Our language shows how we think and project our imaginings

When we speak as atheists so You do not emerge in language at all; when we name You using the nonsense syllable ‘Tao’; when, like the Buddha, we decline to name You:

then we remember there can be no meaningful way of referring to You.

When we name You ‘Shiva’:

then we remember You are the Transformer, the Restorer, the Reconciler, the Destroyer of all illusion, the Shocker.

When we name You ‘The Holy One-in-Three and Three-in-One’:

then we remember You are transcendent beyond all being; immanent in all being, all beingness and all knowledge of beingness; and innate relatedness, the invitation to mutuality intrinsic to and inherent in the multi/universe.

When we name You ‘Atman’ or ‘The Christ’:

then we remember You are the Redemption within; the Logos; the ensouled God; the perfect archetype or design we are built upon; the Divine as humanity.

When we name You ‘Allah’:

then we remember You are un-encompassible, impossible for us to describe or comprehend.

When we name You ‘God’:

then we remember that for as long as there have been people, and for as long as people remain, there have been and will be people agreeing with Moses, when he says, ‘God goes before you and will be with you; God will never leave you nor forsake you.’

October 2017 - our gathering for reverence on “the pitfalls of suggesting solutions for others” #unitarians

If you want to know more about Unitarians in UK here’s a good place to start:

https://www.unitarian.org.uk/pages/leaflets

As for us Unitarians in Ringwood, here’s what we did yesterday.

We lit our chalice to some words by Dr Norman Pittenger:

"Give me a humanist or agnostic who cares.  In him or her I can see the charity of God working anonymously.   Whenever and wherever I see self-giving love, I shall know it is of God."

Our opening prayer had been sourced from the World Community of Christian Meditation, the community associated with John Main and Laurence Freeman.

We welcomed a visitor from the Quaker community, who professed to have no expectations beforehand, and who said afterwards that the ritual aspects of our gathering for reverence were interesting, and that she intends to come again sometime.

Our readings were from Dan Millman and Rowan Williams, and they both reminded us that the path every person takes is necessarily different, but the paths taken by everyone all ultimately lead to the same end. The learning along the way is different and arises in relation to the personal need.

Our president for the day built on this theme.  She spoke frankly about the pitfalls she gets into sometimes; those times when she falls back into the pattern of acting and speaking to others as though her own solutions and models would be better for them, than their own.  Her conclusion was that we’re not there to fix it for each other; we are there to accompany each other as we each struggle with our own battles and burdens.  And that as the kingdom of God, the realm of reconciliation and peace, lies within, thus personal solutions are provided personally not generically. All we can – and must do – is attend to each other by really listening.

We sang a couple of hymns from the Hymns for Living Unitarian hymnbook and heard a haunting, profound song, sung by Hayley Westernra, from New Zealand.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPBPimxlUnw

After our candles for joys and concerns we concluded with these words by Rev. Johanna (Jopie) Boeke, Unitarian Minister emeritus:

SOMETIMES by Johanna Boeke

Sometimes we are so filled with ourselves, that we only see ourselves, and not the person next to us or opposite us.  May we enlarge our souls, and make room for others.

Sometimes we no longer have hope for each other or for ourselves, or for the future.  Sometimes we ignore each other, speak only words of pain and separation.

May we be given new words, words of peace, words which create community, words which bring healing and blessing and belief in the future.

May we open our doors and invite others in, feeling safe in spite of our vulnerability.

May we learn to live with each other and for each other.