Urban Unitarians

God Is Not A Christian: A Review

2012-01-15T09:55:00.000-08:00

"God Is Not A Christian" is a collection of Archbishop Desmond Tutu's public statements. Throughout he makes the case for interfaith co-operation, the full inclusion of Gays and Lesbians and the social gospel of his liberation theology. As a leading opponent of apartheid and a critical friend of later south African leaders he aligns himself with the tradition of the Old Testament Prophets in speaking "truth unto power". When I was a sixth former an evangelist (to my knowledge trained and endorsed by the Church of England) told me that as far as he knew, MK Ghandi must be "in Hell" because despite his "good deeds" he had not accepted the saving power of Jesus' atoning sacrifice. This was one of many factors that explain why my relationship even with the far more liberal Methodist tradition of my youth was troubled and why I am a Unitarian today. Tutu appears to contradict this "orthodox" view of redemption defined by "right belief" in saying, "we do scant justice and honour to our God if we want, for instance to deny that Mahatma Gandhi was a truly great soul, a holy man who walked closely with God. Our God would be too small if he was not also the God of Ghandi". He also acknowledges "many Christians would be amazed to learn of the sublime levels of spirituality that are attained in other religions , as in the best examples of Sufism and in mysticism, or the profound knowledge of meditation and stillness found in Buddhism. It is to do God scant honour to dismiss these and other religious insights and delusions, which they patently are not". There is very little to differentiate what Tutu is advocating from the universalism of mystics such as Julian of Norwich. Reading this book as a Unitarian I acknowledged that it is possible to take a particular view of who Jesus is with it not carrying the implication that people who take a different view are necessarily wrong. Hence I think what differentiates Unitarianism today from what is offered by a liberal Anglican "Inclusive Church" is less about belief as liturgy and practice. There is a qualitative difference between "Interfaith" pluralism and the "Multifaith" approach that is found in the more eclectic approach of some Unitarian congregations.
In general I recommend "God Is Not A Christian" as an thought provoking, inspiring and accessible read. Under apartheid Tutu said, "in South Africa many books are prohibited. We say to the Government of South Africa 'you are too late, because the book you should have banned long ago is the Bible, for that is the most revolutionary book in a situation of oppression'".

http://inclusive-church.org.uk/

Occupy- Mass Sing Up!

2011-12-19T14:11:00.000-08:00

Well I am now a member of the Occupy Choir! I will be singing on the steps of St Paul's on 21st December between 6.30pm and 7.30pm as part of a mass "sing-up". The rehearsal took place in an abandoned building owned by UBS which is known as the bank of ideas. It was quite an odd rehersal space. It was like visiting the set of a film in a dystopian future in which society is disintegrating. I can see why some of the protesters style themselves as the character from "V for Vendetta". Most of the songs we hope to sing are taken from oppressed people around the world including the African American spirituals "Children Don't Get Weary" and "Find The Cost Of Freedom". There are also the songs that were popular from the anti-apartheid movement in the 1980s such as "Azikatale namojaya boshwa ze ze mitze linke loule ko" which means "we do not care if we go to prison, it is for freedom we are fighting now". Fortunately I do not have to think to hard about whether I can sing that with conviction living in a liberal democracy, but it is appropriate to evoke the spirit of people who are struggling across the world struggling against economic oppression. Some of the more secular leftists I sing with are a little jittery that we appear to be singing even "mildly Christian" songs but the choir facilitator told us the story of how she went on a trip to Bosnia to get a cross-community choir to sing a song uniting Christians, Muslims and Jews who had previously been in conflict. She described the act as "subverting religion to use as a force for good". I quite agree! :)

Well, when I am out singing on Wednesday evening I expect it will be cold so renewed respect for the people camping out every night in London and the other occupy locations. You think you know these old Christmas songs, but as time goes on I find that this one by Jona Lewie is not so much about warfare as the human state!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hVEdE0O5tA

Take Rest

2011-12-02T08:58:00.001-08:00

We all have ways of finding rest and recovery. Some people know exactly what to do to help their minds and bodies relax. For others it takes a while to work out how to settle and it's not always in the same way.
In an art class I attended where we were asked to express different words. One young man chose the word 'relaxation' and created a wreath of dried leaves, suggesting that kicking through autumn leaves was his way of relaxing. The tutor was surprised; he was expecting an artwork related to meditation, or perhaps a hot bath! Resting the mind may not require the same actions as resting the body. However, it is vital - if we are to maintain a balance in our lives - for us to have a chance to recharge the batteries of the soul.
I like this quotation by Ovid 'Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.' and I am sure we have all had times when we have been rushing from one thing to another without a chance to stand still. We know, in those snatched moments of clarity, that it won't be long before the lack, of sleep, of slowing down, will affect the way we do things. No-one can 'run on empty' forever.
'Take rest; a field that has rested gives a bountiful crop.' May we be fertile fields, rested and ready to produce our bounty.
I realise my own ways of resting and relaxing all include an element of conscious action; whether it is drawing buildings in London or walking in countryside, the act of noticing my surroundings and feeling fully connected to them allows my mind to rest and my soul to be at peace.
There is a Chinese Proverb which says 'Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.'

Spirit of Life and Love, help us to recharge the batteries of the soul this weekend, and to find those quiet moments of peace throughout the coming week.

The News From Nowhere

2011-11-28T13:28:00.001-08:00

I saw a quote by Alan Bennett on the tube yesterday about how when you read something that is a true expression of what you feel it is as if a hand is been held out to you......

Concerning Love: Chapter XI

So we shake off these griefs in a way which perhaps the sentimentalists of other times would think contemptible and unheroic, but which we think necessary and manlike. As on the other hand therefore we have ceased to be commercial in our love matters, so also we have ceased to be artificially foolish. The folly which comes by nature, the unwisdom of the immature man, or the older man caught in a trap, we must put up with that, nor are we much ashamed of it.; but to be concentionally sensitive or sentimental- my friend I am old and disappointed but at least I think we have cast off some of the follies of the older world.
(William Morris)

Or as Rev Jim Robinson says:

There is a proverb which goes, "you cannot get enough of what you don't really need." If we were driven to need more sex, more money, more control., more chocolate, more anything in order to be happy then we will never be able to get enough of it. We will destroy lives in a frantic effort to get more and more of what cannot make us happy. Fortunately, (sooner or later) our bad habits inevitably meet the midnight hour. When our house of cards collapses, when we no longer avoid the pain in our shadow, when our obsessions reveal themselves as the dysfunctions the are, then we have a chance to do something different. We may discover a happiness which is not grandiose or addictive but arises from spiritual understanding.

"It's me or Jesus"

2011-11-21T11:36:00.001-08:00

Well this one came up sooner than I thought!

Dear Anxious Anglican,

No names will be used here and because what I know about your situation is light on specifics I can only go through what I imagine to be a number of different angles. I suspect you are far from alone. All I really know is that you are married to a husband who resents your commitment to Jesus so much that he has made an ultimatum- choose Jesus or me. In desperation you have come the way of the Quakers and our liberal faith in search of a way of connecting with God that does not alienate him. Perhaps we can help, but I am not sure.
I can only hope that the route of this problem is that the man in your life is a "big softie" like me.You mentioned your love of the Anglican liturgy. I have to say it did not really work for me although I appreciate beautiful liturgy and meaningful services so long a they are accompanied by Ira Gershwin's pinch of salt. Maybe like Jude in the Thomas Hardy novel and Bertrand Russell it aggravates his laudable sensitivities to see you seemingly berating yourself for being a "miserable sinner" every week. And all that about there being a "narrow path" which apparently casts him as a doomed heretic in need of your outreach. I can well imagine how a sensitive man might respond to this. And I know how pushy some less liberal Anglicans can be when it comes to giving which is bound to be problematic for couples of mixed religious backgrounds, particularly in a time of recession. 5% to 10% of your disposable household income? Forget it. All we ask for is what you can spare and rightly so. By analogy, a woman might reasonably ask a man to curb his passion for football if he comes back from an away loss having lost sight of the spirit of the "beautiful game".
However, to confront you with an ultimatum like this is alarming. Why does he feel so compelled to curb a passion and an interest within you. If he were truly a humanist he would acknowledge your human need for a sense of connection, intellectual stimulation and the psychosematic benefits of prayer and singing to be found in an Anglican service. Instead he appears to be resorting to emotional blackmail to keep you to himself. I do not want to alarm you but a good friend of mine was nearly killed by an abusive partner who scalped her by setting her head of hair alight. This behaviour begins with "if you loved me you would...", "it is either me or (something or someone precious to you)" and "how can you be so selfish abandoning me, what about my needs".
Don't forget that the right to free religious expression is there in the United Nations charter of fundamental rights for a reason and your rights are not eroded once you part of a married couple. Do not be confused by the idea that Christianity is ultimately about love and the seriousness of the vows you have taken. If as I fear you are in an abusive relationship and any suggestion of professional help is dismissed, then when the time is right you need to call his bluff and assert whatever religious affiliation seems right for you as an essential part of what you are. Everyone, from the most conservative believer in "sanctity of marriage" to DH Lawrence would agree that you are doing the right thing. If you suffer the fallout then your religious friends will consider it their duty to assist you.

All the very best,

You know where to find us.

Zola's Germinal- Part VI

2011-11-18T13:43:00.001-08:00

Father Ranvier tries to reach out to the striking miners.....
"Listening to him La Maheuda heard echos of Etienne's voice, when he had sat up late at night during the autumn, announcing the imminent end to all of their problems. But she had never trusted a man in a cassock.
"That's all very well, the way you tell it Father", she said, but it's only because you don't get on with the bourgeois .. All our other vicars used to dine with the manager, and threaten us with hell fire as soon as we asked for bread".
He continued the argument, speaking of the deplorable misunderstanding that had arisen between the Church and the people. Now in veiled phrases he attacked the city priests, bishops and ecclesiastical dignitaries who were bloated with pleasure and sated with power, supported by the liberal bourgeoisie in their imbecile blindness, not realising that it was the same bourgeoisie that deprived them of their influence in the world. Deliverance would come from the country priests, who would all rise up together to re-establish the kingdom of Christ, with the aid of the poor; he seemed already to see himself at their head, and straightening his bony back as if he were an outlaw chief, or an evangelical revolutionary, his eyes filled with the light that they lit up the dark room around him. He was carried away by his own ardent preaching in a spate of mystical language, which the poor folk had long since given up trying to grasp.
"We don't need all those words" Maheu grumbled roughly. "You had better start by bringing us some bread""

So this OLSX thing. Take it from Zola, we've been there before....
1) "Godless lefties" will not come to us. We are out primarily to "indoctrinate" them with "false consciousness" and make them feel bad about sex remember!
2) Even an encyclopedic knowledge of Monty Python's "The Life Of Brian" does not cut as much ice as it used to. What you know about Isiah, Amos and Judas Maccabeus... all in good time Rev!
3) Follow Linda Hart et al's example and bring cake!

See you at St Paul's and on the picket lines on 30th November!
Consider this a shot across the bows Cranmer. This reformation will be on the blogosphere.
http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/

Passive Resistance

2011-11-15T12:32:00.001-08:00

Apologies for the unusually disturbing image! When I first read that monks in Tibet were immolating themselves in protest against what the Dalai Lama describes as "cultural genocide" I was shocked and disturbed. Seen through the lense of Richard Dawkins' critique, actions like this appear to blur the distinction between a peaceful and humane religion and the worst excesses of suicide cultism. The imagery of burning appears frequently in Buddhism and Hinduism as a symbol of the impermanence of all things.
As a child growing up in Manchester I have memories of running away from IRA bomb threats with my mother during the Christmas shopping season. Perhaps there are analogies between the Tibetan Buddhist's struggle against the onslaught of the Chinese state's philistinism and the "leftish" nationalism and Roman Catholic identity politics that led to my home city being bombed in 1996. Would we feel differently about the IRA if they had taken the route of passive resistance, advocated by Ghandi? (Bobby Sands springs to mind). In the end I am heartened that no one in Unitarianism would want anyone to be a martyr- I am sure Norbert Capek in particular would agree. But there is a time to demonstrate peacefully and resist passively. In some extreme scenario, which I hope never to see in this country, there might even be a case for armed struggle. Looking at the comforting words of an old sermon, "it is not always easy to practice kindness. What happens if a person is treating us badly? Are we supposed to be kind and just take it like a martyr? Of course not, we have every right to set boundaries - to practice what is sometimes called tough love. The important thing is that out intention is to encourage human dignity for everyone whether we are practising soft love or tough love".

On a related point it is with great reluctance that I will be joining other public sector workers in strike action on 30th November. As the Minister for Communities and Local Government said recently, "the big society is not all sitting on bean bags and singing Kum-Bah Yah. It is red in tooth and claw". Quite! You've sort of done the job for me there Mr Pickles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3JKcExmQlA&feature=related

Ruskin In The Guardian

2011-11-08T12:59:00.000-08:00

Just a quick one to post the link to this Guardian article by David Barnes. It is like the article I wanted to write myself but for various reasons stopped short of. There are some comments about anti-semitism at the bottom from someone who seems to know there stuff which I would also point out.

There was also an article on John O'Farrell's Newsbiscuit which made me laugh. I feel sorry for whoever that was aimed at! I suppose an occupational hazard of being a liberal do-gooder is being easy to lampoon and Ruskin undoubtedly had his fair share of that- to be fair Tom Hollander did not play him that unsympathetically. As Ian Hislop said in "The Age Of The Do-Gooders", "they are easy to mock and as a satirist I will not fail to do so, but I also take my hat off to them".

http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2011/11/06/anti-capitalist-protester-starts-anti-capitalist-events-management-company/

So I will take that as a green light. One thundering voice coming up!

Wealth and Wisdom

2011-11-04T15:20:00.000-07:00

Victor Meldrew picking up the phone...

"Hello. What?.... No I don't want to subscribe to Which?"

I have only recently realised that David Renwick's character Victor Meldrew, consumed by his personal war with the brutality and short sightedness of the modern world might have been missing a trick. I had Which? magazine all wrong. I had wrongly assumed Which? was a product of the 1980s obsession with misguided consumer "empowerment" that stemmed from the privatisation of public utilities. Instead it was founded in good old Bethnal Green by a man called Michael Young who had the far sighted idea of producing objective advice to consumers as an antidote to "consumer culture".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Which%3F
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Young_(politician)

In my youth I took a dim view of middle-class "penny pinchers" who took a pious view of how thrifty they were without having really experiencing poverty and maintaining a sense of entitlement to the wealth they did have. To an extent a misguided application of liberal (as opposed to radical) feminism might explain why skills of household management might have been lost. Expectations concerning control of household expenditure and finance in heterosexual relationships can be highly "gendered"- although this need not be the case.

Fairly recently I "rubber-necked" at a Diwali celebration in Trafalgar square and was interested to hear how in Hinduism there is an emphasis on the combination of wealth with wisdom. I know George Orwell characterised Eastern religions as "death worship" but I think he might have had the same concerns/layman's prejudices I had about the caste system. As "religious types" are often characterised as unworldly people it is interesting to think that even my trip to the shops might be an opportunity for spiritual practice. Informed consumption by those of us with resources to spare might be the answer to many of the world's problems as well as our own.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lakshmi#Respect_for_money

Horray for Giles Fraser!

2011-10-28T14:53:00.000-07:00

Now don't get me wrong! Some of my best friends work in the City of London and some of them were more committed Christians or for that matter supporters of the Labour movement than I ever was as a student. Can you throw the money changers out of the temple and then ask them for corporate social responsibility and philanthropy? In any case what is quite surprising is the variety of unlikely sympathisers that the St Paul's occupation has gathered. Martin Wolf of the Financial Times for instance has acknowledged that "the left does not know how to replace the market. But pro-marketeers need to take the protests seriously". So when I heard the news about Giles Fraser's resignation I thought I would throw my two-pennyworth in. Althougn everyone is welcome to speak their truth with love, part of the attraction of Unitarianism for me is the historical link between rational dissent and the radical cause of social justice. Examples include the Rev John Trevor and his establishing of the Labour Church. Imagine a church where the Hymns were written by William Morris!
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/REtrevor.htm
Because of this I have been motivated to get singing outside of chapel with a political group. I might well swing by the camp at St Paul's where I can. If they do turn the sprinklers on them, perhaps I will show up with a towel in hand?
Giles Fraser's stand does indeed echo the story of Oscar Romero, another advocate of liberation theology and non-violent protest. "The violence we preach is not the violence of the sword, the violence of hatred. It is the violence of love, of brotherhood, the violence that wills to beat weapons into sickles for work". Even in socialist utopia the skills of good bankers will be necessary to run social investment boards, credit unions and mutuals. So it is not about "banker bashing" per se. If that sounds hopelessly idealistic, then it is not for nothing that William Morris called his book the "News from Nowhere". Socialist Utopia has also gone by the name "Christian Commonwealth" or should you care to go back that far "The New Jerusalem".
Giles- there are many Christian Socialists in the good old CofE. But if like me you reluctantly find there is no compromising with the other wing of your church.... you know where to find us!

Interesting times friends. It's good to be back!:)

I came across this beautiful poem which I hope you enjoy too :)

2010-08-03T04:44:00.000-07:00

Broken Dreams

As children bring their broken toys

With tears for us to mend,

I brought my broken dreams to God

Because He was my Friend.

But instead of leaving Him

In peace to work alone,

I hung around and tried to help

With ways that were my own.

At last I snatched them back and cried,

"How can You be so slow?"

"My child," He said, "what could I do?

You never let them go."

by Lauretta Burns

A poem to reflect on

2010-05-11T05:09:00.000-07:00

And God Said, "No"

I asked God to take away my pain.

God said 'NO. It's not for me to take away. It's for you to give it up.'

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole.

God said 'No. Her spirit is whole. Her body is only temporary' So love her whole.

I asked God to grant me patience.

God said 'No. Patience is a by-product of tribulations. It isn't granted. It is earned.'

I asked God to give me happiness.

God said 'No. I'll give you blessings. Happiness is up to you'.

I asked God to spare me pain.

God said 'No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.'

I asked God to make my spirit grow.

God said 'No. You must grow on our own. But I will prune you to make you fruitful.'

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.

God said 'No. I will give you life so that you may enjoy all things.'

I asked God to help me love others as much as he loves me and God said 'Ah, finally you're getting the idea'.

By Claudia Minden Weisz

Prayer

2010-05-10T14:26:00.000-07:00

'To be at peace with ourselves, we need to know ourselves'

Caitlin Matthews

This prayer it intended to be spoken aloud....

MY SPIRIT FINDS COMPANIONSHIP IN MANY FORMS

I allow myself to be guided and comforted by the Universe. I allow people and events to gently lead me to my good. I ask for help in all of my affairs and I accept the help that is offered me from many quarters. I do not walk alone. I do not call in vain. Even my whispered dreams are heard by an attentive Universe. I am alert to the help which comes to me for their unfolding.

From Heart Steps by Julia Cameron

So Long Jim!

2010-04-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Well, all good things come to an end and this Sunday the Urban Unitarians of Hampstead were sorry to see our good minister Rev. Jim Robinson give us his final sermon. Personally, I am very grateful for the day Jim met me when I walked into the LDPA's meeting, having heard about it due to my short visit to the Reading Unitarian Fellowship. This was during a difficult episode of my life when I was living in Henley-on-Thames. I had a feeling that somehow, when I got out there and made it to London, Rosslyn Hill would be the place where I would go. Thanks to Kate and Jana's efforts we now have some of Jim's addresses to keep for posterity. However, for me the final words of wisdom I will try and remember will be the ones he used on the Palm Sunday sermon: "Love in the personal sphere is called compassion, love in the public sphere is called justice, love in the religious sphere is called God".

Posted by Scott

(PS- For those of you who missed Sunday, the link is to a setting of Randall Thompson's arrangement of Frosts "Choose Something Like A Star")

The "Lift Pitch"

2010-01-24T10:17:00.001-08:00

"It doesn't matter whether you're selling Jesus or Buddha or civil rights or 'How to Make Money in Real Estate With No Money Down'. That doesn't make you a human being; it makes you a marketing rep. If you want to talk to somebody honestly, as a human being, ask him about his kids. Find out what his dreams are – just to find out, for no other reason. Because as soon as you lay your hands on a conversation to steer it, it's not a conversation anymore; it's a pitch. And you're not a human being; you're a marketing rep."
(The Big Kahuna- Roger Rueff 1999)

It is often said that Unitarians do not “do evangelism”. On one hand it is an attraction of our sensible and humane liberal faith that we are not compelled to go out and proslytise in the streets. On the other hand, part of the purpose of our Urban Unitarian group is to make the case for growth and outreach in our movement. Whilst Rosslyn Hill is a thriving community, the message we hear from other unitarian congregations is that standing still is not an option. For this reason, General Assembly meetings now have a specific focus on Growth and Renewal. One of the initiatives that came out of the 2009 annual meeting was the idea of a “lift pitch” to take our message to our friends and colleagues. The idea is as follows:
1) Wear you “chalice logo” badge into work.
2) If anyone is curious and asks what it is, come up with an articulate, one-sentence reply that encapsulates what it means to you. It needs to be short enough to be able to communicate in a journey in an office lift- hence a “lift pitch”. Examples include.

It's my personal guiding light that connects me to all other Unitarians in the world. A symbolic shared flame of light, love and hope for a better world.

The Chalice is the symbol of the worldwide Unitarian movement. It is our caring community holding and nurturing the living flame of our spiritual lives.

In the spirit of learning to articulate and share our deepest beliefs, the Urban Unitarians invite everyone to have a go at writing their “lift pitch”. If you forward them to urbanunitarian@googlemail.com we will put them up on our weblog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PkOc-B64dY

http://www.unitarian.org.uk/info/growth.shtml

Thought for today

2009-12-21T05:30:00.000-08:00

"Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others"

Buddha

Synchronicity

2009-10-11T12:32:00.001-07:00

Synchronicity is a psychological phenonmenon of seeing random unrelated events occuring in a way that gives the impression of causality- as if there is a benevolent force in the universe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synchronicity

I have been introduced to this as part of the artists way course. Whilst I remain a fan of the "stone cold reason" school of Unitarianism, I find this idea quite appealing. As part of writing daily pages I have started clocking images that appear in dreams. I remember in particular seeing an image of two autumnal trees through the window of a building that happened to be an art gallery. I was fairly certain I would see this image appear if I kept my digital camera handy. Whilst I had an interesting walk through a park looking at trees, I think the closest thing to the image in my dream is the one featured, which is slightly blurred and action shot, as indeed memories of dream like images are. Whilst I am aware of the pitfalls of looking for circumstantial signs or messages from the universe I think there may indeed by truth in religious experiences comming as part of the collective subconscience. I think the most moving example of this is Jim's story of how he inexplicably found a newly lit candle on Christmas morning having faced the depths of dispair the night before. Like Jim I would not speculate on how that candle mysteriously became lit. But it brings to mind Thomas Hardy's poem about the Oxen...."I would go with him in the gloom, hoping it might be so".

Enlargissez Dieu

2009-09-14T14:52:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday the Urban Unitarians made a trip to the chapel of Harris Manchester College Oxford. It happened to coincide with the official heritage weekend so we could hear a short lecture on a the history of the famous William Morris and Burne-Jones windows. I knew a little about these windows because a minister from Manchester once told me how there were six windows, each one representing an episode of the days of creation. She once said how she was disappointed that given there were six windows, you did not actually see God resting up on the seventh. (Actually, William Morris thought of this. You can see a reposing angel with a musical instrument squeezed into the bottom right). Interestingly, even in the nineteenth century the addition of a series of windows depicting the biblical story of creation were enough to rankle a few unitarians, who had been quick off the mark in embracing Darwin's new theories. Hence it was pointed out that the Manchester college creation windows, were the first to readily acknowledge tha they were depicting Genesis as a poetic, rather than a literal truth. If you look, you can also see the quote from the sceptical writer Diderot, "Enlargissez Dieu" in gothic letters above the angels. Roughly translated, this means "enlarge your concept of God". This strikes me as an appropriate motto to appear in a liberal chapel, particularly within an academic institution that never seeks to limit the search for truth.

Posted by Scott

Drawing Mandalas

2009-08-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

Partly inspired by our trip to the V&A and the "Artists Way" recommendation to "fill your well" I looked into the question of how to draw mandalas. Mandalas are a creative and spiritual practice, most closely associated with the eastern traditions of Buddhism and Hinduism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala

Mandalas are constructed from the centre-point of a circle, working outwards in a symmetrical pattern. In a sense it then grows like a fractal.

http://www.wikihow.com/Draw-a-Mandala

Mandalas can be drawn or coloured in. My minister in Manchester said she used to draw them as a way of recording her thoughts. Buddhists make them out of sand as a meditative practice and then blow them away as a symbol of the impermanance of all things. The psychologist CG Jung found the process theraputic and part of his connection with the mystical.

http://www.netreach.net/~nhojem/jung.htm

That said, given the use of repetition in the construction of these patterns, digital technology also has its uses. I cooked this one up using MS Paint and a sample of William Morris wallpaper. I think it is quite apt!

Khalil Gibran

2009-08-17T03:50:00.000-07:00

On Sunday Jim Robinson's sermon focused on the writer Khalil Gibran, a man who lived deeply and intensely and who was able to experience the pain in his life as growth and transformation.

Gibran writes:

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.

And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.

And how else can it be?

The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.

The idea that our being is 'carved' by our experience is simple yet beautiful because it conveys a sense of 'depth' in experience as well as the transforming qualities of the pain of life. The same 'depth' that is needed to be transformed by pain is the kind of intensity of living that we are meant to seek if we want to live a meaningful life.

Gibran writes about religion:

Your daily life is your temple and your religion

Whenever you enter into it take with you your all

Take the plough and the forge and the mallet and the lute

The things you have fashioned in necessity or for delight.

For in reverie you cannot rise above your achievements

nor fall lower than your failures.

And take with you all men.

For in adoration you cannot fly higher than their hopes nor humble yourself lower than their despair.

And if you would know God, be not therefore a solver of riddles

Rather look about you and you shall see Him playing with your children.

And look into space; you shall see Him walking in the cloud, outstretching His arms in the lightning and descending in rain.

You shall see Him smiling in flowers, then rising and waving His hands in trees.

To pause and make one's daily life a temple, to experience life in all its mystery and greatness (pain and joy alike) is one of our hardest tasks. We can merely have moments in which we feel the earth below our feet and the presence of our loved ones around us and then do we truly worship and then are we truly grateful.

(posted by Eleanor)

Review: Reason, Faith and Revolution

2009-08-05T13:37:00.001-07:00

As I mentioned in my post about Darwin, I am inclined to regard Richard Dawkins to be worth hearing out in his critique of religious orthodoxy. However, for a well informed counter-argument I would recommend the literary critic Terry Eagleton’s book “”Reason, Faith and Revolution”. Richard Dawkins considers the humanist values of the liberal enlightenment to be at odds with those of religion. Unitarians find themselves having an anomalous fusion of both. A frequently cited criticism of humanism, with its positive view of human nature is humanity’s failure to always progress with the fruits of science and learning. The most obvious examples of this failure include Auschwitz and Hiroshima. It is perhaps fair to say that examples of religious bigotry can be attributed to all faiths, only in as much as the production of an atomic bomb can be blamed on the study of nuclear physics. Hence Eagleton argues, “the distinction.. comes down in the end to one between liberal humanism and tragic humanism. There are those who hold that if only we can shake off the poisonous legacy of myth and superstition we can be free. This is in my own view a myth, though a generous spirited one. Tragic humanism shares liberal humanisms vision of the free flourishing of humanity; but it holds that this is possible only by confronting the very worst.” Personally I agree with much of what Eagleton has to say about Jesus’ true message being in-keeping with modern day liberation theologians. In particular, “Christianity long ago shifted from the side of the poor and dispossessed to that of the rich and aggressive”. That said, is final presentation of Christianity is quite orthodox, particularly when he says “if Jesus’ body is mingled with the dust of Palestine, Christian faith is in vain.” As a young Unitarian I reserve the right to take issue with this. I also recall how the question of progress came up when we had our discussion with the Hampstead Humanists. I do not think modern humanists who dogmatically believe unfettered science and reason without being wise to the lessons of twentieth century history. I think a case might be made saying “liberal” and “tragic” humanism present something of a false dichotomy.

By Scott

Making Connections podcast

2009-07-17T11:12:00.000-07:00

The poems posted in the past week featured in the recent service led by the Urban Unitarians at Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel. Our first podcast features extracts from the service, including a short guided meditation. Just click on the player below to listen. Posted by Kate.

From "Cornwall In Adolescence"

2009-07-07T13:37:00.000-07:00

In quest of mystical experience,

I knelt in darkness St. Enedoch,

I visit our local Holy Well,

Whereto the native Cornish still resort,

For cures for whooping cough, and drop bent pins,

Into its peaty water... Not a sign,

No mystical experience was vouchsafed:

The maidenhair just trembled in the wind,

And everything looked as it always looked...

But somewhere, somewhere underneath the dunes,

Somewhere among the cairns or in the caves,

The Celtic saints would come to me, the ledge

Of time we walk on, like a thin cliff-path,

High in the mist, would show the precipice.

By John Betjeman- Posted by Scott

2009-07-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

Mother Teresa's Anyway Prayer

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may cheat you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight.
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow.
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough.
Give your best anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

The Summer Day

2009-07-07T08:35:00.000-07:00

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention,
how to fall down into the grass,
how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed,
how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

-Mary Oliver

Posted by Eleanor

Credulity, superstition and fanaticism

2009-06-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

Watching Jon Ronson's documentary on Channel 4 last Sunday I was reminded of an old-chestnut Unitarian Universalist joke:

At one Sunday morning service, in one of the big Unitarian churches in Boston, a man was making a rukus in the back pew. After every sentence the minister spoke he would say “Amen! Halleluia”. The minister replied, “look, this is not the Baptist Church of America. There will be time for discussion and reflection over coffee after the service”. The man protested, “but I got religion”! The minister replied, “you certainly didn’t get it here”!

I would say that as a depiction of the Alpha course, (which I experienced on route to becoming a Unitarian) it was fairly accurate. You might say I should have had some idea of what to expect, but the first time I experienced people "speaking-in-toungues" and attempting healing though the laying on of hands, it was something of a shock to the system. It is all there in The Acts of the Apostles, (should you care to look it up) but as a minister up in Manchester later pointed out, there is nothing to say that they were not speaking human languages. Of course healing ministry also goes on at Rosslyn Hill. However, it is not part of the service, and it is qualitatively different from the kind of thing done by "charismatics".

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/revelations/4od#2926795

In many ways I concur with the author of this article in New Humanist, when he says Alpha is really for people who want to consolidate their existing convictions, rather than an avenue for agnostics to objectively, "explore the meaning of life".

http://newhumanist.org.uk/1000

It is interesting to consider how of the 2 million people in the UK who have tried an Alpha course a significant proportion must have made the tough and unsettling decision to walk out after deciding it was not for them. It is also interesting that my Quaker friends have adopted a remarkably "Alpha-esque" outreach course called Quaker Quest. I have heard of people floating the idea of a Unitarian outreach course (provocatively named the Omega course). This might be worth considering, given that it has been suggested new members of the Chapel be offered some kind of induction procedure. I would sign up to help run it, as long as we could use Goldfrapp's Happiness as the theme tune!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So93Iny2HWI

Find happiness and peace of mind! Scott

Shocking the Victorians

2009-06-21T04:06:00.000-07:00

A group from Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel recently visited Tate Britain to take a tour of the Pre-Raphaelite paintings on display. The Chapel has a link with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood because two of its stained glass windows were designed by the Burne-Jones/Morris partnership. The values of the PRB and the Arts & Crafts movement was also similar to those of the Unitarians at the time and the Gothic Victorian style of the Chapel, which is unusual for Unitarian buildings, reflects the move from neo Classical architecture to Gothic during Victorian times.

These days, images of Pre-Raphaelite paintings are ubiquitous on greetings cards, dinner mats and cushions so it's difficult to imagine just how shocking the original paintings were when they first appeared. During the tour we discussed the image of the Virgin Mary in Ecce Ancilla Domini by Dante Gabriel Rossetti which shows a frightened girl cowering at the sight of the angel Gabriel thrusting a lilly at her womb. The dramatic realism of Millais' huge painting Christ in the House of his Parents was shocking to Victorian sensibilities as the holy family is dipicted as ordinary people with working hands and ruddy complexions. Charles Dickens was horrified by this painting and the scene that was usually portrayed in a reverent and glorious manner. There's also an interesting article in the Telegraph discussing subject.

The paintings of the PRB are full of signs and symbols and you can find something new with each visit. Minister Jim and arts graduate Maya, guided the group through a series of paintings from the PRB with religious themes. We discussed as a group the choice of models, the difference made by the use of dramatic lighting and positioning as well as sharing our spiritual feelings about the paintings.

This visit was timely, since the BBC is showing a series on The Pre-Raphaelites which can be viewed via iPlayer or on TV. Also, the work of later Pre-Raphaelite artist, John William Waterhouse, will be exhibited at the Royal Academy from 27 June. Posted by Kate.

Glad to be a Darwinian!

2009-06-15T13:30:00.001-07:00

The term "Darwinian" has become somewhat loaded and the latest spin on it comes courtesy of the TV show "Sex and the City"....

Miranda: Y'see, this is why I don't date -- the men out there are freaks.

Carrie: Well that's completely unfair.

Miranda: I'm sorry, if a man is over 30 and single, there's something wrong with him, it's Darwinian -- they're being weeded out from propagating the species.

The message I came home from the "Evolution, Religion and Politics" seminar was that it is time for Darwin to be reclaimed. Primarily, RHUC's own David Williams discussed how the theory of evolution through natural selection has changed our concept of how we view the world and our place in it. Whilst the religious right can feel theatened by seeing man as the product of a process of adaptation, occupying a seemingly insignificant place in the cosmos, religious liberals can argue this knowledge enobles mankind and life on earth. Secondly, Pejman Khojasteh discussed his paper of how religions themselves can be analysed as part of an evolutionary process, since by encouraging and disseminating moral sentiments they give mankind a "survival advantage". Finally, Unitarian minister Richard Boeke (a former airforce chaplin to the custodians of nuclear weapons) discussed how when faced with global warming, we should not be complacent about the possibility of our own species' extinction.

I have heard some people describe Richard Dawkins as a "secular fundamentalist". However, on the whole I think his defence of the science of evolution against "intelligent design" theorists is sound. Since our denomination has never shied away from siding with reason against credulity I think his arguments are at least worth hearing out. Instead of Richard Dawkins, I think the people who could most be accused of abusing Darwin are the advocates of untrammelled individualism. There is a popular misconception that the phrase "survival of the fittest" is an apology for everything from Nazi Eugenics to its more benign form in the antics of "Sex and the City". In fact Darwin's point is best expressed as, "survivial of the most well adapted" and refers more to the species as a whole than any individual. As such, if it is found that religious experience and spiritual sentiments have an explanation in evolutionary biology, Unitarians should be the first to celebrate that finding. Rather than "explaining away" what we do, it might underpin its value and enoble it.

Posted by Scott

Fashion and Faith

2009-06-05T07:43:00.000-07:00

The other day, I bumped into someone wearing the same scarf as me. One woman’s pretty pashmina scarf is another’s pretty hijab headscarf…

‘Fashion and Faith’ was a debate held at the V&A Museum recently. It brought together a panel that included academic experts in religious costume, a legal spokesman from Liberty (the organisation, not the department store!) and a fashion columnist. The panel showed us many new design collections that show modest Islamic clothing with a modern twist from Islamic Design House and Imaan. Fashion designer Elenany was in the audience, modelling her own funky jacket, and she spoke about the way Islamic influences resulted in a clothing range that can be worn by anyone.

Although the debate about how people display symbols of faith tended to focus on Muslims, there were also examples of other faiths such as Nadia Eweida, the British Airways worker who was banned from displaying her crucifix publically. Conforming to religious dress may not be immediately apparent; some Jewish women choose not to wear trousers but walking down the street in skirt, you may not know that she was practising her faith in this way.

The fashion columnist spoke about ‘the new modesty’, a trend in fashion that links to a more puritan spirit of dress and lifestyle as a backlash to the luxury designer-bling of recent years. This simplicity in fashion also mirrors the austere vibe ushered in by the current recession. There are of course risks in mixing faith with fashion. One panellist admitted to wearing a rosary purely as a fashion necklace and being caught out by a Hollywood star who congratulated her on having the courage to display her Catholic faith publically! The general consensus of the panel appeared to be that religious dress should be a matter of choice and people should be allowed to express their faith appropriately if they wished but shouldn’t be forced to do so.

Learn With Every Goodbye

2009-05-22T07:42:00.000-07:00

After a while, you learn the subtle difference

between holding a hand and chaining a soul,

And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning

And company doesn't mean security,

And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts

And presents aren't promises,

And you begin to accept your defeats,

With the grace of a woman,

not the grief of a child,

And learn to build all your roads on today

Because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans,

And futures have a way of falling down mid-flight

And after a while, you learn

That even sunshine burns if you get too much.

So you plant your own garden

and decorate your own soul,

Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

And learn that you really can endure...

That you really are strong

And you really do have worth

And you learn

and learn...

With every goodbye, you learn.

Author unknown, posted by Josephine

Gill's Stations Of The Cross

2009-05-20T15:44:00.000-07:00

At a recent Art class, our model had a look at my life drawing and said my work reminded her of Eric Gill's. Having never heard of Eric Gill I was of course delighted and proud to have my work compared to a "proper" artist. However, when I did a Google search, I discovered he described himself as being of, "sufficient, if only just sufficient technical ability combined with a complete and genuine ignorance of art school anatomy and traditional academic style". Somthing of a back-handed compliment then!

However, I then discovered that Eric Gill was the artist responsible for the carved Stations of the Cross in Westminster Cathedral. As I work near Victoria I was curious and went to pay a visit.

http://www.westminstercathedral.org.uk/art/art_stations.html

I would like to say I had a go at walking around the cathedral, empathising with the depictions of the passion as Catholics traditionally do at Lent. As it was, I had picked a time to visit when the Cathedral was chock full due to an initiation rite being held on the same day. I find the idea appealing though, comparable in some ways to the labyrinth walking that goes on at Rosslyn Hill. I would also agree that spiritual inspiration can be found from the lives and works of artists, not least artists as afflicted by the darker sides of the human psyche like Gill.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Gill

Anyway, I think the last word in a post on Stations of The Cross should go to John O'Farrell's newsbiscuit.

http://newsbiscuit.com/?s=Stations+Of+The+Cross

Take care all! Scott

Tawney, Temple and the Credit Crunch

2009-05-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I attended the dialogue held in the memory of RH Tawney. Tawney was an academic who along with Temple and Beveridge believed there was a role for the state in creating a welfare society. Furthermore, his own personal faith informed this perspective.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RH_Tawney

This year the Tawney dialogue covered the issues of the credit crunch from a faith based perspective. Examples include how a principle of Islamic finance is that there should be a link between the borrower and the lender. This has broken down in the creation of derivatives that packaged debts. Others might consider how the incentives offered by city bonus culture led to reckless or greedy behaviour. This might imply possible financial market reforms. In any case the recession following the credit crunch has turned a financial market problem into a social problem. Social institutions such as churches and all people of goodwill will be called upon to respond to this.

http://www.thecsm.org.uk/Articles/151271/Christian_Socialist_Movement/Articles/The_Economy/CSM_Tawney_Dialogue.aspx

Unitarians have a history of being on the side of social reform. In the modern era the church as an institution has had to deal with the question of how far concern for a fairer society is the responsibility of the private citizen or the state. Now more than ever, this is a debate that cannot be ignored.

A Different Perspective

2009-05-10T12:03:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to the V&A Museum to watch an evening of Rare Buddhist Dances. There were performances by nuns from India, a Nepalese traditional dancer, but the most striking performance was by a group showing Japanese Noh theatre. It was quite unlike anything I've seen before and I found it quite uncomfortable to begin with. There was a strange vocal quality and ghost-like movement - it would be called avant garde if it weren't hundreds of years old. It probably didn't help that I missed the introduction so didn't really know what was going on, but after a while, I began to sink into a meditative state and felt quite exhilarated afterwards. Apart from the performance itself, another interesting experience was observing the drop-in audience. Late-comers sneaked in excitedly as they passed people tip-toeing out unable to stay in an uncomfortable state. It made me realise how we often don't allow ourselves to feel uncomfortable or take risks to try something new. Putting yourself in an uncomfortable situation can sometimes lead to discoveries about yourself, your boundaries and your strengths.

Clean Up Network Telecommunications!

2009-04-27T14:50:00.000-07:00

A slightly surreal exchange between me and my flatmate!:-

Flatmate: Where have you been this afternoon Scott?

Me: Up at my Church.

Flatmate: On Saturday? Doing What?

Me: Mostly looking at pornography.

I was really inspired by the Doll's House seminar. A great deal of effort was put in by the organisers on an issue they clearly cared about. I have felt it is high time someone acknowledged that there has been something of a post-feminist backlash, amongst members of my own generation. However, as soon as anyone (let alone a religious group) complains about images of women in the media, they invite comparison with the likes of Mary Whitehouse (pictured). No pro-feminist would want to become the unwitting ally of the Taleban.

But I think it is important to differentiate reactionary panics about moral decline ( like this http://www.chastity.com/chastity/index.php?id=7&cat=Pornography,%20etc.. ) from the progressive case that needs to be made against mysogyny in mainstream culture. One of Anne and Appleseed's resources was the following:

http://sexperienceuk.channel4.com/sex-education

Whilst they are multifaceted social issues, the mass media has some part to play in the explosion of demand for cosmetic surgery, incidence of eating disorders and depressive illness. The shocking truth is that with the internet, the debate about pornography has gone beyond the 1980s protests against page 3. There is a less "benign" side that is a potential cause of violence against women.

The Social Action Committee is still open to ideas on what might be done, but I would suggest the following for starters.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/18/gender.features11

A fitting tribute to our own Mary Wollstonecraft!

Sing for your life

2009-04-27T01:52:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, I was reminded of how much I love singing. Rosslyn Hill choir starts up again this Wednesday 29 April (for more info contact RHUC) and even though sometimes I have to drag myself there after the working day, I always feel a million times better afterwards. It seems that there is some academic evidence on the health-giving benefits of singing. But more than that, I know I feel more alive when I sing. I am also looking forward to meeting other Urban Unitarians on Tuesday 28 April. So this week, I will celebrating spirituality through voices of discussion and music. Posted by Kate.

Slow Down London

2009-04-23T06:36:00.000-07:00

One of the wonderful things about going to Rosslyn Hill Chapel is the feeling of slowing down and re-setting of the soul that comes after a service. I don't know if it's the same for you, but I find that achieving 'slowness' is one of the greatest spiritual challenges I face in my daily life, cluttered by emails and high-speed thoughts which are usually trivial and time-consuming. If you are interested, over the next couple of weeks (April 24-May 3) there will be a festival on precisely this topic organized by Slow Down London . It will include lectures, free yoga and meditation classes, crafts as well as a Slow Food Market to sample some local and traditionally sourced foods. Otherwise let's just remind ourselves to look up at the buildings and the people when we are rushing for that tube station, to stop and consider the loved ones in our lives and to remember that they won't always be there, to marvel at the power and strength of our bodies while they are still young, to dance and look up at the stars...

The Dolls House - images of women

2009-04-19T11:47:00.001-07:00

Being out of town for a few days and coming back to London makes me appreciate how people come in all shapes and sizes. And after trip to the gym showing impossibly beautiful girls on MTV, it seems like just the right time for RHUC's Anne and Appleseed to run their workshop 'The Dolls House - images of women'. This free session will look at how images of women are shaped by the media. It's at Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel on Saturday 25th April and is open to everyone (even men!). Check out the details on page 6 of the April bulletin or contact RHUC.

Experiments With Light

2009-04-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

I went along to a workshop with my Quaker friends (small "f") on Saturday. It was based on the idea of how the early Quakers practiced searching for the light of truth by experimentation. There was a six stage guided meditation that essentially accomplised the following:

1) Relax body and mind

2) Using a receptive state to bring out the real concerns of life.

3) Focussing on one issue that troubles you.

4) Asking why it is like that.

5) Welcoming any answers that emerge.

6) Feeling different as a result.

Most people found this particularly useful and in some cases felt physically healed. In secular terms it bears much resemblance to what can be accomplished by cognitive therapy, but there is something spiritual about trusting an insight that comes from this kind of introspection. I think I now know something of what my Quaker friends mean when they speak of the "leadings of the light".

A retreat?

2009-04-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

We have been thinking of going on a spiritual retreat somewhere outside of London. Perhaps one of these places might be worth thinking about? They have the benefit of being only an hour away from London...

Easter Up North

2009-04-13T05:38:00.000-07:00

The Easter day service in Manchester centred on an annecdote about a young evangelical Christian whose life centred around his "personal relationship with Jesus". Whilst this usually rings alarm bells for people with a Unitarian view of the historical Jesus, there are perhaps parallels with the Buddhist concept of the "inner guru". It is a way of thinking that chimes with the following passage from Elliot's the Waste Land. It alludes to the psychological phenonenon of seeing a third person in survival situations, as well as Luke xxiv.13-16.

Who is the third who walks always beside you,

When I count, there are only you and I together,

But when I look ahead up the white road,

There is always another one walking beside you,

Gliding wrapped in a brown mantle, hooded,

I do not know whether a man or a woman,

- But who is that on the other side of you?

Initiation

2009-04-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

Kate's post made me think of one of my favorite Rainer Maria Rilke poems, Initiation.

Wilderness on our doorstep

2009-04-10T03:44:00.000-07:00

Andrew Motion, who is about to step down as Poet Laureate, was the special guest on BBC Radio 4's Book Club programme. A reader asked him about his poem The Ash Tree and they discussed the afinity that some children have with trees. You can listen to the programme here.
I also feel a soul-settling calmness around trees which I trace to my childhood. So it was sad to hear so many kids these days are wrapped up in 'cotton wool' and not able to explore nature. Read how Natural England is 'releasing children into the wild' here. For those living in or near Hampstead, the wilderness is on our doorstep. This picture was taken just by Hampstead Heath Overground station with Hampstead Heath itself a short walk away. This week I'll be looking for the spiritual amongst the trees.
Posted by Kate.

Go Placidly Amid the Noise and the Haste

2009-04-03T06:22:00.000-07:00

As the sun makes an effort to burst through the clouds, I'm thankful for the coming of Spring. I often find the spiritual in nature and I'm enjoying the daffodils that I planted in the burial ground opposite my flat. I can just about see them through my kitchen window so it feels like my own little patch of garden.

In the rush of urban living, I take comfort from the Desiderata, a poem written by Max Erhmann in the 1920s.

It's not always easy to remember the spiritual but the daffodils help...

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

Read the full poem here. Posted by Kate.

Unitarian Musical

2009-04-02T17:17:00.000-07:00

I was looking on the internet and discovered that a Unitarian Universalist Chapel in the USA had made a comedy musical about the life of their chapel. Some of the recurring themes and characters seem alarmingly familiar! Here is my favourite, featuring a parody of Gilbert and Sullivan's Modern Major General.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzKez-b443E&feature=channel_page

It takes a refreshingly honest look at that thorny issue of giving that can occasionally perplex a well intentioned new member. Perhaps we should write to them and ask for a copy of the libretto.

G20 Prayer

2009-04-01T04:48:00.000-07:00

This has been adapted from the 'Put People First' Ecumenical Service.

'We stand in prayer as the global economic crisis casts a shadow over the peoples of the earth. In a world as closely connected as ours, each of our actions affects the whole. We are sorry when we have failed to act beyond our narrow interests. We seek to live as a community and care for others, especially the vulnerable and the poor among us.

As the G20 meet, we ask for wisdom from the leaders of the world. Where nations have pushed their agendas on others; we ask that becomes partnership and love. Where people have lived lives disconnected from their human family in other countries; bring solidarity and compassion. May we see the dawning of a new world, a world of justice, mercy and humility.Help us transform our lives so we find light in darkness, seek solidarity with our human family and in our emptiness recover wholeness from our brokenness.

With hope for a better world.'

Unitarian press

2009-03-30T15:03:00.000-07:00

Another mention in the Guardian this Saturday with some interesting comments afterwards.

Joseph Campbell on Transcendence

2009-03-27T16:37:00.000-07:00

Part of Bill Moyer's famous interviews with Joseph Campbell on the Power of Myth.

Reflecting on the question of the transcendent.

Welcome!

2009-03-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

We've finally put together this blog which we hope will become a forum for sharing inspiration of all kinds as a complement to our individual spiritual explorations. To begin we suggest users stick to one post a week, let's see how it goes...