Expanding Horizons

Today, Kris draws on Charles Dickens's character, Mr. Scrooge - a name synonymous with miserliness - to provide the inspiration for this Christmas Story. And there is a sense that Scrooge's story may - in some way - be our story.
Kris asks: "Haven't we all been there?" How did we come to be the way we are? How did others come to be the way they are - their pains, their joys?? What stories might they tell? How might we all find pathways leading toward better versions of ourselves?
Kris leads us towards asking - of ourselves, those questions that may help us to navigate towards better versions of "Us". And - like Scrooge - (this) Christmas might just be the epiphany we need!

Kris Hanna, our Minister, gave this address at the Unitarian Church on Sunday, 11th December.
Kris quotes from St Matthew's Gospel Ch 18 v. 3: "Truly I tell you - unless you change and become like little children, you'll never enter the kingdom of Heaven".
Kris asks: "Why was Jeshua's teaching recorded at all?" Amongst all his other teachings, why is this so striking, so unusual? What could he have meant?  And how was it as relevant then for his disciples …for his followers - as it is still so relevant today …to Unitarians? ... indeed - to us all! Listen on to find out about this wisdom's universal significance for everyone, everywhere, for all time!

Today, Kris asks some questions about accepting responsibility for our wrongful actions: -
Who is responsible for our spiritual growth? - for our salvation? - for reconciliation with those we've wronged ? - for reconciliation within ourselves? 
Kris provides a "Christian" answer and a secular - Unitarian - answer for our personal journey towards spiritual growth as Unitarians.
And to discover your answer - you'll need to listen to this!

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.

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".

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.

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.

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!

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!

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".