Saved by a Different Faith (JC)

I chose Unitarian Universalism as my faith not because of our history which is rich, indeed; not because of our pioneering efforts to end slavery, or how we helped in the women's suffrage movement. I did not become a UU because of our important work during the Civil Rights Movement.  I didn't choose this faith because I am antitrinitarian or because I believe in the salvation of all souls. I chose this religion as the one I would die for because, quite simply, it accepted me for who I was and where I was.  This faith said "You are okay as you are, you are an original blessing not an original sin--a work in progress." That is the reason I am a Unitarian Universalist. 

What about you? Is UUism a gift to you? A gift is "a thing given willingly to someone without payment; a present" (thanks Wiki). This movement came to us free of charge it was a present--presenting to us new opportunities for affirmation and association. It was freely given without any thought of repayment.  I don't know?  Somehow I feel compelled to do something with this gift. I want to pay it forward by sharing our message with others. An old hymn of the church comes to mind... "What shall I render for all the blessings? What shall I render, what shall I give?” The hymn goes on to say, “All I can render is my body and my soul, that’s all that I can render that is all that I can give.” I have to be present and share this UU gift because I am held captive by the message.

If you are not a UU you might ask "Is that all the UU message says--that 'you are okay and a work in progress'?   Yes.  Pretty much, but it does say more...  Our message says to you that we support inclusivity   We believe all humans are the "Imago Dei"-- made in the image of God, made in the image of Greatness!  We believe all humans beings have worth and are worthy of love.  We believe that all religions point us right back to ourselves and the "god(s) of our understanding."  We believe in the democratic process, that each person is free to responsibly search for her/his own truths in life.

Perhaps you are a Unitarian Universalist and don't even know it?  If you want to talk about it, give me a shout out.  The ways to reach  me and to check out some of my work are below.  

Peace and blessings,

Rev. John T., (MOLE)
Minister of Outreach, Leadership and Evangelism
UU Church of Annapolis, Lead Minister AWAKE
AWAKE website
AWAKE on Facebook
UUCA website
UUCA youtube page
UUCA Ministers blog
My Facebook page
sermon archive
AWAKE Drive-Time Msg
AWAKE Blog talk radio
GA Worship Service
AWAKE Amazon Store

Office 410-266-8044 x107
-----------------------------------------------
   

 

Sifting Through Disappointment (DG)

Today is Ash Wednesday. And, I am not anticipating many of us coming to the church today to receive ashes in the ancient Christian tradition, but we are open. If you do come you might leave disappointed, because we stopped doing that rite 5 or so hundred years ago.

Ash Wednesday marks the start of the Lenten season, a 40 day time period of sacrifice, abstinence and contemplation in preparation for Easter --another holiday many of us look forward to with great excitement. At Easter we will celebrate renewal, the return of spring, and maybe even the resurrection of… hope or a savior.

You should know I have mixed feelings about Easter. For now, suffice it to say, through my ambivalence I recognize in the holiday a chance to connect with history and traditions, (Perhaps even great music. Easter is made for Bach after all).

Easter is down a long road of embodied memories that might not be my own personal memories, but pieces of collective consciousness. All of these things are part and parcel of the religious experience, and by extension—the human experience. I recognize in the austerities of Lent too, a certain opportunity to connect with a history that is absolutely not my own. I am, after all, a dyed in the wool 21^st century, Unitarian Universalist. But the memories of Lent might include me all the same. The memories are irresistible and they might even suck you into them too!

Embodied memories? Collective memories? At first, it all sounds strange and impossible; like a post-modernist excursus gone over one bridge too far. Is there anything that we can collectively remember? And, how might we recall it, if we needed to? Especially, if we needed it to save our own lives? This is something that transcends heritage. It’s not American or French memory, Victorian or 22^nd century memory, but human memory. It’s transcendent in that way.

I think that transcendent human memory might be disappointment, a collective human remembrance of unmet expectations. We have all been disappointed about something:

Disappointed about ourselves or our abilities.

Our lack of ability.

By our failures and sometimes even disappointed about our successful accomplishments. (L'Embarras des richesses)  Perhaps we did it “too” well, or too fast, or too slow, or not at all.

Disappointed by loved ones who weren’t there, who are here. Or the children whose personal ambitions contradicted our own, more robust ambitions for them.

Perhaps we are disappointed that human lives are short and filled with uncertainties and dreams and reversals of fortune.

And, we might be disappointed that in the end a hero will not come to save us from ourselves? Mission “not” accomplished.

Whatever, the specific disappointment, we all share in the experience of disappointment and its memory.

Our culture provides us with many anodynes to distract us from the pains of disappointment and a host of fancy drugs to avoid the memory. However, if we want to overcome our disappointment, we must pass with full consciousness through them.

I recommend in the days and weeks leading up the celebration of Easter we consider passing through our own Lenten period to contemplate the memory of life’s shortcomings, reflecting and sifting through the disappointments that are our human heritage. We may draw on tradition, ritual and memories—our own or the memories of others. (The Christian mythos might be useful) As we do this, let us look real hard for lessons and other buried treasure; new opportunities hidden in the old ones. We will have to make sacrifices, perhaps the first of which will need to be our pride, and the second our guilt and third –shame. Let’s also look for forgiveness, our theme for the month, it might be the hardest thing to find, but it is worth the search. If we can find forgiveness in the muck of disappointments use it on yourself first and then on others.

We can always talk about the experience, our triumphs and our set-backs. See you in church. Daniel.

Why I Dance - CL

I grew up in a musical family. 

My father played in a band and was a member of the Air Force traveling show  "Tops in Blue" early in his career. My brother played multiple instruments, and enjoys songwriting and producing even today. I loved the fact that music was often being played in our home. Whether it was my dad on the guitar, my brother on the trumpet or piano, or my mom feigning opera, there was a lot of music around. I took piano lessons for a few years in elementary school and I never connected to the act of playing music. I considered joining the orchestra in middle school, but was more attracted to theater and speech. I considered myself, for most of my life, "not musical."

I realized in the past several years, however, that I am indeed "musical." My connection to music comes through movement… through dance. I am not drawn to playing or singing music. Rather, I connect to rhythm, melody, and harmony through dance. I simply cannot sit still when hearing good music! If you've seen in me in Sunday Services, I struggle to stand and sing without tapping my feet, clapping my hands, bobbing my head, or swaying my hips. I feel music more than I hear it.

I took years of dance training, including ballet, modern dance, jazz, and even hip-hop in graduate school. But I am not what you would call a "good dancer." Not in the traditional sense of the word. I'm never in the front row while performing. I'm not particularly graceful. But I love the feeling of allowing my body to do what it wants when the rhythm strikes.

I learned to let go of my preconceived notions about dance and movement in college, when I took a Dancehall Jazz class. The class was taught by a man from Jamaica, and we mostly danced to songs by Beyonce'. He would work and work with us to learn the steps, then he would tell us to "forget everything and just feel it". 

 At the time of that class, I was struggling in my life. I was battling an eating disorder, anorexia, which had twisted my mind and made me believe my body was an enemy. I thought I should control my body, and take up less space. But Marlon, my teacher, helped me learn to trust my body, to work with it rather than against it, and to listen to my body's needs and wants, and not just my mind's. He taught me to take up more space. "Bigger movements!" he would shout. "Bigger hips!" "Bigger eyes!" …And with that, I was on the beginning of a journey of integrating my head, my heart, and my body. My arms, my legs, my torso, my bottom, my feet, and joints… All of these parts together made me whole. 

I am glad that particular struggle in my life is past. But I know I still struggle, as I know many of you do, with body-acceptance. We are taught to be thinner, or stronger, or taller, or faster, or louder, or quieter. We worry about our noses, and our hair, and our freckles, and our skin tone. Dance, for me, is one way to remind us that our bodies are good. We should care for our bodies, feed them well, allow them rest, and listen to their needs. We should also be grateful for our bodies. My best friend Jenn, who died four years ago from Muscular Dystrophy, was wheelchair-bound and very limited in her movements. But she was an excellent dancer. The joy she radiated when she bobbed her head, moved her hands, and allowed her friends to spin her in her chair, is what made her a good dancer. We only get one body. Let's make the most of it!

Betsy Kraning, our UUCA Music Director, loves to say "anyone who can talk, can sing." I love to say, "anyone who can move, can dance."  It is a natural thing. 

Look at this video of these tiny babies dancing to their father's music: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to7uIG8KYhg

This is why I am hoping you will come out to the 1st Annual "Dancing on the Side of Love" dance on Saturday, February 9, from 5-8:00pm. We'll provide heavy snacks and non-alcoholic drinks and great tunes from all generations to get people of all ages dancing together. Most of the songs will be free-dance (like you remember from your school days). But from time-to-time we'll introduce a song with a particular dance. Think: Hokey Pokey, Hand Jive, Electric Slide, The Twist, Soulja Boy, or Gangnam Style.  We'll invite people who know the dance, to teach it. And if you don't know it, to try to learn it!

This dance will be an exercise in Beloved Community. We will be working together to learn from one another, as well as being willing to try new experiences, and possibly mess up! But then we'll try again, and help each other out. It's all in good fun, and a way to have fun with your UUCA community.

If you want to see some brief snippets of the dances we might be trying, here's a funny video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg 

Dance can just be a fun way of connecting to music, and connecting to community. 

I hope you'll join us!

Blessings...   -Rev. Christina

Connecting as True Religion (CL)

Why do you come to church?

People have a variety of reasons:   Singing in a group, living their values in the community, hearing thought-provoking sermons, providing a safe environment for their children to grow, enjoying coffee and conversation…

All of these reasons have one thing in common: CONNECTIONS.

Connecting is why we come to church. Whether we are connecting to others in community, connecting to our larger world, or connecting to our deeper selves, the whole point is to connect. Hopefully, after we connect, we transform… We grow, we learn, we improve ourselves, or improve the world. But first, we have to connect.

The etymology of the word "religion" is "to connect."  (Re-ligare, like the word "ligament.")

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: We need to reclaim this vision of religion.

Do your beliefs and practices connect you, or separate you? If they connect you, to your own values, to others, and to the world… then that's a real religion! If they separate you, through fear, guilt, shame, or hate… then that's a false religion. I'm not afraid to call a spade a spade. I believe, as Unitarian Universalists, we need to celebrate real religion--those beliefs and practices that connect, support, and encourage people. And we need to denounce false religion-- those beliefs and practices that demean, belittle, or frighten.  We are NOT a religion that says "We can believe whatever we want." Connection is what we believe in. 

Our Seven Principles are accompanied by Six Sources of Inspiration.

These 6 Sources include:

- Direct personal experiences of wonder and transcendence.

- Words and deeds of prophetic, challenging men and women throughout history.
- Wisdom from the world's religions which inspire our ethical life.

- Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to love our neighbors as ourselves.

- Humanist traditions which encourage us to heed the guidance of reason.

- Earth-centered traditions which honor the cycles of the seasons and of life.

All of these sources are available to us as Unitarian Universalists. We are not limited by one source of scripture, or one particular prophet. We are open to a variety of ways of being inspired…  Of course, any of these sources could be abusive or hateful, if taken to an extreme or used in particular ways. But by remembering the root of real religion, we remember how to use these sources in a way that supports our lives and our community.

If you are looking for ways to connect at UUCA, you can visit our CONNECTIONS table starting on September 30. Our catalog will detail the classes you can take, the groups you can join, and the other opportunities for connection in our Unitarian Universalist community. In the meantime, you can contact me, Rev. Christina, at 410-266-8044 or FaithDev@uuca-md.org to discuss where you can get connected. 

If you need one-on-one support or pastoral care, remember, ALL of the ministers are available to talk or to listen. Just contact us directly and we'll find a time to meet.

In the spirit of love and connection…    - Rev. Christina Leone