#Unitarian gathering in Ringwood considers the beauty of a complex, interrelated world and what Togetherness does for us

In our gathering on 13 May, we explored ‘Togetherness’ through the first chapter of Genesis and the prologue to the gospel of John.  A world where everything is in relation to something else; everything understood, and interacted with, as part of a larger whole.

 

We wondered at the beauty, elegance and mystery that we are living in such a world, and are not outside observers of such a world.

Then we considered how to look beyond our own relatedness by 'following the gaze' of others whose different 'relatedness' gives different perspectives on that world. Together we can see more.

We could, apparently, as humanity, all stand on the Isle of Wight.  So we thought it might be relevant to show here some different perspectives on the Isle of Wight...... 

A safe personal space for expression of deep experiences and ideas - Ringwood #Unitarians give the floor to a newcomer in April 2018

The gathering on 8th April was given as an opportunity for one of our newer participants to lead on a topic of her choosing.  When someone has shown an interest and has participated with us we feel it is right to extend that invitation, in the Unitarian ethos of spiritual exploration in the setting of a community. We make the invitation knowing that this may be the only safe space someone has experienced in which they can speak. 

A community setting intrinsically requires acknowledgement that each is on their own journey and that those journeys weave together in a narrative, a dialogue, a time for speaking and a time for listening, as well as a time for reflection, integration and - of course - rejection of ideas.  We are always grateful when someone takes the personal risk necessary to speak out, but we are under no obligation to agree with what they say.   And because we differ, it is quite likely that what one finds to be “the answer” means very little in the context of another’s life.  The responsibility, as in any conversation, lies with both speaker and listeners, to make what they will of what is being said on that day. 

On Sunday, it became clear that our speaker has the sense, after some journeying, that she has arrived at a waypoint.  She has marked that waypoint by collecting together her findings and the guidance she has received – in a website, as it happens – and it was from that store that she spoke at our gathering.

In a move unusual for our meetings, the speaker set aside the published framework for our gatherings.  In case you are wondering, groups meeting under the Unitarian umbrella are at liberty to set their own format and content, so it is not unknown for some fairly innovative forms of gathering to emerge, depending on which congregation you come across.  Generally, though, if you come to a meeting of Didymus (Unitarians in Ringwood), you can get an idea beforehand of what to expect by looking at the tab “What we do when we meet" on this blog.

The #Unitarian demand for personal responsibility in matters of spirit requires maturity - the Ringwood gathering in March 2018 looked at Letting Go

Familiar faces were gathered there together on 11th March when we met to focus on the topic of “When I was a Child” – Letting Go.

We are vulnerable when young, when inexperienced, and in many other circumstances when we are reliant on the guidance and words from others, rather than on what we have found for ourselves.

We each have a ragged journey towards maturity.  We progress slower in some aspects than in others, and it is common for us to go to our graves immature in some way or other, with friends posthumously describing us as having had an incurable blind spot (or two) that were part of our unique charm.

For the most part we aim to become adult across the broad sweep of human activity, and to keep growing up throughout our life, but we forget that some ideas or rules that we take for granted are those we inherited as a child.  Unexamined, these can cause problems instead.

It is particularly important that we mature in our spiritual life, which is to say in those values and beliefs that, though hidden, drive our deepest and most instinctive behaviour. 

Instructions meant to help us in our early years need to be let go when we have moved on from the help they can give.  The choice and challenge are our own.  We have to take responsibility for our own becoming, our own knowing, our own doing, and our own relating to the world.

If we don’t let leftover, irrelevant knowings diffuse away, or transform into something more appropriate, we are the authors of our own continued knottedness.  It’s not always easy to do, especially since – inevitably – those instructions were given to us when young by people whose authority we trusted, often within the family or placeholders for family.

The readings we heard were by the apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 13), William Shakespeare (Romeo & Juliet, Act 2 Scene 2) and Dennis Lee/Jim Henson/Terry Jones (Sarah’s closing speech from the film Labyrinth).  We also enjoyed learning some new chants, some trickier than others.

Through dangers untold and hardships unnumbered,

I have fought my way here

To the castle beyond the Goblin City,

To take back the child that you have stolen,

For my will is as strong as yours,

And my kingdom is as great.

You have no power over me.