Feb 2017 meeting for reverence on 'Church in today's world' #unitarians

Our meeting for reverence on 12 February 2017 reflected on the way faiths might relate and react to recent worldly affairs, looking especially at some recent Unitarian perspectives.

The opening words had been supplied by the International Council of Unitarian Universalists for use at February meetings and services, and included the words: “May the light of this flame remind us of the path of peace and wisdom.” 

A meditation from Aberdeen Unitarian Church then asked us to contemplate world peace, as measured in terms of the safety of children and those who are vulnerable.

We had a reading from the Unitarian minister Gabor Kereki, who wrote in 1968 that Churches are empty because they have lost contact with the real and living world.  His view was that religion without involvement in society is not effective religion; and also that action and involvement in society without a spiritual basis is dangerous, as shown by European history in the first half of the 20th century.  He said that Churches are “to combine pure religion with applied religion – to bring the values of the spirit into human life.”

This led to a reflection on what might be meant by “pure” and “applied” religion, and how those words are not simply placeholders for the words 'interior' and 'exterior' religion.  It was proposed that what might count as “applied” religion can be common to a range of world faiths, whereas what might be thought of as “pure” religion for each of them is quite different.

 

“Applied” religion is religion at work in the world as compassion, involvement, engagement, humility in relationships.

But “pure” religion is distinctive and could be thought of as what differentiates one faith from another.

So what might a “pure” religion be for a Unitarian?  This is quite tricky to answer as the faith and beliefs of Unitarians differ widely.

The second reading came from Fran Pickering, who is thought to be a Unitarian in the north-west of England.  Fran suggested that a favourite Unitarian perspective is to look at existence as an interdependent web of consciousness, both metaphorically and metaphysically.

At the electromagnetic level, that web is a web of power, and its energy can be characterised in terms of frequency. 

“Only as we, collectively, change the energy frequency of that web, by our own energetic acts of love and compassion, and by our own emanations of love into the frequency field, will the overall level of ‘consciousness awareness’ change for the better....... Peace will come when our love vibration is so strong, when our intent that the Earth be a garden of joy is so powerful, so clear, so uncompromising that the consciousness of all beings will be touched and changed.”

Our meeting included some hymns reminding us that Churches are not temples or shrines but fellowships, and that "the seekers of the light are one in the freedom of the truth" (Longfellow).  Towards the end of the gathering we heard from Kahlil Gibran (The Prophet)on our mutual dependence as we progress towards our god-self – everyone playing their part, with no room for inattention, detachment or smugness.

And we carried out our annual Muster at the end of the meeting, so that we now know who wants to be fully involved with decision-making for our Didymus society in 2017-18.  That is our local way of being involved in our little society, based on our spiritual explorations and leanings.