March 2017 meeting for reverence - balancing individual responsibility with letting go #unitarians

We had a beautiful meeting for reverence this morning which was centred around two extracts from the book "When I See the Wild God"  When I See the Wild God : Ly de Angeles : 9780738705767  

The chalice lighting words were an invitation to stand together with all others everywhere who were meeting together today in their search for truth and justice in freedom, living a life mindful of the divine.

The readings drew to our attention the connections we have with physical creation, through our bodies, and with both the overarching and more local human cultures we live in, through narrative, knowledge and experience.  A new idea to some of us was that our bodies have lived since the beginning of time and will live after our death to this life on Earth (as every atom in our bodies has been around since the beginning of time).  The difficulty in reconciling the ideas of “the one” and “the many” were remembered, with particular reference to J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion. 

We were invited to consider the balance that has to be struck between

being part of the unending creation song (so being able to relax in the knowledge that our own pain, turmoil, joy and love do not actually stop the enduring song of creation)

and

the duty to be authentic, each moment, each decision, to the person we believe ourselves to be (no matter how hard that may be).

We sang some lovely little hymns, hidden gems in the Hymns for Living hymnbook; and were invited to spend our seven minute meditation time reflecting on how we had contributed to the creation song in the past week, and how we might attempt in the coming week to live authentically in line with who we believe ourselves truly to be.

We also lit candles for the things that concern us or which are current joys, and enjoyed a good conversation over coffee afterwards.  Our wide-ranging conversation pivoted around the concept of long-lived relationships, in family, friendship and – interestingly – commercial terms; and how modern day living seems to care little for loyalty.

We wondered how the current fashion for changing employment, leaving our family roots, and losing touch with friends from adolescence will affect society in the future.  And we concluded with the hope, if not complete trust, that people will always find a way to grace and happiness if they want to, regardless of the prevailing social conditions.