How are you living artistically today?
December 2011
128 posts
“May we bury our weapons of war
So they may be transformed into flowers of tranquility and bliss;
May we lay down our arms
To lift up our arms to the Creator.
May our prayers and meditation transform this world
Into a garden of everlasting joy;
And may each of us spread Light and love
Bringing peace to the whole world.” —Sant Rajinder Sigh Ji Maharaj, Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious & Spiritual Leaders, August 2000.
So they may be transformed into flowers of tranquility and bliss;
May we lay down our arms
To lift up our arms to the Creator.
May our prayers and meditation transform this world
Into a garden of everlasting joy;
And may each of us spread Light and love
Bringing peace to the whole world.” —Sant Rajinder Sigh Ji Maharaj, Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious & Spiritual Leaders, August 2000.
Kwanzaa Day 6 - Kuumba
Our sixth day of Kwanzaa invites us to Kuumba, creativity.
A quote:
Cease to be a drudge; seek to be an artist. – Mary McLeod Bethune
“Suddenly again it came to me to see that Love is greater than Knowledge; that it is more beautiful to serve our brothers freely and tenderly than to ‘hive up learning each studious year.’”
—Frances Power Cobbe (Unitarian, philosopher, social reformer)
“To be free is not to be exempt from laws, but to be under those which are based upon our rights.”
—Otis Ainsworth Skinner, “Christian Liberty,” Universalist Quarterly (October 1849) p. 371 (Universalist, minister, President of Lombard University, educator, editor, author)
How have you helped someone else embrace their purpose?
“Be like the bird,
That, pausing in her flight
Awhile on boughs too slight,
Feels them give way
Beneath her and yet sings,
Knowing that she hath wings” —Victor Hugo
That, pausing in her flight
Awhile on boughs too slight,
Feels them give way
Beneath her and yet sings,
Knowing that she hath wings” —Victor Hugo
Kwanzaa Day 5 - Nia
Nia - purpose - is the Kwanzaa principle today.
A quote for today:
We have to improve life, not just for those who have the most skills and those who know how to manipulate the system. But also for and with those who often have so much to give but never get the opportunity. – Dorothy Irene Height (educator, activist, received Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1994)
How are you supporting a local economy?
How are you supporting independent African-American & Afro-Caribbean businesses?
Kwanzaa Day 4 - Ujamaa
Today in the Nguzo Saba we focus on Ujamaa, cooperative economics.
A quote for today:
Every man’s burden is our own. Where poverty exists, all are poorer. Where hate flourishes, all are corrupted. Where injustice reins, all are unequal. - Whitney Young (President National Urban League 1961-1971, civil rights leader, social worker, educator, Unitarian Universalist)
“Human minds are more full of mysteries than any written book and more changeable than the cloud shapes in the air”
—Louisa May Alcott, Abbot’s Ghost: A Christmas Story (Unitarian, author)
“The religious need of any time is its vital need.”
—Anna Garlin Spencer, Bell Street Chapel Discourses 1889-1899, p.30 (Unitarian, minister, reformer)
How are you sharing responsibility & working with others?
Kwanzaa Day 3 - Ujima
Today is the 3rd day of Kwanzaa. The third of the Nguzo Saba is Ujima - collective work and responsibility.
A quote for today:
The world is before you and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in. – James Baldwin
“It should be the province of religion to unite, and not to separate, men and women according to the superficial differences of race lines”
—Fannie Barrier Williams, speaking about churches closing their doors to African Americans (Unitarian, educator, social activist, clubwoman, journalist, founder of the National League of Colored Women)
“Although Jesus told the Roman governor that he was born and came into the world for the express purpose of bearing witness to the truth, we do not learn that he ever took to reduce, to what may be called a system, a work on theology.”
—Hosea Ballou, “Suggestions Concerning the Teachings of Jesus Christ,” Universalist Quarterly (july 1849), p.264 (Universalist, minister)
“Blessed are those who dream, for some of their dreams will come true.”
—Harry Meserve (Unitarian Universalist, minister)
“You can’t do good with a bad action.”
—Julia Ward Howe (Unitarian, author, social reformer)
Spiritual Resource Sharing 2012
Each evening on Twitter (RevNaomi) and Facebook, I post a piece that invites us into spiritual growth, whether learning something new or revisiting a beloved story or spiritual practice. I always choose a focusing theme that allows us to grow stronger by attending those themes week after week for a year. Two years ago the theme was shaped by Unitarian Universalism’s six sources. In 2011 the offerings are shaped by James Luther Adams’ Five Smooth Stones of Liberal Religion, Immigration as a Moral Issue, and Ethical Eating. 2012’s offerings will focus on seven spiritual values: Reverence, Generosity, Learning, Community, Creativity, Joy, and Sabbath. Immigration as a Moral Issue offerings will move into the middle of the day, but stay on Saturdays. Ethical Eating will also move into the middle of the day, but stay on Sunday. Wednesday remains the day for sharing a wisdom tale each week.
Nine Themes for Twelve Months
Sunday – Reverence
Ethical Eating
Monday – Generosity
Tuesday – Learning
Wednesday – Community
Thursday – Creativity
Friday – Joy
Saturday – Sabbath
Immigration as a Moral Issue
Creating a schedule of practices allows us to journey together intentionally into issues and values that are important, but from which we are often easily distracted. I hope you enjoy the resources shared this year! If you have resources relating to the nine spiritual themes that you think I should know about, please do share them with me. I usually schedule practices and resources a month or more in advance, so that the practice can’t be waylaid by an interruption in my life.
