What are two things of beauty you have become aware of today?

Unitarian Universalists, like other Protestant denominations, threw beauty out of church after the reformation. The Protestants are nothing like the Catholics when it comes to beauty. Protestants saw the Catholics use of statues, paintings, architecture, music, liturgy as a form of idolatry and so they purged their churches of the Roman influences. It is too bad. Where are the great UU cathedrals, icons, music, liturgies? There are few things that UUs can point too when the topic of beauty is raised in religious imagery. The flaming chalice is about it. The "living tradition" has not motivated or inspired much else beautiful when it comes to expressing and articulating its religious vision for human kind and the world.

Beauty is what moves us. The path of the ego pushes the ugly in front of our awareness constantly to capture our attention and encourage our emotional arousal and response. The path of the ego is littered with fear, contempt, disdain, criticism, rejection, and abandonment. These tactics are woven into our lives causing angry attacks, depression, anxiety, and to their extreme: homicide and suicide. The path of the ego is the path to hell.

Exhausted, totally demoralized, on the verge of a nervous break down we cry out to the Universe, "There must be a better way!" And the Universe gently and lovingly responds with signs that there is. And we become aware of what A Course In Miracles calls the Atonement or At-onement.

We come to understand that the path of the ego is hell on earth and its main motivating force is fear. We realize that the path of the spirit is heaven on earth and its main motivating force is love. We come to the fork in the road and realize that we can continue on the path of the ego which is filled with rear and ugliness or the path of the spirit which is filled with love and beauty. Which will I choose: the high road or the low road?

The low road is easy because we can sleep walk it. It takes no effort. The high road is difficult because we have to be awake and awareness while it may not take more effort, it does take discipline.

Beauty is comprised of the true and the good and it illuminates our consciousness. We are moved by it and surrender to it and it fills us with grace. A thing of beauty is a wonder to behold. To make heaven on earth we need to recognize and acknowledge at least two things of beauty we have become aware of every day.

While the path of the ego is littered with ugliness, the path of the spirit entails abundant beauty.