Dear Readers,

I apologize for not having a regularly scheduled post up for you this morning. Due to the untimely illness and death of my cat, Hobbes, and my impending move to New Mexico, things are pretty crazy around here!

So, Best of UU is going on hiatus for the next three weeks as my family gets this move out of Chicago over with. Look for a new post on Monday, August 13th.

Until then, here are words from singer-songwriter Patty Griffin, from her new CD Children Running Through. You can listen to the song and an interview from NPR here.

I’m not sure if Patty is a Unitarian Universalist, but her songs resonate with many of us (I look forward to singing this one in church someday!).

Enjoy.

Heavenly Day

by Patty Griffin, from Children Running Through

Oh heavenly day, all the clouds blew away
Got no trouble today with anyone
The smile on your face I live only to see
It’s enough for me, baby, it’s enough for me
Oh, heavenly day, heavenly day, heavenly day

Tomorrow may rain with sorrow
Here’s a little time we can borrow
Forget all our troubles in these moments so few
All we’ve got right now, the only thing that
All we really have to do
Is have ourselves a heavenly day

Lay here and watch the trees sway
Oh, can’t see no other way, no way, no way
Heavenly day, heavenly day, heavenly day

No one at my shoulder bringing me fears
Got no clouds up above me bringing me tears
Got nothing to tell you, I’ve got nothing much to say
Only I’m glad to be here with you
On this heavenly, heavenly, heavenly, heavenly
Heavenly day, all the trouble’s gone away
Oh, for a while anyway, for a while anyway
Heavenly day, heavenly day, heavenly day

Source: Singer-songwriter Patty Griffin, from Children Running Through

Today is the birthday of Bobby Henderson, founder of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. The what, you may ask?

In response to the Kansas State Board of Education’s decision in 2005 to require the teaching of “Intelligent Design” in the state’s schools as an equal alternative to the science of evolution, Mr. Henderson wrote a very entertaining, and apropos, letter, insisting that the schools must also teach his version of the creation story, glorifying the Spaghedeity, since it seemed to him to be just as probable as the theory of “Intelligent Design.”

The Wikipedia writeup of the ensuing phenomenon is quite hilarious.

To bring this back to the subject at hand, Unitarian Universalism, today we explore the relationship between science and religion. Rev. Preston Moore, co-minister of the Williamsburg Unitarian Universalist Church in Williamsburg, Virginia, gave this sermon this past Earth Day (PDF), in which he posits science in our Unitarian Universalist churches as a spiritual value, and Unitarian Universalism as uniquely poised to mediate the balance between the “holy work” of scientists and theologians alike:

Working at the Water’s Edge: Toward a Reunion of Science and Religion

worship service led by Reverend Preston Moore, Williamsburg Unitarian Universalists, April 22, 2007

A little over a hundred Aprils ago, a twenty-six year old clerk working in the Swiss Patent Office dashed off a whimsical, newsy letter to a friend. “Conrad!” the letter writer began, “What are you up to, you frozen whale, you smoked, dried, canned piece of soul?” After asking about the condition of Conrad’s soul, the letter writer brought his friend up to date on his somewhat eccentric hobby: theoretical science. Squeezed in alongside being a husband, a father, and a government worker, it seems he had found time to write a few science papers.

This chatty correspondence is still around for us to peruse because the writer was a guy named Albert Einstein. In one of those spare time science papers from 1905, he worked out the special theory of relativity, the foundation for work that transformed physics forever. I bring Einstein to church with me this morning because religion and science are acting like antagonists these days; and yet Einstein, who became the living symbol of science, was passionate about their interdependence.

He described the deep religious feelings of scientists this way — “a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection . . . It is beyond question closely akin,” he said, “to that which has possessed the religious geniuses of all ages . . . [T]he cosmic religious experience,” he declared, “is the strongest and the noblest driving force behind scientific research.”

(Read on … )

A prayer today from the Rev. Jennifer Owen-O’Quill, who serves “2U,” Second Unitarian Church in Chicago, IL. I had the privilege of being in the sanctuary of that church the morning she gave this prayer:

Prayer

by Rev. Jennifer Owen-O’Quill, September 10, 2006

Creator of Life, Source of Love, God of many names, yet always nameless - we seek after You this morning.

When we find ourselves separated from others, either with loneliness and isolation or with anger, hurt or fear, help us to find a way to reach out and break through our constricted hearts and forlorn spirits to find ourselves connected once again with family and friends. And if we are unable to reach out ourselves, may there be someone who reaches in and offers us the shelter of their friendship.

We all need to know Love — to give and receive this is the greatest gift of human life. May we be fashioned into a people that are able to share this Love. May we be fearless in offering our love into places when warmth and compassion seem absent.

May we stretch our hearts even further than we thought possible to reach someone whose has hurt us so deeply that anger and vengeance have boiled in our blood. Give us the patience to persevere as we seek to offer our forgiveness for even those deep wounds, for we know our own anger can turn on us, and cause even more hurt and suffering for us and for those we love.

And may we rejoice with the love that comes to us, generously and unexpectedly.

And may that force which creates and sustains Love be ever present in this sanctuary, and dwell at the heart of this community now and always.

For the world, with its war and misunderstanding, its hatred and prejudice, needs so much of the grace that brings love to the most unexpected of places. Surprise us with that grace, and fashion us into a people who might be instruments of Your peace.

Shalom, Salaam and Amen.

Source: Rev. Jennifer Owen-O’Quill, serving Second Unitarian Church in Chicago, IL, September 10, 2006

Many people join a church for community, for solidarity, for a place to belong. This sermon by the Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, senior minister at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, OK, illustrates just how powerful that belonging can be.

Rev. Lavanhar and his family suffered the terrible loss of their three-year-old daughter, Sienna, last spring. This was the beautiful, heart-felt message he had for his congregation on Homecoming Sunday, four months later:

Finding Our Song

By Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, September 10, 2006

Once upon a time, back when people still had time, back before time was something we put into little circles and carried around on our wrists, there was a time when the world burnt down. There was nothing left on the face of the planet but a thick layer of coal and ash. All that survived was a bird named Ekanchu. And Ekanchu flew all over searching for signs of life. But he found none.

Ekanchu thought that he should try to find the special tree, the one where the holy men (the shamans of the community) went, in order to allow their spirits to rise into the heavens and descend into the dark places. Ekanchu figured if only he could find that tree, then maybe, maybe he could find life.

(Read on … )

Unitarian Universalist blogger Joel Monka submitted today’s piece to the (now unfortunately defunct) UU Blog Carnival for September, 2006, on the topic, “What gets you through the hard night?” Joel blogs at CUUMBAYA, “Conservative Unitarian Universalist Member Blogging As You Asked!”

What gets me through the night

by Joel Monka

Neopagan faiths are called “Earth based religions;” most people think that means we worship the Earth itself. Some in fact do — there is that old joke that Wiccans make the best lovers, because they really do worship the ground you walk on! But it also means that we are oriented on this world, not the next. The Abrahamic faiths teach that the next world is the real one, that this life is merely an entrance exam. Most Neopagans believe in a form of reincarnation — either as an entity, or that the energies we have gathered are recycled, like a rock band breaking up to form new groups with new sounds. Even those that do believe in an afterlife — primarily those that call themselves heathens — believe that any judgment they face is based on their performance in this world, not on the mental gyrations they went through to prepare for the next. The essence of all these possibilities is one reality at a time… if you make yourself truly worthy of this world, you have nothing to fear from any other.

But there is yet another depth to the term “Earth centered” — that we must live in the present tense. Here is what I have written in my personal Book of Shadows:

(Read on … )

It is quite impossible to summarize the importance of William Ellery Channing to the early Unitarian movement, so I encourage you to read the excellent biography on the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society’s Biographies pages for more information.

This small piece of writing, among all his wonderful sermons, essays and orations, has long resonated with me — I think I read it during my first year as a member of a Unitarian Universalist church, and it solidified to me that I was, indeed, in the right place.

UPDATE: Though I still highly recommend that you read about William Ellery Channing at the above link, I mistakenly attributed this poem to him instead of his nephew, William Henry Channing. Lot of talent in that family! You can read a little bit about William Henry at Wikipedia.

My Symphony

by Rev. William Henry Channing (1810-1884)

To live content with small means.
To seek elegance rather than luxury,
and refinement rather than fashion.
To be worthy not respectable,
and wealthy not rich.
To study hard, think quietly, talk gently,
act frankly, to listen to stars, birds, babes,
and sages with open heart, to bear all cheerfully,
do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never.
In a word, to let the spiritual,
unbidden and unconscious,
grow up through the common.
This is to be my symphony.

Source: Rev. William Henry Channing, “My Symphony,” quoted in numerous places including transcendentalists.com.

Today, a short newsletter column from the newly called minister of the Universalist National Memorial Church in Washington, D.C., Rev. Lillie Mae Henley.

UNMC is slightly unusual in the Unitarian Universalist Association, in that the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth are central to the worship life of the church, though there is no creedal “test” for membership in the congregation. The church itself was built as the “headquarters” of the Universalist Church of America, before that organization merged with the American Unitarian Association to form the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1961.

Enjoy:

Words from Rev. Lillie, June 1, 2007

Newsletter article by Rev. Lillie Mae Henley, Universalist National Memorial Church in Washington, D.C.

My father said, more than once, “Never argue about religion.”

I don’t know whether it was my father’s wise words, or my own nature, but I’ve never been inclined to debate or argue religion. I have had discussions about religion, but when the other person(s) become argumentative, I find a way to extricate myself from the discussion.

I won’t argue, because my father was correct. Beliefs and religion are highly-invested and internalized, and it takes more than words to change personal beliefs.

What people believe are their experiences, and what changes their minds and their lives, is living out the stories of their lives.

Perhaps you remember the news story of the rabbi and the skin heads surrounding a synagogue on the west coast a few years ago. The details for me are vague, but the story is clear. There was a group of skin heads who routinely desecrated a synagogue with graffiti and threatened the lives of the rabbi and his family.

It happened that one of the skin heads became chronically and critically ill. He had no one to take care of him, and the rabbi and his congregation became his constant support system. It was not very long before the skin head changed his mind about his “enemies.”

Reaching out, caring for, forgiving, and reconciling are the actions that changed the lives of everyone involved. It was not words; it was behavior that changed their lives.

When we think about making a difference in the world, it is not necessarily what we say, but who we are and what we do that changes people and conditions.

Making a difference is about how we involve ourselves in relationship with others, and how we involve ourselves in the stories of others’ lives. Because we all realize, eventually, it comes down to our shared existence.

Living out our religion changes not only others’ lives, it changes our own lives, too. If our lives are a witness to our beliefs, then we never have to argue with anyone about religion.

Source: Rev. Lillie Mae Henley, Universalist National Memorial Church, Washington, D.C., June 1, 2007 newsletter.

For this Independence Day, I’ve dug out a really rich, wonderful address by Rev. Thomas Starr King. I’ve chosen some excerpts that I feel speak to the ideas of Unitarian Universalist patriotism is these times, in contrast to the perilous times in which this particular address was written in 1851. If you would like to read the entirety, the Google Books project has archived Patriotism, and other papers in PDF format.

Rev. King was a remarkable man, credited by President Abraham Lincoln with keeping California in the Union during the Civil War due to his stirring orations. According to the Dictionary of Unitarian Universalist Biography: “Barely five feet tall and physically fragile, King was undistinguished in appearance. Well into his thirties he appeared no older than a youth. His energy and magnetism as an organizer, minister, and preacher, however, quickly impressed any who had mistakenly judged him by appearance. ‘But, though I weigh only 120 pounds,’ he remarked late in life, ‘when I am mad I weigh a ton!’

He also “organized fund raising for the United States Sanitary Commission, a civilian organization, headed by Henry Whitney Bellows, charged with overseeing the health and medical care of the United States army. By the end of the war California had donated one quarter of the money received by the Sanitary Commission. The first large donation, sent by King, arrived just in time to be of use at the battle of Antietam in 1862.”

Today, one of two Unitarian Universalist seminaries is named for Rev. King, the Starr King School for the Ministry, along with two mountains (one in New Hampshire, and one in California).

As with any document from 1851, you may want to substitute gender-inclusive language in your reading of this text.

Patriotism

by Thomas Starr King

The substance of this article is from a discourse, delivered in Boston, before the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, on the occasion of their two hundred and thirteenth Anniversary, June 2, 1851.

[Patriotism] is a constructive quality, quickening the intellect by its love of country to zealous ambition to improve it and raise it higher. It is an imaginative sentiment. Imagination is essential to its vigor. It comprehends hills, streams, plains, and valleys in a broad conception, and from traditions and institutions — from all the life of the past and the vigor and noble tendencies of the present, it individualizes the destiny and personifies the spirit of its land, and then vows its vow to that. So that it is of the very essence of true patriotism to be earnest and truthful, to scorn the flatterer’s tongue, and strive to keep its native land in harmony with the laws of national thrift and power. It will tell a land of its faults, as a friend will counsel a companion; it will speak as honestly as the physician advises a patient; and if occasion requires, an indignation will flame out of its love, like that which burst from the lips of Moses when he returned from the mountain, and found the people to whom he bad revealed the holy and austere Jehovah, and for whom he would cheerfully have sacrificed his life, worshipping a calf.

(Read on … )

Singer-songwriter Peter Mayer writes many lovely songs that speak to many Unitarian Universalists. His “Blue Boat Home,” set to the familiar hymn tune “Hyfrydol,” is a new favorite in the supplemental hymnal, Singing the Journey.

But this piece, “Holy Now,” is one that speaks to a very Unitarian Universalist point of view — how to see the whole world as a holy place, every part of it, rather than just what we might learn from a traditional view of church and religion.

Holy Now

Lyrics by singer-songwriter Peter Mayer

When I was a boy, each week
On Sunday, we would go to church
And pay attention to the priest
He would read the holy word
And consecrate the holy bread
And everyone would kneel and bow
Today the only difference is
Everything is holy now
Everything, everything
Everything is holy now

(Read on … )