On what do we base our understanding: the world of the ego or the Kingdom of God?

I (Jesus) said before that forgetting is merely a way of remembering better. It is therefore not the opposite of remembering when it is properly perceived. Perceived improperly, it induces a perception of conflict with something else, as all incorrect perception does. Properly perceived, it can be used as a way out of conflict, as all proper perception can. T-7.IV.2:7-10

A Course in Miracles (p. 251). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

A Course In Miracles is not a book to be read from cover to cover. It is like scripture where it is best read reflectively a passage at a time. In the above passage Jesus is sharing an idea about remembering and forgetting. What Jesus is referring to is forgetting the things of the world of the ego which are illusions made up of social constructions and the things of the Kingdom of God which are permanent and eternal. Jesus is sharing the idea that forgetting the things of the ego world and remembering the things of the Kingdom of God are not in conflict but rather a miraculous refocusing or shifting of perception from things that are illusions to things that are real.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the search for truth and meaning. This principle is based on the 16th skill in Cindy Wigglesworth’s model of spiritual intelligence, “seeking guidance from Higher Self.” This same idea is step 3 in Alcoholics Anonymous, “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understand God.”

Today it is suggested that we consider whether we rely on the world of the ego or the Kingdom of God in making our decisions and interpreting our experiences.

Remembering the laws of God and forgetting the laws of the ego.

The Holy Spirit must work through you to teach you He is in you. This is an intermediary step toward the knowledge that you are in God because you are part of Him. The miracles the Holy Spirit inspires can have no order of difficulty, because every part of creation is of one order. This is God’s Will and yours. The laws of God establish this, and the Holy Spirit reminds you of it. When you heal, you are remembering the laws of God and forgetting the laws of the ego. T-7.IV.2:1-6

A Course in Miracles (p. 251). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

Helping us remember the laws of God and forgetting the laws of the ego is the mission of the Holy Spirit and when a person aligns themselves with the laws of God, a miracle occurs in the person’s mind when wholeness arises in the place of division and separation..

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This search entails forgetting the laws of the ego which have been barriers and blocks to the remembrance of the laws of God.

Today it is suggested that we ask ourselves “What would Love have me do?” The answer will fall into the laws of God and not the laws of the ego.

Advent 2022

It is being announced today on UU A Way Of Life that Advent, 2022 begins this coming Sunday, November 27th, 2022 and lasts for four Sundays before Christmas. The fourth Sunday of Advent in 2022 is December 24th, also known as Christmas eve.

Advent is a “season” in the Christian calendar that prepares for the birth of Jesus of Nazareth who came to be perceived as the long awaited Messiah of the Jewish people.

Jesus’ teachings expanded far beyond the Jewish people of his time and is now the basis for a worldwide religion and culture.

The season of Advent is characterized by hope for a better world and the coming of salvation for human beings captured through socialization and conditioning by the world of the ego at the expense of peace and bliss which many human beings have come to believe is their birthright.

Experiencing the Divine Force of Creation.

Truth can only be recognized and need only be recognized. Inspiration is of the Holy Spirit, and certainty is of God according to His laws. Both, therefore, come from the same Source, since inspiration comes from the Voice for God and certainty comes from the laws of God. Healing does not come directly from God, Who knows His creations as perfectly whole. Yet healing is still of God, because it proceeds from His Voice and from His laws. It is their result, in a state of mind that does not know Him. The state is unknown to Him and therefore does not exist, but those who sleep are unaware. Because they are unaware, they do not know. T-7.IV.1-8

A Course in Miracles (pp. 250-251). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

Belief in God is a cognitive activity. Knowing God is experiential. Each of us is a manifestation of the Divine, the Life Force which animates our being. Some are aware of this fundamental phenomenon and some aren’t. There are times when the Holy Spirit inspires us and we get a glimpse behind the veil of the ego.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning and this search takes us from knowing to experience. It is the experience of our Transcendent Source which we seek and as Jesus told us, “See and you will find, knock and the door will be opened for you.”

Today it is suggested that we relax and indulge a feeling of the Divine Force which animates all of creation.

The Sinner (TV series). Compassion for the culpable.

The Sinner is a TV series streamed on Netflix composed of 4 seasons with 8 episodes for each season totaling 32 episodes in all.

Each season depicts a different case that Detective Lt. Harry Ambrose works to get to the bottom of. This mystery detective series is different from most in that the crime is solved in the first few episodes but Det. Ambrose diggs to understand why the person committed the crime. The season of episodes slowly unveils the back story.

As the back story is being told Det. Ambrose struggles with his own demons and Ambrose becomes a heroic figure of the wounded healer.

One of the seven principles of Unitarian Universalism is the free and responsible search for truth and meaning and if there ever was an artistic portrayal of this search in the minds and hearts of human beings this is it. The search isn’t for transcendent meaning but for an understanding of what makes people tick. 

The virtues displayed by Ambrose as he goes about his investigations are integrity and a passionate desire for truth with a commitment to ethical principles along with deep compassion for the people labeled criminals because of their crime but who Ambrose sees as worthy of love and respect.

While Ambrose might not describe himself as such, he is a man of deep faith in the dignity and worth of what appear to be culpable human beings.

Unitarian Universalists join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This is their first of seven principles upon which the UU faith is based.

Gratitude: The Heart Of Unitarian Universalism

Back in the Spring of 2007 the UU World published a feature article entitled The Heart Of Our Faith by Rev. Dr. Galen Guengerich the senior pastor at All Souls Church in New York City. The article was based on a sermon that Rev. Dr. Guengerich had given at All Souls on October 15, 2006.

Rev. Dr. Guengerich writes in part:

The feeling of awe emerges from experiences of the grandeur of life and the mystery of the divine. We happen upon a sense of inexpressible exhilaration at being alive and a sense of utter dependence upon sources of being beyond ourselves. This sense of awe and dependence should engender in us a discipline of gratitude, which constantly acknowledges that our present experience depends upon the sources that make it possible. The feeling of obligation lays claim to us when we sense our duty to the larger life we share. As we glimpse our dependence upon other people and things, we also glimpse our duty to them. This sense of obligation leads to an ethic of gratitude, which takes our experience of transcendence in the present and works for a future in which all relationships—among humans, as well as between humans and the physical world—are fair, constructive, and beautiful.

Rev. Dr. Guengerich had a book published in May of 2020 entitled “The Way Of Gratitude: A New Spirituality For Today.”

Knowing our Oneness with our Transcendent Source.

God has lit your mind Himself, and keeps your mind lit by His light because His light is what your mind is. This is totally beyond question, and when you question it you are answered. The Answer merely undoes the question by establishing the fact that to question reality is to question meaninglessly. That is why the Holy Spirit never questions. His sole function is to undo the questionable and thus lead to certainty. The certain are perfectly calm, because they are not in doubt. They do not raise questions, because nothing questionable enters their minds. This holds them in perfect serenity, because this is what they share, knowing what they are. T-7.III.5:1-8

A Course in Miracles (p. 250). Foundation for Inner Peace. Kindle Edition. 

Belief in God is not a matter of empirical efforts nor is it a matter of the rational mind of the ego. Belief in God is not a “belief” at all but an experience. Having experienced the experience of the Divine there is no longer any doubt of any kind of the reality of God, our Transcendent Source.

In Unitarian Universalism some of us join together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This truth and meaning is to be found within in our experience not in an empirical nor a rational process.

Today it is suggested that we take some time to retreat into the inner silence of our experience and know our Oneness with our Transcendent Source.