Why We Suffer

Yes, this would be the universal question. I've kicked it around myself and had come to the conclusion that there is suffering in the world because either humans create the suffering (either for themselves or for others); or because the natural system of God's creation does (hurricanes, disease, tornadoes, earthquakes, etc.). My own suffering has provided opportunities for my growth or someone else's and for pure wallowing in the experience of pain and loss. I haven't delved much deeper than that.

I have been on a reading journey with Bart Ehrman, a professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, just minutes from where I live. His books reflect and reveal his own spiritual journey in which he becomes an Evangelical Christian, but as he studies and prays and discerns, he gradually becomes an agnostic. What intrigued me as I read his work was that all of his Biblical studies which point up textual inconsistencies, changes, mistranslations and other content issues did not sway his basic faith in God. However, studying the issue of why there is suffering in the world did.

I headed straight to Dr. Ehrman's 2008 book, God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer. Dr. Ehrman's purpose is to show us how different Biblical authors approached and answered this basic question.

So I bring you the Bible's first answer as presented by Dr. Ehrman: the prophets of the Old Testament explain that suffering is a punishment for sin.

What do you think about that statement? True or false? Or true sometimes?

Revive Us, O Lord!

The Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship invites you all to Revival 2010 from October 14th to October 17th in Carrollton, TX. I've just finalized my plans to attend. With the way my life has been going for the last few months, I kept waffling. Go or not go. Not go. Maybe go. Not go.

Then I remembered the feelings that swept around and through me at the 2009 Revival. The flow of the Spirit. Meeting fellow UU Christians from all over the US and Canada. Learning more about this supportive movement. Embracing the Christian services and words and songs. The glow I brought back with me that sustained me and uplifted me for months afterward. Revival 2009 inspired me to launch this Blog.

So, in the end, there really wasn't any question. I'll be at Revival this year.

Still trying to decide? In this blog, scan the Blog Topics on the left-hand side and choose "Revival 2009" to read the posts about the awesome time we had in Tulsa. Pop over to the official UUCF Revival site for details about reservations, costs and the inspiring program that is planned.

Get in touch with the Spirit. Settle into the Christian services. Learn about progressive Christianity. Meet other UU Christians. UUCF Revival 2010.

Get Revived!

Statement of a UU Christian

In my surfing across the blog world today, I discovered this heartfelt and powerful declaration of a self-identified UU Christian.

Enjoy and be inspired!

Go Be a Christian?

My thanks to UUnderstand, whose recent comment led to a lot of thought and this post. The question UU Christians often face is: "Why not go down the street to the ________ (fill in any Christian denomination) church? Wouldn't you be happier there?"

It's a question that we get from UUs, and it's a question we often pose to ourselves.

The first answer is--sometimes we do go down the street. In my own Christian fellowship, over time members have discovered, or rediscovered, Christianity and either have left the UU congregation for a Christian one or are exploring the Christian experience in other churches as part of their search. For years, I attended two churches--Episcopalian and UU. This is actually a fairly common practice and a good fit for progressive Christians.

When my Christian Fellowship began to take "field trips" to local Christian churches, someone asked, "What do you expect to do? Leave the UU Church?" And we decided our answer was ,"No." Because we have the second set of answers to why we don't go down the street.

• Theology. Even in more liberal Christian denominations, some tenets remain stable. Jesus is divine; Jesus died for our sins; salvation may not be universal; our reward is in Heaven. These tenets may not be overt, but discussions in the church will revolve around the religion about Jesus vs. the religion that Jesus taught. For many of us, who follow the religion Jesus taught, this conversation is not where we are in our journey.


• Orientation. This is probably more compelling, not just for Christians, but also for Buddhists, Jews, and others coming into UUism from another denomination or religion. The UCC would probably argue with some vigor at the comment that the UCC has "Christianity added". The point of Christian churches is to put Christ in the center. The point of the UU churches is to put a covenant of Principles in the center. We are UUs; we are drawn to the covenantal approach of living together.


• Religious Pluralism. Again, we UU Christians are UUs. We affirm and promote spiritual seeking and we cherish the faith diversity in UU congregations.

For illustration. A Methodist seminarian intern working at the UUA and joining the UUCF Revival last year commented that he couldn't imagine a service in which the Bible was not read. For us UU Christians, we could imagine it, we experience it, and we revel in it.

As UU Christians, we get a kick out of the spiritual conversations we have with our fellow UUs who see the One Light through a different window. We like being challenged by the UU principles and diverse spiritual paths as well as by other progressive Christians. I think we're a bit greedy--we want to have our cake, eat it, and then lick the frosting from the plate.

Some of us may choose to "go down the street", but many of us will stay right in our UU congregations, while continuing to broaden our experiences and feed our inner spirits, using every tool available to us.

May all our spiritual journeys be diverse, rich and fulfilling. Blessings!

Praying on the Beads

I was looking at the thoughts I posted last October when I felt down and sluggish. At that time and since, I've tried several ways to maintain a regular spiritual discipline. I do know that as ministers suggest, when you intentionally seek to experience God's presence, over time you "bank" the habit, the feeling, the practices that get you to the Thin Place. When life throws rocks, you can use what you "banked" to find your Thin Place again.

Since I was a very young Catholic, one of the practices that most helped to bring me close to God was reciting the Rosary. Nothing quite like repetitive prayer, aloud or silent, with smooth beads flowing through your fingers. The Rosary went everywhere with me. I could say it while I was walking to college classes, falling asleep in bed, sitting in the woods. As my spiritual journey took me away from the Marian Rosary and its emphasis on Mary and many of the "Jesus Miracles", I tucked my beads away in a small carved box. Several years ago, as an active member of an Episcopal Church, I learned of the Anglican (St. Francis) Rosary.

Like the Marian Rosary, the Anglican Rosary holds deep symbolism in its very structure, but unlike the Marian Rosary, the Anglican Rosary has no one set of prayers associated with it. The basic approach is to pray an opening prayer of faith on the cross and another prayer to settle into the Spirit on the Invitatory. Choose one prayer to repeat at the Cruciform beads and one prayer (or seven phrases) to say at each Week bead. Recently, my busy life and monkey mind have drawn me back to the Anglican Rosary for contemplative meditation. I'm using the following prayer sequence based on the Psalms:

CROSS: I believe in God as eternal and all-conquering love, in the spiritual leadership of Jesus, in the supreme worth of every human personality, in the authority of truth, known or to be known, and in the power of persons of goodwill and sacrificial spirit to overcome all evil and progressively establish the kingdom of God. Amen.

INVITATORY: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your people and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your spirit and we shall be re-created and you shall renew the face of the earth. Amen.

CRUCIFORM BEADS: The Lord's Prayer

WEEK BEADS:
1 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
2 Cast me not from your sacred presence, but keep me in the ways of your wisdom and truth.
3 Restore in me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me in the steadfast faith of Jesus.
4 Have mercy on me, O God, in my shortcomings; comfort me in the arms of your everlasting loving-kindness.
5 Open my lips, O Lord, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
6 God of the poets, God of the Prophets, God of the poor and the rich, God of Creation and of Change,
7 Make my hands just. Make my feet firm. Make my body a temple fit for your service. Grant us all your peace that passes human understanding. Amen.

LEAVING:

Glory be to God, Mother and Father, Creator, Sustainer, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen.

FINAL CROSS:
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Thank the Lord, for all good things around us are sent from Heaven above. Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I say, Rejoice! Amen.

There are many suggestions for Rosary prayers out on the Web as well as several on-line site where you can purchase an Anglican Rosary. Create your own prayers. Create your own beads. If this practice helps you to focus, go for it. It certainly has done wonders for me and my monkey mind.