26 January 2016

Unitarian periodicals




Being spread pretty thinly, the written word has always played a key part in keeping Unitarians in touch with one another.  The following regular Unitarian publications are available on subscription.  As time goes by it may be possible for us to take out a group subscription for any or all of these.


The Inquirer
The oldest continuously published periodical, founded in 1842.
www.inquirer.org.uk (Website Administrator James Barry jbarry@kyla.co.uk)

Faith and Freedom
A journal of progressive religion.  Two issues annually, published Spring and Autumn.
www.faithandfreedom.org.uk available from the Business Manager - Mr N. Clarke, 16 Fairfields, Kirton in Lindsey, Gainsborough DN21 4GA

The Unitarian
Established 1903 and published by the Manchester District Association of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches.  For further information or taking out a new subscription contact Rachel at  infotheunitarian@gmail.com

 

22 January 2016

Ringwood Remembers Holocaust Memorial Day 2016


We have been working with the Ringwood Meeting House committee to provide a quiet, informative space in Ringwood for people to mark International Holocaust Memorial Day on Wednesday 27 January.  There has been no joy in the preparations, only a quiet, reflective mood, as we assembled the posters and discussed exactly how the Meeting House would be presented.

"It's frightening that some people are still trying to deny the Holocaust happened," someone said.  It's all about recognising that first hand witnesses to that horror will not be with us forever, and that the facts have to be handed down for fear we forget them.  We so need to learn from the past - and indeed the present, as genocide is still going on in the world today.  Somehow Darfur in Sudan has slipped from the western media radar.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust is a charity that was set up by the UK Government, and which is now supported by the Department for Communities and Local Government.  Holocaust Memorial Day was created on 27 January 2000, when representatives from governments around the world met in Stockholm to discuss Holocaust education, remembrance and research. The UK played a leading role in establishing HMD as an international day of commemoration, and 46 governments signed the Stockholm Declaration. They committed to preserving the memory of those who were murdered in the Holocaust. This declaration became the statement of commitment which is still used as a basis for HMD activities today.

Genocide never just happens.  There is always a set of circumstances which occur or which are created to build the climate in which genocide can take place.  Have a look at this:
Gregory H Stanton’s 8 stages of genocide:  genocidewatch.org
 
HMD has taken place in the UK since 2001, with a UK national event and over 3,600 local activities taking place on or around 27 January each year.

In Ringwood people will be able to pick up leaflets on this year's theme - Don't Stand By - and sign a book of remembrance, as well as lighting a candle and sitting for as long as they wish, in the quiet of the Meeting House.

13 January 2016

January meeting for reverence


This month saw the end of our second year of meeting as Unitarians, friends, visitors and explorers in Ringwood.  To mark this, the theme of our gathering on Sunday 10th January was “Community – out of the many, one”.  It was therefore lovely to be able to welcome some new faces and voices to the meeting.

As is our normal practice, the chalice flame was lit, and the words of the day came from the Maitri Upanishad (translated by Eknath Easwaran), “One becomes like that which is in one’s mind – this is the everlasting secret.”

As usual our gathering included a chance to silently recite one’s own credo; also some hymns from our hymnbook Hymns for Living.  We included a sustained period of silence for meditation, prayer or reflection, and we made space for each other to voice any joys or concerns, accompanied by candle lighting.
The two readings for the day were taken from the oriental philosophy Taoism and a commentary on the Hindu Upanishad scriptures, both focusing on unity.

The Hindu ideas included Mohandas Gandhi’s view that there should be a movement of the heart towards unity with others.  And that, before getting to complete unity as humankind, we must use as stepping stones the intermediate social groupings that arise from natural differences between persons: “... groupings are a sort of bridge between the unity – toward which all must be allowed to work – and the individuality – from which we each start.” (Eknath Easwaran)

The Taoist reading was a legend of a time before history, when people lived in harmony and union with all creation, without making distinctions, without making relative judgements, and without leaving any trace of their existence.  The legend speaks of a time when there was no division into good/bad, just/unjust, wise/naive, competent/incompetent; a time when there was natural good conduct and benevolence, merely because no one had imagined there to be anything else.

Also during the gathering, the president for the day took up the challenge that is beginning to circulate round Unitarian circles in our district, which is to speak frankly about one’s own beliefs, experiences and outlook, rather than to tiptoe around the subject.  This is what she said.

“I have not so far found any test for being a Christian that I pass.  I do not call myself a Christian.  Primarily I combine a somewhat Taoist approach with some Hindu ideas.  Like Taoists, I find my source and inspiration in my observation of what goes on around me, in the natural world – and I find myself using the epithets “All That Is”, or “What Is Everywhere”.  This leads to the idea of oneness.  In contrast, in Hinduism there is a lot of talk of being a self (small s) in relation to Self (capital S); in other words, there is relatedness as a result of twoness.  At heart it is often twoness or relatedness, with its possibility of exchange and grace, that atheists reject. The Buddha was silent on the matter.  Whereas, I feel this idea of relatedness very deeply. It occurs in Paganism; and also in Judaism, from whence Christianity, Islam and hence Sikhism have inherited it.   But when Christianity talks about relatedness, it uses the formula of the Trinity to express it; and I cannot accept that traditional formula.  Therefore my personal witness is that there is, at one at the same time, both oneness and relatedness, which is a mystery I cannot explain, only experience.  So you see, I love the Hindu proverb that says,

You think you understand two, because you understand one, and one and one are two.

But first you must understand ‘and’.

I accept that all the lasting faiths and belief systems recognise the requirement to live well together, if humans are to survive.  But of all the faiths, it is Christianity that deals a lot with living with others – some of the other faiths are much less vivid about it – which is why, when I think about community, I tend to read stuff from Christianity.”