Monthly Archives: September 2010

September 19, 2010 · 2:55 pm

Living with the Texts: Hear, O Israel!

Today’s sermon is the first of a series of close readings of sacred texts. Today was the launch of our children’s and youth programming for the year, and it seemed appropriate to take “teaching our children” as the sermonic focus too. Enjoy.

Peace,

Rev. Laura

***

Living with the Texts: Hear, O Israel!

The Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Minister
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Stockton
September 19, 2010

So what’s this about “Living with the Texts,”
the first half of my sermon title today?
The texts I’m talking about
are the great scriptures of world religions—
like the Bible, the Qur’an, the ancient Hindu texts,
the Buddhist sutras, the Tao Te Ching.
For the next nine months, I’m going to be preaching
on a different one of these texts each month,
because I think they have a lot to teach us.

Let me be clear right up front:
I’m not trying to say the Bible or any other scripture
should be the boss of our spiritual lives.
Ever since Emerson and Thoreau back in the 19th century,
we Unitarians have been saying, we get our religious authority—
we figure out what we believe and how we think we should live—
based on our own personal experience and our own inner wisdom.
Over the years, we freed ourselves from the idea
that we had to accept whatever the Bible said.
We learned to trust ourselves. Continue reading →

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Filed under Deuteronomy, Hebrew Bible, Religious education, Shema, Unitarian Universalism, Yom Kippur

September 13, 2010 · 11:16 am

More on immigration reform

The Unitarian Universalist Association Board of Trustees recently issued an invitation for congregational leaders to weigh in on plans for our General Assembly in Phoenix, AZ in 2012–a national UU gathering to witness on immigration and racial and economic justice. Here’s what I sent them–not without some anxiety about speaking up, but carefully considered and strongly felt.

Peace,

Rev. Laura

***

September 13, 2010

Dear members of the UUA Board,

Thanks so much for the invitation to comment on possibilities for GA 2012 in Phoenix. As the sister-in-law of a recent immigrant from South America, I have been so glad to see UUs getting involved in immigration issues.

I am sure the GA planning team will do a fantastic job creating opportunities for those of us who feel energized and excited about participating in rallies and civil disobedience actions. It’s been so inspiring hearing about our clergy and lay leaders who have been taking this path. I also hope we can find ways to engage those of us, like me, who feel strongly about what’s going on but are less comfortable wearing the T-shirts, chanting slogans, etc.

I’ve been reading Thomas Merton’s Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander and find myself powerfully struck by his words: “All party lines deform the doctrine which they claim to preserve” (New York: Image/Doubleday, 1989, p. 58). They helped me name a discomfort that has been surfacing in me as I follow the “Standing on the Side of Love” campaign. I want this country to welcome and embrace immigrants, and I am deeply alarmed by SB1070 and the ideas behind it. Yet, for us to claim we are “on the side of love,” implying others are not, feels dangerously self-righteous to me. I worry about our getting enamored of ourselves as some sort of shining army of good, battling the evil oppressors who are Not Us. Please hear me: I don’t want us to sit on our hands or stay silent about what we believe. I feel so blessed to be part of a movement with brave people willing to put themselves on the line for justice. I just hope we can practice with humility, seeking to understand the human lives of those who do not agree with us, even as we do what we need to do. I hope our GA and our continued work for justice will have room for that spirit.

Again, thank you so much for your thoughtful and courageous work. I look forward to being in Phoenix with you in 2012.

Yours in faith,

Laura Horton-Ludwig

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Filed under Immigration reform, Unitarian Universalism

September 5, 2010 · 12:42 pm

What Should We Do? Spiritual Practices for Discernment and Decision-Making

I planned today’s sermon to create an opportunity for people to rest and reflect during this Labor Day weekend, and to start framing a conversation in my congregation about the future of our music program in the wake of a beloved staff member’s departure. Enjoy.

Peace,

Rev. Laura

***

What Should We Do?
Spiritual Practices for Discernment and Decision-Making

The Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, Minister
First Unitarian Universalist Church of Stockton
September 5, 2010

Rabbi Zusya tells us:

When I reach the next world, they will not ask me,
“Why were you not Moses?”
Instead, they will ask me, “Why were you not Zusya?”

The Sufi poet Rumi tells us,
if we waste the gifts we are born with,

It’s as if a king has sent you to some country to do a task,
and you perform a hundred other services,
but not the one he sent you to do.
So human beings come to this world to do particular work.
That work is the purpose, and each is specific to the person.
If you don’t do it, it’s as though a priceless Indian sword
were used to slice rotten meat.
(from “The Real Work”)

And I must tell you:
these teachings have saved me, over and over again,
the call to be who we are, to embrace the gifts we have,
and let those gifts set our path
in all those times when we don’t know what to do,
the times when the path is not clear
and we struggle to figure out what is right. Continue reading →

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Filed under Clearness Committee, decision-making, discernment, Unitarian Universalism