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An atheist’s impression of UUism

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13 March 2021 at 23:10
By: /u/NickDee29

I’m an atheist who recently heard out Unitarian Universalism. I’m not exactly looking to join a church, as Groucho Marx used to say, I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member. Nonetheless I enjoy learning about religions so I kept reading on about it.

At first glance UU sounds like a religious humanist group that studies the world’s religion from a β€œJeffersonian” stand point. The mileage of wisdom one can find in any giving religion will vary, but it’s an intriguing idea for a religious group.

From my research I gathered two things. One, that the UU churches are more interested in social justice activism then actual religious studies and two, the faith they seem most interested is neopaganism or β€œEarth-centered religion.” As I’m sure you know, there is even a sub-set of UUs called CUUPS that focuses solely on paganism. This contradicts my original understanding of UUs as humanists. Humanism denies the existence of the supernatural, neopaganism doesn’t.

In a humanist β€œchurch” I expected to hear lessons focused on the naturalist aspects of religion, like Jesus’ words in forgiveness or the Buddha’s teachings on self realization. Paganism does teach some naturalist philosophy, like do no harm, but from what I gather UU pagans are big on pagan rituals which are rooted in a belief that these rituals can curb the trajectory of your life, or the events in the world at large. In short, it’s supernatural thinking.

As for the political activism, Now I’m not saying a congregation being active on social issues is inherently a bad thing, but I get enough politics elsewhere in my life. Plus not everyone has a bleeding heart and that’s ok. From what I gathered, the UU churches are all about being activists. As an introvert, I’m out.

I guess the point of this all is to ask, is this an accurate impression of UUism? And if so how did the church go from believing in universal salvation & denying the Trinity to a progressivist pagan church??? Is everyone in the church happy with the direction the church has taken or is there dissent?

Also, to be clear, different strokes for different folks. My impression of UUism is that it’s not for me, but if it works for you I’m happy for you.

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If Unitarian and universalist can combine than so can black Baptist and black Muslim Churches! Baptist Muslim Unitarianism.

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10 December 2018 at 14:19
By: (@nickeldimed)

If Unitarian and universalist can combine than so can black Baptist and black Muslim Churches! Baptist Muslim Unitarianism.

Speak Before It's Too Late

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13 November 2016 at 05:35
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
First they came for Muslims, and I didn't speak because I wasn't Muslim. Then they came for Blacks and Latinx, and I didn't speak because I wasn't Black or Latina. Then they came for LBGTQ, and I didn't speak because I wasn't LBGTQ. Then they came for PWD, and I didn't speak because I wasn't disabled. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me. - after Martin

Global Warming, Marketing, and Zen Cats

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13 September 2015 at 01:42
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
I recently watched a video of economic predictions for 2020. A compendium of stats flashed by with rah-rah audio and snazzy visuals. It was very much less than convincing.Β  The video assumes that world economies will continue along existing change vectors. This is not realistic. Oooh: colorful social media stats. "Business as usual" can't survive escalating climate disasters, rising sea

If We Are An Organ In Earth's Body

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7 September 2015 at 15:23
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
According to the Gaia theory, the earth is becoming a coherent individual, so I can't help wondering about humanity's function in earth's body. Discover what we do best and you will discover which earth organ we are. So what do we do best? Collect together and talk. Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β  Connect. Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β Β  Send.

Human Population Growth: Earth's Push Back Time

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24 August 2015 at 20:22
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Humans are entering the top of our population growth curve.Β  Partly because some of us have chosen to limit births, but also because, for the very first time in human history, earth is limiting our births for us.Β  It's a biological given that populations have an s-shaped growth curve. At first, growth is exponential, starting slow and increasing at a faster and faster pace.

Pitch Wars Bio

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17 August 2015 at 17:03
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Pitch Wars is an amazing, fun, (and sometimes anxiety fraught) writing contest run by Brenda Drake. But it is more than a contest; it is a community--for both the mentee hopefulls and the mentors. Mentors post a blog to help mentees make their submission choice. Some mentees do as well. (Mentee Blog Hop) Here is mine: I read and write kidlit from PBs to YA. I used to read and write grownup

When Compassion and Biology Collide

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13 August 2015 at 19:31
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
With a flash of annoyance, I drove up behind a car stopped in the middle of a suburban street. Then I noticed that facing me was another car in the opposite lane. Between the two cars a mom duck was crossing followed by her string of ducklings. A lot of ducklings, maybe a dozen. They all crossed. As the cars started up, the mom duck jumped the curb. Her ducklings followed one by one. The

Rilke and Unemployment

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20 July 2015 at 00:21
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
I didn't get another job I wanted. If someone had taken all my greatest passions and all my skills, then designed a matching position, this one would have been it. But no. I knew within two days of the interview, when they hadn't yet called my references. I've made job application my priority for a long time now. Years. Yet, nada. Okay, that's an exaggeration. I have three part-time jobs, but

Ready or Not in the Land of the Dying

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5 December 2013 at 17:07
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
I was sure he'd have died by now. He was sliding fast last spring. I hoped he'd see his birthday in late June, but was positive he'd be gone by August. Positive. Come his birthday, and he rallied. I mean, really rallied. Not just ceasing to slide, but returning to a place he hadn't been in many, many months. He was awake for hours at a time. He looked people in the eye. He cracked his

Living with Strangers

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19 July 2013 at 02:40
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
For nine months, I barely tolerated my narcissistic weekend caregiver and his slovenly ways. He never cleaned. He broke my dining room chairs. He wore his pants so low, he graced me with his bare butt when he bent over. He grumbled, grumped and demanded that I meet his latest need. Finally, I could no longer stand this man radiating bad temper through the house while my uncle was dying

Death Practice

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16 July 2013 at 00:03
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
I knew it was time for Milt to be in hospice last fall, but I still didn't like it. When I agreed to do this, I thought we'd have at least five years together, hopefully longer. Two and a half years? I couldn't make sense of it. I gave the hospice folks a lot of grief as I twisted and turned, pushed and pulled, unable to lie comfortably in this new bed. I'd expected that when Milt was ready to

Dying in Peace

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31 May 2013 at 17:17
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
My uncle lives with me. He is dying. With hospice at our sides,* his passing has a good chance of being gentle and sweet. He's on the last stretch. I hope he makes it to his birthday in late June, but don't expect him to be here for long after. Still, his body has a fair bit of letting go to do. He eats less and less, but still eats. (Those truly ready to go often stop eating altogether.) He

Grief, Joy, Rest

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23 April 2013 at 01:39
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
I'm learning yoga nidra. This is the yoga of deep relaxation and complete self-acceptance - the exact opposite of throwing your body into extreme poses - as "yoga" so often means in the US. Yoga nidra is deeply relaxing. Yet like meditation, the practice brings increased wakefulness and awareness through greater presence to the whole truth of your experience. In order to accept yourself you

Ordinary Light

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12 April 2013 at 17:05
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
After my monastic experience, you'd think I'd be suspicious of any self-proclaimed purveyors of Truth. You'd think I'd look first for the man behind the curtain. Still, I thought Amma was different - what with her free-hug darshan and "all money for charities" cant. Besides, many of my friends were Amma followers True, her idea of karma was kindergarten simplistic & opposed to my own

Pain Gain?

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14 March 2013 at 18:17
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Pain itself is not the point. (Although in the largest, universal picture, who knows what creative good it might serve?) Pain motivates me to do work I would not otherwise attempt - the work of going deep, of being present to all my parts - even the most mangled or corrosive, of embracing all of myself with loving tenderness - with no demand to change or fix. For most of us, the first

The Fast Track Outta Here

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13 March 2013 at 02:18
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Over brunch, my friend mentioned the study showing that multiple childhood traumas could knock 20 years off your life. I grinned. "You mean I have a good chance of going home at 70? Wow" (Taking a wild guess at the longevity of various relations.) Some years back, I saw a bodyworker who heard the voices of numerous disembodied beings. Once as we discussed the pains du jour, one of those beings

Giver or Taker: Whose Generosity Is It Anyway?

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30 May 2012 at 19:54
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
In his Rule, Benedict says that monks do not bless the guests they receive and serve. It is the guests who bless the monks. This is especially true when the guest is poor, sick, or otherwise in need of care. How un-capitalist! The one who "gives" - whether food, shelter, medicine, or instruction - is in actual fact the taker. The one who takes these things is the more generous giver. How our

More on Fear & Gratitude

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11 May 2012 at 03:59
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
There are lots of external reasons I might be having trouble finding a job - not least, Wisconsin's continued employment hemorrhage under Scott Walker that keeps us mired in the worst of the recession while other states begin recovery. And the one thing a writer must do to be published (or produced) is write & submit & write & submit & write & submit - letting the rejections wisp away like so

Fear and Gratitude

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5 May 2012 at 02:54
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Say we really, really want something and work very, very hard to get it and... fail. If our first response was, "Thank you. I didn't realize that thing I wanted was bad for me" how would the world be different? That's what fills my thoughts as I ponder months of job application and play submission with no success in either department. I lost my present house twice before finally getting it -

Back to School Simply?

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12 January 2012 at 19:59
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
I left full-time academics in 1999. It took a year of exploring the idea before I handed in my resignation, and another year and a half before I finally left. Academic institutions have a year-long hiring cycle and so it was professional to hand in a year's notice. Yet also, when it came down to it, I didn't want to go. My dean would ask me to stay for another term and I'd say yes. I might still

Stuck in Trauma Thinking

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9 January 2012 at 17:48
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
"The voice of the perpetrator says it is all your fault and you should give up in despair because what you did was so awful," my spiritual counselor said, "Believing you are hopeless and stuck is trauma thinking." "What would happen if you dismissed the voice listing all the things you've done wrong and just let yourself feel the feelings?" she asked. "Describe the feelings. Where in your

Simplicity is a Struggle-some Dance

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8 January 2012 at 19:27
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
I don't like buying & owning & taking care of excess property, but go where things are sold & I get the twitchy desire to buy something. Anything. Even in the monastery, avarice constantly whispered in my ear, just like it does with everyone everywhere else.Β It really helped to have a tiny, monastic allowance to cover all my personal care products, clothes, etc (I entered seriously lacking

Road Rage Teacher

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21 September 2011 at 17:00
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
After a year or so of driving to work in Chicago, my mild-mannered, Wisconsin driver persona dissolved into road rage. I raced to lights, swerved in and out of traffic, and cursed any driver who slowed me down. Once as I was pulling out of a gas station, another driver careened in, swopping in front of me so I had to slam on the breaks. It wasn't much of a slam as I was hardly moving, but I

No Need to Fear Being Dead

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16 August 2011 at 00:08
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
I don't relish the pain of dying, but I don't fear being dead. Because I remember being dead. Well, only that first, exhilarating, upward rush of release - that feels like all the graduations, birthdays, and weddings rolled into a single microsecond burst of joy. After that, I get nothing - as if an impenetrable lead curtain lies between me and further knowledge. It is enough. The deaths I

Reflections on the Wisconsin Uprising

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11 August 2011 at 22:17
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
One of these days the people in the U.S. will rise up and toss down our presently growing corporate tyranny. It has happened before & will happen again. Just won't be so easy as a few rounds of voting. For one thing, the prevalence and ease of manipulating electronic voting machines (including visual scanners) makes it unlikely that votes for a sane state are counted Yet, even if the vote

The Necessity of Hunger

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4 August 2011 at 03:10
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
"The number one reason to fast is that food tastes better when you are hungry." Augustine said that (more or less - I paraphrase 'cause I can't seem to locate the source). Augustine's not a guy I quote often given that he invented the doctrine of original sin, and blamed male lust on the women men lusted after. But I like this. And I find it comforting. Especially as a strange coterie of

Of what use pain?

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27 July 2011 at 20:06
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
My left hip is the most painful, and my right knee has hurt for the longest time. Yet in a recent Reiki session, those two places were completely open. Sometimes Reiki energy is sucked up by an off-kilter part of the body like dry earth thirsting for water. This was different. Energy flowed freely into my hip and knee - no obstruction at all - as if it was poured through empty space. What if

Fallen Woman

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20 July 2011 at 19:45
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
I'm falling down a deep chasm, grabbing desperately at branches, only to have my hand slide down, stripping the leaves off, and go on falling. There's the constant niggling of home repair when I have little energy and no money, the anxiety of poorly-paid, part-time employment, the suffering of chronic pain with no access to health care, and the struggle to give good care to my uncle."Why not

Chronic Pain and the Freedom of Constraint

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18 July 2011 at 17:58
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Every North American I've met on the spiritual path (including myself) was forced onto it by chronic pain - physical, emotional, or relational. For me it was all three. For 30-odd years, I suffered from depression and terrible insomnia. During the worst of it, I slept less than four hours a night and often not at all. Suicidally depressed, I dragged myself through an unending land of sodden

Poverty of Mind

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12 July 2011 at 21:05
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
I'm in a play on the recent, Wisconsin political uproar. It has witty, fast-paced, fake-Shakespearean language. Duels. A song & dance number. A cast of thousands (Okay, 14 actors play 47 characters, but it feels like thousands).I have a minor part. Occasionally I'm jealous of the rest of the cast with larger roles. Most of the time I'm grateful. I watch the other actors dance about the stage.

Choose Poverty

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10 July 2011 at 19:45
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
"Choose poverty in order to be present to the world." The sentence rose into my dreamy, mental drift during a guided meditation. Choose poverty to gain the freedom to be fully present.On a Friday in early March, 2005, I turned my credit cards over to the monastery's Formation Mistress and closed my bank accounts - on Sunday I was entering the novitiate. As I left the bank, I felt an

A Parkinson's Peak

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3 May 2011 at 02:08
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
"Read to me on evolution," my uncle said as I came in Saturday. "Give her the book so she can read to me," he told the caregiver, shaking a slim volume on evolution that came with our subscription to Scientific American. "Your Ph.D. was on evolution. You should like this," he continued.After dinner I read to him from the book. Then he asked me to look him up on the computer. I did and found a

The Demon is Winning

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26 April 2011 at 01:16
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
"Tell the Demon Should to can it," I exclaimed.My friend wanted to spend a nice Sunday afternoon lounging on the deck, but didn't think she should - never mind that she had just come through an emotional & physical wringer. Anyway, why does anyone need justification to lounge?"A voice that speaks in shoulds always takes you away from the divine," I continued. "Shoot, it takes years of practice

Sailing in the Sea of the Most Evil Practice

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15 April 2011 at 15:13
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
"Why not embrace the decay, relax into it," a spiritual friend of mine asked as I winged on about the toll of home ownership. Suddenly I remembered, I like weathering: crumbling brick, rusting metal, rotted wood. Not just like, love. I take pictures, collect pieces, sit for hours contemplating sun/wind/rain/snow working their weathering wonders across exposed surfaces... And gaze when I can into

Is it Enough to be Clean?

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13 April 2011 at 01:32
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
With my first caregiver, every day brought a new, urgent crisis. Most required shopping to fix - and I loath shopping. Though for the $150 home visit from a lock smith only my fingers had to shop... And wasn't I lucky to discover that the elusive gas smell in the garage was the caretaker running her car with the garage door closed before this amazing habit led to disaster. "It cold," she said

Home In The Dark

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4 April 2011 at 03:00
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Most of my life, I agreed with the proverb writer who said, "give me neither poverty nor riches, but just enough to satisfy my needs" (30:8). Too poor and one is overwhelmed by the body's needs, but too rich and one is obsessed with watching over possessions. Neither allow access to a sense of the divine.Objects have one, very intense desire: to disintegrate and come to rest in complete

No Need to Beat Myself

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7 October 2010 at 15:44
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Sparkling October, repeatedly drowning (and coming to shore again) after the triggering of old traumatic wounds, and two gospel quotes keep me company:1) "No one is good* but God alone." How comforting. We are not here to strive after perfection, because perfection is simply not available to us clay folk as long as we remain earth and spirit intertwined. (*The word translated as "good" in English

Writing Again - Yeah!

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7 January 2010 at 17:49
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
I don't normally post daily life stuff, but want to let my few loyal fans know why I've posted even less lately.I AM WRITING. Yes, I have stumbled free of the lifeless writing desert in which I wandered for the last few years - with a vengeance! Alleluia.My life took a delightful 180 last fall when I was cast in a local production by a new theatre company. (Preview and pics of rehearsal). Two

Psalms for Addicts - Psalm 139

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10 December 2009 at 19:36
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
O God, You search me and You know me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You attend my thoughts from afar. Your breath fans my road and my resting place. My whole journey is known to You. Before a word is on my tongue You know it through and through. From all sides You surround and fill me. You lay Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful - Too great for me to understand. Oh,

Psalms for Addicts - Psalm 41

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19 September 2009 at 00:27
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Happy is one who is compassionate toward those who lack. God will heal her in the day of her suffering. She will be upheld and brought to life. She will live happily on earth. Do not let us be consumed by the greed of addiction. Support us in our sickness. Catalyze our lethargy; turn us around. As for me, I cry, "Show Your care. Heal me for I have wandered away from You." Fear speaks malice

Monastic Ticks

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11 May 2009 at 00:56
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Today I got my first tick of the seasonÒ€¦ and I'm engulfed by sadness, longing for monastic life.It's a sparkling, clouds sky chasing spring day. Well worth the odd tick to walk in slanting sun and deep shade woods or baby green grass, prairie fields. (Γ’β‚¬ΛœThough imagining a tick in every little skin itch is an annoying side-effect.)Intellectually, I know that particular monastery with those sisters

Addiction in an April Blizzard

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5 April 2009 at 18:42
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
I love April blizzards. Everything is in a rush toward summer: the grass greening, bulbs shooting up, the air softening. Then suddenly: a pause. Just for a moment. As soon as the snow stops falling, it melts, and the rush to summer is back on. Yet, a pauseÒ€¦ Like the pause at the top and bottom of each breath. Breathe in. Pause. Breathe out. Pause. (If you've never paid enough attention

The Dead Come Out in March

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10 March 2009 at 19:42
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
In winter everything sleeps under cover Γ’β‚¬β€œ so quiet and clean, so empty. I love the sharp, black calligraphy of plant stems rearing above the snow: asters, milkweed, or regal prairie dock. But with March, the sordid dead come out. Cold rain runs uncaring through rotted leaves, sodden sticks and matted grass. Any lingering snow turns gritty dark from the decay heaved to its surface. It might as

Outer War, Inner Peace

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23 February 2009 at 21:12
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
"It is like a war zone in here," said a friend who is struggling to live authentically, centered in her sense of direct connection to God."Yes. And that is why it is a war zone out there," I instantly responded. Then I had to stop and think what I meant.To live authentically from one's center means being present to every pain that arises without trying to fix, suppress or anesthetize the hurt.

Acedia, the Writer's Demon

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22 February 2009 at 01:42
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
When the eight "demons" of the early desert monks mutated into medieval Europe's seven deadly sins, acedia (the "noonday demon") was folded into sloth.Β  A mistake.Β  Acedia deserves special recognition. It is so uniquely active, especially in the lives of writers. Besides, it can hardly be called "sloth" since, more often than not, it demands a deal of activity.Β  Evagrius said this about

The only way to be clear is to be clean

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19 February 2009 at 04:20
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
19770 days an addict and 5 in recovery... more or less... today I used for 45 minutes... But I am committed. I will be clean.O.K, so maybe it's not fair to count addiction back to my baby years. But the seed behaviors (and feelings) that became addictions were already comfortably well worn before my earliest memories (at three). So how early does addiction start?All my addictions happen to be

Do I Love God?

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5 August 2008 at 21:34
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
"I've been play it safe, hiding behind words, but the truth is I love God," a woman of my acquaintance recently declared.Another friend looked thoughtful then said, "Since God is in you, you can only love God as much as you love yourself."Hmmmm.I struggle to love my "self" Γ’β‚¬β€œ this little, challenged, earthy, personality called "Elena" - yet still experience an all-encompassing sense of love withÒ€¦

Rilke, Art & Running Away

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6 June 2008 at 20:51
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
All my adult life I've been terrified of something Rilke said in Letters to a Young Poet. Rilke tells the young man to discover if he must write or die. If yes, stop whining about the difficulties and "build your life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse." If not, great.

Vine, Branch, Fruit & Resurrection

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14 May 2008 at 19:29
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Last night, a group of UUs exploring Christianity got onto resurrection. One said she liked the idea (common in liberal Christian circles) that the resurrection is all of us. When we live as Jesus lived, when we work for social justice, when we try to respond with love to everyone, even our enemies, then we are the resurrected presence of Jesus on earth.Which reminded me of the Gospel verse, John

A Fire Marching Out in Front: Prairie Burning & Psalm 97

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6 May 2008 at 20:39
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Psalm 97 has the line: "Fire marches out in front and burns up all resistance." Another sister said this was like spiritual conversion. God's fire burned our resistance. It felt awful, but opened us so God could move in. Each of the monastery's prairies had a burn cycle, from every year to every five years. By some fluke, they were all burned when I was in the novitiate. That line from psalm 97

Snow, Ticks, Spring

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5 May 2008 at 16:28
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Despite the mini blizzard we had last week, it really is spring in south-central Wisconsin. After a long hiatus - about as long as since the last time I posted - I went to Liturgy of the Hours at the monastery, then took my dog for a ramble in the prairies. I pretty much stick to the paths, but...Last week, no ticks. This week, after no more than five minutes in ankle-high grass: five

Losing Winter's Order

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18 March 2008 at 19:38
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Winter is my favorite season, but as I chipped at the ice of the last freezing rain/ice storm/blizzard of February, even I thought, "Enough is enough." So for once I sympathized with those burdened by snow and cold. Recently, I heard such a person say she really disliked the loss of familiar markers and paths. It had never before crossed my mind that this might be painful, because I'm delighted

A Practical Theology of Nonresistance

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5 March 2008 at 18:02
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
In "Prophetic nonviolence: Toward a Unitarian Universalist theology of war and peace," Paul Rasor notes that belief in nonviolence is theologically grounded. Proponents are convinced intuitively in the heart, not through rational argument.This world view often results from direct, spiritual experience. I had just such a religious conversion. That's why I know I must learn to replace violence with

From Radical Spirituality to State Religion: Justifying War

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4 March 2008 at 17:35
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
My attention was caught by a line near the beginning of Paul Rasor's interesting article, "Prophetic nonviolence: Toward a Unitarian Universalist theology of war and peace" (UUWorld Spring Issue)."The just war traditionÒ€¦ originated in the Catholic Church during the fourth century CE.""Ah ha!" I thought, demonic, amateur-historian's gleam in my eye. "What major, MAJOR event happened in fourth

Do Not Lie. Do Not Do What You Hate.

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2 March 2008 at 02:20
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
In the Gospel of Thomas, the disciples ask Jesus, "Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What diet shall we observe?"He answers, "Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate."Wow! That's all it takes?"Do not do what you hate" has been interpreted as another wording for "Don't do to others what you wouldn't want done to yourself." But I imagine it means don't do anything

More On Psalm Cursing & Psalm 58

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28 February 2008 at 19:34
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Most cursing psalms are laments or cries for social justice (or both). As such, the sentiments they express are quite familiar to modern ears. "I'm deeply wounded. The pain is killing me. I did nothing to deserve this. Those who hurt me are arrogant and greedy. Vicious, wicked people, they take advantage of the weak and poor, wantonly destroying anyone they can. Stop them. Make them nothing.

Melt, Snail, Melt! A Psalm Curse

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27 February 2008 at 20:50
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Recently, I've been writing about the cursing psalms. Then I read this quote on the portal page of MYTH*ING LINKS: Almost all of us are gasping for more time. We are starving. And all of the devices and techniques that our inventive culture offers only increase the yearning for time - like the food of Hell that makes the eater hungrier. Our cell phones, computers, fax machines, and the countless

Lenten In The Morning

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22 February 2008 at 20:24
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Lent was not on my radar this year. Not that it's ever been big in my life. In fact, I had my first Lent in 2003 just months before entering the monastery. That year I gave up children's books - my most persistent addiction. I wanted a clean wind to blow through the space left by giving them up. Which actually happened.A good (Catholic) friend said that Lent was a chance to identify one thing

In The Demons' House

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12 February 2008 at 19:28
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
In The Demons' HouseTo experience a "demon house," you don't need some just-bought, never-gonna-fix-Γ’β‚¬Λœer-upper, much less one inhabited by spooky, little girls. Nah. For demon encounters of the spiritual kind, the most ordinary and uneventful of houses will do.Most of my life, I had the romantic notion that desert hermits ran to stark, marginal environments for the quiet. Only it turns out peace

Women's Voices IV: More on Amma Syncletica

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11 February 2008 at 19:00
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
I have already posted twice about my favorite desert mystic, Amma Syncletica. She offers an amazing, no-nonsense voice for spiritual practice - with heart. So here are few more of her sayings. For background go to Amma Syncletica, Part I. The Story, and I posted others of her sayings in the context of my experience at Amma Syncletica, Part II. Some Sayings.You'll notice that Syncletica (like

A Perscription For Joy

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9 February 2008 at 18:09
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
"Keep Death before your eyes." It's a common enough spiritual injunction. But the point of meditating on death is not to feel solemn or gloomy. It is a prescription for joy.Like many spiritual practices that seem dour Γ’β‚¬β€œ to those who haven't tried them Γ’β‚¬β€œ this is but one more, deceptively simple and very effective means of achieving what we seek: happiness, freedom, peace, and love of our neighbors

Forgiveness: Can We Will It or Does It Take Grace? II.

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7 February 2008 at 21:47
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Warnings not to take candy from strangers don't help most victimized children, as anyone who is paying attention knows. Because the vast majority are sexually attacked by people they know: fathers, stepfathers, uncles, older brothers, and family friends. Yet, some children are raped by strangers - even if they constitute a small percentage of the total.Such was I. (If you'd like to read a story

Something That Happened

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6 February 2008 at 16:37
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
This story was based on my recovered memories of childhood rape. Written in a child's voice, it was originally published in 1991 in Calyx, Art and Literature by Women (13:72-74).* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Two years ago when I was five, my family went camping in the fall. It was really sunny out. Everything smelled like fall and leaves were coming down. I had to go to the toilet. The toilets

Forgiveness: Can We Will It or Does It Take Grace? I.

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5 February 2008 at 18:54
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
In Christian history there is this long tussle between those who insist that we get to God through good works (and a good life) and those who insist God enters us through grace alone Γ’β‚¬β€œ no works of ours having made a bit of difference. That last was one of Luther's big deals. It seems he felt so crappy about himself that all the good work, good living and consuming prayer he practiced didn't help.

Survival - A Valentine's Remembrance

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3 February 2008 at 21:15
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Neither of my friends Ana and Jim,survived in the end, although they both lived a long time trying. On Valentine's Day, 1991, Ana put a plastic bag over her head, lay down on her bed, and suffocated. She was 39. In the winter of 1992, Jim put a gun to his temple and blew a hole in his brain. He was 59. Technically, they aren't "survivors," but how long does one have to struggle on to qualify as

Women's Voices III: Rabi'a al Basri

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2 February 2008 at 21:32
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
One of the greatest Sufi mystics was Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya who lived in Basra, Iraq in the second half of the 8th century AD. She left no written works. Most of the information about her comes from Farid ud-Din 'Attar who described her as "on fire with love and longing" and "an unquestioned authority to her contemporaries."The story goes that she was sold into slavery to a hard master. Instead of

Creeping Hermit Desire

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2 February 2008 at 00:50
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Wow, it was almost two months ago when I last posted.A few days after that post, I began three weeks of house sitting in a place without Internet access. I could get on at a nearby library, yet somehow just didn't take advantage, instead falling easily into web-withdrawal. But the house sit ended in early January .Well, this isn't the first time I've chosen disconnection.In the monastery, I

More Fun with Gospel Comparison

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13 December 2007 at 04:16
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
All three synoptic gospels have a version of the instruction to take nothing, but go out and heal. But there are some interesting variations in these passages (note: translations from the RSV). For example, is payment justified and should only worthy households be entered? And of course, there is the increased foaming at the mouth in historically successive gospels - as I pointed out in my last

More On Shaking Dust and Radical Gospel Messages

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11 December 2007 at 05:00
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
My last post was a message I heard as I did lectio on the phrase "shake off the dust that is on your feet" from Mark 6.10-11: "Where you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feetÒ€¦" Following is a little analysis of the way various gospels interpreted the saying.

Shake Off the Dust: A Gospel Message of Radical Detachment?

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11 December 2007 at 04:15
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Mark 6.8-11: "He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, "Where you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. And if any place will not receive you and they refuse to hear you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feetÒ€¦"In lectio on this

Writers Block. Arrrrggggh!

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8 December 2007 at 19:46
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
In my recent struggles with writer's block, I've occasionally thought of blogging about it - while lying in bed unable to get up. So when Shelby Meyerhoff of Looking For Faith pointed me to a post about it on Facilitating Paradox, I thought, "Now's the time." Ò€¦ Either that or leave an annoyingly long comment on the other blog.When I was 30 years younger, I smugly (and often) declared, "

Women's Voices II+: More Julian of Norwich

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8 December 2007 at 02:10
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
A 14th century, English mystic, Julian of Norwich faces a Universalist dilemma.Why Doesn't God Prevent Sin?Julian wrote, "I wondered why, by the great foreseeing wisdom of God, the beginning of sin was not prevented. Therefore, I mourned and sorrowed, without reason and discretion." Then Jesus spoke with "complete tenderness, showing no manner of blame," saying, "It is behoovely that there should

Women's Voices II: Julian of Norwich

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5 December 2007 at 23:52
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Julian was a 14th Century, English mystic with an uncompromisingly universalist vision. Hers was a joyful, compassionate God of infinite, mothering love - in direct opposition to the prevailing Catholic doctrine that plagues, wars and other suffering were an angry God's punishment for sin.Julian saw that we cause our own suffering out of ignorance, sin has no ultimate reality, and there is no

Voiceless

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10 November 2007 at 21:24
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
I said I'd post on spiritual women's voices to help people who want to undo their bias for citing men's voices. I put out one post and had two others almost ready to go. Then my blog went silent for over three weeks.What happened?I had a long-running virus left me too exhausted to do anything but what was absolutely necessary. Only something in that explanation doesn't ring true. I also entered a

Martha, Mary and Peter: The Rest of the Story

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9 October 2007 at 17:16
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
from a lectio on Luke 10: 39 - 42 Martha was overloaded preparing a feast for Jesus and his followers at her home. It was galling when Mary, her sister, sat lazily at the feet of the Rabbi rather than helping as she should. So Martha went out and complained, asking Jesus to send Mary to the kitchen. Jesus answered, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things but one thing is

Women's Voices I: Lal Ded

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8 October 2007 at 06:07
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Lal Ded was one of the great Indian mystics. She was born in 14th century Kashmir during a time of social, economic and religious turmoil. Political dominance was shifting among three great religions: Hinduism, Sufism and Buddhism. With direct, ordinary language, Lal Ded wrote teaching songs, or Vakhs, that spoke to adherents of all three religions. She had many names - demonstrating her appeal

Where Are the Women's Voices?

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7 October 2007 at 18:13
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Hey, are you sexist? No? So how many spiritual women do you regularly cite? If the answer is "not many," perhaps you'd like a little education. It's bugged me for years that at my large, liberal, anti-ever-ism, UU church, women's words are missing from most services. Among the few readings by women, the same people appear over and over (Mary Oliver being #1). This suggests much unconscious

Are You A Mystic?

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5 October 2007 at 19:00
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
All my life I've been inundated by the kinds of experiences no one in my world ever talked about. So when I overheard someone call me a mystic, I easily accepted the label for myself. (Interestingly, that person was the spirited UU minister who agreed to baptize me.) Yet in The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, Mathew Fox insists that all humans have mystical perceptions, and I agree with Fox. Maybe

Running Under a New Myth

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2 October 2007 at 19:29
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
I used to think a myth was a story that was not true. Myths might be amusing or illuminating, but only children believed them. Three-degreed scientists, such as myself, did not "believe." We relied on empirical data for our explanations. Yet I now realize all people on earth live by deeply held myths - because "myth" has an older meaning than "fictional story." Myths are those central concepts

Natural Theology: A Quote Quilt

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25 September 2007 at 20:13
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
If you would understand that "God's Word is in all creation" (Hildegard of Bingen) "study nature not books;" (Louise Agassiz) "entreat the trees and rocks to preach the Dharma... ask rice fields and gardens for the truth." (Eithei Dogen) When you "steep yourself in the sea of matter, bathe in its fiery waters," (Teilhard de Chardin) you will discover that "the earth shall be full of the

Dog Park Epiphany: Anxiety Does Not Serve

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21 September 2007 at 23:03
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Last Friday in the dog park it suddenly struck me: I don't have to work so hard finding people who want to form an interfaith, monastic community. My only job is to clear myself, coming to live more and more out of the joy-love-light that is my true, inner self. Anything else that is needed - including community - will follow. Naturally. Whew! What a relief. (Ok, so maybe to you that conclusion

Baptism Vows

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17 September 2007 at 01:44
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
I thought people might like to see the vows I wrote for my baptism. I would still affirm them today, but I might use fewer capital letters and less orthodox sounding language. smile. Only the Eucharist one seems a bit odd now - although it made sense at the time. But I carefully said nothing about how often. For about a year, Christian members of my UU congregation created a lovely Eucharist

An Interfaith, Pantheist UU Is Called By Jesus: Part I

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14 September 2007 at 17:42
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
This story is excerpted from a forthcoming book on my monastic journey. As it is long, I've broken it into serial posts. Meeting Jesus for the Very First Time The girl was just ten, sitting on an overturned boat half buried in sand, kicking bare heels and sucking a stick of barley sugar. It was a worn, old boat with great gaps in its timbers. The girl called it her playhouse. It made a good

An Interfaith, Pantheist UU Is Called By Jesus: Part II

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2 September 2007 at 20:53
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
This story is excerpted from a forthcoming book on my monastic journey. As it is long, I've broken it into serial posts. In the Throes of Divine Indifference This would never have happened if I hadn't been "called" into a Benedictine monastery. Which in itself was odd. A call to religious life had never been high on my list of priorities. It occurred on a cool,

An Interfaith, Pantheist UU Is Called By Jesus: Part III

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30 August 2007 at 21:59
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
This story is excerpted from a forthcoming book on my monastic journey. As it is long, I've broken it into serial posts. Stumbling On Into Christianity Since childhood I'd often seen a tantalizing light that radiated from every ordinary thing: tree branches, trash on sidewalks, weathered fence posts, people's faces. It wasn't exactly visible, but was like a sheath of radiance that I "saw"

An Interfaith, Pantheist UU Is Called By Jesus: Part IV

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23 August 2007 at 18:03
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Excerpted from a forthcoming book on my monastic journey. So That's Baptism My UU minister had been raised as some kind of Christian, although she had long since left that identity. But she suggested books that might help me find a Universalist and Unitarian Christianity. The first was Stephen Mitchell's The Gospel According to Jesus. Like our Unitarian-leaning third president, Thomas

An Interfaith, Pantheist UU Is Called By Jesus: Part V

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20 August 2007 at 18:51
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Excerpted from a forthcoming book on my monastic journey. Help! Those Psalms Are Yucky! The sisters needed a second year of talk about my call before they agreed to the last step: a "discernment" retreat at the monastery. After that they'd have to make a decision to take me or say no. Of course, it was supposed to be a mutual exploration, but my heart had never wavered. Neither had my doubts

An Interfaith, Pantheist UU Is Called By Jesus: Part VI

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17 August 2007 at 01:32
By: R. Elena Tabachnick
Excerpted from a forthcoming book on my monastic journey. Surrender At 3:00 on the afternoon of the retreat, I joined several sisters in a conference room for a guided meditation. Afternoon sun poured through large, west-facing windows. We all shifted to get comfortable and closed our eyes as the oldest sister told us to relax and take deep breaths. Then she asked us to imagine meeting Jesus.
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