there is a better way and this better way is what the Course teaches. The Course states that it is not the only way or even the best way for everybody but sooner or later, come hell or high water, the lessons it teaches will be learned by humanity.

In Alcoholics Anonymous, in step one, it is suggested that we admit that our lives have become unmanageable. This is known as “step one” work. It is a barrier which many people find unsurmountable until they hit bottom.

In Unitarian Universalism, we join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning, and what is the motivation to begin this search? It can be curiosity, but often it is an existential crisis. We have hit bottom and want to find a better way.

Today, it is suggested that we acknowledge that there is a better way to live our lives and make a decision to find it.

Where does it hurt?

From On Being 

Civil rights legend Ruby Sales learned to ask “Where does it hurt?” because it’s a question that drives to the heart of the matter — and a question we scarcely know how to ask in public life now. Sales says we must be as clear about what we love as about what we hate if we want to make change. And even as she unsettles some of what we think we know about the force of religion in civil rights history, she names a “spiritual crisis of white America” as a calling of today. 

Everybody would probably agree that everyone would say that something hurts somewhere, and more personally, everybody could say, if they are honest,  where it hurts for them.

Spiritually addresses and heals the hurt areas of our consciousness. Unitarian Universalism offers us a way to heal the hurts with the seven principles.

At UU A Way Of Life we work the principles every day. Every day we emphasize a focus and a practice on an area of our lives, that's why we call our ourselves not just Unitarian Universalists, but also add to UU a way of life.

How do you practice your faith? Where does it hurt? What do you do to manage your pain and the pain you see around you?

The generic multi purpose pain reliever is Love, Unconditional Love, which comes from our Universalist ancestors. This faith in Unconditional Love is a main component of the perennial philosophy, but among the religions, is emphasized as a primary value in Universalism.

Salvation, Atonement, will be achieved when everybody loves everybody all the time. Who will you love unconditionally today especially if they have made your hurt?

Are you ready to grow?

The acceptance of the Atonement by everyone is only a matter of time. This may appear to contradict free will because of the inevitability of the final decision, but this is not so. You can temporize and you are capable of enormous procrastination, but you cannot depart entirely from your Creator, Who set the limits on your ability to miscreate. T-2.III.3.1 - 3

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

It’s only a matter of time before the Atonement occurs. Humankind is on an evolutionary journey characterized by expanding consciousness of the Oneness of which we are a part.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested in step three that we make a decision to turn our willfulness over to the Will of God. This turning over is inevitable. It is only a matter of what it will take and when we are ready.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to accept one another and encourage spiritual growth. This encouragement  for spiritual growth is only a matter of what this growth will take and when.

Today, we take comfort in knowing that we are called to actualize our potential when we are ready. While our growth, maturation, and blossoming is inevitable it is not forced on us. The Holy Spirit waits patiently for our willingness when we are ready on our own time frame.

January 6th will be henceforth known as Fifth Principle Day.

UU A Way Of Life has passed a resolution that today, January 6th, will be hence forth known as fifth principle day.

January 6th has now become known in the United States as Treason Day. 

Treason Day is the day that the President of the United States, Donald R. Trump, led a group of insurrectionists to our nations capitol building to forcibly overturn the results of a free and fair democratic election.

Property in the capitol building was destroyed. People were physically assaulted and people died.

This activity is in direct violation of Unitarian Universalism's fifth principle which is to affirm and promote the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.

Thus UU A Way of Life has made a resolution that UUs will acknowledge, celebrate, affirm and promote in intentional, deliberate, and purposeful ways the fifth principle of its living tradition on January sixth. There are many ways to do this and each congregation should actively engage in education, celebration, and advocacy on this day.

Let us uplift and uphold our democratic values so that treasonous values and activities are diminished and eliminated from our civic life.

It’s what’s in the temple that is important, not the temple itself.

Perceiving the body as a temple is only the first step in correcting this distortion, because it alters only part of it. It does recognize that Atonement in physical terms is impossible. The next step, however, is to realize that a temple is not a structure at all. Its true holiness lies at the inner altar around which the structure is built. The emphasis on beautiful structures is a sign of the fear of Atonement, and an unwillingness to reach the altar itself. The real beauty of the temple cannot be seen with the physical eye. Spiritual sight, on the other hand, cannot see the structure at all because it is perfect vision. It can, however, see the altar with perfect clarity.

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

Some of us might have been taught as children that the body is the temple of the holy spirit. As a temple it should be kept clean, neat, healthy, and as beautiful as possible. As we mature we come to realize that the emphasis on the structure is misplaced. It is not the structure that is important at all but what is within.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested is step four and five that we clean up what’s inside the temple. This shift in perspective from the structure to what is within is a form of waking up and having woken up of growing up.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This is a search within not an observation of what is without. Knowledge of the outer world, while helpful to some extent, is not where the precious wisdom we seek lies.

Today, we are encouraged to look past the external structures, the external facades and appreciate, instead what we find within. What we will find is a sacred space filled with wholeness.

Are you a body with a soul or a soul with a body?

The Atonement can only be accepted within you by releasing the inner light. Since the separation, defenses have been used almost entirely to defend against the Atonement, and thus maintain the separation. This is generally seen as a need to protect the body.T-2.III.1:1-3

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

Are you a body with a soul or a soul with a body? A Course In Miracles teaches that we are souls in bodies. When we protect the body and overlook our soul we dwell in darkness rather than light. As we have heard, where our heart focuses is where our treasure lies. If our body is our treasure we have blocked the Atonement and created a hell for ourselves.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested, in step eleven, that we improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation. This step encourages us to focus on the needs and desires of our souls, not our bodies. This refocusing is the primary foundation of recovery.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. Truth and meaning is found in our souls, within,  not in externalities.

Today, it is suggested that we remind ourselves what we really are. Are we making choices that facilitate the growth of our souls?

Heaven on Earth

The Atonement is a total commitment. You may still think this is associated with loss, a mistake all the separated Sons of God make in one way or another. It is hard to believe a defense that cannot attack is the best defense. This is what is meant by “the meek shall inherit the earth.” They will literally take it over because of their strength. A two-way defense is inherently weak precisely because it has two edges, and can be turned against you very unexpectedly. This possibility cannot be controlled except by miracles. The miracle turns the defense of Atonement to your real protection, and as you become more and more secure you assume your natural talent of protecting others, knowing yourself as both a brother and a Son.T-2.II.7:1-8

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

This is another one of the passages in A Course In Miracles which is so rich in ideas that it appears dense and indecipherable. The main idea here is that the Atonement, the healing of the separation, is achieved by the miracle which is unconditional love. Unconditional love is the only real defense when attacked. Unconditional love allows us to perceive ourselves as all One.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested in step 3 that we make a decision to turn our willfulness over to God’s will. We are encouraged to become one with the Tao.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person and it is in this affirmation and promotion that unconditional love is engaged in an the miracle is used to achieve the Atonement.

Today, we can remind ourselves that the Atonement is when everybody loves everybody all the time. This is heaven on earth.