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.