Unitarian book group in Ringwood to relaunch in May 2016

After our success in running an informal book group in early 2015, we are now looking to repeat the exercise in May this year, at a coffee shop in Ringwood.

The book we will be dipping into and discussing together will be Something Understood, a collection of poetry and prose edited by Mark Tully of the BBC, based on his Radio 4 series inviting contributions on the spiritual dimension.

For more details or to express an interest in taking part, email lucyunbox.ringwood@btinternet.com

Muster 2016 and stakeholders' interests

The annual muster for 2016 is now closed. We are delighted to say we have doubled the number of names from the 2015 muster.

Owing to our constitution, we have a formalised relationship with those on the muster roll, all of whom can expect to be fully consulted as we make decisions which affect our future.  But if you are not on that muster roll we would still like to hear what you think about what we do, so do not be shy about getting in touch with us.

Especially we would be interested to hear from anyone who would have liked to have been along to any of our meetings, but who so far has been prevented from doing so by reasons of timing, venue, day of the week or any such reason.  Do please send an email to the address on the front page of this site.  And you might also consider subscribing to the newsfeed by using the "email subscribe gadget" at the top of the site.

April 2016 meeting for reverence

Not Ringwood! - but a large gathering of Unitarians in 2012

Our meeting built on the theme of Community, which was last aired in January.  Once again it was noted that one of the richest sources of advice about how to form, live in and sustain communities is the Christian tradition.  Moreover, the Christian tradition explores why communities are essential to our wellbeing and are crucial to spiritual growth.  It seems to be necessary for us to reconcile our deep need to be true to ourselves (which seems like a very self-contained function) with our other needs to love and be loved; to be seen; to be listened to; to be accepted at face value on our own terms (all of which require us to have people around us whom we connect with).

We had two readings from contemporary Christian writers (Esther de Waal and Ian Adams) examining togetherness, solitariness, loneliness, and the repeating habit of religious people to first come home to themselves and then go out to connect with others.  We also heard about some of the key factors that will sustain communities in the longer term, especially the relationship between the life of the community and the lives of the members within it.

And bearing in mind the pivotal role of communities in keeping us balanced and whole, we asked why it seems to be so hard for us, living in the 21st century, to prioritise participating in community life - why we so resist joining groups and making commitments.

We had the same hymns as in January, partly so that we begin to get to know them better, and we also included a guided meditation after we had lit our candles of concern.

Online bells and candles to keep us centred

There are two wonderful websites for people trying to establish the habit of mindfulness and focus on the interior aspect of living, whilst having to spend a lot of time on their personal computers.  I'm not sure how well they work on smart phones or tablets.  You do not have to download any software onto your computer for either of them.  Both sites are freely offered but accept donations for their work.

The first website allows you to set up a 'mindfulness' bell to ring either at random or at specific intervals.  The practice one is encouraged to adopt is (just like monks in a Tibetan monastery) to go about one's usual business, but then when the bell rings, to take three mindful breaths and regain a wider perspective of just what it is one is doing right now, right here.  To live in the real world of one's senses, rather than in one's virtual world of thoughts.

http://www.mindfulnessdc.org/bell/

The second website allows you to 'light a candle online'.  By following the instructions and clicking, you are invited to go through the same interior process as you would do in lighting a wax candle with a match.  It may sound trite; but if approached in the right manner it can be a moving experience.  What you get from it, as with so many things, is determined by what you put into it.

http://www.gratefulness.org/light-a-candle/