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иконографияКартиниDavid Soliday talked to us about Krishna Janmashtami (birthday of Krishna) Dramatic enactments of the life of Krishna, are customary. Young men form human pyramids to reach a high-hanging pot of butter to represent Krishma’s love of butter. Krishna was naughty but everyone loved him except the evil king who would stop at nothing to kill the young prince. Even Krishna’ s punishments were administered with love and compassion.
Barbara is out of the hospital and is feeling better. She is recovering at her home. We lit candles for peace in the UK, people killed and injured in Indianapolis last night. We lit one for the people in Somalia and for Elizabeth’s niece. The three cranes group performed a Lughnasa at the Dublin Irish Music festival and drew 350 people….
There will be a pot luck after the service on Sep 28. September 24 is a day in Columbus to move beyond fossil fuels. There is an 8 mile bike ride leaving from Columbus, Franklin Park Conservatory at noon. September 24 is also the day that David Soliday will be hosting Earth Dance at the Ohio Wesleyan college in Delaware (to start at 4PM).
The board authorized some picnic tables for the back yard.
Peace, Rick
Posted 9 months, 1 week ago at 11:56 pm. Add a comment
Today Shawn taught us about blessings and we all participated in a water blessing. We don’t really give blessings much thought. Blessings can take a lot of forms, but they must be freely given with a loving heart, a compassionate mind and a willing spirit. Otherwise, it is just going through the motions. Blessings can involve touch… laying on of hands or an embrace. Blessings often involve hands making some obvious action but that is not necessary. The essence of a blessing is the wholeness of the spirit unobstructed. The spirit does not require hand movements to make a go of it.
David Spangler writes that the art of the blessing has an improvisational element. We must
1. be mindful of the occasion,
2. Idenify yourself as the blessor.
3. Be open to alligning yourself with the blessee.
4. Inhabit the space.
5. perform the act of blessing.
In our water blessing, everyone took turns blessing the water and, if you care to, add a comment about our relationship with water. Peace, rememberance of childhood, connectedness, bringer of wealth, trouble, and calm, precious giver of life, nourisher of trees, nourisher of the land a cure for the ills of the spirit, and silence.
There is a pot luck next Saturday night, July 16 with a red white and blue theme. Betty said Cathy is providing a movie but Cathy wasn’t there today to defend herself from the charge. The 350 day schedule is firming up for the fall. Also, the Three Cranes Druids have been asked to perform a religious service at the Dublin Irish Festival on Sunday morning. That will be Sunday Aug 7 at 10:00 am.
After the service on Sunday August 28 we are having a picnic. Warren Wolfe is the speaker that day.
Remember to re-register your kroger card. The number is 80237.
Yours, Rick
Posted 10 months, 1 week ago at 10:41 pm. Add a comment
Today we had an all star cast on hand to explain to us about the seven deadly sins. Being Unitarian, we were a little unsure about these things so they had to list them for us. Anger, Envy, Gluttony, Greed, Lust, Pride, and Sloth.
Megan lead off with an explanation of Anger. Megan is an art therapist by way of occupation and she helps people through their anger using art. She pointed out that anger can be controlled or uncontrolled. The uncontrolled sort is often characterized as wrath as it turns violent. However deadly it may be, there is an intrinsic value to anger and it is often suppressed in very unhealthy ways. But anger can be appropriately channeled and it is considered a functional necessity for survival. If you or a loved one are attacked, anger can help channel a very appropriate response. Nevertheless, the Catholic church defines anger as the power of vengeance which is sinful, the Buddhists consider it one of the 5 hindrances and the Judaic tradition holds that
He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city (Proverbs 16:32)
Thurman said Envy is characterized by an insatiable desire for things not material. When you perceive something lacking in yourself and you wish to deprive someone else of it, then envy is destructive… except when you are trying to evoke those thoughts in others when you are trying to show off your new girlfriend or boyfriend.
Madeline said Gluttony depends on your perspective. Poor people eating a lot are gluttonous. Rich people eating a lot are living well.
Matt said Greed is having unmet needs that you are trying to satisfy. How much is enough? What is greed in the service of others. That is to say what if you are trying to feed a family or a community?
Gordon said Lust is pleasure, eager appetite, desire or excessive desire. It seems to have negative connotations when the church is talking about it but who has not felt that way sometimes? If pursuit of it injures yourself or others, then perhaps it is bad, but most of the time society claims that it is injurious to the community the real reason is that society just doesn’t approve of it.
John talked about Pride. He said that pride is the worst because in encompasses all the other deadly sins.
Jim and Jan together demonstrated Sloth. The church likes to define it as the failure to use ones talents and gifts. It is a sin of omission against the community. The community has a funny way of extracting vengeance against its members who do not work had and donate a good part of their labor to the well being of the church.
IN other news. The Potluck is NEXT Saturday folks. Don’t miss it. On June 13 Teresa Mills, director of the Buckeye Environmental Networkwill be speaking about Fracking in the land below Ohio. July 1 will be Pyropaloosaat Sean’s house… all are invited. The spelling checker does not like pyropaloosa so we shall have to refer to it as amateur pyrotechnics on steroids.
Rick
Posted 11 months, 1 week ago at 12:20 am. Add a comment
икониToday Kathy spoke to us about our “Calling” using Frand Capra’s ”Its a Wonderful Life” as a metaphor. This is the movie where the clever but nutty Clarence the guardian angel convinces George Bailey that his life was not a failure.
To what extent do we get to choose our own calling? George Bailey has big plans to see the world and to build things. But his aspirations weren’t enough to keep him from saving the town in its hour of need. He, aided and abetted by his new wife, Mary, save the town from ruining the “Building and Loan” in a bank panic and he never does get out into the world to make his mark. He spends his life saving the saving the town through running the Building and Loan even though his aspiration was to leave and build things somewhere else.
There is a theory called an Acorn theory that says we are born with a seed inside of us that gives us the ability to become what we are to become. This is a key element of Budist, Mormon and Hindu thought… that we have a destiny that we must nurture and embrace. But, contrary to that, it is said that a man is born many men, but dies only one (attributed to Martin Heidegger.)
Kathy introduced another theory that the soul alters aspirations and achievements, and another that our circumstances introduce limitations. Winston Churchill was sick as a child, for example, and he gained his deep understanding of people through the books he read as a child. In George Bailey’s case, his father dies and there is no one to take over the Building and Loan if George does not do it.
Often we do not like limitations being put on us, but often the limitation is a blessing. You may know someone with lots of talent that never settles down to accomplishing things because they are always chasing off in another direction. Or as Harry Nillson put it when he described the troubles of Oblio, the pointless child… a point in every direction is the same as no point at all.
Your calling is not necessarily your vocation. The final 10 minutes of the final Oprah show was devoted to Oprah Winfrey imploring everyone to take their own individual point of light and use it to illuminate their individual piece of the world. Your point of light may be tied to your job, but it is just as likely that your calling is what happens in your life when you are occupied doing something else.
“The truth is that when we are summoned, it is not because we are great or special, but because we can give of ourselves to the norld in some way.” – David Spangler
Joys concerns, and announcements: The new parking lot should be going in this week. Next Saturday is John Martin’s ordination. The ceremony will happen at 2PM June 4 in Belleville. John’s will be speaking to our congregation on Sunday under the topic: The Gospel according to John. Gordon and Elizabeth want to start a walking group in Blacklick Park on Sunday afternoons.
The children’s story was “The Pea Blossom.” It is about a pea that does not get to chose its destiny, but is happy because it was open to the possibilities of the universe.
As always,
Rick
Posted 11 months, 3 weeks ago at 1:30 pm. Add a comment
Today Bob F. spoke to us about Egypt. He began with a wonderful children’s story about how you explain to your children how you were able to defeat a ferocious lion.
The core of the ancient Egyptian religion is balance of truth and right. The duality of the country – split as it was between the Upper Nile and the Lower Nile regions reflect this. the tension between the brothers Horace and Seth reflect this as well. They validate each other. You can’t have a good one without having a bad one as counterbalance.
Egyptian temples were repositories for Icons, not places where worship services were held. We know very little about the religion because of the Roman influence to destroy the ancient culture. It had survived invasions for many thousands of years before the Romans got their hands on the place.
An interesting rediscovery of the ancient beliefs comes from the wall art. When you die, your heart is weighted down by the bad things you have done… sins if you prefer. In order to pass to the happy place (the fields of Yaaru) you must have a heart that is no heavier than a feather. An interesting way of seeing judgement day.
Other interesting aspects are the Egypian antecedents to Jesus. Horace was the son of a spirit father and earthly woman. He went to the desert and faced his dark side there. I also thought it was interesting that the balance of good and evil in Egypt is reflected in Christian thought in subtle ways. The dark side is required to counterbalance the good side in both. Jesus could not have become Jesus afterall, had Judas not been there to start the ball rolling toward the Jesus’s capture.
Today was Standing Women day. We had a wonderful story of the Standing Women depicted for us. So many hats, too.
Board meeting next Friday at 7:00. Every church member can attend… and is encouraged to attend.
Rick
Posted 1 year ago at 12:17 am. Add a comment
