Expanding Horizons

The Water Service, blessings

Our (annual) Unitarian "Water Service" is symbolic of "Unity in Diversity" - free of dogma, where we are free to choose and to discover our wisdoms, tell our own stories. Kris Hanna, our Minister, begins today's service with our (annual) "blessings of the water", so essential for all life and one of the four elements of the Ancient Greeks: Earth, Water, Air and Fire.
The children were the first to bring their water to the bowl at the front of the Church and then to water our garden on the way to "Kids Club". The water brought by the rest of us was also added, later.
Kris commences his address by briefly mentioning the biblical references to the cleansing power of water, late 19th Century Theosophicists' understandings about water, water for cleansing and purifying, water within Jungian symbolism, and water seen as well-springs - "a divine essence bursting forth into human consciousness" as the world's great religions came into being at a particular time and place. Kris's address ends today with a meditation and a prayer. Listen on ...not to be missed!

Jesus - from an Islamic Perspective

Kris's "Story for All Ages" today is a story about a wise queen preparing for life beyond her reign. It begs the question - "How are we preparing for our futures? - and - if it is our belief - how we might be preparing for our after-life?"
Kris quotes from the Sufi poet, Rumi: "Enough of phrases, conceits and metaphors. I want burning! Burning. To become familiar with burning. Light up a fire of Love in your soul. Burn all thought and expressions away."
And as Ramadan approaches, Kris introduced a special guest to us this morning, Silma Ihram - a leader from Adelaide's Islamic Community: Mother and Grandmother extraordinaire, pioneer Islamic Teacher, Educator, Principal, Educational Consultant, vice-President of the Australian Council for Islamic Education in Schools in 2004, vice-President of the Muslim Women's National Network Australia, Secretary General of the Australian Council for Islamic Education in Schools and most recently President of the Australian Muslim Women's Association. Silma's initial focus was on the Muslim understanding of Jesus - but as her talk progressed, Silma also gave us more general insights into Islam and Islamic beliefs about Mary (Maryam) and other figures from the Abrahamic Faiths. Her talk was followed by questions from Kris and other members of our Church, curious to learn more about Islam. Listen on!

The Four Noble Truths

Kris focuses today on the essential teachings of The Buddha - "The Enlightened One", who - as a young prince born into privilege, set forth courageously into the world to confront and comprehend the suffering he observed. The Buddha came to realise four fundamental truths. What were these essential teaching of the Buddha - "The Enlightened One"?

Kris's insights into The Buddha's "Four Noble Truths", the "Five Aggregates" - or "Experiences", re-incarnation into a "Chain of Lives", the "Eight-fold Path to Enlightenment" ("triple training"), "Nirvana" and "Dharma" reveal what these wisdoms reveal for our own spiritual journey - especially when we endure the hard times of … craving, ….of loss, ….of suffering and how it is possible to be free - of craving - of loss and of suffering. Kris also compares Buddhist beliefs with those of Karl Jung and ends with the following wisdom - gleaned from a Buddhist journey of discovery: "When in doubt, breathe deeply and maintain good intentions".

”The Matrix”

Our Minister, Kris Hanna delivers this morning's address, titled "The Matrix" from our Unitarian bushland Chapel. Kris begins with a quote: "We are not here to comfort the afflicted but to afflict the comfortable". Kris reflects on the 1999 Film "The Matrix" in which Artificial Intelligence (AI) controls humanity by creating a comfortable but "fictitious" human "existence" at the expense of Reality. Kris quotes Morpheus, the "God of Dreams" in Greek mythology: "There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path". The challenge is this: in seeking a richer and fuller life, we need to be like "The Hero" in the Matrix. We need to know the path - and walk it! It was the choice of Buddha and of Jesus! Let it be our choice. It will help us to will live kinder and more compassionate lives!
There is so much more in Kris's address today - so listen on!

”The Matrix”

Our Minister, Kris Hanna delivers this morning's address, titled "The Matrix" from our Unitarian bushland Chapel. Kris begins with a quote: "We are not here to comfort the afflicted but to afflict the comfortable". Kris reflects on the 1999 Film "The Matrix" in which Artificial Intelligence (AI) controls humanity by creating a comfortable but "fictitious" human "existence" at the expense of Reality. Kris quotes Morpheus, the "God of Dreams" in Greek mythology: "There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path". The challenge is this: in seeking a richer and fuller life, we need to be like "The Hero" in the Matrix. We need to know the path - and walk it! It was the choice of Buddha and of Jesus! Let it be our choice. It will also help us to will live kinder and more compassionate lives! 
There is so much more in Kris's address today - so listen on!

The Legacy of William Blake

Whilst believing in God and Jesus, The English artist and poet, William Blake, despised what the established (Anglican) Church of his day had become. This dichotomy can be found in the quotation from Blake with which Pauline concluded today's reading - "All deities reside in the human breast". This would resonate with many Unitarians.
The Church, in Blake's lifetime (1757 – 1827) had reinforced its institutional power over people's lives with moralising, chastising, and confining dogma about "Heaven and Hell", against a social backdrop of the emerging evils of the Industrial Revolution. This contrasted with William Blake's creative legacy, reflecting his child-like exuberance and delight in life.
It's this dichotomy that Kris explored with us today. Kris's reflections included heart-felt readings from some of Blake's best-loved poetry, supported by the poet's own visual illustrations. William Blake found the answers to life - not in the confines of religious dogma but in human passions, joys, and the soaring of the creative imagination, expressed in Art and Poetry. Not to be missed!

The Dead Sea Scrolls

Today, Kris reflects on the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls by a Bedouin shepherd boy searching for a lost sheep in 1947. They were found stored in sealed earthenware jars in caves near Wadi Qumran, the historic site of a strict Jewish fundamentalist community - "Men of the Light", sectarian, male-dominated. Written between 200 and 80 BCE, multiple copies of these restored scrolls of the Jewish Tanakh, allowed comparisons with the scriptures of the Old Testaments and the Tanakh, today. The corroborative relevance of these scrolls to our Judeo-Christian heritage makes them, arguably - the most significant archaeological discovery of the 20th Century. Over a third of the scrolls were not scriptural in nature. They included Essene community rules, astrological calendars, hymns, psalms, apocalyptic and apocryphal (non-canonical) biblical works, and a giant "jigsaw puzzle" of scroll fragments to be pieced together. Some scrolls were written in code. While no New Testament gospels were found in the caves, Kris points to contextual links with the New Testament such as an early "forerunner" to The Beatitudes that Richard read to us today, from the Dead Sea Scrolls. These may have influenced Jesus' Beatitudes, in the "Sermon on the Mount" (Matthew 5:3-12) or the "Sermon on the Plain" (Luke 6:20-38) - so beloved by Christians and many Unitarians today. Kris also refers to other New Testament comparisons with the Dead Sea Scrolls. One scroll - made of copper, purports to describe the location of a vast cache of buried bullion - gold and silver, as yet undiscovered! Or was it a spiritual treasure to be found by those who searched? Listen on for more of Kris's reflections on the significance and relevance of these "Dead Sea Scrolls". They have inspired more than a film of two!

Early Christianities

Our "Story for All Ages" today is a modern Unitarian parable to illustrate the all-to-human phenomenon of the proliferation of ideologies - in this instance the "Christianities" and Christian leaders' attempts to re-define God - the "God" of this parable being Female.
Kris, in his overview of the first few centuries of Christian belief, begins his exploration of the "Christianities" with Jesus, in Judea - then Paul (Saul) and the myriad of variants that have proliferated down through the ages - each, like Gnosticism - with its own understanding of "God".
I was left wondering that somewhere further along from Kris's exploration of these first three centuries of "Christianities" today, we will find us Unitarians, Unitarian-Universalists and Universalists and the spiritual pathways and understandings of the nature of God that we share with those around us - that give our lives new and fuller meaning.
And while it's a journey we share in the company of other Unitarians, perhaps there are as many "pathways to the divine" as there are those people who seek to tread them? Do listen on!

The Voice

Kris's address, today - Sunday, 5th February 2023 is on "The Voice", one of two outcomes from the 2017 "Uluru Statement from the Heart". "The Voice" proposes a democratically elected group of Aboriginal Leaders who would be consulted and heard in matters that affect Aboriginal people at all three levels of Government.

The second outcome was a "Truth Telling Commission" where Aboriginal people seek reconciliation with all other Australians via a "Makarrata" an "act of peacemaking and reconciliation - after struggle", which will unite all Australians in mutual respect and lead to recognition of "Aboriginal Sovereignty" - a concept that Kris recognises will be challenging to many Australians. Today, Kris briefly summarises the historical events leading to "The Voice": - European conquest, legal recognition by the High Court of co-existing aboriginal sovereignty in the Eddie Mabo decision, Paul Keating's Redfern Statement and the Uluru "Statement from the Heart" - all leading us to the approaching referendum to amend the Australian Constitution. Kris is not telling us how to vote but this address will provide us with a useful framework for decision-making. Listen on!

Moving up a grade.

On lighting our chalice this morning, Kris reflects on the flame that represents the vitality of life - the energy that motivates all of us - especially the vitality of all the young people of our Unitarian Community. Today's "Blessing of the Schoolbags" is traditionally observed just before the new school year (2023) and is dedicated to the children. Kris interviews them about their hopes for the 2023 school year and Miranda reads a Unitarian Universalist "Credo" that reinforces today's theme of youth, vitality, hope and renewal - for us spiritually. It's a Credo that reaches beyond the "benediction" of our 7 Principles to opportunities for our spiritual growth.
Kris reflects that in meeting the challenges of 2023 - we are no different from the children. "Crisis can be opportunity!" During the hard times - whenever we endure disappointment, loss and grief, there will be lessons leading us towards peace, forgiveness, self-fulfillment, spiritual growth and enlightenment. Kris expands on some of these lessons and asks the question: "Will we be "moving up a grade" in 2023 - and beyond - spiritually?!"