I'm grateful for this opportunity this morning, particularly as someone
who has only been among you a short while - in fact it may seem something
of an impertinence, but I welcomed the opportunity of drawing one of the
short straws when it was suggested that we would take turns leading the meeting and giving the address.
I say I welcomed the opportunity not because I have some important message
to pass on, but rather that I see it as an opportunity to perhaps glean
some more answers to my own quest for truth.
In this respect I need to speak briefly about my journey of searching for
the meaning of life, a journey which I guess most of us find ourselves on.
As a background, and only because it impacts on my present way of seeing
things, and therefore on some of the comments I shall make, I need to
sketch where I am coming from, if only that you understand the bias that I
bring with me.
Orthodox Christian background
My background is steeped in the orthodox Christian church, specifically
the Anglican Communion. During my time "in" the church I held positions of
leadership within my particular parish, both in administration and in
ministry, the latter as a lay minister and also a person who introduced
and led a number of introductory courses on Christianity called Alpha.
While taking part in these, and leading the others both at worship and at
a very dynamic form of evangelism, I found myself increasingly at odds
with what I was doing. In plain, I didn't believe all that I was saying,
and even worse, teaching others to say and believe. As a result of this
conflict within, I left the church and have spent the interleading time
looking for a new spiritual home.
I emphasise the word spiritual and will come back to this.
This searching has led me to several places, both through meeting with
other folk and also by using that wonderful tool, the Internet. This
searching took me down many avenues, some of them cul de sacs and others
roads that led to places I did not want to go.
In fact, it was the Internet that brought me here among you. I have
enjoyed it so far and feel that in many respects UU seems like what I have
been looking for. My reading of the Unitarian Church suggests that it is
something I can feel at home and at peace with, that does meet my peculiar
requirements.
Something missing
In saying that I've enjoyed my time at these meetings, let's be more
specific. I enjoy the people here, I shan't say more in case you all
blush, I enjoy the talks and discussions that follow, and I enjoy the
fellowship. But I still miss something vital in all this, and I suspect
some of you may miss this as well, because shortly before Ivan left for
overseas this very topic came up for discussion among the few that were at
the meeting.
To come back to what it is I have been missing here, and here
I must be careful that I don't offend, for that's not intended, but I miss
the outwardly spiritual side of our fellowship. I miss hearing the name
God mentioned, in whatsoever connotation everyone wants to give, and so I
bring to this meeting today the question I ask of us, Mr God, are you
there - not expecting him to answer, but hoping that each of us will.
Before going on, maybe it's necessary to ask what we mean by the name
God. I recall the American lady who attended one of these meetings,
explaining that among some UU meetings in America you dare not, as she
put it, utter the G word, and certainly not the J word. I found this both
puzzling and disappointing, because I thought the Unitarians were a
community that was prepared to listen and accept other's belief and were
not people who'd feel challenged by the words God and Jesus. Yet, at
another Sunday meeting with the visitors attending the big Racism
Conference in Durban, we had two people object to the name of God in our
meditations, one saying she preferred the word Life and the other Love.
Who is this God?
So then, who is this God of whom some Unitarians seem reluctant to speak?
Where does this leave me, a pilgrim wandering about on life's journey
trying to find a religious home, someone who has tired of orthodox
Christianity and its creeds and conformity, although it has so much that
is appealing and stimulating (oh, that wonderful inspiring music, and
those beautiful buildings!).
For an answer, I went to one of my early books on Unitarianism, "A Chosen
Faith" by John Buehrens and Forrest Church, and, in a chapter written by
Forrest Church I learned that "God is not God's name, but our name for
that which is greater than all and yet present in each." I like that
explanation. God is the name for that which is greater than all, and yet
present in each.
Talking metaphorically, Forrest goes on that the light of God not only
shines down upon us, but also from within us. He talks of the Universe as
a cathedral. Together with the windows, the darkness and the light, we are
part of a cathedral, not apart from it. Together we comprise an
interdependent web of being; if the cathedral is built out of star stuff,
so are we. But, he adds, we are that known part that contemplates the
meaning of the whole, and because the cathedral is so vast, our time so
short and our vision so dim, we are able to contemplate only a tiny part
of the cathedral....
Continuing, Forrest writes that since the whole - both holographically or
organically - is contained in each of the parts, as we ponder and act upon
the insight from our ruminations, we may discover meanings that give
coherence and meaning both to it and to us. That, he says, is
Unitarianism/Universalism. (page 84 Chosen Faith).
The remainder of that chapter is worth reading.
Having accepted that this is what UU is saying about God, that God does in
fact exist, not necessarily as the Father figure often portrayed, but as
that which is greater and yet present in each of us, then I find myself
asking why can't we use his name here at our Sunday gatherings. Will it
not help us give focus on our thoughts and meditations if we get this
problem, if indeed there is a problem, out of the way? It is difficult to
be spiritual, and to have a religion, if we don't have something definite
in the way of a belief system, even if that system allows a wide
divergence.
As CS Lewis put it so well, the opposite of a belief in God is not a
belief in nothing; it is a belief in anything.
Orthodox believers have it easy!
You know, Orthodox Christians and Muslims have it easy. Their belief
system is based on the sayings of two people, Jesus and Mohamed, and the
use of intellect mostly lies in the interpretation of their teachings. The
spirituality of Christianity is tied up in abandoning oneself to Christ,
to enter into some type of mystical relationship with him. Muslims seem to
bind themselves in rather fundamental ways to Mohamed's teachings.
But for Unitarians and Universalists it seems more difficult. What and
where are their teachings? And if it comes down to individual belief, or
individuality, then the question arises how does one go about expressing
oneself at gatherings or fellowship meetings.
John Donne - immortal words
John Donne wrote those immortal words - "No man is an island, entire of
itself, every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the main; if a
clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a
promontory were, as well as if a manor of Thy friends, or of Thine own
were; any man's death diminishes one, because I am involved in Mankind;
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for
thee. (John Donne, Meditation 17).
And so, this question is laid down for discussion this morning: If we
continue to gather together as a group professing membership of the UU
church, then should we not acknowledge the reason we are here in order to
bring to each other something of our own spirituality, our own religious
pilgrimages?
And what is spirituality? I cannot find a simple definition for it, the
dictionary doesn't answer life's mysteries, it only gives English lessons.
My Webster's does give add this however - after first describing spirit
as something distilled or alcoholic, further down it says - Spirit - the
divine influence as an agency working in man.
What I do know of spirituality is that it isn't superstition. Nor is it a
remedy for life's ills. It may however include being intuitive among some
of us, but not necessarily among others. Spirituality is not about holding
power or influence over others, but of being concerned with the well being
of the universe and all that lives within, that cathedral that Forrest
referred to. Maybe the true foundation for spirituality lies in love.
Nor should spirituality require a blind leap of faith, although
Kierkegaard did say that God could be known only through a leap of faith.
But there can be a marriage of intelligence and spirituality. This should
surely be a target of the journey of spiritual evolution, to claim
spiritual intelligence, a journey that might simultaneously develop both
intuition and teach us love. Love should be the goal, love for ourselves,
love for others, love for living, and love for the spirit, the energy, the
"God" that infuses all living.
Own truth - own path
Does anyone know the truth, does anyone know God, and does anyone know the
only path to spirituality? Although no one may have the universal answer,
each of us may have our own truth, our own path to spirituality.
And by coming together like this, by sharing with one another of what we
think and what we have learnt and experienced, we enter into a process of
enriching ourselves with spiritual knowledge and intelligence. We don't
have to find any answers while we're meeting, we can each have our view of
the Truth and we'll each make our own decisions of what to accept or
reject. But we can draw inspiration from each other, as John Donne put it
- No man is an island.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For South African contact details
Durban - Johannesburg
Cape Town - contact form
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
For South African contact details
Durban - Johannesburg
Cape Town - contact form
