September 2009
On Sundays when we come together as one body, we join hands to know we are all connected to one another, to all creation, the interconnected web of all existence. We practice being mindful of our effect on others, offer support and wish others well. We share in experiences which are searching, comforting, enlightening, challenging, inspiring our commitment and action.
We share human experiences of pain and grief, awareness of our deaths, moments of beauty, joy and aliveness.
How do we celebrate diversity, respect differences and affirm commonalities? What is our deep connection beyond our diversity? What are the core beliefs which unite us?
How do we have diversity and live in harmony with other people? How do we acknowledge how we are like others?
How do our actions demonstrate solidarity? What are common causes for which we work and unite with others? How are our fates intertwined with people around the globe? How can we use our collective power in physical and spiritual work for the common good?
We are creating unity when we build communities, when we grow in mutual respect across race, class, gender, theological and other identities. Living in unity brings hope for compassion, justice, and peace.
Spiritual Practices on Unity:
Use the phrase "just like I am" to show your unity with others. Whenever you find yourself thinking something critical or complimentary about someone, add the statement "just like I am." For example, "My partner is so stubborn, just like I am." "My friend is so generous, just like I am."
When you become annoyed by someone’s behavior, ask yourself if you would feel the same if the person were one of your dear friends. What do you and the person have in common?
As often as you are able, bless people you see.
Learn by heart quotations on unity which appear throughout this newsletter.
Participate in cooperative social service and action. Sign up with the Greater Richmond Interfaith Program for the annual Harmony Walk to End Hunger which raises money to support programs serving the hungry in Contra Costa County. This great interfaith event is Saturday, October 10, at Civic Center Plaza in Richmond, rally at 8:00am, walk at 9:00am.
Journal and Discussion Questions on Unity:
When have you felt lonely? When have you felt in community?
What do you look for in community? What do you look to give in return?
Books on Unity:
Children: The Everything Seed by Carole Martignacco
Stone Soup by Jon J. Muth
God In Between by Sandy Eisenberg Sasso
To Everything Thing There is a Season by Leo and Diane Dillon
Adults: Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Strout says she hopes her Pulitzer Prize winning novel in stories gives readers a larger understanding of what it means to be human. She says she would “like the reader to feel that we are all, more or less, in a similar state as we love and disappoint one another, and that we try, most of us, as best we can and that to fail and succeed is what we do.”
Film on Unity:
Pete Seeger: The Power of Song This documentary of American folk singer and activist Pete Seeger was written and directed by filmmaker Jim Brown when Seeger was in his late 80s. The film celebrates harmony, solidarity, common good, and unity through song and activism.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
