Is Unitarian Universalism irrelevant?

Is Unitarian Universalism irrelevant?

One of the central functions of religion is to teach people how to discern the workings of the spiritual in their lives. To put it plainly, it is to help people become aware of what their soul desires and  to help their minds pay attention to this awareness.

Harry Hollywood, 06/08/21

Most churches with their leaders, priests, pastors, ministers fail in this central task because they are not aware of their own souls' desires let alone the people to whom they aspire to minister and serve.

What does the soul desire ultimately? Unification with the Divine.

How is that unification to be achieved? It is described in the spiritual literature as “The Way” and it can take many forms although whichever way is taken leads to the same destination.

Unitarian Universalism is one such way and because of its lack of clarity and focus, it often is experienced as irrelevant and nothing more than a means to fellowship and socialization and/or a pursuit of social justice objectives. In this way of functioning, UU misses the point and is off the mark and will continue to decline as a vehicle of spiritual growth and experience.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #269 - My sight goes forth to look upon Christ's face.

 Lesson #269

My sight goes forth to look upon Christ’s face.

When you look upon the world out there what do you expect to see:goodness or evil? Do you tend to be a pessimist or an optimist? In your estimation is the glass half full or half empty? Today are you expecting good things to happen or bad things to happen? Today’s lesson gives the preferred answer which is that we prefer to see the holy. We prefer to look deeply and see the Divine Spark in every one no matter how heinous their behavior has been and is. Jesus said it best when He said, “Love your enemies.”

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested in step twelve that we carry our message of spiritual awakening to others and allow this message to pervade all our affairs.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.

Today we will remind ourselves that perception is reality and what we want to perceive we experience as good or bad, blessed or cursed, positive or negative, sinful or holy. Our bias has a self fulfilling prophecy. Today, we can decide to have our sight go forth to look upon Christ’s face. In that decision we experience peace, joy, and gratitude.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #268 - Let all things be exactly as they are.

 Lesson #268

Let all things be exactly as they are.

Remember that the Course’s metaphysics is based on the apprehension of the non dualistic Oneness. Unitarian Universalists call this the interdependent web of all existence. When we understand this, we can understand today’s lesson: “Let things be exactly as they are” which means to heal the separateness which we have created.

In Alcoholic Anonymous it is suggested, in step eleven that we improve our conscious contact with the non dualistic Oneness through prayer and mediation. It is suggested in the Course that we do this through forgiveness which is being willing to give up making other people and circumstances responsible for our unhappiness.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together  to affirm and promote a love for the interdependent web of existence of which we are a part. In order to do this we need to back up from our individualism and see ourselves as part of something much larger, the Tao, which includes all things exactly as they are.

Today, back off and get things in perspective. Strive to be responsive and not reactive. This requires us to take distance from the things that trigger our emotional reactions and get things in perspective so that we can manage them deliberately and with purpose.

To what extent do you have your shit together?

 Topic Five

To what extent do you have your shit together?

So to put what is occurring in your life another way, you are now paying greater Attention to your Awareness. It’s one thing to be “aware,” but it is another thing altogether to pay attention to what your Soul is aware of (instead of ignoring it, which most people do most of the time). 

This mixture of the two is what might be called Consciousness. When your Mind pays attention to your Soul, and your Mind and Soul thus carry the same data, hold the same idea, and possess the same perspective, you might be said to be fully conscious. 

So, in real terms, it is your Consciousness that is expanding as the Awareness of your Soul comes to the Attention of your Mind.

Walsch, Neale Donald. The Only Thing That Matters (Conversations With Humanity Book 2) (p. 7). Hay House. Kindle Edition. 

Consciousness is when the awareness of your soul and the attention of your mind are in sync. In other words, does your mind know what’s in your soul? For most people most of the time the answer is “no,” they have no idea.

One way of describing this psychologically is to name these two faculties as “the head” and “the heart.” Often the head is one place and the heart is somewhere else. There is a disconnect. When the head and the heart are functioning together we call this “integration.” We say that someone has a well integrated personality. In the 60s we called this “having your shit together.”

In Unitarian Universalism we affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This search takes us to observing whether our head and hearts are in sync. Is our mind attending to the awareness of our soul?

The soul is aware of what really matters and it is that which we deeply desire which ultimately is the rejoining with the Divine after separating ourselves from it. We desire deeply to become one again with God, the Divine, our Transcendent Source, the Ground Of Our Being, Life. The ego has to be discarded in the end and our separateness will end as we rejoin the Divine which is what our souls deeply desire.

How conscious are we of this deep yearning? Not very. We have forgotten from whence we came and to which we yearn. Our life on earth has been an experience of grief for our lost innocence, and we yearn to regain that which we have lost, to be healed of our separateness. To be, once again, in Love.

To what extent does you mind pay attention to your soul? Are you aware of deep down your heart’s desire? Do you consciously strive to become the person deep down you believe God is calling you to become? Are you doing with your life what deep down you believe God is calling you to do with it? Answering these questions requires a process of discernment. And discernment is a practice. It regularly askes, especially when stressed, “What would Love have me do?” It is in attempting to answer this question that we engage in the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. It is in this search that we work to get our shit together.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #267 - My heart is beating in the peace of God.

 Lesson #267

My heart is beating in the peace of God.

We often forget that we are a part of the interdependent web of existence. We see ourselves as separate, alone, isolated, an island. We are mistaken. It is a narrow view which isn’t accurate. We are radically dependent on our context. We stand on the shoulders of those who came before us, we are sustained by those whom we are among, and we create the future for those who come after us. We are part of what we call Life and if we listen silently our hearts beat with the peace of the Universe.

In Alcoholics Anonymous, in step three, we are encouraged to turn our will and lives over to the care of God as we understand God. In other words, we shouldn’t try to go it alone. We are a part of something much greater than our narcissistic selves.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the love of the interdependent web of which we are a part. Remember that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We are a part of something marvelous, awesome, beyond our comprehension.  When we attend to our awareness of this our hearts beat with the peace of God.

Today, it is suggested that we step back and take a “bird’s eye view” of the world and our part in it. To do this we need to close our eyes, take three deep breaths, relax, and go within. Clear away the clutter and just rest in the peace of God. Soon our hearts will start beating with  this peace.

A Course In Miracles Workbook Lesson #266 - My holy Self abides in you, God's Son.

 Lesson #266

My holy Self abides in you, God’s Son.

The Divine Spark is in every one. How can we fail to see it? We aren’t looking for it because we have been blinded by anger, resentment, grievance, fear. And yet, the Divine Spark is in every one as it is in myself and it comes from the Transcendent Source.

In Alcoholics Anonymous it is suggested, in step eleven, that we seek to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand God. If God is the Divine Source, the animating energy of the universe, the Ground of Being, what we simply call “Life,” we see God everywhere and in every thing and so we can not only say but sing, “My holy Self abides in you, God’s Son.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person and is not this inherent worth and dignity what is most important in Life and what we should pay attention to? Looking for this inherent worth and dignity we can say with great joy, “My holy Self abides in you, God’s Son.”

So today, awaken to the miracle of Life and pay attention to the awareness that there is a Divine Spark in everyone. We need to look past the barriers and obstacles to this perception, but if we look with awareness we will find it and be able to pay attention to it.

Do you know what you know?

 Do you know what you know?

So to put what is occurring in your life another way, you are now paying greater Attention to your Awareness. It’s one thing to be “aware,” but it is another thing altogether to pay attention to what your Soul is aware of (instead of ignoring it, which most people do most of the time).

Walsch, Neale Donald. The Only Thing That Matters (Conversations With Humanity Book 2) (p. 7). Hay House. Kindle Edition. 

St. Theresa of Avila is reported to have said something along the line of “It is one thing to know. It is another to know that you know. It is a third thing to teach what you know that you know to others.”

In the passage above Neale Donald Walsch seems to be making the same point. It is one thing to be aware, and it is another thing to pay attention to that of which you are aware.

I remember seeing a piece of urinal stall graffiti which said “Be a lert. America needs more lerts.” This is not only funny but very true except that it is not just America that needs more lerts but the whole world.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning and one way of doing this is to give more attention to that of which we are aware. One person calls this “self -reckoning.” People keep busy to avoid self-reckoning.

Self-reckoning scares people. This is the reason that they disparagingly talk about needing to go see a “shrink” because the therapist will ask them to engage in a process of self-reckoning which can seem judgmental contributing to an experience of shame. Once this fear is overcome usually the opposite occurs when the self-reckoning leads to clarifying understanding, increased confidence, a growing sense of optimism in the goodness of life and an experience of empowerment..

Walsch is suggesting that people pay attention to their awareness either by themselves or with a trusted other.

One of the purposes of religion is to help people pay more attention to that of which they are aware and to make sense of their understanding. Does your church do this for you? Does your church help you discern that which you should pay attention to and what really matters?