My goodness we are obsessed with covering the Toyota recall. Why? we have had lots of recalls in our lives. General Motors, children's cribs, toys...why so much interest in Toyota? Maybe it has to do with where we place our trust...and faith. My dad was a body and fender man. He worked on a lot of American made cars. He was comfortable with them. Then our country started filling up with Toyotas and Hondas. Why? we believed in them. We knew they got better gas mileage, and they were of very high quality. Consumer reports (another of our generation's inventions) proved it!
This was a generational thing. We took a risk to break away from our parent's generation in our choice of foreign made (or foreign owned and made on American soil as it is now). To have such a massive recall is to shake our faith in our trusted idol. My fear is that Honda will be next...I always trusted Honda first, Toyota next. So I can handle this recall, as my top idol is still standing...but what if it too falls?
It happened to me when I realized the faults in the Catholic church dogma. For a while I wandered around without any focus for my faith, until a friend introduced me to Unitarian Unviersalism. It is not a perfect faith, we stumble now and then, but we have built into us a tradition of heresy, to keep us getting better and to keep us current with new wisdom. Heresy is a good thing. New wisdom starts as a minority opinion. Heresy only exists in a faith that is alive and well. So if some fracture happens in UU, my faith won't be shaken, I'll just know that we are changing as we should, and "All will be well." I hope Toyota finds the same thing, as they have served us well. But I hope Honda is making a list and checking it twice.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Sunday, February 14, 2010
UU Association of Uganda "Standing on the Side of Love"
Many of us have no idea that Unitarian Universalists have congregations in Africa. Today there was a courageous protest and advocacy by the UUs in Uganda. They had a conference to protest the proposed Unganda government's "Anti-homosexuality Bill of 2009" which is introduced into the Ugandan parliament. This bill would criminalize homosexuality with punishments including life in prison and capital punishment. The bill would also threaten GLBT allies.
I am enormously proud of the Ugandan UUs, and for our UUA President Rev. Peter Morales, for lending them his support and encouragement.
I am enormously proud of the Ugandan UUs, and for our UUA President Rev. Peter Morales, for lending them his support and encouragement.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
It's Ground Hog Day! What is it that sustains the seasons of the earth and of our lives? What is this amazing force that operates with cyclical rhythms? Perhaps Lynn Unger has found the critter:
Ground Hog Day
Celebrate this unlikely oracle,
this ball of fat and fur.
whom we so mysteriously endow
with the power to predict spring.
Let's hear it for the improbable heros who,
frightened at their own shadows
nonetheless unwittingly work miracles.
Why shouldn't we believe this pecular rodent
holds power over sun and seasons in his stubby paw?
Who says that God is all grandeur and glory?
Unnoticed in the earth, worms
are busily, brainlessly tilling the soil.
Field mice, all unthinking, have scattered
seeds that will take root and grow.
Grape hyacyths, against all reason
have been holding up green shoots against the snow.
How do you think spring arrives?
There is nothing quieter, nothing
more secret, miraculous, mundane.
Do you want to play your part
in bringing it to birth?
Nothing simpler.
Find a spot
not too far from the ground.
And wait.
Lynn Ungar "Blessing the Bread"
Ground Hog Day
Celebrate this unlikely oracle,
this ball of fat and fur.
whom we so mysteriously endow
with the power to predict spring.
Let's hear it for the improbable heros who,
frightened at their own shadows
nonetheless unwittingly work miracles.
Why shouldn't we believe this pecular rodent
holds power over sun and seasons in his stubby paw?
Who says that God is all grandeur and glory?
Unnoticed in the earth, worms
are busily, brainlessly tilling the soil.
Field mice, all unthinking, have scattered
seeds that will take root and grow.
Grape hyacyths, against all reason
have been holding up green shoots against the snow.
How do you think spring arrives?
There is nothing quieter, nothing
more secret, miraculous, mundane.
Do you want to play your part
in bringing it to birth?
Nothing simpler.
Find a spot
not too far from the ground.
And wait.
Lynn Ungar "Blessing the Bread"
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Branding or Just Obvious Naming?
Senior Pastor Emeritus Jan Hettinga of Northshore Baptist who is against gay marriage thinks that gay rights supporters were smart in "strategy" for branding the disagreement over same-sex marriage as "hated and bigotry". (Seattle Times July 21, 2009) That statement makes me stop for a moment. How would you describe a philosophy and activism that tries to intrude on people's bedrooms, tries to keep loved ones from being able to be at the bedside of their dyng life partner, tries to make the children of gays and lesbians feel demeaned....how would you name those beliefs and attempts to limit someone's civil rights, if not as hatred and bigotry? Strategy? or just naming what is? Perhaps Pastor Hettinga gives us too much credit in a subconscious attempt to not reflect on how far from the love of Jesus that such religious right activists have strayed.
Give 'em hope, not Hell
As a Unitarian UNIVERSALIST minister, I was pretty surprised to read in the Seattle Times today about a local "religious right" pastor saying things like: "God is not coercive, the idea that people ought to be free to live their life and live the way they want to--I don't object to that." That's Pastor Joseph Fuiten of Bothell. Sounds like something I'd say, not something that a pastor who has provided leadership to try to defeat gay rights in our state. But Fuiten isn't backing Referendum 71, the attempt to block our state's domestic partnership act.
Why? Well he is saying that maybe it's because he is getting older; maybe it has something to do with perspective thrust upon him after his 2004 heart attack and his current prostate cancer. I don't know. I'd like to think the spirit of love is moving in him, calling him to a transformation. He says he doesn't want the church to be seen as oppressive...well, good, but well duh...it takes a transformation of your theology to believe that each person's right to love whomever they will is good in the eyes of whatever powers operate in this universe.
Fuiten says people need to hear about hope, not hell. I wonder if he has ever read our UU spiritual ancestor, the Universalist John Murray who said, "Give 'em Hope, Not Hell." Indeed, he may be a becoming a Universalist without knowing it. Maybe I'll invite him to church. We believe in universal salvation, don't we? Even of born agains?
Enjoy the beautiful day, 88 degrees!
Why? Well he is saying that maybe it's because he is getting older; maybe it has something to do with perspective thrust upon him after his 2004 heart attack and his current prostate cancer. I don't know. I'd like to think the spirit of love is moving in him, calling him to a transformation. He says he doesn't want the church to be seen as oppressive...well, good, but well duh...it takes a transformation of your theology to believe that each person's right to love whomever they will is good in the eyes of whatever powers operate in this universe.
Fuiten says people need to hear about hope, not hell. I wonder if he has ever read our UU spiritual ancestor, the Universalist John Murray who said, "Give 'em Hope, Not Hell." Indeed, he may be a becoming a Universalist without knowing it. Maybe I'll invite him to church. We believe in universal salvation, don't we? Even of born agains?
Enjoy the beautiful day, 88 degrees!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Praying in the Name of Jesus
I often end my prayers "in the name of all that is holy." What I mean by that is that the expression of my prayer is in service to and hopefully in alignment to the most sacred that we know. Prayer itself, I believe, is human expression, whether silent or spoken, of our deepest most authentic longings, gratitudes, fears and joys.
Of course many Christians end their prayers, "in Jesus name, Amen." Which is just fine for a Christian setting. But what about when a Christian minister is praying in public, for a diverse crowd of humanists, atheistics, agnostics, Muslems, and Jews and Christians and others too numerous to mention? I don't know what those ministers are thinking when they speak in their own language solely. Do they know that what they are saying leaves many out? If the purpose of public prayer is to express as much as possible what the whole group is longing for, and what they are feeling deeply about; if the purpose is to have a moment when all are together spiritually in the hopes and aspirations, then why use language which leaves some people, many people, feeling left out? Why use language that is exclusive and at best requires translation?
If prayer is a deeply and commonly human experience of expression of our longings and feelings, hopes and aspirations, then it does not require dogmatic language to be so. So when inaugural prayers are strickly Christian I don't think it serves us well. As a Unitarian Universalist I am called to go deep enough to the bedrock of common humanity. I would hope that those chosen to do public prayers could learn how to do that too, or else say "no thank you." In a sense it is what is required of all hospital chaplains...they must be able to pray with everyone, without their particular dogma, but rather first exploring what religious heritage comforts the patient. Unitarian Universalist chaplains in hospitals pray in Jesus name for Christian patients, in the name of all that is holy for spiritual humanists. Offering prayers for others, you see, is not about us, but about those for whom we are leading prayer.
Enough said.
Of course many Christians end their prayers, "in Jesus name, Amen." Which is just fine for a Christian setting. But what about when a Christian minister is praying in public, for a diverse crowd of humanists, atheistics, agnostics, Muslems, and Jews and Christians and others too numerous to mention? I don't know what those ministers are thinking when they speak in their own language solely. Do they know that what they are saying leaves many out? If the purpose of public prayer is to express as much as possible what the whole group is longing for, and what they are feeling deeply about; if the purpose is to have a moment when all are together spiritually in the hopes and aspirations, then why use language which leaves some people, many people, feeling left out? Why use language that is exclusive and at best requires translation?
If prayer is a deeply and commonly human experience of expression of our longings and feelings, hopes and aspirations, then it does not require dogmatic language to be so. So when inaugural prayers are strickly Christian I don't think it serves us well. As a Unitarian Universalist I am called to go deep enough to the bedrock of common humanity. I would hope that those chosen to do public prayers could learn how to do that too, or else say "no thank you." In a sense it is what is required of all hospital chaplains...they must be able to pray with everyone, without their particular dogma, but rather first exploring what religious heritage comforts the patient. Unitarian Universalist chaplains in hospitals pray in Jesus name for Christian patients, in the name of all that is holy for spiritual humanists. Offering prayers for others, you see, is not about us, but about those for whom we are leading prayer.
Enough said.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Bishop Gene Robinson's Inaugaral Prayer
There were problems in the sound system during Bishop Gene Robinson's prayer at the Lincoln Memorial Concert yesterday; I've heard of microphone or speaker troubles. And it was not included in the original HBO coverage. Some wonder if that was intentional, given that the Bishop is gay. I don't know. But when unfortunate things happen, I think we ought to make good out of it, so let's plaster this most moving, brave and couragous prayer all over the place...here it is! Blessings all, Peg
+Gene Robinson's Prayer for President-elect Barack Obama
A Prayer for the Nation and Our Next President, Barack Obama
By The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire
Opening Inaugural EventLincoln Memorial, Washington, DCJanuary 18, 2009
Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.
O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…
Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.
And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.
AMEN.
+Gene Robinson's Prayer for President-elect Barack Obama
A Prayer for the Nation and Our Next President, Barack Obama
By The Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire
Opening Inaugural EventLincoln Memorial, Washington, DCJanuary 18, 2009
Welcome to Washington! The fun is about to begin, but first, please join me in pausing for a moment, to ask God’s blessing upon our nation and our next president.
O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will…
Bless us with tears – for a world in which over a billion people exist on less than a dollar a day, where young women from many lands are beaten and raped for wanting an education, and thousands die daily from malnutrition, malaria, and AIDS.
Bless us with anger – at discrimination, at home and abroad, against refugees and immigrants, women, people of color, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.
Bless us with discomfort – at the easy, simplistic “answers” we’ve preferred to hear from our politicians, instead of the truth, about ourselves and the world, which we need to face if we are going to rise to the challenges of the future.
Bless us with patience – and the knowledge that none of what ails us will be “fixed” anytime soon, and the understanding that our new president is a human being, not a messiah.
Bless us with humility – open to understanding that our own needs must always be balanced with those of the world.
Bless us with freedom from mere tolerance – replacing it with a genuine respect and warm embrace of our differences, and an understanding that in our diversity, we are stronger.
Bless us with compassion and generosity – remembering that every religion’s God judges us by the way we care for the most vulnerable in the human community, whether across town or across the world.
And God, we give you thanks for your child Barack, as he assumes the office of President of the United States.
Give him wisdom beyond his years, and inspire him with Lincoln’s reconciling leadership style, President Kennedy’s ability to enlist our best efforts, and Dr. King’s dream of a nation for ALL the people.
Give him a quiet heart, for our Ship of State needs a steady, calm captain in these times.
Give him stirring words, for we will need to be inspired and motivated to make the personal and common sacrifices necessary to facing the challenges ahead.
Make him color-blind, reminding him of his own words that under his leadership, there will be neither red nor blue states, but the United States.
Help him remember his own oppression as a minority, drawing on that experience of discrimination, that he might seek to change the lives of those who are still its victims.
Give him the strength to find family time and privacy, and help him remember that even though he is president, a father only gets one shot at his daughters’ childhoods.
And please, God, keep him safe. We know we ask too much of our presidents, and we’re asking FAR too much of this one. We know the risk he and his wife are taking for all of us, and we implore you, O good and great God, to keep him safe. Hold him in the palm of your hand – that he might do the work we have called him to do, that he might find joy in this impossible calling, and that in the end, he might lead us as a nation to a place of integrity, prosperity and peace.
AMEN.
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