Gaia: Unitarian Universalist Perspectives - Water Cooler

Re: Identify yourselve's

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:01:05 GMT

I'm a member of Rogue Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (RVUUF) in Ashland OR, USA

I'm active. I chaired the Long Range Planning Committee
                   I'm in the "Not Just Another Men's Group"
                    I'm participating in our Peacemaking Study Group
                   I'm part of our Caring Network
                   I participate in our Adult Ed program

Our size is about 170 members

Website http://rvuuf.org

Identify yourselve's

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 17:50:38 GMT

Are you a member of a UU church or fellowship?

Are you very active?

What activities interest you?

Where located?

Size of congregation?

Does your church/fellowship have a website?

Re: God Rest Ye Unitarians

http://SaraG330.gaia.com — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 23:34:39 GMT

Heh heh, I love that! I emailed a link to the pastor of my fellowship.

Namaste,

Sara

Re: Summer Reading?

http://mcfarland.gaia.com — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 14:01:26 GMT

I am currently reading:
"A Brief History of Everything" by Ken Wilber
"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
"The Battle for Christmas" by Stephen Nissenbaum
"Agile Software Development with Scrum" by Ken Schwaber and Mike Beedle

I recently finished:
"The Lost Gospel of Judas Iscariot" by Bart D. Ehrman
"Reading Judas" by Elaine Pagels and Karen L. King

Re: Summer Reading?

Sun, 27 May 2007 14:05:41 GMT

I am currently reading:
    A New Earth, Ekhart Tolle,
    60 Days and Counting, Kim Stanley Robinson, 3rd in a triligy

I just bought
    The Speed of Trust, The One Thing That Changes Everything, Stephen M. R. Covey

Re: New Hope

http://mcfarland.gaia.com — Thu, 24 May 2007 19:37:17 GMT

Our Interim Senior Minister finished up his 2 years with us (I was only at my church for about a year and a half of this time) this past Sunday, so we will be without a Senior Minister this summer. We still have our Assistant Minister to give some ministerial continuity, but will have lots of guests in the pulpit between now and when our new Setlled Senior Minister joins us in late August.

Jim

Summer Reading?

http://mcfarland.gaia.com — Thu, 24 May 2007 19:32:37 GMT

Anyone have any interesting books they plan to read this Summer?

New Hope

http://mcfarland.gaia.com — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 19:01:44 GMT

Just thought I would start a thread for any of you who are experiencing a ministerial transition this year, and specifically going through a candidating week this Spring.

My congregation in Atlanta just finished candidating week last Sunday and voted to call a new senior minister. There is an air of excitement and hope here that I have not seen since I started attending about a year and a half ago.

I know of one other congregation in my area that is about to start their own candidating week.

Anyone else in the pod going through the same?

later...
jim

Re: Tulsa UU

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 07:14:49 GMT

What an interesting social action! Sounds like "Age of Aquarius" and the "TM" goal all wrapped up into one thing. It certainly needs to be publicized widely, and needs to happen more often.

One thing that occurs to me, for my liking, is that the focus would be on people (think global, act local) and less on "The United States of America".

I believe that as we (humanity) moves forward into the future, local and global will rise in importance, and national (patriotism) will decline.

Thanks for sharing, and keep us posted on how this action progresses.

Steve

God Rest Ye Unitarians

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 20:28:52 GMT

(cross posted to my blog)

God rest ye, Unitarians, let nothing you dismay;
Remember there’s no evidence
There was a Christmas Day;
When Christ was born is just not known,
No matter what they say,

O, Tidings of reason and fact, reason and fact,
Glad tidings of reason and fact.

Our current Christmas customs come
From Persia and from Greece,
From Solstice celebrations of the ancient Middle East.
This whole darn Christmas spiel is just
Another Pagan feast,

O, Tidings of reason and fact, reason and fact,
Glad tidings of reason and fact.

There was no star of Bethlehem,
There was no angels’ song;
There couldn’t have been wise men
For the trip would take too long.
The stories in the Bible are historically wrong,

O, Tidings of reason and fact, reason and fact,
Glad tidings of reason and fact.

©1990 by Christopher Raible
baldfacedly stolen & posted with no permission whatsoever...
...for educational purposes, of course!

Tulsa UU

http://amaradodave.gaia.com — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 01:56:27 GMT

Come see what the UU church in Tulsa is helping to create!

https://www.wisdomuniversity.org/sacred-activism-index.html

comments are welcome!

UU Visitors to Kentucky

http://fenww.gaia.com — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 17:05:12 GMT

All UU's and friends,

Recently we moved here to O'boro KY (90 miles West of L'ville - we'll teach you how to pronounce it when you arrive...) and have become active in an impressive artistic/ theatrical
community here (River Park on the Ohio R. gets lots of talent passing through). Also, we found a cool UU society/Church which has eased our immersion ( New Englanders and my new bride is from France) into the RR Belt.

We have decided to open our substantial home to UU's and friends who may dare enter this strange land. 2 weeks ago we had a delightful young actor from NYC by way of Maryland who was part of a group acting here in Narnia . Photos are on my website fenweb.org/JPandMA (also a recent great horned visitor is shown)

If you get near the area, give us a call 270 691-4800 or zaadz us.

PS- Marie-Anne is the laughing angel in my profile photo - taken at our Oct. reception at the UUCO church.

Re: self-feeding market-place apostles

http://mcfarland.gaia.com — Fri, 03 Nov 2006 17:01:55 GMT

"My concept of G*d and my biggest problem with the Christian or Muslim concepts is just that : I think of G*d as being a life force (for everything, not just human beings) and is beyond ANY person's comprehension. Certainly, it does not have the ''man-like'' qualities which have been given in the Bible."

I agree, though after being in Christian churches up until I was 41, I can say that not all Christians have the traditional old man in the sky view of God either. I know that I didn't, even in the last several years I was a Presbyerian. I consider myself a panentheist and have more of a metaphysical than "human" concept of God.

"Further, after study of the Pagan ideas conceived hundreds of years before the Bible was put together and then rewritten in Nicea, to me, it is fairly obvious that the attributes given to Jesus were really copied from previous persons or deities, especially that from the Zoasterian Mithra/Mehur and I find it incredulous that so many on this earth have bought the various programs by the ''churches''."

I can relate to this as well. I think the big issue is that most Christian churches do not encourage members to learn about Christian history in a scholarly way. In all my years as a Presbyterian, I can't remember anyone else I met who was reading books by authors like Elaine Pagels who look at Christian history outside of the "orthodox" traditions. Her books, ideas from the Jesus Seminar, and studying mythology and eastern religious challenged my beliefs, but never changed the way I tought of the teachings attributed to Jesus. When I read "The Jesus Mysteries" and other books by Timothy Freke and my conceptions of who Jesus was and his historocity were challenged, I still remained interested in those teachings, even if I now felt the storied were pure myth. I still to this day and not sure if Jesus was a real person or a Jewish version of the Pagan ressurected godman, but either way it does not matter. The truth in the teachings is universal truth.

So, my ideas of Jesus are not your mainstream Christian ones, but at my UU church, many folks seen to hold a fundamentalist view of Christianity and don't want Jesus, God or the Bible to be mentioned at all in services. So, once again, I find myself in the apparent minority in feeling that the teachings attributed to Jesus (and the true ones, not teachings falsely attributed to Paul and assumed to be those of Jesus) are important. Many UUs seem to buy the fundamentalist type of Christianity as what Christianity is all about and aren't open minded to the fact that folks drawn to UUism but who value Jesus are a different type of "Christian". Enough of my rant... sorry.

Jim

Re: self-feeding market-place apostles

http://fenww.gaia.com — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 22:40:45 GMT

''...a lot bigger than anyone of us could every fathom or comprehend.''
My concept of G*d and my biggest problem with the Christian or Muslim concepts is just that : I think of G*d as being a life force (for everything, not just human beings) and is beyond ANY person's comprehension. Certainly, it does not have the ''man-like'' qualities which have been given in the Bible.

Further, after study of the Pagan ideas conceived hundreds of years before the Bible was put together and then rewritten in Nicea, to me, it is fairly obvious that the attributes given to Jesus were really copied from previous persons or deities, especially that from the Zoasterian Mithra/Mehur and I find it incredulous that so many on this earth have bought the various programs by the ''churches''.

More to come later.
Lance Dazzle

Re: self-feeding market-place apostles

http://fenww.gaia.com — Wed, 01 Nov 2006 22:40:37 GMT

O.W. L.

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:19:14 GMT

I've posted to my blog today about this FABULOUS program.

Re: self-feeding market-place apostles

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 17:35:28 GMT

what a neat statment "chasing G*d", I love it!

I agree with much of what he says in the documentation, I think that there is a new trend to re-evaluate the traditional dogma rhetoric, and grow beyond them. I am not so sure that Christians in the west have a foot hold on twisting extra lengths into the vine.

I myself, as a result of years of study in a fundamentalist church, then years of study away from it. have learned that G*d is a lot bigger than anyone of us could every fathom or comprehend. I certainly can agree about the knowledge part. I have seen ministers take very simple text and spin it into something that isn't even close to what the esoteric literature they are referring to says.

mental knowledge is a good thing, but spirit filled revelations of the knowledge is much more powerful. When we are quiet, in the stillness... we can hear G*d.

peace
BWW

Ralph Waldo Emerson

http://imuuru.gaia.com — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 03:48:20 GMT

In church this morning (The Unitarian Universalist Church of Little Rock), we did a responsive reading with Ralph Waldo Emerson's words. The words were so moving that I wanted to share them on Zaadz. Here goes:

The Oversoul

"Let us learn the revelation of all nature and thought; that the Highest dwells within us, that the sources of nature are in our own minds. 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.

"I am constrained every moment to acknowledge a higher origin for events than the will I call mine. There is deep power in which we exist and whose beatitude is inaccessible to us. Every moment when the individual feels invaded by it is memorable. It comes to the lowly and simple; it comes to whosoever will put off what is foreign and proud; it comes as insight; it comes as serenity and grandeur.

"The soul's health consists in the fullness of its reception. For ever and ever the influx of this better and more universal self is new and unsearchable. Within us is the soul of the whole; the wise silence, the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related; the eternal One. When it breaks through our intellect, it is genius; when it breathes through our will, it is virtue; when it flows through our affections, it is love."

I think this passage really describes my own personal theology. It captures the interconnectivity of humans and nature, the individuality, and even acknowledges a very personal yet divine presence I have known in my life during very important and also very mundane moments. Such a presence has given me confidence to make choices that have lasting effects. Does anyone else feel a connection to this passage? If so, I would love to hear about it!

Re: self-feeding market-place apostles

http://emptycloud.gaia.com — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 01:18:04 GMT

Thanks for your comments here fellas. I am glad you share my sense of hope. Here is a snippet from Niel's writtings, he sufggested that i share it as I see fit so i may cut and paste a few of the ideas here as I proof - read............e.

Everywhere I went, I found that a great many people, from a great many religions, were chasing after God. My fundamental question, “Does my loving God love me more than these other people?” I further extended my experience of other cultures by traveling the world. was expanded to include Muslims, Hindus, Animists, and all other people. I turned the question around, “Does my God really love those people as much as He loves me?”
After years of evaluating the questions above, I now realize that God loves everyone with the same, consistent, endless love, and He is giving everyone opportunities to have a personal relationship with Him. The weak, unsupported answers given to me as a child made no sense to me.
A fundamental problem in the United States is the belief that to “know” means to have collected data on a subject, giving us knowledge “about” that subject, but to “know” biblically means to understand from relationship or personal experience with a person or subject. The vastness and beauty of our amazing universe may lead to a belief in a higher power; but it does not lead to a personal, intimate relationship with God—to “know” God in the biblical sense. To truly know God in this manner requires a revelation from God. Instead, Western Christians attempt to build their theology from human intellectual reasoning, which distorts the truth.
Flowing from the understanding that it takes God to know God, I have modified my world view. Everyone in the world has opportunities to know God, in the biblical meaning, as God reveals Himself. They do not have to wait until the white man sails to their shores thousands of years after Christ rose from the dead. Westerners are not necessarily better informed about the things of God than are people on the other side of the earth. Is it not obvious that everyone tends to distort God’s revelation to better fit their own selfish desires? Christians try to add to Scripture and claim their “birthright.” This attempt to advance theology by adding to Scripture apart from the revelation of God puts people in the whitewashed sepulcher category with the Jewish Rabbis. They expanded the Ten Commandments until thousands of rules and regulations took precedence over a listening relationship with God. Christians do the same when they add regulations to baptism, or to the Lord’s Supper, or to their unique systematic theology. Christians divide the Body of Christ with man-made religious prosthetics.

Re: self-feeding market-place apostles

http://frenchbear59.gaia.com — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 20:55:14 GMT

What an interesting image - and that is really a breakthrough for someone, who has been in ministry for so long, to realize that some of the old paradigms are not serving in the way they used to. As a person who still finds himself in a UU church with a minister - we seem to stay current and active, we don't allow ourselves to get "stuck in the mud".

But I think this serves as fair warning to all the established churches, that getting in touch with that fundamental reality that undergirds all human experience (be that "God" or "Ground of all Being" or "the divine" or whatever you choose to call it), is not something that is the exclusive realm of churches, synagogues, temples, what have you. This would CERTINALY be a revelation in the Muslum and Christian clergy. What a wake up call to the radical elements in all faith traditions.

Bravo - thank you for sharing.