Reflections on Monthly Worship Themes

How often do we pause before words come pouring out of our mouth, which we might regret?

 

I had no idea that the theme of “evil” would be so popular. The response to this month’s services has been strong and enthusiastic. “More evil,” they say. Well, probably just more discussion about evil.

 

Several years ago I enjoyed a written discussion between two UU colleagues on the principle of freedom and how it informs our UU faith. They arrived at similar conclusions, but their paths were marked by important distinctions on the role freedom plays in our liberal religious faith. 

 

You might not like to be reminded of last summer’s Washington Post article about Unitarian Universalism, the one that gave all of us much pause ("Grappling with the G-word").

 

I recently came across this quote from Abraham Lincoln:
“As labor is the common burden of our race, so the effect of some to shift their share of their burden onto the shoulders of others is the great curse of the race. As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.

 

When I visited China a few years ago, I had the chance to visit a secret village for artists. It was a quiet visit, because it was a clandestine location, as was our visit to it. The government in China is not too fond of artists, unless they’re portraying government sponsored topics, which these artists were not. 

 

I call them “Catastrophe Neighbors.” They’re the neighbors we see when a catastrophic event -- a blizzard, an earthquake, a hurricane -- strikes. Front doors open, affording a rare glimpse of what is inside, heads poke out like groundhogs, or (if it’s an earthquake) people run out, and lo: neighbors meet neighbors!

 

“Hospitality is the art of making your guests feel at home even though you wish they were.” -- Anonymous

 

Several years ago I impulsively handed some money to a woman in the French Quarter in New Orleans who offered to tell me my future by reading my palm.

 

This month’s theme at MVUC is liberation. It is a time to think about celebration of Passover and about how, as with liberation of the Hebrews by their leader Moses, an Exodus from slavery brings new freedom but also responsibility.

 

"It's as if we think liberation a fixed quantity, that there is only so much to go around. That an individual or community is liberated at the expense of another. ---

 

About two years into my first ministry in Meadville, PA, a long time member asked me why I didn’t lead the congregation in prayer.

 

Gregory Payne III was cleaning up his grandmother’s backyard in Richmond, Indiana last spring.

 

by Kären Rasmussen, Intern Minister 
Spiritual Rituals
Most of us have little rituals in life.

 

By Kären Rasmussen, Intern Minister
It’s a verb, the word “commit.” This small, unassuming verb can raise shudders within as we wonder, “Really, can we commit?”

 

I’ve been looking lately for commitment, or at least signs of it. I’ve seen signs of two kinds: commitment of family when times are painful, and commitment to community.

 

Mahatma Gandhi wrote, “Prayer is not an old woman’s idle amusement. Properly understood and applied, it is the most potent instrument in action.”  Is there a place in our lives for prayer, or have we rejected it along with other theological constructs too uncomfortable for us to use?

 

'Tis the season to go shopping. The retailers are spending great amounts of advertising dollars to entice people to spend even more money than the retailers. It’s a big gamble. It will probably pay off.

 

Feminist theologian Carter Hayward writes that commitment is a critical component of love.

 

Faith, if I may be so bold, is that in which we place our deepest confidence. Examples are truth, values, goodness, an idea, or a person. No logic is required. Some evidence may be helpful. But faith is largely based on intuition.

 

Our capacity to experience grief is deep, if we allow it. Most of us don’t. Most of us resist it with a fierceness deserving of a battle zone. Our fear of grief, not the grief itself, can cripple us, shut us down, turn us into zombies, unable to feel anything at all. Grief can arrive in all sorts of ways. The loss of anything can trigger it; leaving a job or home, losing a special object, a friend moving away, and of course death. It can be the death of someone else or our own pending death. Grief comes through many doors and doesn’t usually knock.

 

I clearly remember my friend’s complaint about her ex-boyfriend. This issue wasn’t the only reason they broke up; there were others, of course. But this one stuck in my mind since I was experiencing the same problem in my own relationships. I call it the “I” syndrome.

 

My grandfather died shortly after retiring. I have read that many men have a hard time with retirement. Some even have health problems and, like my grandfather, die shortly after retiring. Maybe in his case it was just a coincidence; I was too young to ask questions about transformation and coping.

 

I am a creative person. Creativity is usually a messy process, so sometimes my work space gets messy. I determine the mess by my standards of messy, which means I’m not very tolerant.

 

When I put my application for seminary in the mail box, I felt like I was asking for an answer about the purpose of my life.

 

My due date was February 14. I’m pretty sure I was three days late for my birthday because I refused to be born on THAT particular day. I’m not a big fan of Valentine’s Day.

 

My former church member was genuinely concerned. She was concerned about the safety of the church, and my safety too, I think. What really surprised me about her request was that she was Jewish. She of all people, I thought, would understand why it was so important that I speak publicly on behalf of the oppressed.

 

Two questions. How you answer may have serious consequences.
   A. “In unclear times, I usually expect the best.”
   B. “If something can go wrong for me, it will.”

 

Hope for me is sometimes about some external event, such as no red lights all the way home. But, I’m know I’m a better person when I hope that I can be a source of change. Maybe, I’ll have more patience at each red light, all the way home. Sometimes the best hope is found within.

 

Fearing the future and regretting the past are two favorite pastimes in many of our lives. Unfortunately, they are a barrier to being present for the present, and block any hope of gratitude for the past, present or future. "Let us not look back in anger or forward in fear but around in awareness," said James Thurber.

 

I still remember when I hurt the same church member in my previous congregation twice. Twice! The same member! And she was the matriarch of the church—a long-time member, deeply committed, to everything the church stood for.

 

Two weeks ago I reflected upon the act of apologizing and the holiness that transpires when two people meet in grace. What I didn’t say was how I found out that I had hurt my former church member. That’s a whole different part of the puzzle of forgiveness. It seems obvious that the party that did the hurting has to know they hurt someone, yet we struggle as Jacob did with God in Genesis 32:23.

 

Recently, a member of our church relayed to me a brief comment made by a visitor during a worship service held during the past summer. The worship leader referenced our Mt. Vernon "community," and the visitor responded to the member "What community?" ...

 

I look at the group photo of 20 or so foreign study students with nostalgia. We’re all smiling, but looking closer you can see the nervousness in bodies and faces. It was the beginning of a year of study in Durham, England. By the end of the year we had bonded, friends all the way around. ...