Gratitude: The Heart Of Unitarian Universalism

 

Back in the Spring of 2007 the UU World published a feature article entitled The Heart Of Our Faith by Rev. Dr. Galen Guengerich the senior pastor at All Souls Church in New York City. The article was based on a sermon that Rev. Dr. Guengerich had given at All Souls on October 15, 2006.

Rev. Dr. Guengerich writes in part:

The feeling of awe emerges from experiences of the grandeur of life and the mystery of the divine. We happen upon a sense of inexpressible exhilaration at being alive and a sense of utter dependence upon sources of being beyond ourselves. This sense of awe and dependence should engender in us a discipline of gratitude, which constantly acknowledges that our present experience depends upon the sources that make it possible. The feeling of obligation lays claim to us when we sense our duty to the larger life we share. As we glimpse our dependence upon other people and things, we also glimpse our duty to them. This sense of obligation leads to an ethic of gratitude, which takes our experience of transcendence in the present and works for a future in which all relationships—among humans, as well as between humans and the physical world—are fair, constructive, and beautiful.

Rev. Dr. Guengerich had a book published in May of 2020 entitled “The Way Of Gratitude: A New Spirituality For Today.”

Days of recollection and retreats

There are a couple of practices for managing immense grief and sustaining faith are: “days of recollection”, and multi - day retreats during which one maintains silence and spends time in reflection and meditation.

 

In the monastic tradition, the practice of keeping silence was called “magnum silentium” or the great silence. The great silence  is not merely being quiet but listening more to the voice coming from the depths of our being; hence, it is not emptiness but fullness with the non dual Oneness.  It is in silence where we truly discover our higher selves and others too. We are, after all, only drops of the ocean and we tend to identify only with the specialness of our single droplethood rather than the ocean from which we have separated ourselves.

To be silent is not merely to stop work nor stop from being busy. We are silent to reconnect with that from which we came and to which we will return while we go about our activities.

When we reconnect with our Transcendent Source peace arises. If we feel anxious we are on the wrong track although to drop and transcend our small self ego often makes us anxious initially. Stick with the shedding of the ego and peace will arise.

The monk said to the hot dog vendor, "Make me one with everything."

The monk gave the hot dog vendor $5.00 for a $2.50 hot dog.

When the monk asked the hot dog vendor for his change, the vendor said, "Oh monk, you should know more than anyone that change comes from within."

It would be good to take a “day of recollection” at least once per month, and a retreat for three days at least twice per year in the spring and in the fall when we practice the magnum silentium and spend the day(s) in contemplation and meditation.  

When we are more centered the grief from loss diminishes and our faith is not only sustained but nurtured and expands.

Have you ever taken a day of recollection or gone on retreat? If so, what has been your experience?

Spiritual practices that help people get through times of immense grief.

 

Welcome to the Nurturing One's Interior Spiritual Life blog.

Today, 11/24/24, is the first day this blog is being published.

There are three learning objectives which this blog intends to pursue:

Learning objectives

1. Knowledge - The reader will be able to articulate the meaning of a glossary of terms relevant to the interior spiritual life.
2. Skills - The reader will be able to describe the application of concepts pertaining to the interior spiritual life to enhance their experience of their spiritual life in practice.
3. Values - The reader will be able to explain why nurturing their spiritual life matters and the degree to which they value the time, energy, and effort they invent in it.

A person asked me last week "What are some of the spiritual practices that help people get through times of immense grief?" I thought of several topics that might answer this question.

1. Prayers

2. Music

3. Rituals

4. Ceremonies

5. Clothing attire and jewelry.

6. Interpersonal support, sympathy, condolences, solace

7. Cards and gifts

8. Physical touch: hugs, hand holding

9. Acts of service

10. Joining with organizations which have an ameliorative mission you identify with.

11. Postures and gestures

What spiritual practice(s) do you find most helpful to receive and give? Be as specific as you can in the comments below.

Peace be with you,