What a joy it was to be together again, in the Meeting House, to be starting anew by meeting in person. After a gap of two and a half years owing to COVID19, for us as a congregation this felt like a new beginning. And though for each of us it will be different, we shared this new beginning.
Now, for first time blog visitors and regular readers alike, here is the periodic reminder. We are not Bible scholars, nor do we hold that the Bible contains more or better quality wisdom than any other source. What we say is that the Bible is where our forebears started; hence referring to the Bible can provide a shortcut to a shared understanding, as the same words and pictures have been re-interpreted in each generation, over centuries.
We say too that the practice of reading it with new eyes is something else we have inherited from our forebears. We don’t start from “What is God saying to us through this text?” but from “What words has the author put together here and why (and what is the crucial influence of the translator)?”
And thirdly, we say that what the Bible may convey must be supported by our lived experience; and that this stance too we have inherited from our forebears.
Early Unitarian congregations and communities came out of Presbyterian congregations, Baptist congregations, Congregationalist congregations, and even Anglican ones. They were joined by individuals from many other backgrounds to boot. It wasn’t ritual, or theology, or even practical organisation that they had in common. It was these three things:
The Bible, the drive for lived Truth, and the measures of reason and conscience as their guide.
These three taken together was what was new in their beginning.
But now we face the diametrically opposed problem: there are so many sources of wisdom open to us, from cultures worldwide, that as we take each our own path of exploration, it can be a lonesome journey — and the concept of ‘an experience in common’ lies in splinters and shards. Let’s face it, it’s hard enough to find someone to chat with about the same television programme last night — we never watch the same things — how much more difficult is it now to have a shared ground to stand on when discussing deep matters of the spirit?
So though we value influences from all religious, philosophic, artistic, scientific, natural and just plain suburban sources, we hold that hanging onto the practice established by our forebears is a good and authentic rallying point. Rallying — congregating — is what we are about. We walk our own private paths between gatherings, but the whole point of a congregation is to congregate on a shared ground for mutual support. So we tend to start from the Bible.
"We light our chalice-candle, invoking the divine light that shines in stars and suns and the bright eyes of a child.
We light our chalice-candle to invoke the warmth that wakens the divine life in cold earth and cold hearts.
We light our chalice-candle so we can see the divine beauty in a flower and the human beauty in courageous love
Amen"
Spirit of Time and Place, Cliff Reed, pg. 29 (https://www.unitarian.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2002_Spirit_Time_Place.pdf)
When we met on 14th August, our first reading was from the book of the prophet Isaiah chapter 61, verses 1 to 4. What we heard were the words of the prophet, as recorded.
Our second reading was from the book of Mark chapter 1, verses 1 to 11. This is the story of John the Baptizer and his baptism of Jesus, as narrated by the poet-author we know as Mark. Depending which translation you read, the first line is,
“Beginning of the good word of Jesus the Anointed, Son of God.
“As is written in Isaiah the prophet, 'Look, I am sending my messenger before your face, who will prepare your road, the voice of a crier in the desert...', so John came along, bathing others in the wilderness and announcing the washing of a changed heart for the forgiveness of wrongs.”
Our president for the day reflected on the two readings he had brought to our attention, as follows.
“Over the course of the past few years we have been on a journey of new beginnings as a congregation and as individuals. We meet together today, in some ways different and in others the same as when we last gathered here.
“One of the things that has flourished over the past two years has been a book reading group, by way of daily SMS text exchanges sharing thoughts and feelings around what has been read that day. We’ve read a variety of books together, but one stands out as having been a game changer for me. Perhaps we worked up to it in some of our other reading, perhaps other books helped remove some barriers first, but this book opened doors for me in a way I can’t help but want to share.
“It was a book I had read before, but I very much felt as if I was reading it for the first time. I had had clear ideas what the book was about and opinions about the author, but this time I realised how much I had assumed, how much I had taken onboard other people’s opinions and understanding without being aware of it. So when I stopped reading it how I thought I was ‘supposed’ to read it, it suddenly looked very different and far more interesting. It was a new beginning.
“That book was the Gospel of Mark. Did you know that it has no nativity, no virgin birth, no Trinity, no Jesus as God-Man, and that it even stops before any Resurrection?
“Did you know it is possible to read it simply for fun like a novel, to read it as an ancient tragedy play, to read it as a philosophical dialogue, to read it as a political commentary?
“Did you know you can read it and never once find yourself in Sunday School, or being told what it means or what you have to do? I’m suggesting trying it. Many Unitarians have personal histories with the Gospels and the Bible in general. For some of us, those histories are painful and complicated. So the Bible can be triggering as well as inspirational, but if you can do it safely it’s worth trying.
“The readings today are an offering of a shared new beginning for anyone who’d like to take up this suggestion."
“There in Isaiah we read of a good news that has nothing to do with redemption from sin or getting into heaven. Nothing written there about Jesus. Instead, we meet another ‘anointed one’, another ‘Christ’, showing us that this title is far more shared and far less narrow in its application — it’s not just Jesus who is denoted 'Christ', 'anointed one'.
“If we can read this very first line of the Gospel of Mark differently — if we can, straight away, start reading a different book from the one we thought we knew — what else can be different, what else can be new?
“Your reason will interpret what you find in Mark. Your conscience will tell you what is of value and what you can happily forget. Your drive for a lived Truth will decide if anything there nourishes your spirit or changes your practical life.
“And maybe, by holding some images and stories in common as a community we’ll have a framework for ready expression of ideas, a place to start talking and sharing our personal insights. The aim is never that we all think the same, or that we limit the places we find inspiration and wisdom, but it's this: that here at our new beginning perhaps we can learn from our forebears’ shared new beginning.
“It’s an offer, a suggestion, no time limits, no tests. I got a lot out of re-reading Mark as it’s written and not as I thought it was. Today’s readings start us off together. Where any of us goes from here is up to them.”
