Praying Without Apology Years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. and his wife, Coretta Scott King, attended Unitarian churches. King was drawn to liberal religion for “its devotion to the search for truth, its insistence on an open and analytical mind, and its refusal to abandon the best lights of reason.” [1] When they chose a tradition to align themselves with, however, the Kings chose African-American Christianity. In her article, “To Pray without Apology,” Unitarian Universalist minister, Rosemary Bray McNatt describes a meeting she had with Coretta King. At that meeting, McNatt commented that she was a Unitarian Universalist minister. King said that she and Martin had attended Unitarian churches in…
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Internet, the Loss of Time, and Happiness
Before the Internet One hot August day, before the internet, before cell phones, even before land lines you didn’t have to plug into the wall, my husband and I, along with our two young boys, moved from New Hampshire back to Oregon. David drove the U-Haul; I drove the car with the children. Taking advantage of a downhill slope, David careened ahead of me, when I suddenly noticed steam sweeping up from beneath the hood of our car. Resigned, I pulled over to the side of the highway. David kept on driving, oblivious to our predicament. For a moment, I sat wondering what to do. I certainly didn’t want to…
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Esther, New Beginnings, and a Message for Our Times
A New Year and New Beginnings in Esther The book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible explains why Jews must celebrate Purim every year, a noisy, silly holiday that honors the deliverance of the Jewish people. With its story-telling, community, and drinking, it is not unlike how some people celebrate New Year’s Eve. That’s not why I chose to write about Esther, however. While looking for scripture verses about new beginnings, I discovered an article by Jack Wellman called “Five Stories about New Beginnings with Commentary.” One of the five he mentions is Esther. Really? Esther, about new beginnings? The General Story An orphan adopted by her cousin Mordecai, Esther…
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The Winter Solstice, Light, and Hope
The Winter Solstice Fills Me with Hope The Winter Solstice came and went this year with little notice from me. After working a long day and attending a meeting, I was focused on little except getting ready for bed, so it wasn’t until the next day during my predawn walk that I realized winter had arrived. The grass was tinged white with frost, the roads sparkled in the light from the street lamps, and the frozen trail crunched beneath my feet. Now and then, my dog lifted his nose, smelling coyotes or raccoons I couldn’t see. The squirrels and birds were asleep. Silence hung in the air. Then I climbed…
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Security, Privacy, and the True Self
Homeland Security and Safety The idea of exploring the tension between security and privacy came up one day in our Sharing Circle in reference to the modern-day intrusions of our lives: Homeland Security’s searches, lists of suspected terrorists, and registrations for this, that, and the other thing. Some of this has been around a long time. The FBI has always watched certain people, for instance. In the past, however, they had to dig a little bit to learn what we were doing. Now our information is freely available, including what we buy at grocery stores and what we like on Facebook. White, middle class, straight individuals who hold traditional values,…
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The Resilient Hero
Being Resilient “The Seven Ravens,” a German story written down by the Brother’s Grimm, can teach us something about resilience. Like many folk tales, “The Seven Ravens” is about a resilient hero who bounces back from disappointments and braves hardships to reach a goal. What do I mean by resilient? Resilience is the ability to persevere, to create a meaningful future in spite of a traumatic and challenging history, to rise up from the ashes. Resilient people don’t try to numb their pain with drugs or video games or sex. Resilient people feel a connection with something larger than themselves, whether it’s a god or a community of people. Instead…
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Jesus, Resistance, and the Holiday Season
Jesus in Mark When I first read the Christian Scriptures, I was struck by the Gospel of Mark. Carefully-crafted and well-plotted, the story moves quickly toward its climax of death and resurrection. The book describes the ministry of a man both human and holy, who risked his life to spread his message of love and nonviolent resistance. The gospel is clearly political. Its first sentence, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” is a veiled challenge to the Roman Emperor who called himself the “Son of God” and whose birth was proclaimed as the “good news.” For me, Mark’s story seemed more like an…
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Waiting for the Messiah
Waiting for the Messiah This Sunday marks the beginning of Advent. The word “advent” means that something has come into being or into view. Something happens; something arrives. The season of Advent is about the arrival of Jesus, through his birth, yet Christians continue to wait for the Messiah to come again, to save the world from its evil and misery, and make creation new again. Christians are not the only ones awaiting a Messiah. Jews anticipate the Messiah’s first coming. Muslims wait for the Mahdi who will prepare the way for Jesus. Kalki, the 10th incarnation of Vishnu will destroy the world and birth a new universe. We long…
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Faith and Insecurity
Faith in Love What do you have faith in? When I ask myself that question, the first thing that comes to mind is that I have faith in life itself. I have faith in our resilience as a species, and in the resilience of the earth to revive, no matter what we do to her. That doesn’t make acceptable the abuse of one another and destruction of our habitat, but I do believe in the power of life to revive itself again. Next, I think of love. My faith in love is unwavering. Even though hate seems rampant right now, and even though at times in my life I tried…
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The Election and Amazing Grace
Newton the Slave Trader The theme for this week’s service is “Amazing Grace,” the hymn written by transformed slave trader, John Newton. His story is hopeful and uplifting, reminding us of the power and potential of grace. After this week’s election results, I want to believe in grace, but it has become more difficult. I will talk about that, but first I want to share Newton’s story. Newton got a job on a ship that, among other things, traded in human beings. At first, he didn’t think about the misery of the people packed into the ship’s hold, some of whom died on the journey. He joined the other crew…
