Physical death and the spirit lives on

First week of advent - Saturday

Neale Donald Walsch suggests in his Conversations With God books that if we don't like the word "God" we substitute the word "Life." Instead of saying, "God loves us," we say, "Life loves us."

During this Christmas season we reflect on the Life we have been given, what it means, what we should do with it, how we should respond to this gift.

During this contemporary time of materialism we are constantly encouraged to grasp for more. Nothing is ever good enough. We are satisfied momentarily and then want something more. The technical term the psychologists use for this phenomenon is "hedonic adaptation."

The stoics tell us that what we should strive for is contentment. We should eschew desiring what we don't have and focus on satisfaction with the things that we do. During this advent season we re-focus on what Life has given us and as we feel the increase in gratitude and appreciation we are then able to allow our gratitude and appreciation spill over to others. We are reminded, forcefully, during advent what it is we have received from Life that we can share with others.

Sheyrl Crow sings

My friend the communist
Holds meetings in his RV
I can't afford his gas
So I'm stuck here watching tv
I don't have digital
I don't have diddly squat
It's not having what you want
It's wanting what you've got

I'm gonna soak up the sun
I'm gonna tell everyone
To lighten up (I'm gonna tell 'em that)
I've got no one to blame
For every time I feel lame
I'm looking up
I'm gonna soak up the sun
I'm gonna soak up the sun

 

Question of the day

Where is truth and meaning to be found?

First week of advent - Friday

The idea that humanity's biggest fear is the fear of God is a staggering idea. As human beings we are very willful. Like three year olds we say to God, "You're not the boss of me. I can do it myself." And in our separating from our Divine source, we have to ask ourselves in all humility, "How is that working for us?" If we are honest, we probably either laugh or cry.

It is hoped that during the Christmas season, the air will be filled with more laughter than with tears. This will take our acceptance of the Divine source of which we are an extension. We welcome this recognition and some, if they are in the spirit and not engaged in "hum bug," will rejoice in peace and love for all human kind. It is a blessed time of year in the remembering of the divine incarnation in ourselves and our brothers and sisters.

Question of the day

What are your best hopes for your spiritual development? What do you want to have happen?

First week of advent - Thursday

As we prepare for the remembrance of the divine in the world in the myth of a fragile baby born to a teenage mother in a barn, we should also remember that we were all fragile babes at one time. Were it not for the protection, care, and nurturance of others we would not be reading this article right now. In considering this we become aware of our radical dependence on others without whom our lives would not have endured and blossomed.

Advent is a time, as we reflect on our radical dependence, of enormous gratitude to others. The best expression and manifestation of this gratitude is in sharing what we have with others. We give our gifts whether they are physical objects, psychological attention and comfort, spiritual hope and blessings.

This blog is a gift to you, freely given because of what we have received, hopefully full of spiritual hope and blessings. Pass it on if you like or not. You undoubtedly have gifts of your own to share.

Body or soul: Which is for sale?

The first principle of Unitarian Universalism is to covenant together to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Are we talking about the body or the soul when we talk about inherent worth and dignity? The mistake is to focus exclusively on the body and forgetting about our souls. This confusion is a major source of anguish and sorrow for us humans.

Who can be safe and secure and at peace who has an enemy? Belief in enemies is to believe in peril, insecurity, and war. This is the situation of most of humanity who sees enemies around every corner, hiding under every tree and stone ready to terrorize and traumatize. This perpetual state of anxiety, this continual war on terror is not the Will of God but a state that humanity has created and imposed on itself. If God's will is something different from what humanity wills for itself, humanity even fears the Will of God which is only for love, peace, and joy, but is opposed to what humanity has been choosing for itself.

Humanity's fears are for its bodies not for its souls. In our spiritual growth we come to understand and appreciate that it is our spirits that matter ultimately not our bodies. Bodies are nothing but organs and molecular structures which are constantly changing and impermanent. Bruce Cockburn sings a song in which the lyric is "there is a day when we all have to be pried loose."

And so we should refocus from our bodies to our souls and consider what, if anything, is the enemy of our souls? Mature souls know that the biggest danger is that we give our soul away or sell our soul to the devil temporarily under we eventually are found again.