21 July 2024 – Unitarians in Ringwood connect in hope with Unitarians nationally

On 21 July we were delighted to welcome Mary Jones, Lay Leader in Training with Portsmouth Unitarians, and to have Mary lead our gathering.

Mary had been commissioned to go to the Annual Meetings of the General Assembly of Unitarians and Free Christians in Northampton in April, as the delegate for the Southern Unitarian Association.  And in leading our gathering on 21 July, Mary brought back the messages from the Annual Meetings, and specifically from the Anniversary Service, which is always the high point of the whole event.

The theme of our gathering was “The Ring of Hope”, and it included a story adapted from Jewish tradition regarding the strength of belief and how it can warp our vision; a poem from climate activist and author Claire Rousell, “Being Good Ancestors”; a blessing from Maori tradition; and a discussion in the round regarding what we can see of the future facing our grandchildren and their children.  We also had a number of hymns from our purple hymnbooks (thanks to the Portsmouth congregation for the loan of them), and a beautiful rendition of a song by Sir Elton John, taken from the film Moulin Rouge.

It was Mary’s optimistic view that when we see good change in our own lives, we can have hope for good change in other’s lives, and she took great pleasure in taking much inspiration from the Address given by Rev Ant Howe at the Anniversary service.  It was a rich homily and hard to précis, but if you are prepared to do a little work (and make a small donation, if you like?) you can download a magazine that includes a brilliant write up of Ant’s Address, at Issue 8081 of The Inquirer, here https://www.inquirer.org.uk/pages/samples  (cover shown in image below).

The take home point was : for those who crave a space to contend with life’s big problems, a way to connect with their spirituality, and a community with which to do that, they can still find that with us.  Within our Unitarian faith, there is a way of being religious and a community to share the journey with, that can be thing some souls are searching for — and we are not dead yet.  The task now is to wake up, strengthen what remains, and move forward, because people do need our faith.

And with that in mind it was lovely, afterwards, to recall that the next regional gathering of Unitarians and their friends will be on Saturday 7 September 2024, at the Unitarian Meeting House, High St, Newport (Isle of Wight).  Everyone is welcome (email lucyunbox.ringwood@btinternet.com for further information).

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.”

Seek ye first the kingdom of God? #Unitarians in Ringwood gathering in May 2021

On 9 May 2021 we held our second gathering for reverence on Zoom, which took the topic “Seek ye first the kingdom of God”. After the welcome words, and the lighting of the chalice candle as usual, we were given some minutes of silence to privately focus in on what matters most to us and how we have lived up to that recently.

There were two readings from the book of the Hebrew prophet Samuel.

In the first reading the Hebrew peoples ask Samuel to institute a kingship and appoint them a king.  In the second reading we heard about the dilemma of Jonathan (servant to the king Saul and friend to David, of Goliath fame) when he was asked by David for protection against Saul.

Then there was a reflection on the two texts, and why they had been chosen to address the theme. There was a time for silent meditation; and then the opportunity to share intentions, concerns and hopes — during which tea lights and other candles were lit.

In the absence of any physical ritual that could be carried out together, Zoom allowed us to speak aloud together one of the formal set of words becoming traditional for the end of our gatherings:

We are aware, and we affirm, that we do not find our peace in the certainty of what we confess,

but in the wonder of what befalls us and what we are given;

that we do not find our destination in indifference and greed,

but in vigilance and in connection with all that lives;

that our existence is not fulfilled by who we are and what we possess,

but by what is infinitely greater than we can contain.

(Extract from 2006 Confession of Faith of the Dutch Remonstrant Church)

The reflection on the two texts against the theme “Seek ye first the kingdom of God” follows.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God”

Jesus of Nazareth speaks often of this kingdom, and for some of us that resonates or intrigues enough that it warrants some reflection. But I haven’t chosen a single reading where these words are said by Jesus. Why?

A gathering of ordinary Unitarians
 (some years ago)

Firstly, and foremost, it’s because these words aren’t given special status merely because a specific someone said them. Unitarians don’t pay attention just because someone deemed to be an authority says something.  Today we are reflecting on “seeking first the kingdom of God” but not because Jesus said so.  We are reflecting on it because to someone in our gathering it meant enough for them to put it forward as a topic for our time together.

Secondly, the readings from Samuel place the words “Seek ye first the kingdom of God” which are reported to be words of Jesus (in the books of Matthew and Luke), within the context, within the tradition, in which Jesus was raised and lived.  Traditions are important to Unitarians, because Unitarians set great store on ideas being tested for meaningfulness in a succession of lives, in lived experience within a group.  Unitarians don’t generally ascribe to the idea of a revelation arriving as a form of words, some divinely dictated prose or poetry, containing unworldly secrets no one could otherwise know.  Even mainstream Christian groups recognise that words and ideas, the very language that forms the basis of all inspiring scripture, exists within a context, within a tradition.

Thirdly, I have chosen these readings because just as “seeking first the kingdom of God” was spoken within the context of a tradition, so too that is how we hear it. We too stand within a tradition, both as Unitarians and as people growing up in the West.  Our tradition is one of the Bible, its stories, its sayings, parables and psalms and associated hymns and carols, cribs and crosses; but also a tradition of Paganism and science (some of which rubbed off into Europe from the Islamic knowledge-base of the Moors), myths, pan-European history, art, architecture, customs, certain ways of doing things —  even our political system. Traditions aren’t ‘pure’; they’re not closed off.   In the Bible itself we find Canaanite, Babylonian, Greek, Egyptian, and Roman influences, images, and ideas. These were the cultures and worlds — the traditions — that the people of the Bible, including Jesus, moved in. 

We shouldn’t be surprised, then, that our Unitarian tradition is open to Hindu, Earth Spirit, Buddhist, Taoist, Muslim, Jewish, Humanist, and many many other influences. What makes a tradition isn’t its ‘purity’, or its single source: a tradition is made by having a living thread of continuity.  We are not adrift, we are not unfocused scavengers here and there: we have our tradition.  And the choice of readings helps reflect that.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God”

In our first reading (1 Samuel 8: 4-22a) we find Samuel being asked by the people to give them a king. Since their escape from Pharaoh, and in the days before they went back into slavery, the Hebrews were a people under God, a people of extended families managing their own affairs, with Judges who would arbitrate using God’s law to decide between standpoints when it was less clear who was in the right and the wrong. 

That way was failing as the people grew more numerous and new Judges became corrupt, so the people asked for a king. 

We see the kingship, the kingdom of God being placed on the one hand, and another kingship, another kingdom being placed on the other. We see the people turn away from God, his kingship, and his kingdom.

What we don’t see is any talk of heaven, any talk of reward and punishment in a future life. The kingdom is “here and now” choices, “here and now” ways of living.  

The kingdom of God is presented in opposition to the kingdom where the king takes the best for himself and his servants, where the king takes away the best of the land and puts people’s sons and daughters to work for his benefit not their own. 

The kingdom of God isn’t offered as a future time and place, away from all the injustice and exploitation we see around us: it is a choice we are asked to make now, a way of living we are asked to embrace here. 

In this first reading it is clear that the kingdom of God, which Jesus the carpenter’s son asks us to seek, isn’t in the clouds — it’s in the dust of the everyday.  This would have been well understood; those who heard Jesus speak would have heard him within this context.  

Just the everyday life
 in which we are asked to seek the kingdom

If you are in any doubt, ask yourself why the Romans would condemn a man to death — the penalty for leading a non-violent rebellion against the state, against the Kingdom of Caesar — if all Jesus was talking about was heaven?

The kingdom we are seeking within our Unitarian tradition isn’t heaven, isn’t a place to defer justice to.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God”

In our second reading (1 Samuel 20: 1-23) we have moved on a few years from the time when people asked for a king.  They were given King Saul.  But power, and possibly guilt, has slowly driven Saul mad, and the kingship is passing bit by bit to David. 

We join the story with Jonathan trapped in the middle. Jonathan’s father Saul is the rightful king, and Jonathan is bound to him by just ties of loyalty and filial love, but he is not blind. Saul is increasingly erratic and violent. Now David comes to Jonathan and asks for his help.

What David is asking could be seen as treason to the king, a violation of the laws of the kingdom, a betrayal of Jonathan’s father and the natural hierarchy.  But following the rules as laid down does not take Jonathan to where we leave him in this story. 

Jonathan pauses; and in that moment another kingdom breaks in, another rule of how to live.  Jonathan does not ask himself what the law says, or what custom dictates: he asks himself where does LOVE lead, what does RIGHT ask of him in this moment. 

Jonathan seeks first that other kingdom, that other way of living life, that kingdom of God. Yes, he knows the rules of the world he lives in, the laws of cause and effect, and he is not blind to what his choices could mean for him; but FIRST he asks himself what is RIGHT, what is LOVING, and then decides his course in this world, here and now. 

The kingdom of God isn’t an easier option we could follow instead of living in the real world; the kingdom of God isn’t a realm where we get to make well-intentioned choices and be free of any difficult consequences. 

What is right, what is loving, means nothing if nothing changes; it means nothing if things get worse while we wrap ourselves in good intentions. 

First, we make space for God’s kingdom, the rule of right, the rule of what is loving, then we make our choices to make that present in the here and now. Every time someone does that seeking, that kingdom is a little closer at hand for all of us.

Within our Unitarian tradition we can hear that call, we can make our choices; not adrift from the needs and the realities of the world, but here and now. 

The door to a fairer better world for all may be closed but we can knock; the way to Paradise may be lost but we can seek. The kingdom is always at hand.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God”.

Liberation for all in a time of enforced confinement - a Seder meal online and why we celebrate this Jewish festival #Unitarians

In 2012 I heard a talk by Dan Mark Cohn-Sherbok, a rabbi of Reform Judaism and Jewish theologian, who once had a congregation to tend, but who is now Professor Emeritus of Judaism at the University of Wales.  On the occasion I heard him, he was speaking about his book, The Palestinian State: A Jewish Justification, publ. Impress Books. ISBN 978-1-907-60529-1.

What follows owes a very great deal to Professor Cohn-Sherbok, and what he said that day.

(Associated link:  https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/non-religious-virtual-seder-new-unity-passover-tickets-101876290728   )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There is a narrative for this period of the year that informs both Jewish and Christian thought processes, and it is recorded in the Christian Bible, in the book of Exodus, coming to a climax in chapter 12.

The enslaved Jewish people, the children of Israel, known then as the Hebrews, were rescued from their oppressors of Egypt, by God.

It happened like this.  The Hebrews were to slaughter a lamb for their evening meal and mark the doorposts of their houses with the blood of the lamb.  All of the lamb was to be eaten, and eaten quickly, with all leftovers to be burned in the fire.  They were to eat “fast food” with the lamb: unleavened bread, not waiting for the sourdough to rise; bitter herbs for flavour, but otherwise nothing fancy to be cooked.  For they were on the eve of travelling, of making their escape.  They were in haste, and were to be in their travelling clothes as they ate.

During the night, God punished the oppressors by killing the first born offspring of all their families and all their cattle — only families where the doorposts had been marked were spared.  God passed over those doors; this was God’s Passover.

And during the night, while the Egyptians were in the midst of the chaos and grief of what had happened, they ejected the Hebrews, who got out of Egypt quickly before the Egyptians could change their minds.

This is the story of the Passover, and the meal associated with it is known as the Seder. And the command was given and received, that this feast of the Passover shall be celebrated every year and by all generations of Jews, ever more.

And the journey undertaken to escape is known as the Exodus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Jewish theology of liberation is that the message of God is that there is to be relief of oppression for all.  It is a statement of hope, too: a steadfast belief that there will be God’s justice for all.

This is the meaning of the Passover celebration.

So Jewish thought, and those who inherit their thinking from Jewish thinking, must be sensitive to oppression wherever it occurs.

And linked to the Exodus is God’s Kingdom, the realm of God, which cannot be installed without justice and elimination of social misery.  This is a human responsibility and is not a metaphor; this is not a command to fulfil a personal, tranquil, internal state, but rather a responsibility to satisfy the outward, practical conditions of freedom and justice for all humans alive.

Moreover, the Passover is not an isolated event in the narrative of the Jews.  Many Jewish prophets called the Jews to treat all people as equal, Jews and non-Jews alike.  The God of the Jews, the one God, has a track record of requiring the freedom of all, and of justice for all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was to celebrate the feast of the Passover that Jesus left Galilee for Jerusalem, around the year we call 33 CE.  On the first day of the week (Sunday), he arrived in Jerusalem, for the seven day period of contemplation, and the daily eating of unleavened bread, as described in Exodus Chp 12 vv 14-20.  No work was to be done.  A quiet time was to be had by all.  And then the feast of the Passover would be celebrated and the Seder meal eaten, on the seventh day, the Saturday, the Sabbath.

The arrival of Jesus is described in the Christian Bible and celebrated by Christians as Palm Sunday.  Jesus is said to have arrived in Jerusalem astride a donkey.  He will then have embarked on a period of domestic quiet in the company of his family and followers.

But somehow in that quiet week spent with his followers, it became apparent to Jesus that not all his followers were true to him and his cause; to his teachings about the way to instal God’s Kingdom on Earth; and the need for justice by way of love of, and service to, those oppressed.  Judas, it was, who had become disillusioned and who had sold Jesus out to the Jewish authorities, perhaps as a heretic.  On the Thursday of that week Jesus shared his last evening meal of unleavened bread and wine with his followers, including Judas.  In his mystical, esoteric way, Jesus endowed great meaning to the elements of the meal, and we can argue to this day about the meaning of the words attributed to Jesus, as they ate.  One thing is sure: according to the reports of the meal recorded later, Jesus was being completely congruent with the idea that the Seder meal is inextricably linked with liberation, justice, love, humanity as one, and one with God in the realm of God.

Sadly, Jesus did not get to enjoy the Saturday feast of the Passover that year.  He had already been executed by the Romans, on the Friday, as a sop to the excitable Jewish crowd, who probably knew little, actually, about Jesus; on the weak pretext that Jesus was an agitator and subversive, threatening Roman rule.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unitarians are beginning to make a point of celebrating the ideas of oneness with God and the whole created cosmos with a Seder meal.  And at present much of the world is in an enforced quiet, contemplative time, responding to the COVID19 virus pandemic.  Not so very different from the traditional preparation for the Passover.

If you are interested in reflecting in a new way on these Judaeo-Christian narratives, and the significance of the Seder meal in relation to liberation, justice, and relieving the burdens of people marginalised by mainstream society, perhaps you might like to participate in an online Seder service, next Saturday, 11 April 2020, 5:15 pm BST, organised and provided by New Unity Unitarian congregation in London.

Have a look at the wonderfully full description of the event, which will be accessed via Eventbrite, at the link below.  The link will also allow you to register for the event.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/non-religious-virtual-seder-new-unity-passover-tickets-101876290728

#Unitarians look at Roman legend and Norse tradition to consider the moral imperative regarding conflicting demands

On 9 June a smaller group than usual met at Ringwood Meeting House, for what turned out to be, nevertheless, a heartfelt gathering.

Our hymns for the day were “Morning Has Broken” and “Joy to the World” - a rousing hymn to end on and we decided that it is too good to be kept for Christmas!

After opening words from Rev David Usher we lit the chalice candle to words by Greg Ward, notably including , "Though each of us carries forth in this world a small flame, we know that the ability of that light to brighten the world depends upon the many others who learn to walk with it in their hearts.”

Our two readings were intriguingly diverse.  The first was from Northern Tradition for the Solitary Practitioner by Krasskova & Kaldera, and it spoke of the concept of wergild.  At first glance this may look a little like the Roman Catholic idea of restitutions.  But wergild rests not on the idea of justice but of balance. The distinction is that for justice there is a person in the right and a person in the wrong and the latter has to pay the former in order to be made right again, but the idea of balance does not begin with one being in the right and the other in the wrong.  Wergild assumes that in the world, where there are conflicts of interest, some will come off better than others; and if one has come off better there is a moral duty to be aware of that and to find a way to recompense those who came off worse. The Roman Catholic restitutions concept is a making of amends; the wergild concept aims at preventing one conflict leading to another and another and another, ad infinitum.

By Hermitage Museum - http://www.arthermitage.org/Baldassare-Peruzzi/Androcles-and-the-Lion.html, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=34591039

The second reading, which was our children’s story, was the legend of Androcles and the Lion, as told by Aesop.  Androcles the runaway slave is brave enough to pull a thorn from a lion’s paw, saving the lion from painful suffering and, perhaps, death through infection; and is later saved from the punishment of death in the Roman arena, because the lion he faces there turns out to be the same lion, who refuses to kill him.

After the readings we participated in our usual circle ritual, where we each offer up in our own minds, according to our personal beliefs.

We had then the opportunity

• to name what we had been grateful for in the past month;
• to spend time reflecting on our recent or past actions for the purposes of general or personal reconciliation, in silence or out loud as desired;
• to sit in stillness for our usual period of seven minutes for meditation or contemplation; and
• to offer prayers for others, including the lighting of candles.

After a musical interlude and some reflections on the theme highlighted by the two readings, our closing words were by Rev Andy Pakula.

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.”  

April 2017 meeting for reverence – recognising and staying with suffering, showing respect to others Ringwood #unitarians

Our meeting for reverence this month was held on 9th April, celebrated by western Christians as Palm Sunday.  That’s the day when it is remembered that Jesus of Nazareth was celebrated and welcomed as potentially the leader of a new order as he arrived in Jerusalem, prior to the most important feast of the Jewish year, the Passover.  In Judea at the time many were asking questions over the just exercise of power, and the right to self-determination.  Questions which should not go away and which must continue to be asked, as lessons from even recent history are gradually forgotten.  It was thought that Jesus was going to confront ruling interests with these questions.

Over a number of our gatherings recently we have been expressing our concern and dismay at the turmoil caused by dissension, division, disagreement, conflict and war all around the globe at the moment.  And that is on top of what could be thought of as the ordinary sadnesses, chaos and upsets experienced in domestic and family settings.

It would be possible to feel, and act, as if powerless under these circumstances.  Rather, in this meeting, we exercised our option to face it, square on.

We reflected on staying in the discomfort of recognising suffering, showing respect to others by acknowledging it.  Unusually for us, both our readings came from the Christian heritage; specifically, the Gospel of Mark.  The first was the section on the triumphant entry into Jerusalem, and the the second was on the subsequent agony in the garden of Gethsemane. 

"The key to meditation is learning to stay."

After our period of silent meditation, a practice which figures in many world faith traditions, we sang hymns of peaceful resistance (“Kum-ba-yah,” and “We will overcome, some day”).