“Knock, And He'll open the door |
Check here often--this content changes regularly. Posted May 21
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Resistance Reading
Follow Mother Jones' new series where they ask renowned authors to pick books that bring solace and understanding in a time of rancor.
This blessing will not fix you, will not mend you, will not give you false comfort; it will not talk to you about one door opening when another one closes. It will simply sit itself beside you among the shards and gently turn your face toward the direction from which the light will come, gathering itself about you as the world begins again. ― Jan Richardson “Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?” |
“Helping, fixing, and serving represent three different ways of seeing life. When you help, you see life as weak. when you fix, you see life as broken. When you serve, you see life as whole. Fixing and helping may be the work of the ego, and service the work of the soul.” ― Rachel Naomi Remen
Every day, I see or hear something Waking Ned Devine - trailer
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What Does It Mean To Be A Community of Joy?
Be careful this summer. Our theme of joy is deceptive. One could easily see this is a way to end the year “on a light note.” But there’s deep work for us to do with this topic. There have been many religious perspectives that begin with the idea that this world is broken, a place of misery and pain, toil and struggle. We are told that our job is to survive it, indeed transcend it, through sacrifice, confession of our own brokenness, and an industrious “Protestant work ethic.” Joy is reserved for a time far off and found in a heaven granted to those who earn it. And yet there are others – Unitarians Universalist included – that just don’t see it this way. They look out, and like the God of Genesis, their response is “behold, it is good!” The “problem” according to this spiritual view lies not so much in a fallen, irredeemable world but with our limited perspective. Heaven, as our UU forbearers argued, is right here on earth; our job is to see it and take pleasure in it. And far from being indulgent or seductive, this “work” of pleasure and delight is the key to humanizing us. As Barbara Kingsolver’s words suggest, joy has the power to transform us.
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About this author
Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso (born Lhamo Döndrub), the 14th Dalai Lama, is a practicing member of the Gelug School of Tibetan Buddhism and is influential as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the world's most famous Buddhist monk, and the leader of the exiled Tibetan government in India. Tenzin Gyatso is a charismatic figure and noted public speaker. This Dalai Lama is the first to travel to the West. There, he has helped to spread Buddhism and to promote the concepts of universal responsibility, secular ethics, and religious harmony. ― Goodreads Try these works/resources: |
“Every day, think as you wake up, today I am fortunate to be alive, I have a precious human life, I am not going to waste it. I am going to use all my energies to develop myself, to expand my heart out to others; to achieve enlightenment for the benefit of all beings. I am going to have kind thoughts towards others, I am not going to get angry or think badly about others. I am going to benefit others as much as I can.” ― Dalai Lama XIV
Multimedia | Film | Performance Art
"...contemporary art that roams the ground between faith and mystery. . . calls us into the imaginative life and makes us aware of the rich possibilities of being human." ― Image
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Spiritual Practice
"And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer." ― Rainer Maria Rilke
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Elder Spirituality
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“The most important thing is to find out the most important thing.” ― Zen master, Suzuki Roshi
Websites
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UU Church of the Larger Fellowship | Quest for Meaning
The Church of the Larger Fellowship is our wider movement's online virtual church-without-walls. It is one of the best resources for current Unitarian Universalist thinking and spirituality. "Love and Loss. Awe and wonder. Journeys and home. The events of our lives and our spiritual curiosity lead us to ponder topics close to our hearts. Through 12 curated themes, you will find a wide range of spiritual resources to expand your perspective and enrich your search for meaning." Unitarian Universalist Perspectives
Sometimes described as "one faith and many beliefs," Unitarian Universalism draws from a wide range of wisdom traditions, both secular and sacred.
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Of all the ingenious mistakes into which erring man has fallen, perhaps none have been so pernicious in their consequences, or have brought so many evils into the world, as the popular opinion that the way of the transgressor is pleasant and easy. |
Jack Jezreel, founder of JustFaith observes, “The world cannot be changed-by-love to become just, unless we are changed by love to become whole, but we cannot be made whole without engaging in the work of making the world whole. Personal transformation and social transformation are one piece.”
Sophia Perennis | Perennial Wisdom Tradition
The Perennial Tradition encompasses the recurring themes in all of the world’s religions and philosophies that continue to say:
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The Perennial Tradition by Richard Rohr
Religion as participation is a rediscovery of the Perennial Tradition that Plotinus, Gottfried Leibniz, Alan Watts, Aldous Huxley, and so many saints and mystics have spoken of in their own ways. It constantly recognizes thatwe are a part of something, more than we are observing something or “believing” in something. ― Richard Rohr “You can safely assume you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.” ― Anne Lamott |
You don’t get anything here. Not for a dollar. Not for ten thousand dollars. You don’t get Hellfire Insurance at a U-U congregation or standing-room-only tickets to the Hereafter Show. If we do not become Truth and become Meaning, we will search for both in vain. We are here to give something of ourselves. Meant to be present for one another. And by being so present, receive what we are meant to—not what we want--but what we need. ― Steven Mead, UU Religious Educator