Look for the Divine Spark in every person and declare it worthy and dignified.

The ego is quite literally a fearful thought. However ridiculous the idea of attacking God may be to the sane mind, never forget that the ego is not sane. It represents a delusional system, and speaks for it. Listening to the ego’s voice means that you believe it is possible to attack God, and that a part of Him has been torn away by you. Fear of retaliation from without follows, because the severity of the guilt is so acute that it must be projected. T-5.V.3:7-11

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

We separated our ego from the non dual Oneness and then fear retaliation. We feel guilty for what we have done. We project our guilt onto others thinking them unworthy.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. UUs undo the guilt and fear acknowledging God’s unconditional love for God’s creation.

Today, it is suggested that we look for Divine Spark in every person and declare it worthy and dignified.

Do you dwell in the world of the ego or the world of Spirit?

The ego is the part of the mind that believes in division. How could part of God detach itself without believing it is attacking Him? We spoke before of the authority problem as based on the concept of usurping God’s power. The ego believes that this is what you did because it believes that it is you. If you identify with the ego, you must perceive yourself as guilty. Whenever you respond to your ego you will experience guilt, and you will fear punishment. The ego is quite literally a fearful thought. T-5.V.3:1-7

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

The ego having separated itself from its Transcendent Source feels guilty and fears punishment. There is that fear of inadequacy and deficiency that gives rise to our sense of shame. The sense of shame gives rise to compulsive behaviors that are mood altering and while temporarily there is a feeling of relief, in the long run the compulsive behavior increases our suffering and anguish.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. This inherent worth and dignity arises from our recognition and acknowledgement of our origin coming from our Transcendent Source.

Today, it is suggested that departure from ego thoughts to the non dual Oneness within is worthy of practice through meditation..

United we stand, divided we fall.

What is truly blessed is incapable of giving rise to guilt, and must give rise to joy. This makes it invulnerable to the ego because its peace is unassailable. It is invulnerable to disruption because it is whole. Guilt is always disruptive. Anything that engenders fear is divisive because it obeys the law of division. If the ego is the symbol of the separation, it is also the symbol of guilt. Guilt is more than merely not of God. It is the symbol of attack on God. This is a totally meaningless concept except to the ego, but do not underestimate the power of the ego’s belief in it. This is the belief from which all guilt really stems. T-5.V.2:3-12

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

At our incarnation we separated ourselves from the non dualistic Oneness of the Ground Of Being. For this we feel guilty and the guilt engenders fear of retribution. This guilt and fear is the basis for the illusion of the ego and maintains its strength. 

Disregarding the work of the ego to separate and divide and seeking instead unification with the Oneness from which we separated ourselves is the source of peace and joy.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to accept one another and encourage spiritual growth which involves a love for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

Today, it is suggested that we seek to unite and not divide, to take comfort in rejoining the Oneness of consciousness where peace and bliss abide. This involves mindfulness and meditation.

What do we owe others?

 

Question 1. What Do You Owe to Others? … In other words, what is the best way to treat the people who are in your life, and the groups you’re most concerned about?

Justice 

Fairness 

Respect 

Honesty 

Decency 

Cooperation 

Generosity

 

McIntosh, Developmental Politics, p.183

 

All of the virtues are important and I endeavor to treat people with all these seven virtues in mind. If I had to pick a basic virtue, it would be honesty. People are not free if they are lied to.

Unitarian Universalists join together to affirm and promote, justice, equity, and compassion in human relations and in the free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

Shedding our conditioning to experience the non dualistic Oneness.

In Heaven there is no guilt, because the Kingdom is attained through the Atonement, which releases you to create. The word “create” is appropriate here because, once what you have made is undone by the Holy Spirit, the blessed residue is restored and therefore continues in creation. T-5.V.2:1-2

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

We have separated ourselves from the non dualistic Oneness when our soul was incarnated in our bodies and then we were socialized and conditioned into the world of the ego by our families and society.

To experience the Atonement, the conditioning of the world of the ego must be shed and purified. When we rejoin the non dualistic Oneness we experience directly our Transcendent Source with all its creative power.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the love of the interdependent web of all existence and experience the awe of the Oneness of All Creation.

Today, it is suggested that we acknowledge our conditioning and turn inward to access the experience of our non dualistic Oneness through meditation.

Offering our own state of being.

 

 

The work of building a better society ultimately involves improving the “civic virtue” of individual persons, and this cannot be accomplished by cultural evolution alone. To effectively cultivate character development and thereby foster the authentic betterment of our people, the project of evolving culture ultimately requires spiritual growth.

 

McIntosh, Steve. Developmental Politics: How America Can Grow Into a Better Version of Itself (p. 128). Paragon House. Kindle Edition. 

 

The level of spiritual intelligence in the people of the U.S. is very low. They are not aware of their stages of points of view and that these points of view can be described from an evolutionary map: traditional, modern, postmodern.

 

Understanding that the primary values of people at the different stages transform as a person grows up is missing from our national consciousness. McIntosh makes the point that this map of evolutionary development begins with the individual and then becomes the norms and attitudes of groups and then becomes the culture of a society.

 

The facilitation of positive development begins with the raising of consciousness initiated by people whose level of consciousness is already at a more developed stage. This is done primarily by demonstration and example not by words. People at higher levels of spiritual intelligence have a salubrious effect on those they interact with. Actions speak louder than words.

 

Steve Gaskin said one time that in the end all that we have to offer another human being is our own state of being.

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations.

Choose between scarcity or abundance.

Perhaps some of our concepts will become clearer and more personally meaningful if the ego’s use of guilt is clarified. The ego has a purpose, just as the Holy Spirit has. The ego’s purpose is fear, because only the fearful can be egotistic. The ego’s logic is as impeccable as that of the Holy Spirit, because your mind has the means at its disposal to side with Heaven or earth, as it elects. But again, remember that both are in you. T-5.V.1:1-5

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

Guilt operates based on fear and the principle of scarcity. There is never enough for everyone and what will make us happy is the next big thing. Spirit operates based on unconditional love and the principle of abundance. There is plenty for everyone and what will make us happy is available to us in the present if we choose to look within and avail ourselves of it.

In Unitarian Universalism we join together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. This worth and dignity comes from the Ground Of Being and is already available to us in the form of Life and Consciousness.

Today, it is suggested that we acknowledge that we have a choice between the principle of scarcity or the principle of abundance flowing from the unconditional love of the Transcendent Source.