In these summer months, some are in a
position to be able to take a break from their usual routine and even go to a different
place, for rest, refreshment and recuperation.
We call these breaks “holidays” and this could be spelt “whole-days”
for they are a valuable tool in making us whole again.
The gift of becoming whole again after a
period of being worn out, of splintering, alienation, tension, stress, and even
injury has traditionally been seen as coming from the gods, and there is
something in us as humans that feels grateful and even wants to say “thank you”
for it. Even for people to whom the words
“god” or “gods” seem meaningless there often remains this sense of gratefulness,
though it may be difficult to know to where it could be directed. Let us just note that this floating
gratefulness, which we all sense from time to time, is part of the mystery of being
human, and that the word “mystery” originally meant “those things that it is
impossible to speak of”.
For those people who can in some way associate
a meaning with the word “god” it comes as no surprise to feel “mystery”. For many people, the word “god” is merely a
reverential synonym for the word “mystery”, and they use it to refer to the
ultimate mystery, the whatever it is that is the absolute fabric or rule that
arches over all the gaps in our knowledge, experience and sensation of living in the
universe.
As we muse on the opportunity to take
a break, and what it might mean to be grateful for that, let us also remember those who cannot get
away from their usual routine. Especially
those for whom the usual routine means violence, oppression, incarceration,
violation, lack of shelter, instability, disease, starvation, thirst.
May we in our gratefulness remain open
to the humane task of helping where we can, for no other reasons firstly that we are
able to do so and secondly that doing so seems very often to be creative and in fulfilment
of who we as humans are.
The August worship meeting of Didymus (Ringwood Unitarians)
was on Sunday 10 August. Darren led the
meeting.
The theme was the need to engage with environmental issues as this Earth is particularly us and we it.
There is nothing definitive, nothing formal, nothing official that can describe or encapsulate the mental models that Unitarians use to describe our world. But there have been some good efforts at trying.
One of our favourite bloggers, whose blog you can link to at the bottom of this website, is Stephen Lingwood, and his latest version of what ties Unitarians together whilst setting us apart from non-religious types, is his blog entry of 17 July 2014, extracted below - cheekily, without his permission.
"Unitarianism is a theological tradition with commitments. This list could be improved, or put in different ways, but we really are committed to the following theological points:
1. There is a spiritual dimension to reality - though this should be understood as an existential claim rather than a metaphysical one. In other words there is a deeper, fuller, better, more mysterious, more alive way to live - and this is what the religions have been wrestling with for thousands of years.
2. Revelation is not sealed: the fullest truth about the nature of our lives and the universe has not once and for ever been revealed and codified at any point in the past. Instead we are part of our continuous process of seeking ever deeper, bigger and more complex understandings of this truth. We are part of a historical process of discovery.
3. The spiritual reality is imminently and fully present in the here and now. We do not look to the past for evidence of revelation or to the future for a time of fulfilment and completion. Neither should our attention be on the afterlife or some other place. Religion drives us deeper and deeper into this reality, not an escape from it.
4. Related to this is the affirmation that fundamentally reality, the universe, life is good. There is pain and tragedy, but ultimately "it was good" - it is good.
5. The human being (the human "soul" if you like) is a source and locus of spiritual reality. We are intimately involved in this: "the Highest dwells within us.... As there is no screen or ceiling between our heads and the infinite heavens, so there is no bar or wall in the soul where we, the effect, cease, and God, the cause, begins." Emerson.
6. We are One - we are deeply intertwined with one another in an "interdependent web of all existence" or an "inescapable network of mutuality" (ML King). This may be point 5 above just described in a different way. The fundamental truth of our existence is that we are not separate but deeply connected with all that is.
7. Human beings have sacred inherent worth and value. For this sacredness not to be trampled human beings must be free. Therefore relations between people should be based on free consent and not coercion.
8. Related to this is the realisation that the human race is one. We have more in common than divides us. There is not one particular people who are superior. There is a foundational equality for all people.
9. We live in an non-optimal world where the oneness and equality of all is frustrated by various systems and forces. It is a moral obligation to seek to put this right and commit to justice. Or, to put it another way, love and spirituality cannot be separated. "You cannot love God without loving your sister." Religion must lead us to a greater compassion, and any religion that does not increase our capacity for compassion is a false religion.
10. Community is necessary. We cannot live out these truths in isolation, but must enter into the discipline of community-making to live out this calling in the world.
11. We are ultimately hopeful about this universe. Not immediately, "not without dust and heat" but eventually there is a reason for hope. "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well." "
