Five Steps to Your Story of Now

On the first Sunday in January, our minister at the Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (ERUUF) gave a sermon related to the month's theme: The Practice of Story. He made the case that before one makes a resolution in the New Year, it is prudent to take a measure of where you are now. He presented this self-reflection in a very simple way: the way of five. I have used this for my own reflection as I contemplated what direction I should take this year, and I offer it to you.

Rev. Daniel explains how story helps us make sense of life, to understand it. Our own story may help us learn what we're "awake" to (or not) and what we want.   Early in the year is a good time to tell our own  "Story of Now" - how we got to this moment, what gifts we've gathered, what did we learn, and now, what is wanting to be created.

Template for Reflection

FIVE: Reflect on five key moments in your life - crossroads, enlightenment, new directions, reflection on the path not taken.

FOUR: Four Beliefs under which you operate. These are ways in which you view the world. How do you approach life? Core values. In what do you put your faith?

THREE: Three people who have most impacted your life. Why and how did they make a difference?

TWO: Two intentions for the new year. What is a gift you have that you would like to share more fully? What quality of love would you like to add to the world? Hint: Love can be manifested in many ways... listening, giving, volunteering, donating, hugging, stop doing. How can you make your part of this world a better place?

ONE: One action step you will take this week to put your intentions into practice. Every week, rinse and repeat.

I encourage you to listen to the sermon so you can pick up any nuances that speak to you. Below is the link to the full sermon on YouTube. I've bookmarked the recording so it starts at the beginning of Rev. Daniel's sermon, instead of the beginning of the service, but if you want to watch the entire service, please do.

CLICK NOW!

  STORY OF NOW SERMON.

In the comments, let us know if you thought this exercise

 was valuable for you and why.

Blessings on your day!

Thomas Jefferson on the Jefferson Bible

It has been almost 2 years since I last posted, and I have in my planning schedule a stockpile of ideas to carry me through this year. For 2025, I am re-committing to this blog for my own spiritual health. Hope you will join me. 

Back in March 2024 my Christian Fellowship was deep into Karen Armstrong's book The Case for God, specifically Chapter 9: The Enlightenment.  Which doesn't seem to be very "enlightened" for the plethora of descriptions of God and Christianity that arose during that time. Clearly a discussion for another blog.

The Jefferson Bible

What did arise in conversation was the Jefferson Bible. This document was printed by the Government Printing Office and handed out to every new member of Congress between 1904/5 to 1957. Between then and now, several private citizens and organizations have occasionally revived the practice. In 2013, for example, the American Humanist Association distributed a free copy to every member of Congress and Barack Obama. (Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_Bible#Publication_history )

This past week, I've been reading a book I picked up in Williamsburg, VA : BECOMING JEFFERSON: My Life as a Founding Father by Bill Barker. 

Background: Mr. Barker is an actor and loves history. He began his career as an historical interpreter in 1980 when a friend noted that he looked like Thomas Jefferson and asked if he would portray Jefferson at Independence Hall for photo ops and celebrations. And he did... for over a decade at events across the country. He came to Colonial Williamsburg in 1993, and what had been a summer gig became a full-time vocation, due in large extent to Mr. Barker's urging and dedication. To do his job, he has read everything he can of Jefferson's writings, both public and personal, as well as the many histories written about Jefferson. He has portrayed Jefferson in Colonial Williamsburg for over 25 years and is now retired. My husband and I have had the very good fortune to see him many times over the years when we vacationed in Williamsburg. 

Given his extensive and intimate familiarity with Jefferson, I think he can give us a good perspective on the "Jefferson Bible" and how Jefferson might have reacted to it. 

Mr. Barker writes:

Another victim of "twistifications" (a word coined by Jefferson) of historical fact is what has become known as the "Jefferson Bible." Mr. Jefferson did not write his own version of the Bible... The project is the result of Jefferson's study of translations of the four Gospels in Greek, Latin, French, and English to compile the life and words of Jesus by way of the eyewitness accounts in the Gospels. Jefferson began his study in the first years of his presidency, and later titled it "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth." Jefferson's purpose was for his better understanding of the teachings of Jesus... It did not denigrate the moral lessons taught by Jesus. Rather it was an effort to get at what Jesus actually said. [Becoming Jefferson, pg. 159.

I do love the word "twistifications," don't you? Given this background of what lay behind Jefferson's motivation, I appreciate how Barker answers anyone who asks him (as Jefferson) "Tell me about your Bible."

"I beg your pardon. I trust I am not so presumptuous as to write a Bible. What you are perhaps referring to is my scholarly investigation of what Jesus was known to have said."  Many people will say, "What do you mean by 'what he was known to have said'? It's all in the Bible." To which I then answer, "Which one? the Catholic Bible or the Protestant Bible? The teachings of Jesus have been published in many different versions, translations, and languages. And Jesus himself did not write down his own words."  (Becoming Jefferson, pg. 160)

Jefferson wrote to Richard Rush in May 1813:  "The subject of religion, a subject on which I have ever been most scrupulously reserved. I have considered it a matter between every man and his maker, in which no other, and far less the public, had a right to intermeddle." (Becoming Jefferson, pg. 160)

Kurt Smith, a younger interpreter, has assumed the role of Jefferson with skill and dedication, and shows us Jefferson's perspectives from his earlier years in government. But I am especially grateful for Bill Barker's magnificent legacy to give us a perspective on Jefferson and on the religion of one of our Founding Fathers. 

I feel in touch with Jefferson's approach. I want to soak up everything I can about Jesus, this charismatic, itinerant preacher who taught his followers "The Way" within Judaism in a manner that generated an entirely new religion within two centuries of his death. I've been on a lifelong journey with this... and I feel I'm just getting started. 

The Inimitable, Limitless God

 Disclosure: Some of the links below (whether the link is associated with an image or text) are affiliate links, meaning that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. 

My Christian Fellowship group at church has just started reading Karen Armstrong's A CASE FOR GOD.  In her introduction, she states her intent to show through history that humans have always wanted to know more about the transcendent, no matter what it is called or how it is defined. 

To prepare for reading more, I listened to a radio interview Ms. Armstrong gave to NPR in September 2009. This is the final exchange between Terry Gross of "Fresh Air" and Ms. Armstrong:

GROSS: Now, you know, your view of religion isn't that there's a personal God who has some kind of physical manifestation and who can appear to you and speak to you. But some people have - say that they've experienced that manifestation of God. They've had some kind of direct contact or message from God. How do you - how do you process that?

Ms. ARMSTRONG: Far be it for me to decry anybody's religious beliefs or religious experience. And if religion - your experience of God speaking to you or whatever, compels you to live a more compassionate life, then it's doing its job. And if it's filling you with respect and awe for the natural world and for all God's creatures, it's doing its job. What we call God comes to us in many ways. I couldn't make the personal God work for me. But that's not to say it won't work for other people. We all experience the inimitable, limitless God in as many different ways as there are human beings.

Along with the other observations and information Ms. Armstrong shares throughout the interview, this last statement struck deep. After years of exploration, discussion, and prayer, the author describes something of my own perception of Transcendence in our world. What about you?

Listen to the complete interview on the NPR website.

The Joy of ... Snow!

When I lived in Michigan, snow was a way of life. It came in the Fall, stayed into Spring, and if you lived in or visited the Upper Peninsula, you were likely to see snow in July. In the Triangle of North Carolina, snow is ... different.

We had our first snowfall today. Tomorrow is the first day of Winter, so right on time. The snow came in big, fluffy flakes and fell slowly, gently, in no rush at all. Each flake landed and disappeared. The ground is still too warm to hold such a small offering. The whole snow event  took place in the early morning, around 7 AM, and lasted 15 minutes.

My husband hurried into my home office where I was writing and pulled the blinds open. "It's snowing!" he said with the excitement of a little boy. To which I replied, "Will you look at that!" and we stood for long minutes, an arm around each other, watching.

In those moments, I experienced the Joy that Sister Wendy talks about in her Book of Meditations. She says that Joy is not constant, but flashes suddenly upon our shadows and darkness, illuminating and transforming our interior landscape. In joy, the world becomes different, marvelous, unique.

And so it was for those few minutes this morning.

As we finish this third week of Advent, Laudete Week, the week of joy, I pray that you find such joy in your life. Often.

Blessings on your day!

What Does Love Look Like?

During this second week of Advent, the theme is Love.

For my Advent reflection, I often use Sister Wendy's Book of Meditations in which Sister Wendy uses art, mostly paintings, to visualize four topics. One of these topics is Love. As I consider the different paintings and the author's perspective, I am amazed how often we use the word "love" and to how many different things we refer--Bromance, friendship, romantic attachment, sex, casual affection for humankind, parental love, significant engagement in another's welfare. We talk about being in love with nature, family, books, sports, movies, celebrities, pets, spouses, new shoes, our homes.

Some people who swear they are in love can be greedy, clingy, secretive, blind, obsessive, exclusive, angry, possessive, controlling, dramatic, self-indulgent (which is different from self-care), confined and insular.

Other people say they are in love and are patient, kind, inclusive, expansive. They find joy in the truth, look for what others are doing right, acknowledge blessings, make allowances, trust with their intelligence engaged, work actively for the other's welfare, repent when they hurt someone, relate to others with open-eyes and open-hearts.

Simply put, Sister Wendy offers:

• If it is love at all, the happiness [I would add, the welfare] of the other comes first.
• Love is a verb. It is an action verb. Love displays itself by putting the other first.
• If love is a verb, then it is a choice. Day by day. Hour by hour.

Paul sent a few words on the subject of Love to his boasting congregation in Corinth (1 Corinthians 13).

Read Sister Wendy. Read Paul. Then make your choice.

May you choose Love.