Expanding Horizons

”We are One but We are Many”

Kris commences with the song that inspired this address -  "We are One, but We are Many". Anecdotally, Kris also mentions a recent 'on-line' but anonymous critic of Unitarians as "un-Christian". "How do we respond to such a criticism?" Kris asks.
Kris suggests a simple and effective response to those who resort to labeling others whenever beliefs conflict with their own and reveals the psychology at work within those who label others as in someway inferior or less "Christian".
Kris concludes: "We are Many but We are One!" Listen on to Kris's celebration of the strength that comes with "Unity in Diversity", here - within our Church and in the wider Australian community.

The Sound of Silence

In today's service, "The Sound of Silence", Kris draws on Christian and Buddhist teachings on Silence to draw us away from the dualism of the world and open us to the spiritual wellsprings within and around us - of wisdom, insight, intuition and conscience. As speech and musical notation only make sense when punctuated by the silences and pauses that give it meaning, the daily practice of contemplative or meditative silence will give euphony and meaning to otherwise cacophonous lives! Kris concludes - "We need moments of pause and reflection to make sense of the rest".

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Kris's address today is on R-E-S-P-E-C-T - one of those concepts we all understand but can't quite so easily define. Jennie plays a memorable lioness's part in her 'Story for All Ages' on Respect and Kris turns to our UU Principles and Philosophers before providing some anecdotes about the value of respect in all our relationships - whether fleeting or life-long.

Heritage Matters

The focus of our Minister, Kris Hanna's address last Sunday, to a full church at Shady Grove was to briefly span the history of theistic belief from early pantheism to monotheism and beyond. It included Unitarianism and Trinitarian mainstream (Christian) dogma. Kris observed at the outset, a trend in contemporary society and amongst Unitarians - towards greater abstraction in defining notions of God and Divinity, evolving from Jewish monotheism into the Orthodoxy of a Trinitarian, tripartite God - the Father, Jeshua - his Son and Holy Spirit. There were "unitarian" dissenters. Alexandrian (monotheistic) scholars argued against the Trinitarianism of Athanasius. They included the Egyptian scholars, Origen and Arius. There were achievements: the Unitarian, Francis Dávid (1510–1579 influenced King Sigismund to issue the Edict of Torda in Transylvania, Socinus (1539–1604), and the Socinian movement in Italy, the Racovian Catechism of Poland, and there were those who died for their Unitarian beliefs - Michael Servetus (Spain), burned at the stake with his book on the Errors of the Trinity in Switzerland, the Englishman, John Biddell (1615-1662) who died in prison for his Unitarian beliefs after being imprisoned from 1647-1662, the Quaker, James Naylor, tortured and imprisoned for blasphemy, the scientist and former priest, Joseph Priestley - forced to flee to America - and other Unitarians, persecuted, tortured and martyred for their beliefs. 
Many "post-Christian" Unitarians now seek to define "Unitarian" not historically and narrowly, as anti-Trinitarian - but the discovery of a unity and "oneness" that transcends old, worn-out dogma that divides, that gathers up new and old wisdom that has stood the test of time to unite us in our shared humanity, a Universalism where salvation is to be found here and now in the quality of our daily living and loving. But that's the sequel - to be told by others at another time. Listen now to Kris's account of how we Unitarians came to be here and, by inference - where we might be heading.

Forever Jung

In his second address as our Minister, Kris Hanna amplifies what he referred to - in his first address as our "communication challenge".
"We all want to achieve a state of grace and peace. But how do Unitarians - who, typically do not endorse or embrace traditional Christian understandings of "God" and "faith" - find grace and peace - and give our lives purpose and meaning? And it's not about being happy!
To help resolve this challenge, Kris uses concepts such as self-realisation, wholeness, and individuation, developed by the psychiatrist, Karl Jung - over a century ago, within a rational framework that helps us all to grow spiritually, as Unitarians and give our lives meaning and purpose.
"The meaning of life is finding one's gifts; the purpose of life is to give them away."
Listen on to an address that is not to be missed!

The Legacy of Bishop John Shelby Spong.

In our service today, I reflect on the Legacy of Bishop John Shelby Spong, who died on the 12th September 2021 - a little over 12 months ago. It's a repeat of a service I first gave at our Shady Grove Church shortly after learning that Bishop Spong had died. His 12 theses for the reform of the Episcopal Church in the USA resonate with many Unitarians - and a growing cohort of Christians who believe that there is a need for a rational, intellectually credible definition of the nature and presence of God in our lives that reflects our Science and questions outworn dogma. What remains steadfast is agape Love:
- that God is Love and Love is God;
- that God is to be found in the Love we must give "wastefully" and - hopefully, receive.

For this is where we see the living presence of God at work in the world - even in the hard times!

Readings from ’Our Breviary’

In her last service as our Lay Leader, Jennie - to use her own words - is "mining" our Breviary for "pearls of wisdom". Everything in this last Service - from our opening words, all seven readings selected by Jennie from the many available - to our closing words have all been gifted to us from our Church Breviary. Listen on for these seven "pearls".

Peace

Jennie's focus today is on "Peace" and our Sixth UUA Principle: "The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all".

In the context of the war currently raging in Ukraine and its recent escalation, Jennie asks at the outset of her address today - "Is there such a thing as a Just War"? Jennie refers to the "Just War" criteria of 13th Century Roman Catholic Dominican priest, philosopher, theologian and jurist, St. Thomas Aquinas and to an article in Scientific American - Sept 1, 2018  by R. Brian Ferguson: " War Is Not Part of Human Nature", - the "hawks" arguing that we've become so addicted to war - so "numbed" to the destruction it brings - that war is hard-wired into us. 
The "doves" challenge this view.
Jennie offers pathways of hope - leading to peace, despite the challenges of climate change and global inequity. We begin that journey by looking into our own hearts! But there's a challenge: - it's also a path of Action. Listen on!

”God’s teeth and Bones!”

Today, Jennie challenges the narrowness of scientific reductionists who rely solely on science to explain the injustices and incongruities of life. While it should not be ignored, Science will never explain it all and there is meaning and truth in mythology that Science is yet to - and may never fully - explain. And Science sometimes gets it wrong!
Jennie argues that there is a broader, spiritual perspective - supported by spiritual practice - reaching beyond Science that we Unitarians Universalists ignore at the cost of our own spiritual impoverishment! "Transcendence is not a flight from our critical thinking but an inescapable part of our humanity", concludes Jennie and she suggests possibilities for putting spirituality back into our lives. This is an address not to be missed!

What could possibly go right?

Today's address by Jennie, our Lay Leader - "What could possibly go right?" is set against a backdrop of uncertainty: - melancholy, following hard upon the death of Queen Elizabeth 11, and the possibilities for hope and renewal that a new era might bring - marked by the crowning of King Charles 111. It's about how attitudes will shape us emotionally and spiritually in these uncertain times. This will influence the paths we choose to tread. Will our choices be grounded in pessimism: "What could possibly go wrong?" or optimism: "What could possibly go right?" Which choice we make will shape our actions - as individuals and as a church; as communities and as a nation. Listen on!