Expanding Horizons

”Well Donne!”

Kris's address today - "Well Donne", explores the life of the English poet, John Donne, a contemporary of Shakespeare, through the medium of his poetry, arguably, the most memorable and enduring of which is "No man is an island entire of itself..".
Donne lived in dangerous times. Disadvantaged by the stigma of being born Catholic in Elizabethan London, Donne's life was flawed, conflicted, opportunistic - but lived - fully!
Through his reading of Donne's poetry, Kris spans the full spectrum of John Donne's life - conflicted, ranging from the dissolute young man of his early poems, his sycophantic but successful search for patronage and privilege, his conversion to Anglicanism, culminating in his appointment as Dean of St Paul's. Listen on!

Big Picture - Little Picture

Under the title - "Big picture - Little picture", Our President, Jenny begins with the superficial attraction of a "big picture" view: focusing on the overall vision at a macro-management level - as contrasting with what is often seen as nit-picking, "little picture" micromanagement, where vision and focus is blurred by the detail. Jenny gives some contemporary examples of the dangers of big picture thinking, especially  when it is based on false assumptions such as denial of the science. This will lead to potentially catastrophic global consequences.
Smaller, progressive and achievable steps, based on sound assumptions will provide incremental gains that aggregate to a tipping point, and - when the time is ripe, bigger reforms will become politically possible. Listen on to some very useful anecdotes.

Christmassy

In today's service we are graced with the choral contribution of the Terrace Singers - accompanied and directed by Margaret Lambert and their singing of carols arranged by Sir Karl Kenkins.

Kris "cuts to the chase" in today's Christmas Eve service. He commences with reference to the first and original Gospel attributed to Mark's  version of the birth, essential teachings, crucifixion and death of Jeshua. The original account was silent about his resurrection and the doctrine of the Trinity, added much later to the biblical (Gospel - "Good News") accounts of the life of Jeshua...Jesu...Jesus.
Kris asks: "What were the essential teachings of Jesus that we should remember on the day Christians have chosen celebrate the birth of Jeshua, which we can have hold of, which brings forth our best selves. ...Something in our hearts that sets us on the path to Wisdom and Love?

Mid-summer musings

As the summer Solstice rapidly approaches, pushing Christmas ahead of it and bringing the prospect of warm summer days "perchance to dream", Kris - in these mid-summer musings, draws widely from literature, film, a poem of Joy Burki-Watson - read this morning by Helen; Karl Jung - "We dream of our questions, our difficulties", to find resolution; the Mythologist, Joseph Campbell contrasting Oriental acceptance of illusion and European preoccupation with the rational: the Persian poet, Hafiz's allusion to the Sun and its power - contrasted with the aloof and patriarchal Duke, Theseus - in Shakespeare's "A Mid-Summer Night's Dream. Kris suggests that we might be tempted, like Theseus - to emotionally detach ourselves from the "seasonal realm of pageantry and emotional hooks, with its thicket of labels and indoctrinating messages constantly bombarding us'.
The Spanish poet, Antonio Marchado points the way in his poem: "Last Night while I was Sleeping". Kris asks: "What if our hearts were like the sun?" Rather than the emotional detachment of Theseus, Kris advocates another way to navigate the seasonal maze we may find ourselves in at Christmas.  Kris's musings were rich with allusion. And on what promised to be a warm summer's day, we did not nod off! Nor will you! Listen on!

A Youth-led Service. Kris Hanna’s Address ”On Children”

Today is a celebration of our young people. They conduct the first part of today's service which takes the form of short plays they have written and directed.
Kris's address is also about young people, historical lamentations about them in the Town & Country Magazine in 1771, and even back to that grumpy old man, Aristotle: "They think they know everything, and are always quite sure about it!"
Today, Kris looks at the "Generation Gap": when the innocence and exuberance of the young in exploring the emotional roller coaster of life contrasts with the grumpiness and disapproval of elders? A perennial issue? What's at play here? Kris looks at what Kahlil Gibran wrote about children, what Jeshua said about children and what it means for our lives. Listen on!

Jung’s 12 Archetypes

Today, Kris offers some reflections on Jung's "12 Archetypes" and Jung's concept of "The Persona" - the outer face we present to the world. Every one of us holds a bundle of identity cards based on our occupation - or former occupation, our relationship status, or our gender, and conceptions of ourselves based on our own journey of self-discovery. Kris asks: Who are you? How well do you relate to Jung's 12 Archetypes that present images of who we might become. How relevant are these in understanding our true selves, today. But, despite internal and external obstacles - often in the guise of messages, we do have choices in how we are to conduct ourselves in our living. How can we better understand the motivations within us that affect the decisions we make and the pathways we take? Kris believes that Jung may provide some answers in our search for our true selves, self-understanding.

Our Interfaith Service - A Celebration!

Today we celebrate our association with the Multi Faith Community in our annual Interfaith service - with speakers from the Baha’i and Jewish Communities. Kris also gave a brief Buddhist perspective.

Kris's opening words convey its underlying theme and our shared purpose:

"We realise we are not perfect, but everyone has the capacity to love - and that love can be expressed in different ways". Let us be conscious of the Unity of Humanity, no matter the illusions of separateness ...no matter the illusions of one being better than another ...of our tribe being better than their tribe. May we have the compassion to see each person as a unique individual in the sea of Humanity and all of Humanity in each person. May it be so!"

Reception

Kris's address - is about the Kabbala - sometimes referred to as the "Soul" of Judaism. It's derived from the Hebrew word for Reception - that received wisdom of Jewish theology through rituals, imagery of angels and demons, incantations, amulets and practice built upon the Judaic teachings handed down through the millennia.

Kris begins with a challenging question to focus - and to challenge our Unitarian thinking:
- Whether we want to be free of the worries, toils and snares of this world - and draw closer to the Divine?
or to put the question in a more humanistic, perhaps..."unitarianised" way:
- Can you imagine a shining light of Loving Kindness within you, a light that you can bring to your life and those around you - through self development, greater consciousness - simply being the best person you can be?

Liston on to some of the Received Wisdom of the Kabbala, the four levels of meaning from literal to the Midrashim and utimately to an esoteric, metaphyical level and how its imagery might even begin to transform our lives - as Unitarians.
Kris concludes: "Can we imagine a shining light within us? And if so let us share it with the world - every day of our lives!

War and Peace

Today's Address: "War and Peace" was led by our Minister, Kris Hanna, with Margaret Lambert (piano) playing works of the Russian composer, Sergei Prokofiev - relevant to this theme. Kris commences his address by providing us with an historical background to the current war between Hamas and the Israelis. It followed a recent talk by Rabbi Shoshana Kaminsky - "Judaism 101"- an introduction to Judaism, given - the morning immediately following the tragic events that unfolded from the attack by Hamas on young Israelis attending "The Tribe of Nova" music festival.
We were then joined by during our service by Mike Khizam, from "The Australian Friends of Palestine Association". Kris interviews Mike, who gives a Palestinian perspective on the history underlying the unholy events unfolding in what Jews, Christians and Muslims each revere as their "Holy Land". We are left to ponder how Palestinians and Jews might navigate pathways to peace in The Holy Land, where - not so long ago, they once lived peacefully together under British Mandate from the League of Nations in the aftermath of WW1 - through to WW2, and the bitter residue of paranoia that is now their legacy. The Elders are not listening; it will take generational change!
"Blessed are the Peacemakers...the Children of God!"

A Festival of Light

We are so often consumed by news of the horrors of war, that we despair of the darkness and we lose perspective!
Kris commenced Sunday's address -"A festival of Light" at Shady Grove by telling a story from the Indian Upanishads. Our Unitarian Festival of Light is inspired today by the Diwali - the Hindu Festival of Lights. Light has long been a metaphor for that deeper part of ourselves - call it the soul...the spirit, some divine spark within ourselves - a light - "the lamp within" -emanating goodness and divinity. Today is our Unitarian celebration of the light and goodness, expressed in the day-to-day acts of kindness and empathy. So let's not dwell on the darkness but join with us by celebrating this light within and surrounding us. Our Diwali!
Kris leaves us with a challenge: "How do you bear that light to the people around you?"
He concludes: "Let us be the light in the darkness!"