Thursday, January 18, 2018
Prophetic voices and events - Time banking
The dots got connected when the stewardship drive at our church asked for a yearly pledge of time, talent, and money. You notice that the money comes last. Money is taxable and time and talent is not. How about if beyond church people were able to share time and talent and go off the grid of the taxation system? The Cowry Collectve have done that - for more click here.
Spiritual practice of the day #18 Emulation
Look for the goodness in another person and try to emulate it in your own life.
Question of the day - What is your interior spiritual life like?
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Don't worry. Be happy
Unitarian Universalists would be the happiest people in the world if they took their faith seriously. The Universalists teach us that God loves us unconditionally and yet most of the world and even UUs don't really believe this and live their lives accordingly. If they did, they would be happier and their happiness would exude a fragrance that would be noticeable around their communities and the world.
In the early Christian church, it was said that outsiders would remark about Christians in amazement, "Look how they love another." That kind of love radiates in waves and people should be warmed by it. In most UU churches there is a coolness that is chilling. That coolness comes from UUs not knowing enthusiastically and passionately who they are. They are a tentative and skeptical bunch who will lapse into argument at the drop of a hat so often jokes are made about it. They form committees to study their issues which are deadly. When did love ever come from a committee? Did you ever feel loved by a committee? No?
UUs are haunted by their past and disaffection for the faith, or lack of faith, of their childhoods. They are looking for that something they have been longing for and can't name. They have their baggage they are hopping to jettison and connect with something more satisfying and fulfilling in exploring UU.
The third principle asks UUs to covenant together to affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual grown, but to fully accept one another we must know who we are and the skepticism and ambivalence of most UUs are such huge barriers and obstacles to the implementation of the third principle that the UUA is shrinking not growing.
Some people live in their past. Even more of a concern, some people are haunted by their past.
For some people their past is hard to get past. Their past holds them down, torments them, and will not let them go.
What's the answer for managing the demons that haunt us?
Forgiveness.
Forgiveness brings us to the present moment, the Holy Instant, the here and now. The Holy Instant is a dropping of all the ego illusions and a surrender, a joining with the Oneness. This is best done with awe and a laugh. It is a realization that every person is better than their worst act(s).
Our fears of future hurts keep us trapped, but if God is with you who can be against you? They can kill your body, your reputation, take your belongings and resources, take your loved ones and the people and things to which you are attached, and in the last analysis, so what? Some day you have to give them up any way. Can't take them with you as they say. You can't live in the past or the future. You can only live in the now. In Alcoholic Anonymous they say, "One day at a time." Sometimes its one hour at a time or one moment at a time.
So as Bobby McFerrin sings, "Don't worry. Be happy."
In the early Christian church, it was said that outsiders would remark about Christians in amazement, "Look how they love another." That kind of love radiates in waves and people should be warmed by it. In most UU churches there is a coolness that is chilling. That coolness comes from UUs not knowing enthusiastically and passionately who they are. They are a tentative and skeptical bunch who will lapse into argument at the drop of a hat so often jokes are made about it. They form committees to study their issues which are deadly. When did love ever come from a committee? Did you ever feel loved by a committee? No?
UUs are haunted by their past and disaffection for the faith, or lack of faith, of their childhoods. They are looking for that something they have been longing for and can't name. They have their baggage they are hopping to jettison and connect with something more satisfying and fulfilling in exploring UU.
The third principle asks UUs to covenant together to affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual grown, but to fully accept one another we must know who we are and the skepticism and ambivalence of most UUs are such huge barriers and obstacles to the implementation of the third principle that the UUA is shrinking not growing.
Some people live in their past. Even more of a concern, some people are haunted by their past.
For some people their past is hard to get past. Their past holds them down, torments them, and will not let them go.
What's the answer for managing the demons that haunt us?
Forgiveness.
Forgiveness brings us to the present moment, the Holy Instant, the here and now. The Holy Instant is a dropping of all the ego illusions and a surrender, a joining with the Oneness. This is best done with awe and a laugh. It is a realization that every person is better than their worst act(s).
Our fears of future hurts keep us trapped, but if God is with you who can be against you? They can kill your body, your reputation, take your belongings and resources, take your loved ones and the people and things to which you are attached, and in the last analysis, so what? Some day you have to give them up any way. Can't take them with you as they say. You can't live in the past or the future. You can only live in the now. In Alcoholic Anonymous they say, "One day at a time." Sometimes its one hour at a time or one moment at a time.
So as Bobby McFerrin sings, "Don't worry. Be happy."
Prophetic voices and events - Prosperity now
The Prosperity Now Scorecard is a comprehensive resource for data on household financial health and policy recommendations to help put everyone in our country on a path to prosperity.
Check it out by clicking here.
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