My Kind Of Church Music - Over The Rainbow - Israel, "Iz" Kamakawiwo’ole

Reading Chittister - What makes you happy?

Sr. Joan Chittister in her book, Following The Path: The Search For A Life Of Passion, Purpose, and Joy tells us that St. Thomas Aquinas told us that happiness  is union with God, being one with the all, or as the monk said to the hot dog vendor, "Make me one with everything."

Chittister writes on page 33 "No, it's not the possibility of happiness we doubt. It is how to find it that eludes us."

I have said to myself since I was a little boy, "It's not a bad life if you know how to live it." I don't know where I got this from. I must have been  7, 8, or 9 when I would encourage myself with this affirmation. As an adult occasionally when frustrated and discouraged I say to myself, "Life shouldn't be this hard!", and I become aware that something is wrong and it is usually that I am trying too hard and failing to understand what the universe is trying to teach me and I am reminded of the first step in Alcoholic Anonymous which points out that our lives are unmanageable and that we have to surrender to our Higher Power whatever we conceive that Higher Power to be.

Chittister writes further on page 34, "Happiness comes from inside. Happiness has something to do with what we do with who we are. Clearly, pleasure and happiness are not synonyms." Reading this got me thinking about Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs and the last need, number 5, when all the other needs are met, is self actualization. When our needs for food, warmth, clothing, health, safety, belonging, self esteem are all met, then we can attempt to pursue self fulfillment in "doing what we believe and feel we were meant, born, to do. Chittister writes "Aristotle, the great philosopher of personal development, said happiness depended on developing ourselves to our fullest potential." Bingo! Self actualization is what makes us happy after our other needs are met.

In our contemporary world we are constantly assaulted with messages from corporations that our happiness comes from buying their products and services. Is this form of capitalistic persuasion that materialism is the basis of achieving happiness the source of much unhappiness and evil in the world? Is this idea that external things can make people happy the "Big Lie" that Holden Caufield immortalized in Catcher In The Rye?

Chittister provides a counter-cultural view when she writes:

"If we want to be happy, we need to find out what we do best and do it to the utmost so that having done our part in this co-creation we can have the satisfaction such a life deserves. We need to learn that giving ourselves to something worth doing is more important, more valuable than giving ourselves only until something better, something more exciting, something more lucrative comes along." pp.35-36

Using our talents and abilities in activities that we find satisfying and fulfilling is the path to happiness. Pursuing our interests in ways we find rewarding is what gives our lives relevance and meaning.

As Unitarian Universalists we covenant to promote and affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and the free and responsible search for truth and meaning, and the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process, and the respect for the interdependent web of existence. These principles point to the basis of the virtuous life which Aristotle, according to Chittister, told us would make us happy.

Are Unitarian Universalists happier than other people? Do UUs seem more full of joy? Perhaps, UUs are more aware than others that happiness doesn't come from winning the lottery, buying a new car, shopping for the latest fashions, or taking an enjoyable vacation. UUs, better than anyone, know that enjoyment and happiness are different things, that pleasure and happiness are different things and as Dr. Laura was fond of saying, "Feeling good and doing good can often be quite different things."

My Kind Of Church Music - We Shall Overcome, Morehouse College Choir

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. a courageous man who raised our consciousness and helped us become better people.

My Kind Of Church Music - Hallelujah, K.D. Laing at Olympics 2010

Reading Buehrens/Parker - The roof, salvation

I am way behind on the discussion of Buehrens and Parker's book, A House Of Hope: The Promise of Progressive Religion for the Twenty-first Century. We are on part three "The roof" where the topic is salvation. This topic entails interesting questions like what is evil, how are we to be spared it, and if it occurs, or god forbid we perpetrate it, how are we to be exonerated, redeemed, how is the sin to be atoned?

Parker points out that much of Christianity has been crucifixion centered, the idea that God put His Son, Jesus, to death to expiate our sins. It's a crazy idea but one which works well for us when we feel full of shame and guilt. It's like the belief in Santa Claus. Jesus came to give us the gift of expiation for our sins washing away our guilt, pooooof, just like that if we believe it, that He is our Lord and Savior. Sure, I'll believe that. What a deal. I can put my responsibility and the responsibility of others who have sinned with me into a figment of my imagination reinforced by the manipulation of charlatans who benefit from my allegiance to their insane theology and giving them power and money.

Further, as Parker points out, crucifixion centered theology provides us with the idea of redemptive violence, the idea that inflicting pain and death on people somehow provides a sense of justice and exoneration and is redeeming. This idea has caused tremendous pain and suffering in our sorry world where fear of pain, torture, attack and execution runs deeply in our psyches.

Parker asks the question, "what is evil?" and she answers "Evil is that which exploits the lives of some to benefit the lives of others." She goes on and writes:

"It chooses ways of living that destroy rather than sustain the delicate web of relationships that make life possible. Evil's accomplice is anesthetization. When the senses have been numbed, and feelings have been stifled, responsive reverence is dulled, and love has no air to breathe. p.68

I would add that evil is often unconscious, it is stupid, it lacks empathic understanding of the karma that destructive actions precipitate.

If evil is a lack of consciousness, then consciousnesses need to be raised. We need to have consciousness raising groups, activities, relationships where we are continually calling ourselves and others to become our better selves. It is this witnessing and advocacy for growth and transformation stemming from loving concern and kindness which is the antidote to evil and which is so easily mocked in our cynical world.

Parker writes; "Love is protected and saved by those who embody presence, wisdom, resistance, gratitude, and humility." p. 71

Parker goes on:

"Do you want to know how I believe we are saved?" my grandmother once asked me. "We aren't saved by Jesus's death on the cross. People believe that focus on hocus-pocus and avoid having to live out the teachings of Jesus. We are saved by every person in every time and place that has stood up for what is true in spite of threat. Like Socrates did. Like Jesus did. Like many others have done." We are saved by a communion of saints. They shelter us, and we have the opportunity to be in their number, here and now. p. 75

Indeed we are saved by courageous men and women who stand up for truth, justice, and the highest ideals of humanity. By providing an enlightened witness and advocacy slowly cultural consciousness changes for the better. It is an organic process that takes minutes or days for individuals and  years if not decades for societies. The courageous men and women need a place of refuge and support. That refuge and support hopefully comes from the church but even the church can be corrupt as we can see from history, and so authentic refuge and hope comes from faith. Faith in our better nature, faith in possibilities of a better world, faith in the goodness of humanity and the world. Our salvation comes from many traditions and understandings, and as Unitarian Universalists is comes from living according to the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism drawn from the Six Sources on a daily basis which is a practical manifestation of Love which surpasses all understanding.

Building a church which has a purpose

It's hard to build a church.

We started the Brockport Unitarian Fellowship in September of 2009. It's been 4 years. We have about 35 members and an average Sunday attendance of between 15 and 20. We are planning now for our fifth church year, 2013 - 2014. We have a committee working on an annual operating plan for the 2013 - 2014 church year.

Rev. Christina Neilson, the congregational life consultant from the St. Lawrence District, met with our congregation yesterday, Sunday, January 20th, and we did the vision thing and set some goals in small groups. People shared a lot of ideas. We aren't short on ideas. It's executing them that is the problem. Most of the labor is volunteer with the exception of a 1/2 time pastor and a musician we pay twice a month to play the piano at two of our services.

The understanding which has slowly taken shape in my mind is that Unitarian Universalist ecclesiology is based on the idea of convenantal relations within each church and among churches in the UUA. The covenant is based on the affirmation and promotion of the Seven Pinciples which we draw from our Six Sources. It has taken me many years, about 10, to come to this understanding. Why has it taken me so long?

It has taken me so long because nobody has spelled it out for me, succinctly, clearly, and to the point that I have now spelled it out for myself. If covenanting to affirm and promote the seven principles drawn from the six sources is what Unitarian Universalism is about why is this not clearly understood by UU members and the world at large?

I think of all the jokes about UUs, like the one about UUs like Jehovah Witnesses going door to door to spread their religious beliefs but not having anything to say. How many UUs does it take to screw in a light bulb? A whole committee and they can't decide what should be done. You know the jokes. You've heard them too, and laughed, as I have too, in self denigrating humor, laughing at our own ignorance and gratuitousness. But taken seriously, as a way of life, Unitarian Universalism is not ephemeral whip cream, it is serious, deep, challenging, and demanding.

I have been thinking further about the seven principles drawn from the six sources and it dawns on me that if I am to seriously apply them in my life and make a difference to myself and to the world in which I live, I need a lot of help. I certainly can affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person, but in a world awash with racism, discrimination, and exclusionary policies of every sort and stripe, I realize that I cannot affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person alone. I need a lot of help. We, as a community, need a lot of help.

And so, our churches, our community of saints as Rebecca Ann Parker calls us, must grow, here and now, if we are to make our Seven Principles visible, relevant, and meaningful in our daily lives.

As I go about my daily life and enter into discussions with people and ask them if they too believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person and if so, will they come to church with me so we can explore how to make this principle manifest in our community life together?

I understand now, better, what the purpose of church is. It is a group of people who join together and covenant with each other to affirm and promote the Seven Principles from the Six Sources. This group of people is a communion of saints who shelter one another and work together for a transformation of life on earth, here and now, for the benefit of the interdependent web of all existence. What holier work can there be? What could be more important? Our church will grow, has to grow, if we are to save the world.

My Kind Of Church Music - Stand by Amy Carol Web

 STAND! © 2008, Amy Carol Web

 CHORUS I will stand with you – Will you stand with me And we will be the change -- That we hope to see In the name of love -- In the name of peace Will you stand, will you stand with me

 When injustice raises up its fist And fights to stop us in our tracks We will rise and as one resist No fear nor sorrow can turn us back

CHORUS

When pain and hatred churn up angry noise And try to shout down our freedom song We will rise in one joyful voice Loud and clear and ever strong

 CHORUS

When broken hearts come knocking on our door Lost and hungry and so alone We will reach as we have reached before For there is no stranger in this our home

 CHORUS

 In the name of love - In the name of peace – Will you stand, will you stand with me

Editor's note: My Kind Of Church Music is a regular feature of the UU A Way Of Life online magazine which appears most Wednesdays.