UUs fourth principle can be misleading and the path to hell rather to heaven

Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning and, while on the surface this appears to be tolerant and generous, at a spiritual level it is misleading because at a spiritual level there is not a different truth for different people. The belief in these differences divide us, they do not unite us. The reinforcement of illusions is not the path to heaven but the path to hell. Setting these illusions aside and seeking the divine within brings us to the Love that is the ground of our being and what we all have in common. This awareness of Love's presence, which we all share in, is the truth that leads us to heaven.

There is a model of spiritual development which is based on James Fowler's work describing the stages of faith development. While, in a conceptual sense, this model is helpful, in the spiritual realm it is not accurate and may even mislead the spiritual seeker. It is misleading because in the last analysis, as human beings, we are provided a simple choice: love or illusions?

In A Course In Miralces, in the section entitled "The Laws of Chaos," the first law is that truth is different for everyone. The course teaches that this is not true. Illusions may be different for everyone, but Love is the same.

Illusions are individualistic and separate us. Illusions can turn us into enemies and adversaries. The more attached we are to our illusions the more hateful and attacking we can become. Chaos ensues and when we back off and try to develop some perspective, we realize that the belief in the illusions that separate us have led us to the insanity of hell. It is written in ACIM in the section on Principles in Miracles that the first principle is "There is no order of difficulty in miracles. One is not "harder" or "bigger" than another. They are all the same. All expressions of love are maximal."

It is true that we can believe in Love which involves an awareness of our Oneness with the divine, or we can believe in illusions which separate and divide us. It is really that simple. This truth is not different for different people. It is maximal for everybody. People don't have to choose it. They can continue with their attachments to their illusions which they may do until they realize they have been mistaken. They have missed the point of their lives because as the Beatles told us, Love is all there is. 

Second week of advent - Thursday

Some of us pay lip service to the idea of surrendering to our Higher Power. In Alcoholics Anonymous they say "Let go and let God." Those of us with a Christian upbringing say the "Lord's prayer" which, in part, says, "Thy will be one on earth as it is in heaven." Most of us though still like to think that we are in control of some of the things of our lives and yet suddenly we can fall ill or an accident occurs and we die. The universe has different plans. One of my favorite jokes is, "If you want to hear God laugh, tell God your plans."

"Now, that is funny," Jenny said. "One night, my two children were killed in a crash with a drunk driver and my life has never been the same. My life has not become what I wanted it to be or thought it would be. For a long time, I felt cheated and short changed. People told me I was cheated and short changed. I was angry and other people were angry that God could do this to me. Then I realized it wasn't God who did this to me. It was a drunk driver. I am angry at the wrong thing. God, since that realization, has been there with me every step of the way or, to say it better, I have been there with God. Believe it or not, I am at peace even though I am still very sad and miss my children terribly."

Advent means "to come" in Latin. The verb is advenire and the noun is adventus meaning arrival. The divine is coming and will have arrived on Christmas. Not really. God is always with us because we are part of God, but we don't pay attention. What really is coming and, hopefully, will have arrived is not God but our awareness of God's presence.

Question of the day

How could you get your life on a better track?

Second week of advent - Wednesday

We live in a society which is based on the dynamic of "give to get." We are looking for a bargain, a good deal, and when we get one we feel superior and triumphant for about 5 minutes until we start looking for the next great deal. Searching for deals is addictive.

Isn't it odd that "Black Friday" has become the societal ritual that opens the Christmas season? Black Friday isn't about beauty, peace, joy, and fellowship; it is about getting deals and the passion flares so high that people have been killed in stampedes so that stores have learned to provide special security measures to keep people from killing each other in their frenzy of materialism which marks the beginning of the Christmas season.

Advent asks us to pause, and reflect in the search for beauty, truth, and goodness especially during this season of the year because there is something far more valuable than material things that is among us if only we look inward and notice.

The true spirit of Christmas, advent reminds us, is about beauty. Beauty is to be found in enjoying the divine spark which is within each one of us. Unitarian Universalists call it the "inherent worth and dignity in every person." We miss it when we engage in the pursuits of deals which materialism demands. Forget about the search for deals and focus on the riches within. These riches are more easily seen in the innocence of a new born babe.

Question of the day

If some of your best hopes came true, what differences would they make?

Second week of advent - Tuesday

Busy, busy, busy. We all are so busy.

Talk, talk talk, we all like to argue, voice our opinions and beliefs as if they ultimately matter in the slightest.

And at Christmas we remember there is joy and peace in the world beyond all the business and talk and imaginary truths with which we sometimes passionately identify as if, after we die, they would make any difference to us then.

Be at peace and eschew the business and the talk. They only are distracting and cloud our awareness of Love in the Universe. We sing Joy To The World as we remember the divine, our natural inheritance.

 

Question of the day

What are your best hopes?