Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they're a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each had been sent
as a guide from beyond."
-Rumi
In honor of Granny Pats and also in honor of my own spiritual exploration, I attended a Unitarian church service this Sunday morning at New-Unity Unitarian Universalist Church. For so long I have been so anti-spirituality. I confused being non-christian with being unspiritual. In reality, I am spiritual, I do believe that everything is one, in love, in "something more" (whatever the hell that means). I do not, however, believe necessarily in god of the bible or that Jesus is his son, or in Allah, or Shiva etc....Those spiritual frameworks do not appeal to my sense of what is right or true. I just can't buy it.
In the realm of the unknown, I would prefer not to try to know or pretend to know, but rather be a grateful contributor to whatever it is that connects us as one. I would rather live each day in awe of the world around us. That said, I am a scientist and I wholly believe that some things are inherently knowable and we cannot plug every hole of the unknown with god. That, I believe, is an insult to our reason. It has taken me a long time to feel equal appreciation for both the knowable and the unknowable (very different distinction from the known and unknown). The struggle is still in me, between my reason and my ever more vocal heart, but more and more my reason acknowledges that true value lies in the recognition of the equal value in the knowable (the reasonable) and the unknowable.
As the unknowable is, just that, not able to be known, I will not spend time pretending to know what it is by prescribing to the spirituality put forth in any one text. Rather I will appeal to the collective consciousness of our specie, to the knowledge of our ancestors who are true veterans of this life, the philosophies of our contemporaries for what will they be someday but ancestors. I am left feeling that the "right" action is simply to ground myself in the unknown and open myself to the awe (and comfort) found in the resignation of reason.
So with all this in my mind and heart, today I traveled down to Angel, London for my first voluntary church visit....ever. The minister, Andy, greeted me at the gate with another young man, Lee. Andy is a Bostontonian who studied biology at MIT and worked in biotechnology for 20 years before realizing that the life he was living was not one that he would want to remember on his death bed. With that realization and a bunch of faith, he quit his job and began training to be a Unitarian minister. He led me into the church, which itself was very simple. A large open room with several skylights, folding chairs and a podium served as the space for our service. Several community members introduced themselves and welcomed me before the service began. With 75 members, the church is large by England's standards where only 5% of citizens partake in any form of religious activity.
Here in London people are celebrating Harvest (think Thanksgiving) so the service centered around gratitude. After Andy's sermon, we each went in front of the congregation lit a candle, said what we were thankful for and took a handful of rice. We sat then and each said aloud, at once, one thing we are thankful for for each grain of rice in our hands. Our voices melded together into a jumbled murmured prayer of gratitude. Because it is Harvest, we joined together for a potluck following the service. There I talked extensively with Andy, Jamie (another first timer who also happens to be from Crouch End), and a Dutch woman whose name I didn't catch. We had an amazing discussion about culture, food, and bridging the gap between reason and spirituality.
I am excited to get more involved with the community. Along with the Sunday services they host weekly meditations, yoga classes, and service opportunities.
In the realm of the unknown, I would prefer not to try to know or pretend to know, but rather be a grateful contributor to whatever it is that connects us as one. I would rather live each day in awe of the world around us. That said, I am a scientist and I wholly believe that some things are inherently knowable and we cannot plug every hole of the unknown with god. That, I believe, is an insult to our reason. It has taken me a long time to feel equal appreciation for both the knowable and the unknowable (very different distinction from the known and unknown). The struggle is still in me, between my reason and my ever more vocal heart, but more and more my reason acknowledges that true value lies in the recognition of the equal value in the knowable (the reasonable) and the unknowable.
As the unknowable is, just that, not able to be known, I will not spend time pretending to know what it is by prescribing to the spirituality put forth in any one text. Rather I will appeal to the collective consciousness of our specie, to the knowledge of our ancestors who are true veterans of this life, the philosophies of our contemporaries for what will they be someday but ancestors. I am left feeling that the "right" action is simply to ground myself in the unknown and open myself to the awe (and comfort) found in the resignation of reason.
So with all this in my mind and heart, today I traveled down to Angel, London for my first voluntary church visit....ever. The minister, Andy, greeted me at the gate with another young man, Lee. Andy is a Bostontonian who studied biology at MIT and worked in biotechnology for 20 years before realizing that the life he was living was not one that he would want to remember on his death bed. With that realization and a bunch of faith, he quit his job and began training to be a Unitarian minister. He led me into the church, which itself was very simple. A large open room with several skylights, folding chairs and a podium served as the space for our service. Several community members introduced themselves and welcomed me before the service began. With 75 members, the church is large by England's standards where only 5% of citizens partake in any form of religious activity.
Here in London people are celebrating Harvest (think Thanksgiving) so the service centered around gratitude. After Andy's sermon, we each went in front of the congregation lit a candle, said what we were thankful for and took a handful of rice. We sat then and each said aloud, at once, one thing we are thankful for for each grain of rice in our hands. Our voices melded together into a jumbled murmured prayer of gratitude. Because it is Harvest, we joined together for a potluck following the service. There I talked extensively with Andy, Jamie (another first timer who also happens to be from Crouch End), and a Dutch woman whose name I didn't catch. We had an amazing discussion about culture, food, and bridging the gap between reason and spirituality.
I am excited to get more involved with the community. Along with the Sunday services they host weekly meditations, yoga classes, and service opportunities.
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