Today’s lesson seems impossible and nonsensical if one is thinking of doing magic in the ego world. Being a superhero with superpowers is the stuff of comic book characters and now movies which bring them to life in cinema.

Jesus is often depicted as a superhero who can walk on water, heal the sick, raise the dead, turn water into wine and perform all kinds of magic tricks as if He were a Las Vegas nightclub performer

Manipulating the laws of nature in the ego world is not what is being alluded to here. This lesson refers to the world of the soul not the world of the ego. Once we get rid of the ego and return to the Oneness from which we have separated ourselves we come to realize that, being part of the All, there is nothing we cannot do.

This returning to an awareness of the non dualistic Oneness is what is called “enlightenment” and when we become one with the All we realize that on the spiritual plane holiness heals whatever ails us.

In step two in twelve step programs we come to realize that a Power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity. With this realization and acceptance, we gratefully acknowledge that there is nothing than my holiness cannot do.

In Unitarian Universalism we covenant together to affirm and promote the acceptance of one another and the encouragement to spiritual growth which leads to the realization that there is nothing my holiness cannot do.

We are asked today to take 5 minutes, 4 times during the day to review our external and internal circumstances and experiences and say to ourselves, “There is nothing that my holiness cannot do.” We come to realize that healing occurs in our minds and hearts not in the ego world.

On Labor Day 09/07/20

A modern society cannot function without a social division of labor and a reliance on experts, professionals, and intellectuals. (For the moment, I will use these three words interchangeably.) No one is an expert on everything. No matter what our aspirations, we are bound by the reality of time and the undeniable limits of our talent. We prosper because we specialize, and because we develop both formal and informal mechanisms and practices that allow us to trust each other in those specializations.

Nichols, Tom. The Death of Expertise (p. 14). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.

This interdependence has become more visible as we visit our grocery stores and they are out of toilet paper, flour, Lysol disinfectant wipes.

The minimum wage workers are not stocking the shelves because the warehouse people and the drivers have not delivered the goods because the producers are not producing products because they can’t obtain the raw materials and we experience a WTF moment. We become humbly aware of all the people and their effort and energy to do their jobs which we have taken for granted.

The physician can wait, The attorney can wait. The accountant can wait. Where the hell is the toilet paper? The stocking clerk arrives at the toilet paper aisle with their pallet of packages of TP and we think we have died and gone to heaven.

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote respect for the interdependent web of which we are a part.

We project our thoughts all the time and see what we think we see. In psychology, based on research, we have come to understand what is labeled as “implicit bias” or “confirmation bias” or “prejudice” or a “self fulfilling prophecy.” What we think we are going to see, we see, and use it to make sense of our experience without realizing that we are merely making a movie. As Shakespeare writes in his play “As you like it,” “All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances; and one man, in his time, plays many parts.”

When we are mindful, and get into our witness and observe objectively our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, preferences, we start to realize there is a whole world of the soul beyond the world of the ego. We start to understand the world of the ego for what it is merely an illusion which we create in our own minds having been seduced by the ego to believe in its idols.

When we begin to see the world of the soul, our spiritual life begins to open up and grow and we detach from the things of the ego and make space for a transcendent understanding.

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote seven principles. The seven principles, if understood deeply, transform us from the world of the ego to the world of the soul.

The first principle affirms and promotes the inherent worth and dignity of every person. This principle is not of the world of the ego which believes in superiority, acts unjustly, is filled with distrust, and fears helplessness. The first principle recognizes and acknowledges that we all are the beloved creations of the Higher Power and that our usual thoughts about the world of the ego are just images which we have made.

Lesson #5 - I am never upset for the reason I think.

All day long and all night long we have feelings and we think there are certain things that cause these feelings and we have no peace. We have made our life hell because we believe all these things we think, and we experience feelings we think these things cause.

We get confused and upset multiple times a day by the things we think. We have misperceived, misgeneralized, made assumptions, jumped to conclusions and unfortunately believe our own nonsense.

Today’s lesson is really very simple, but so hard to admit. Today’s lesson implies that we’re not right and delusional. Is this idea a bridge too far? To accept today’s lesson requires great humility and wisdom. The instructions for the workbook tells us we need not agree with the lesson, or accept the truth of it, or even understand it. We are encouraged to suspend our belief and just do it.

Unitarian Universalists covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. UUs understand that we need not think alike to love alike. UUs teach that it doesn’t matter what one believes or what creed they pledge allegiance to. UUs imply that people should not be upset by the things they believe or other people believe. UUs know that Love trumps all belief.

“What do you do when the President of the United States engages in name calling, bullying taunts, and inciting  violence? Donald Trump often calls his opponents stupid, losers, rapists, drug dealers, gang members and belittles them with names and taunts like ‘Little Marco,’ ‘Lying Ted,’ ‘Crooked Hillary,’ ‘Sleepy Joe.’  He encourages people at his rallies to punch protesters in the face and he will pay their legal bills, to ‘use their second amendment rights,’ and that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and his voters would still vote for him. He brags to his buddies that he can kiss women, fondle their pussies, and they let him because he is rich and famous. How can we expect kids to stop bullying, name calling, taunting, sexally assaultinig women, and lying  when they see the President of the United States not only do it but win an election.?”

There is a question about whether the President of the United States is any longer a role model that would want our children to emulate or aspire to be like. But even more egregious and concerning are the millions of Americans who support and enable such behavior. What kind of a world are we raising our children in and how do we guide them?

The question moves outside the arena of politics to one of morality. There are good Republicans and bad Republicans just as there are good Democrats and bad Democrats, but regardless of political party affiliation, bullying and verbal and physical assault are wrong.

We need to teach our kids the difference between right and wrong. Good parents help their child develop a conscience and act upon it. The conscience sometimes makes children and us feel guilty. This kind of guilt is a good thing. Guilt needs to be recognized, acknowledged, and addressed. How?

If we do something wrong we are to admit it, take responsibility for our mistakes (sins), and act to repair the harm we’ve done. Further, we are to learn from the experience and consider and plan for how we could avoid repeating the same mistake again.

Donald Trump has been called a psychopath because he seems to have no guilt, never admit mistakes, never take responsibility for the harm he has done, and never seek forgiveness and attempt to repair the damage he has caused.

When it comes to role models, the worst thing is not Donald Trump’s behavior manifesting the destructive, harmful things he has done, but more importantly his unwillingness to take responsibility for it.

One of the most important tasks of parenting is helping children develop a conscience and learn how to constructively manage their guilt. The most important role model for children is not the President of the United States but their own parents. Does the parent admit mistakes, seek forgiveness, make amends, and learn from the experience?

“If Trump doesn’t like boys who look like me, does that mean the government won’t like me? The army? What about the police?” 
How Do I Explain This to My Kids? . The New Press.p.9

Yes, the Trumpists don’t like people who look like you. You need to be careful around them. They will discriminate against you, attack you, try to exclude you, take you from me, and put you in cages, if not kill you. Many Americans will support them and allow them to do it because they have been told and taught to be afraid of people who look like us.

At church though they don’t think that and act that way. The people at church believe that everybody has worth and dignity. They love people who look like us and want everyone to treat everyone fairly. Even though there are millions of Americans who hate people who look like us, there are a few hundred thousand who don’t hate people who look like us but love people who look like us.

There are people who love you just like there are people who hate you. You need to grow up to learn the difference and to love everybody whether they love you or hate you. Only love gets love. Hate never gets love. So we need to love everybody even if some of them hate us.

The mission of UU A Way Of Life is to improve spiritual health, reduce immoral and sinful behavior, and work across systems for positive societal change. This article is another in  a series of articles on reducing immoral and sinful behavior. “Sinful” in the context of the UU A Way Of Life mission statement is defined as mistaken. The mission statement could read, “reducing immoral and mistaken behavior” but the mistakes being referred to are ones that cause spiritual injury and so we use the word “sinful.”.

The tenth component of spiritual health is laughter, What is the opposite of laughter? It is being judgmental, too serious, rigid, obsessive, exuding contempt and disdain stemming from a place of arrogance, pride, and superiority.

When people are stressed and taking things too seriously, it might be suggested that they lighten up. There is relief in recognizing and acknowledging the paradoxical nature of things, the inherent contradictions and absurdity of the beliefs of the ego.

We learn in the Tao Te Ching about the dichotomous mind that learns about the ego world from comparisons, contrast, division, and separation and yet the yin and yang make up the whole. It is seeing the whole and the mistake of taking the yin or yang as serious that is funny.

It is important to laugh with people and not at people. Laughter which is sarcastic and communicates contempt and disdain is not funny but a veiled form of attack. When a person objects to teasing or joking as being hurtful, to excuse one’s attack by saying, “What’s the matter? Can’t you take a joke?” is not the kind of humor and laughter that is being described here.

Laughter, like choral music, is to be shared and enjoyed together. This kind of laughter and humor is a form of joining and alliance with others. It is a mutual recognition and acknowledgment of the absurdity, and silliness of the world of the ego. Holy laughter is a form of love. Laughter at the expense of another communicating contempt and disdain and superiority and judgment is an attack that can break someone’s heart and spirit.

A good sense of humor is endearing. A bad sense of humor is a sin in two ways. First it is a hurtful attack, and second the attack is hidden in such a way that if the victim objects, the victim is further victimized by being belittled and criticized for their objection as if there is something wrong with them for objecting.

I imagine Jesus laughing when, hanging on the cross, he says “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they didn’t. And we are still talking about this over 2,000 years later. It is funny that the Romans thought they could get rid of Jesus, a perceived trouble maker, by killing His body. Little did they know that His Spirit would influence humankind for millenia.

We have an expression, “You can either laugh or cry,” or perhaps a little of both. While we are hurt and sad when our ego is attacked and injured, there is part of us, in our Spirit, that knows we, as the beloved creations of God, are invincible and so the whole tragic drama becomes a comedy.

What do we put our faith in? Do we put our faith in the seriousness of the ego or the lightness of the Spirit which sees through the whole joke of the ego world?

Once the mission has been clearly, succinctly, memorably stated so that it is easily repeated to oneself and to others from memory, the mission statement becomes the frame of reference for goal setting. If the organization’s mission is to do certain things, for a certain population, in a singular way what is it the organization is intending to accomplish in the short term, intermediate time frame, and long term. It is usually helpful to think in terms of one, three, and five years.

An effective and efficient high quality organization has at least an annual and a long range plan. These plans should be completed and approved by the sanctioning body before the annual budget and longer term financial plan is done. Often, unfortunately, church organizations reverse this order and put the cart before the horse when they design and approve their annual budget and then decide how much revenue they will have to fund various services and programs. In this order, the money comes before the mission when in high functioning organizations, it is the other way around with the mission coming before the money.

At UU A Way Of Life our mission is to improve spiritual health, reduce immoral behavior and sin, and work across systems for positive change. As we work on our annual plan, the first question might be “How will UUAWOL improve spiritual health in the coming year?” We have set three annual goals for this example.

The first part of the mission  is to improve spiritual health and so this year’s goal is to create a model for spiritual health which can be used as a blueprint in providing services to enhance the spiritual well being of individuals, families, communities, and broader society. This model will articulate a frame of reference and provide suggestions for how the model can be applied. It will also provide identification of measurable indicators that can be used as reference points to determine progress and spiritual well being.

The second part of the mission is  to reduce immoral behavior and sin. This year’s goal  is to provide a taxonomy of immoral behavior and sin so that the signs and symptoms can be identified and managed. If the problem can’t be named, it can’t be consciously and intentionally managed, so the first step in reduction of immoral behavior and sin is to identify the phenomena. Due to shame, guilt, and fear of punishment, evil usually operates in darkness, denial, minimization, and deceit. Naming immoral behavior and sin is 90% of its reduction for without the identification it is able to operate outside of conscious awareness and never be effectively addressed.

The third part of the mission is to work across systems for positive community change and so the goal this year is to establish collaborative relationships with at least five collaborative partners who share UUAWOLs goals and at least part of UUAWOLs mission so a synergistic effect can be created to enhance mission performance and vision achievement.

Osho describes in the book, Maturity: The Responsibility Of Being Oneself, three kinds of romantic relationships or what A Course In Miracles calls “special relationships.”

The first kind is characterized by dependence, the second by independence, and the third by interdependence.

Here is what Osho says about the first kind of romantic relationship: dependence.

Love can have three dimensions. One is that of dependence; that’s what happens to the majority of people. The husband is dependent on the wife, the wife is dependent on the husband; they exploit each other, they dominate each other, they possess each other, they reduce each other to a commodity. In ninety-nine percent of cases, that’s what is happening in the world. That’s why love, which can open the gates of paradise, opens only the gates of hell.

Osho. Maturity: The Responsibility of Being Oneself (Osho Insights for a New Way of Living) . St. Martin's Press. P.49

In A Course In Miracles there are two primary dynamics at work in dependent relationships: “give to get” and “one or the other.”

The first dynamic, “give to get,” is manipulative. The second dynamic is the projection of guilt. Both ego games create hell on earth.

The purpose of the dependent romantic relationship is to get someone else to make you happy. When they disappoint and fail us in our desires and expectations we get angry, defensive, resentful, full of grievance, and depressed. It can get so bad that people start to wish they were dead rather than endure any more emotional pain. Our egos are significantly wounded.

The learning that needs to take place is that it is inappropriate and unfair to place the responsibility for our happiness on other people. Ultimately, the only person that can make a person happy is themselves. It is quite a dawning when people recognize this fact and they begin to embark on a spiritual journey in search of where their true happiness lies.

The people who are always considering others and their opinions are immature. They are dependent on the opinions of others. They can’t do anything authentically, honestly they can’t say what they want to say—they say what others want to hear. Your politicians say the things you want to hear. They give you the promises you want. They know perfectly well that they cannot fulfill these promises; neither is there any intent to fulfill them. But if they say exactly, truthfully, what the situation is, and make it clear to you that many of the things you are asking for are impossible, that they cannot be done, they will be thrown out of power. You will not choose a politician who is honest. 

It is a very strange world. It is almost an insane asylum. If, in this insane asylum, you become alert and aware of your inner being, you are blessed. p.22-23

A person can live their life based on “indirect self acceptance” or “direct self acceptance.”

People who live their lives based on indirect self acceptance only like themselves if other people like them. Their experience of their self worth, their self esteem, their self confidence is based on what other people think of them. These people are sometimes called “people pleasers” and “co-dependent.” These people organize their lives around other peoples’ functioning.

People who base their lives on direct self acceptance know what makes them tick. They examine their own life and lead it by internal values and standards which they have consciously chosen. Other people’s opinions and feedback is not the determining factor in what they think, how they feel, what their preferences and intentions are. These people have made their values and standards the center of their lives and not someone else's.

Do you live your life based on your own sense of right and wrong, and your own values, or based on someone else's?

The mature person who has actualized their potential is confident in their own thoughts, feelings, and behavior. They are their own person and not suggestible, and easily influenced by the thoughts and desires of others.

Mothers often tell their children, “Just because your friend jumps off a bridge, doesn’t mean that you should.” There is an important lesson here which even as adults we would do well to consider and use to guide our behavioral choices accordingly.

So today, consider who and what you are living your life for? Who and what have led to your decisions about how to live your life? Are your choices self determined or made for you by other people and circumstances?

A mature person knows that while they often have no control over the external circumstances that occur in their lives, they always have control over how they choose to respond.

An immature person easily plays the victim and makes others responsible for their unhappiness while a mature person knows that only their choices about how they will respond to life’s happenings can determine their sense of well being.

The mature person no longer makes other people, and life circumstances, responsible for their unhappiness. They have given up the blame game and taken responsibility for their own peace of mind.

John 11: 45-57

Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, “What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation.” 

But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed.” 


He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. 

So from that day on they planned to put him to death. Jesus therefore no longer walked about openly among the Jews, but went from there to a town called Ephraim in the region near the wilderness; and he remained there with the disciples. 

Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and were asking one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? Surely he will not come to the festival, will he?” Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus was should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

According to John, Jesus is in deep shit. The Jews have enough trouble with the Roman occupation and don’t need one of their own stirring up more trouble leading to the Romans cracking down on them even more. So the boss of the Jews, Caiaphas, decides that it's better to kill Jesus to shut Him up than to give reason to the Romans to impose even stricter control over them.

Jesus, according to John, high tails it out of town. But with Passover coming the question arises as to whether He will  come back for the ritual celebration or not?

Caiaphas and his buddies put out the hit order that if Jesus were to show His face back in town, people should let them know so they could arrange to have Jesus arrested and have Him killed..

Things have not changed with human nature in 2,000 years. Those in power are still willing to sacrifice a few poor, oppressed, and easily victimized people to maintain their power and control. It’s not so much a matter of sacrificing a few for the good of the country as it is the powerful being able to stay in power. This is the dynamic of national war making and the dynamic of mob control of corrupt and lucrative enterprises.

As we have been studying this Lenten season, this scenario is a major dynamic of the world of the ego which seeks power at others expense. Once this scenario unfolds we have created a world of fear and attack. Jesus is operating in quite a different world, the world of the Spirit, which is the world of Love. The world of the Spirit, though, cannot be entered when one is still in the world of the ego. The world of the ego must be renounced and given up.

Only when we are liberated from the conditioning and socialization of the world of the ego, are we free to enter into the world of the Spirit. Jesus’ life is a demonstration of this “truth” but few people apprehend it.

We always have a choice. We can choose the world of the ego or the world of the Spirit. That choice becomes manifest when we answer the question, “What would Love have me do?”