The sombre gathering in March 2022 - looking for hope in a darkened world #Ukraine

We gathered online in March in the first few days after Russia invaded Ukraine, when the general mood in the public space and in our own private spaces was dark, angry, fearful and unhopeful.  Light was hard to find.

The president for the day managed to capture this mood perfectly by choosing the topic “In the Shadow of the Cross”, and picking a path through some sections of scripture seldom mentioned in Unitarian gatherings.  This was not in order to persuade, or to divert people from their own hard-won positions, but in order to show the power of biblical literature to express deep currents of emotion experienced by humanity at stressful periods in history.  Tuning in to expressions of those personal experiences, experiences which outlast every shift in history, experiences which may be thought of as everlasting, as the same in every age, is valuable.  Especially when nothing that is being said in the media news cycle seems to touch our personal responses to what is going on all around, deep, dark and ugly.

The gathering started with the following words as we lit the candle in our chalice: 

"My soul is sorrowful, even unto death, stay awake and keep watch with me" (the book of Mark in the Bible, chapter 14 verse 34)

This is the call we answer tonight. 

There are people fearful, and we would be with them.

There are people grieving and we would be there.

There are people who must make choices we are currently spared, and whilst we dare not counsel we would have them know they are not alone tonight. 

In the darkness and the quiet we will be with them,

We will seek strength for and with them,

We will seek comfort for and with them,

And we will hope that each of us may rise to answer the call we alone can discern in our hearts.

The first reading was from the book of Psalms in the Bible, from Psalm 22, where the poet is in great anguish from the world, and sees and feels a gaping hole where they thought God would be to help them.  Nonetheless, the poet salvages scraps of trust from the Jewish faith that God is there, not far away.

The second reading was from the book of Luke in the Bible, chapter 26 verses 23-43.  This is the story about the man Jesus being executed in the vicious and cruel way that Romans treated their criminals — crucifixion —  and about the exchange between Jesus and two criminals also being crucified alongside him.

About the first reading, our president for the day said, “It is a powerful poem, a cry of anguish and perplexity.  I freely confess that I do not share many of the assumptions of the poet about how the world should work but that does not hold me back from entering into the experience of what is being voiced.  Just as I can read and resonate with a poem by Rudyard Kipling without sharing his views on Empire, or one by Gerard Manley Hopkins without being a Catholic, so too I can turn to the Psalms and find value without being obliged to a fixed world view. 

“Psalm 22 is not just a cry of pain, one amongst many voices raised in a world of suffering, it is the cry of pain of people of faith. The anguish of not just experiencing the horrors of fear, torment, and hunger, but doing so when everything you believe about the world says this shouldn’t be happening.  Where is the God who saves, why are bad things happening to people who have led good lives, what does this say about us and … whisper it … what does this say about the God we believe in?

“When beliefs meet realities, when what has been trusted to sustain through hardship weighs heavy instead, when there is true suffering in a world we want to call good, how do people of faith go on?”

The second reading was reflected upon as follows.  “Our second reading takes us to another familiar place, to another image of suffering.  In the story woven by the author we are presented with a man in extremis.  A man in whom, we have been told time and time again, no crime could be found.  A man we have seen doing little but be kind.  And yet here he is being publicly humiliated, and tortured to death.  Whatever else the author is trying to paint for us here, this is an image of unjust suffering, of a world not being how it ‘should’ be.  When we speak of the Shadow of the Cross it is this shadow, the shadow of innocent, undeserved, inexplicable suffering; a shadow that would dim the light of faith; a shadow made darker by that same light.

"Here we have a man of faith, an ‘Everyman of faith’ if you will, having everything he preached thrown back in his face, having his convictions about the world dashed, on the rocks of how the world actually is.  I cannot imagine the pain, the shame, or the anguish coursing through him in these moments.  Where was that other way of living in the world, the other ‘kingdom’, now?  People hadn’t repented, they hadn’t had that change of heart, and now Might was triumphing over Right.  Power, not Compassion, was having the last word.”

In the reading, Jesus is mocked by the Roman soldiers on execution duty, and by the Jewish leaders who had led him away to the Romans for becoming a trouble maker in the region.  One of the suffering criminals also mocks him, challenging Jesus to save himself and them, too.  But the second dying criminal, of all the people in the scene, takes a different standpoint.  

Our president went on, “We call him the ‘Good Thief’, but it was not for being good, nor for simple thievery, that Rome crucified.  Let us be under no illusion — this was a man who had lived by the sword, who had been wed to the logic of Might and Power.  Yet this was the man who, despite his own suffering, despite his own vulnerability, spoke up for our Everyman of faith; not because his words could change the world they lived in, but because it was right, because he felt compelled to do so.  A life governed by Might and Power, seemingly suddenly under a different law, a different kingdom.  Right and Compassion broke through. 

(extract from the reading) '...... he said, 'You got the same sentence as he did, but in our case we deserved it : we are paying for what we did.  But this man has done nothing wrong.' '

"How tenderly he then speaks: 'Jesus, remember me, when you come into your kingdom'.  He calls him by name, not by any of the mocking titles thrown at Jesus, not even by 'Teacher'; he calls him by name and asks to be remembered, the one who had repented, who had had that change of heart; and in that instant shows that the kingdom Jesus believed in, where it is Right and Compassion that governs our lives, is still at hand. 

“Beyond all looking for, or expectation, it turns out to be Jesus who is preached to on the Cross, who is shown that his faith was not misplaced.

“They both still suffered, they both still died: beliefs about a world where these things shouldn’t happen still met the realities of a world where they do.  Nothing made it all ok, but in that shadow, Jesus was not alone, and what he had lived for, and ultimately died on account of, was shown to hold true.  People can change, and against all the odds people do make choices answering the call of what is right and of compassion. There is bravery, there is kindness in the world, when those are the very things that seemingly should not be, but they are; and, every time we live in that way, we too are in Paradise, not because suffering ends, not because all our needs are met, but because this is the world our faith tells is meant to be.

“This is the world as we speak of it ‘in the beginning’.  I dearly hope there is someone on hand for me, for you, and for all those suffering tonight and in the time to come, who will say our name with kindness, and against all the odds make the world that ‘is meant to be’ present for a moment, for as long as it lasts.  More than that, I dearly hope for us all that we too will answer that call of Right and of Compassion that will enable us to bring Paradise to those we meet.”

A personal meditation on #Ukraine - March 2022

One of our group has supplied this personal point of view on the invasion of Ukraine and their personal reaction to it.  It was written as a 'note to self'.

Don’t be angry about Putin (or Johnson, or injustice anywhere) to the point of being miserable. That will just make you difficult to live with. 

We are made for co-operation — to operate with others — and co-operation is facilitated by acting for the other, acting out of compassion. Wiping each other’s tears. Being ‘leaning posts’.  Providing what is most needed in the action of mending.  We are made for the good that we can spread, and we feel fit and well if we act in line with that, our natural nature. 

What makes us well, strong, resilient, courageous, is to be who we really are.  And who we really are is that we are in relationship and we are made for goodness.  

So don’t give in to the shock, the cognitive dissonance, that suggests Putin’s actions break every common human rule.  This act of his is not a change to anything.

Don’t worry that you don’t understand why Putin has done what he’s done.  Don’t even think about his failures as a human being.  Don’t try to understand him as a person.

Don’t look over the garden fence, because you have, as the Desert Fathers and Mothers would say, a corpse already, in your own living room.  Try instead to understand your own person.

There will always be wickedness in the world. There will always be things that are suddenly, irretrievably, lost or broken. There will always be things that tempt you to outrage and smouldering misery. 

There will always be people who break the rules, for reasons you can’t understand; rule-breaking that makes you very angry.  You will never be able to fix that.

You will never be able to fix those people.

You can only fix yourself, by reframing what has happened, and what now lies before you, and by trusting the natural order of things for the rest. 

The only thing to do is to try to spread compassion, even in the face of oppression, violence, greed.  Work on your own compassion, and trust to God for the rest.

This is no appeasement.  And it is no easy task.  Being a light in darkness, or a vulnerable citadel on a hill, demands steadfastness and trust. 

The easier path is to falsely imagine that going in, guns blazing, will eliminate the problem.  It won’t, and it will introduce more problems. 

Seek inside yourself for your own source of natural compassion and act from that. We are meant for goodness.  We are wired for it.  Do not let Putin, or anyone else, move you away from the place in yourself that is the source of compassion.

Find a way to stay in your own natural compassion, and act from there. 

~~~~~~~

If none of that helps, and if you must, then think of things in terms of time, in terms of the long-term.  Things always come round in the end.

Do not go into Ukraine to kill.  Better that fewer people are killed now, fewer holes torn irreversibly in the human fabric; better that the current burden of pain, in all war’s forms, is shouldered by someone — even by those who didn’t deserve to have to shoulder it; better those things, than that you, over and above them, in your own life, and in the ripples coming from your life, increase the burden of anger and hate that the world has to carry. 

In the end, through people’s natural justice and natural compassion, things will be turned around.  No dictatorship can last forever.  Once people have decided to be free, nothing will prevent them from becoming free. 

~~~~~~~

Or if role models help you, there are these.

Gandhi, whose peacefulness freed India from the imperial British.  And Mandela, whose decades of incarceration changed him from a terrorist to a peacemaker. And the Dalai Lama, who under other circumstances would have been a peaceful leader of a small Himalayan nation; but who through the violent theft of his country became one whose compassion and wisdom illumines the entire world. 

You might even think of the figure of Jesus, in the oppression of Roman occupation.  The narrative of his silence and non-violence, in the face of certain and gruesome violence towards his person. The legend of his dying words of forgiveness.  

If persons can do this, can live from their place of compassion, while risking losing everything except their determination against violence, and can make a difference in the world, then so can you. 

Continuing hope against the darkness - January 2022 - Unitarians in Ringwood muse together on the fragility of the world

For those for whom one look at the topic in December was not enough, we continued with the theme of ‘Hope’ for our January gathering.  We feel we cannot talk of hope too often.

Along with some uplifting online music, some silent contemplation, reflection or meditation, and the lighting of candles with which to name our joys and concerns, the following elements were present in our time together.

Our president of the day had selected Bible readings from the books of Isaiah and Genesis.

We lit the chalice candle and in the quiet we reflected privately on what it was that had brought us to the gathering; on what matters to us; on the ideals we hold and how we have lived up to those ideals in the recent past.

The first reading was from the King James Bible and was Genesis chapter 1 verses 1-12.  It starts with the spirit of God moving over the waters just before the creation of light, and ends with the creation of the earth and the renewal of the plants growing on the earth.

The second reading was from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible and was Isaiah chapter 42 verses 1-9a.  It describes and praises the servant that God has chosen to bring forth justice, and refers also to the creation story.

The president reflected as follows.

~~~~~~~~

In our Unitarian tradition we share in stories and images that transcend us as individuals, as communities, even as a movement.  We draw inspiration and find meaning in the re-telling and re-living of things, which unite us with many across the divides of history, geography, creed and practice. Our Unitarian tradition leads us to share our joy while not imposing our view.

And our Unitarian tradition leads us to take responsibility for what we read into our heritage and what we do on account of it.  To us the Scripture we share is not the law, perhaps not even a witness; rather, it is the account of a journey to the heart of what matters.  Scripture can move us but never command us, wake us but not force us to work.

In our first reading we heard about the making of the world: from the breath of God rippling the waters of the darkness, to a blue and green world beneath the heavens.  How beautiful and how fragile it seems.  Land so recently submerged, now between the waters above and the waters below, which could surge together at any moment. 

This fragile beauty we perhaps get a sense of from those first pictures of our earth taken by the astronauts looking back from the cold emptiness of space.  Our beautiful world, green and blue.  In that fragility we can see the audacity of hope that is at the heart of Creation.  When everything clamours for the empty darkness, when all things tend towards that, there is form, there is life, there is hope.  The philosophers ask why there is something rather than nothing.  Not just why there is this or that; but why anything at all?  Why not the empty darkness that seems to be where all things tend?  At the heart of Creation in this story, at the centre of the world we know, there is a hope that makes no sense: but it is there.  An audacious hope against all reasonable expectation.  It is not a promise of things being ok, it is not a changing of the fundamentals of the world; it is a defiant, joyful, fierce spark at the heart of all things. 

Hope is not an add-on or balm: it is the pulse, the rippling breath on the waters of the dark.  A world born of hope, and held in hope.

Our second reading takes us hundreds of years and hundreds of miles from the narrative of our first author.  The prophet Isaiah, in exile in Babylon, speaking to a people who had seen their homeland burn, their culture and certainties ripped apart and who are now being asked to hope an impossible hope.  In the face of injustice, of oppression, of disenfranchisement, they are being asked not only to imagine a better world but to start living in it.  To live in a world no more 'there' than was the blue and green of our earth, as the breath rippled the waters in the dark.  That same defiant hope at the heart of Creation burns at the heart of civilization.  Though everything seems to tend to chaos, and despite the injustice of “might is right”, that spark, that pulse of hope goes on.  Why is there kindness rather than chaos?  Why is there love rather than nothing?

Though not for all, for some of us the cadences and phrases of these two readings will be very familiar.  We will hear the echoes of the spirit moving over the waters in the story of Jesus, just before he comes up out of the Jordan at his baptism.  We will hear the words of the song of praise sung about the child Jesus as he was presented in the temple.  We will hear the justice demanded, in terms of the Beatitudes Jesus (on the Mount) offered to us as a way of life.  Again, the gospels were written hundreds of miles and hundreds of years removed from Isaiah, but once more we find a radical, defiant hope against hope.  A story of a life lived contrary to all the givens of the world around; a life not lived out of ignorance, not out of wishful thinking, not out of a certainty it would all be ok, but lived in hope.  A life lived in a world yet to emerge from the darkness, a world only yet the barest ripple of breath. 

At this time of year I wish for us all hope, hope for a better year, for a better future, for a better world.  May we feel that pulse, that breath, at the heart of our green and blue world, at the centre of our civilization, and may we respond to it courageously and generously.  I cannot tell you why there is something rather than nothing, why kindness rather than chaos, but there is; and may that fill us with hope.

May you live in interesting times - a #Unitarian lightbulb moment leads to a resolution to read The Arian Christian Bible

The topics of our gatherings in Ringwood range across a broad canvas of influences, as you would expect for a Unitarian group.  We have strengths in the areas of classical philosophy and living according to the Christian monastic traditions, both in community and in secular life; as well as an interest in natural religion, Buddhism, Earth Spirit and Pagan traditions, and Hinduism.  But funnily enough, we rarely talk very much about Jesus the rabbi and wisdom teacher.

Nonetheless, one of our number has volunteered the following little piece that broke in on her while she was attending and participating in a Church of England service for Palm Sunday.  It seems particularly relevant given the turbulent times we are currently living in, and the demands that are now surfacing for reform of the British political environment.  “May you live in interesting times,” goes the old Chinese saying, and it is meant as a curse!

~~~~~~~

“I am not a traditional, trinitarian Christian but I do find some meaning, in an unconventional way, in a Communion service.  So I participate in Church of England services in my own way, and if asked I am always honest and say I am there in an interfaith capacity.  Being asked why I am there, I have to say, is a very rare event.  Like most churches, I think they are glad to get the numbers up and they are also sensitive to the fact that no one expects to talk very much about their own personal faith after services.

“Many of the assumptions in the prayers and usually some of the sermonised explanations I have to set aside; but there is always something for me there, if nothing more than a safe space in which to worship God in my own way.

“At the Palm Sunday service I went to, the preacher developed some queries about the fig tree cursed by Jesus, and how it was that a colt could possibly have been made available for him without his disciples being involved. (Mark, Chapter 11).  At the point where the preacher started talking about the very stones crying out if the people were silenced, I was suddenly apart from the rest of the congregation as a thought broke in on me, like a lamp being switched on.  And it was this:

Jesus taught how to live compassionately and all inclusively, in the service of an intimate relationship with God, in a religious and political framework that was unjust and which needed reform.

And he was obedient to his way of life, no matter the shame threatened upon him, and the pain, torture and death done to him.

That seems highly relevant today.

And I would do well to think about Jesus more often.

"So I have come back from that service with the clear intent of making the next book I read The Arian Christian Bible published in 2010 by the Institute of Metaphysical Studies, USA. In the foreword to that book, Charles D Levy says: “It is the Arian contention that the only place the spirit of Jesus exists is in his words and in the hearts of people who read those words.”  

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.

How do we befriend death: reflecting on assisted dying #unitarians

This was the Didymus Day lecture for 2016, on Saturday 2 July, and the address was given by Revd Canon Dr James Woodward, Principal of Sarum College, Salisbury.  We are grateful to the Montgomery Trust for making this lecture possible. www.montgomerytrust.org.uk

James spoke first about the composition of the parliamentary Commission on Assisted Dying; what was commissioned (the question to be answered), who was on the panel, how the Commission worked, and what it did.  He displayed the report that came out, which was a volume of many pages.  James then set out the argument against assisted dying, followed by the arguments in favour of assisted dying.  After that he was frank about his own views based on his experiences, and why it was that he had felt it necessary to dissent from the findings of the Commission, a matter which unfortunately overshadowed the media announcement of the completion of the Commission.

The arguments fall into these categories, and there are unresolved questions in each of them:

Arguments against assisted dying:
1.    The sanctity of life.
2.    Medical ethics.
3.    Protecting vulnerable groups.
4.    The slippery slope (or paradigm shift).

Arguments in favour of assisted dying:
1.    Personal autonomy.
2.    Compassion.
3.    Medical ethics.

The discussion was frank, varied and respectful.  A difficult topic, and many different views and questions were aired.  The issues and questions James left us with, to take away and think about, were these:

There is a need for us to work together to put our spiritual outlook on life to work in regard to this important matter.  In this we need to find space to talk about death.

• What is an ideal death?
• Can any of us ever have a pain-free existence?
• Are we worried about becoming a burden on others?
• What are most people afraid of when they die?
• What does "quality of life" mean?
• Does medicine strive to keep us alive for too long?
• What choices do we have?
• What are our fears of assisted dying?
• When suffering becomes unbearable do we have a duty to release the sufferer rather than prolong it?
• Can we befriend death and help others to do so?

We were also pointed to the websites
www.wellbeingindying.org.uk

www.commissiononassisteddying.co.uk

A Pagan view of compassion

With compassion very much at the forefront of our minds at the moment, we are pleased to read this personal view from a Pagan, though all the conclusions may not fit with our own views.  Do please follow the link - there's much food for thought.

Yvonne Aburrow says in it:

"But recently I have become aware that my “bubble of complacency” may actually be a bubble of white privilege. Part of white privilege is the ability to walk down the street without being suspected of a crime, to get a job based on one’s qualifications, to get a house without being discriminated against by the seller, the estate agent, or the person renting it to you. In short, these are actually rights that everybody should have access to. White privilege is also the inheritance of wealth and resources stolen from colonised countries and enslaved people – again, something that the descendants of those people should be entitled to, but are still denied, due to the lack of a will to offer or even discuss reparations."

A bubble of complacency

May 2015 meeting

Our meeting for reverence and worship this month had a look at the Buddhist logic for compassion, and led onto some practical actions that we can take to develop our power of compassion.  These include actively responding, inwardly, when we notice the feeling of compassion arising in ourselves; focusing on that feeling and allowing it to develop, and not just ignoring it or fending it off.  Then the Tibetan Buddhist source reading reminded us that there are all sorts of excuses to not outwardly act on our feeling of compassion, but excuses are self-defeating – because one of the best ways to develop ourselves as humans is to work in the world for the well-being of other beings.  We were encouraged to appeal to our inner Buddha-nature, the archetype of the perfect human being within us, by using a little prayer, easy to remember and to repeat during our daily round: “Bless me into usefulness.”

We remembered that it’s not just professionally religious or theological people who teach us about becoming all of a piece with the universe: we heard some words spoken by Albert Einstein about the whole that is the universe, which includes us as parts, lost in our own delusions.  And we listened to a fresh, simple song by Paul McCartney, saying “it’s there, it’s round, it’s to be found in you, in me – it’s all we ever wanted to be.”

We sang two hymns, one about compassion; and the second, which may yet become the anthem for small Unitarian congregations, about how even the tiniest action makes a difference.  We had a period of silent personal practice, and we lit candles and spoke about our concerns and connections. It was good to hold in mind our neighbouring Unitarian congregations at Southampton and Bridport, whom we have visited relatively recently.

In our coffee discussion afterwards we started talking about an additional meeting format we might introduce in 2016.  Something at a different time, when buses are running in the district, and when there are lots of people around – perhaps coming out of work.  With conversation, and candles, and coffee/tea.  Perhaps based on pre-announced topics or perhaps just people bringing their own inspiration on the day.  We would want to hire the Meeting House for this.  We would need a catchy name for it, though – albeit utterly honest, “After Work Candles, Coffee and Conversation” might be just a bit too cumbersome !  We will be thinking about this new initiative over the next few months.

After the meeting we set up a collection point for Christian Aid to boost the Ringwood awareness of Christian Aid Week, and to build on our involvement with the sponsored swim that started on the evening of Saturday 9 May  https://www.justgiving.com/CTIR/   It was good to collect some more donations for this amazing effort organized by Churches Together in Ringwood, which went on right into the small hours of Sunday morning, and by the end was the equivalent of a cross-Channel relay swim.

March 2015 meeting

Our March meeting for reverence and worship took the theme TRANSFORMING OURSELVES IN FAITH THAT BY DOING SO THE WORLD IS CHANGED TOO

We lit the chalice today with the words:

At any moment I could choose to be a better person.

But which moment should I choose?

We had our usual ritual of sharing bread, water, light, and fire.  Our only formal prayer for the day came from the Nadder Valley Inclusive Worship Service http://www.lulu.com/shop/lucy-harris/the-nadder-valley-inclusive-worship-service/ebook/product-17386813.html

Unseen Power and Pattern,

We live this life through You.

By Your laws and Your grace we meet in You here today

With our hearts, our minds, our bodies.

May this holy inspiration keep us in awareness of You in all times and all places.

We then carried out an exercise in which we set down on paper, privately, a list of people who had angered or irritated us recently.  At various stages in the service we came back to this list and reviewed it in the light of the readings we had been listening to.

Our scriptural reading today was not actually from sacred texts but was an accessible form of Buddhist instruction on evoking compassion, including words by the Dalai Lama.  This came from The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, by Sogyal Rinpoche  http://www.bookdepository.com/Tibetan-Book-Living-Dying-Sogyal-Rinpoche/9781846041051  .  Our secular reading was from a book by Dan Millman, The Laws of Spirit  http://www.bookdepository.com/Laws-Spirit-Dan-Millman/9780915811939 and it focused on choosing the perspective we wish to take - and how that affects how we see ourselves as either separate or as part of a unified, one consciousness.

Both the readings we heard were about changing the way we look at people; about transforming the way we look at people.  This is primarily to help ourselves to be happier; because if we change the way we look at people we are able to let go of many destructive attachments we have.  We begin to learn to let go of hate, revulsion, anger and violence, all of which destroy our own balance, clarity of vision, and well-being. 

 We also heard these sayings:

 By an unknown Tibetan Buddhist master :

“Give all profit and gain to others.

Take all loss and defeat on yourself.”

And by the Jewish teacher Jesus who, like all his people, was steeped in the Jewish tradition that there can be no justice without love, and no love without justice:

“Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”

It was suggested that if we properly followed either this Buddhist or this Jewish teaching, we as persons would be radically transformed.

We lit candles of joys and concerns and had our habitual 7 minutes’ of silence for prayer or meditation, according to personal practice.

We closed with these words by the internationally renowned physicist, David Bohm:

 “A change of meaning is necessary to change this world politically, economically and socially.  But that change must begin with the individual; it must change for him or her .... If meaning is a key part of reality, then once society, the individual and relationships are seen to mean something different, then a fundamental change has taken place.”

In the service we also sang hymns 172 and 35 from the green hymn book, in which we welcomed all people and remembered that there are many paths to God.