Lay Ministry Training

The kickoff to my Lay Minister training was at a retreat a few weeks ago. I've been meaning to blog about it, but been practicing the art of procrastination instead. Tonight there was a worship planning meeting and I'm all fired up again. So let me rewind and tell you about the retreat.

The retreat was planned for a Saturday that a friend was getting married. I managed to do both by only attending half the day at the retreat. I still got a lot out of it. We started the day with introductions. There were current Lay Ministers in attendance and they reflected on the genesis of the lay ministry, some good stories, and talked about what Lay Ministry meant to them.

There are two main aspects of the program: Worship and Pastoral Care. You can pick one or go for both. I am going for both. The rest of the morning, some framework was laid to establish what the two programs entailed.

Pastoral Care is interesting because of the fairly strict boundaries that differentiate it from therapy, psychology, and other ways to get help. We play a specific role that, if we're not careful, could spiral into a inappropriate situation. That being said, it is a very important role. The other interesting thing that was mentioned was about confidentiality. As Lay Ministers, we can promise confidentiality except when it come to communicating with the professional ministers. We have to able to communicate with our "bosses".

I initially did not intend to do both worship and patrol care, but after reading a good bit more about UU and reflecting on my own past, I think I have a lot to give when it comes to pastoral care. And I am sure I will learn a lot more about myself in the process.

Being part of the Worship service is very exciting to me. The last part of the retreat that I could attend was Rev. Anthony David telling us a bit how we plan the "Spiritual Theater". He has several core values that helps us make decisions about the service. We went into more of this tonight.

Tonight started with us discussing and agreeing on a covenant for the group. This allows us to understand what we are doing as a group and what we hope to achieve. The next discussion was around the values that we will focus on: Flow, Impact, Diversity-in-Unity, Good Stewardship, Hospitality, Reverence, and Growth Orientation. All aspects of worship will be evaluated on these value to ensure that we are giving the best worship service possible.

The last part of the meeting was focused on the planning of the upcoming Sundays. It is amazing to how much goes into each service.

All in all... I am very excited. This is very inline with my desires and goals and look forward to the experience of a Lay Minister.

Beware: The Golden Compass will destroy Christianity!

The Golden Compass, a fantasy film starring Nicole Kidman that is scheduled to be released into theaters on 7 December 2007, has been drawing fire from concerned Christians. The film is based on Northern Lights, the first offering in Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy of children's books, a series that follows the adventures of a streetwise girl who travels through multiple worlds populated by witches, armor-plated bears, and sinister ecclesiastical assassins to defeat the oppressive forces of a senile God.

The series' author, Phillip Pullman, is an avowed atheist who has averred that "I don't profess any religion; I don't think it's possible that there is a God; I have the greatest difficulty in understanding what is meant by the words 'spiritual' or 'spirituality.'" Critics of Pullman's books point to the strong anti-religion and anti-God themes they incorporate, and although literary works are subject to a variety of interpretations, Pullman left little doubt about his intentions when he said in a 2003 interview that "My books are about killing God." (Conservative British columnist Peter Hitchens labeled Pullman "The Most Dangerous Author in Britain" and described him as the writer "the atheists would have been praying for, if atheists prayed.")

The Catholic League has posted a response:

A film called "The Golden Compass" opens December 7. It is based on the first book of a trilogy titled His Dark Materials. The author of this children's fantasy is Philip Pullman, a noted English atheist. It is his objective to bash Christianity and promote atheism. To kids. "The Golden Compass" is a film version of the book by that name, and it is being toned down so that Catholics, as well as Protestants, are not enraged.

The second book of the trilogy, The Subtle Knife, is more overt in its hatred of Christianity than the first book, and the third entry, The Amber Spyglass, is even more blatant. Because "The Golden Compass" is based on the least offensive of the three books, and because it is being further watered down for the big screen, some might wonder why parents should be wary of the film.

The Catholic League wants Christians to stay away from this movie precisely because it knows that the film is bait for the books: unsuspecting parents who take their children to see the movie may be impelled to buy the three books as a Christmas present. And no parent who wants to bring their children up in the faith will want any part of these books.

"The Golden Compass: Agenda Unmasked" is the Catholic League's response. It provides information about the film, "The Golden Compass," and details what book reviewers have said about Pullman's books; a synopsis of his trilogy is also included.

Liveblogging the Dalai Lama

I am current sitting in Centennial Olympic Park waiting to see and hear the words of his Holiness, the Dalai Lama. I have decided to live blog this event so I will update this post as the day goes on. Blogging via my Blackberry is a bit challenging, so excuse any typos.

The weather is very gloomy. Weather.com said that there was 80% chance of rain all afternoon. So I brought mt "Neat Sheet" and a poncho. So far' no rain.

I got here about one o'clock and the gates had just opened. I got a good spot about 50 feet away from the stage. They had Tibetan chanting playing over the loudspeakers. I took the opportunity for a nap.

They showed a short video before starting that outlined the developing connection between Emory University and a Tibetan exile community. I am horrible about remember details, so bear with me.

The first speaker introduced the first musical group, two Tibetan refugees, and three local artists. They played three songs. The first and last was sung their native tongue.

When the second musical ensemble was introduced, I decided to start live blogging this event. The second group was a local jazz trio. Again, sorry for not getting the details... I'll add them later.
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Okay the jazz band just finished and there is now a group from the aforementioned Tibetan community. They are two dancers in traditional garb and two horn players. And these are some big ol' horns.

The dancers have now exited and eight monks fill the stage. The middle monk is chanting in such a low pitch, it's surreal. Now all eight are chanting. The whole city seems focused on the powerful sounds coming from these eight monks. You can feel the crowd's energy slowly becoming in tune. Most people are sitting cross-legged and many have their eyes closed.

Very surreal indeed.
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The chanting has ended and the "filing in of important people" just began. The Dalai Lama has just walked on stage. The crowd rises and claps and cheers. The Dalai Lama laughingly asks us to sits down.

The Dean of Emory is speaking now about the great work that Emory and Tibet has done. They are bringing together science and religion to forward our understanding of the world and ourselves.
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There is a small parade of other "important people", including congressman John Lewis, to speak next. They speak of Atlanta's racial harmony, the Olympic bombing, the award that Dalai Lama got in Washington, and other things.

John Lewis got a standing ovation. I think it's because everyone wanted to stretch their legs. The Dean is now giving the introduction for the Dalai Lama, counting his many, many accomplishments. He will be talking next.
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The Dalai Lama starts his speech in English and comments on the weather. Since one o'clock it has not rained a drop. He moves into his native tongue to finish his welcome (with the aid of an interpreter).

He starts to speak of love and happiness being key to humanity's growth. He laughs about his honorary professorship and says he is too lazy to send home homework. But he he is dedicated to teaching until the day he dies.

"We are the same, you and I. Same breath, same blood, same thoughts. One big community"
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The Dalai Lama goes on to talk about how we should identify our destructive emotions from the constructive. We then can nurture our positive emotions. They can then gain strength and overcome the destructive emotions.

"The seed of compassion comes from our birth, our mother. Just like some other animals, we depend on other's care."

He describes some animals that leave their children to fend for themselves. They do not have the capacity for compassion. But humans are entirely dependent on other's care. We have the capacity for compassion because we come from our mothers or someone else who acted as the mother.

"A peaceful world comes from inner peace, not from the governments."
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His message forms into the importance for us to teach compassion and love to our children. We can not show too much love to our children and our fellow man.

He makes a good UU statement about religion - that all religions teach love and compassion, just in different ways. But even those that don't have religious faith can be taught love, compassion, and forgiveness.

Inner-confidence is needed to spread compassion and love. Be sure that your love is the right thing.

Inner-peace, world peace can be achieved. First we must do inner disarmament. War its self is very outdated. To destroy your enemy is ancient thinking. We must accept the world community and achieve world peace.
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He says that America is the leader of democracy, rule of law, freedom. We should spread this to the world. We should stop sending troops to do this, but more peach cores.

This got a lot of applause. He ends his speech and then answers questions that was submitted via a web site.

"I am a 13 year old boy and a methodists. My friend claim I am killing my relationship to god by studying your teaching. What should I do"

I teach love, compassion, and forgiveness... That sounds very Christian to me. Buddhism and Christianity has many of the same teachings. Including Islam - a friend said that no Islam should not spill blood, else he not true Islam. He we have many of the same teachings' but different philosophies. But we all have the same goal... To create a good humanity. The different philosophies are for different audiences, but have the same goals.
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He talks about several moments were he was moved in Christian places. "Jesus Christ, this master has brought love and compassion to so many over many centuries. He moves me".

He then preaches about pluralism with some examples from India. But then loses his train of thought. "Sorry, I forgot!"

The next question is about this opinion about the Olympics going to China. He thinks that this is a good thing. We should not isolate this big nation, but invite them into the world.

The next question is about breaking down barriers between east of west. He says that the inner world - thought, emotion - there is still a big gap. He has opened dialog with modern scientists to exchange ideas and accelerate learning.

One final round of applause. I did not reach enlightenment yet, but it was wonderful seeing and hearing such a wise man speak.

Scary Christian Theater

She really scares me. I feel for those poor kids.

Searching for God in the Brain

Researchers are unearthing the roots of religious feeling in the neural commotion that accompanies the spiritual epiphanies of nuns, Buddhists and other people of faith

By David Biello

The doughnut-shaped machine swallows the nun, who is outfitted in a plain T-shirt and loose hospital pants rather than her usual brown habit and long veil. She wears earplugs and rests her head on foam cushions to dampen the device’s roar, as loud as a jet engine. Supercooled giant magnets generate intense fields around the nun’s head in a high-tech attempt to read her mind as she communes with her deity.

Read the full article on Scientific American. They are using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). What do you think? Are we going to get to a place like in star trek, where they mapped the brain's activities and knew how things like religion and faith work? Science will continue to surge forward and tools like fMRI are astounding and archaic at the same time. While we are gaining new insights into how the brain functions, I still think we are centuries aways from truly understanding our brain.

And our cynical world will take even longer to accept it as truth, if ever. Do you think that religion would die is we proved that god(s) are just a chemical reaction?

Wonderful Wednesdays

Yay, Wonderful Wednesdays are back at UUCA. Well, they've been back for a while, but this Wednesday was the first chance I got to go. For those of you not a member of UUCA, Wonderful Wednesdays is dinner night at the church. Most of the non-weekend events are scheduled on Wednesday like Choir practice.

Wonderful Wednesdays is one of Audrey's favorite things to do at UUCA. I think it's mine, too, besides the 20s/30s events. I like it because of Vespers and the Adult RE classes. It always makes me think about things that I usually don't get to explore.

This week I attended "Unconditional Parenting" a 2 part session inspired by the writings and lectures by Alfie Kohn. We watched the first half of the DVD with the same name. Man, oh man do I feel like the worst parent in the world after that! His argument is that all forms of punishment and reward is proven unequivocally to do great harm to the child. Yup, from spanking, to time out, to telling her good job for cleaning her room is adding days of therapy to Audrey's future.

We only watched the first half, in which he his convincing us why we need to do the things he explains in the second half of the DVD. Which I won't see for another 7 days. So what the heck am I to do in the meantime? I know: I'll Audrey know that I will be taking a week off from parenting... that she's on her her own until I finish the DVD. That should work.

Sigh... I get positive feedback all the time for parenting Audrey. Audrey is smart, outgoing, well behaved, and carries herself with accelerated maturity. Somehow people attribute credit to my parenting and give me pat on the back. The only thing that I take credit for myself is her being well behaved. And that is exactly what this Alfie Kohn attacked ruthlessly. His words were like daggers for a doubting, young, single parent.

I hope to find light at the end of this tunnel. Audrey's bright, advanced mind can only be undone by my bad parenting. I hope it's not too late (or Alfie Kohn is just dead wrong).

The Onion is in an Open Relationship With The Lord

Lovely article from the Onion:

...

Now that I'm in an open relationship with the Lord, I feel a greater spiritual satisfaction than I've ever known.

It all started when I was 16 and first asked Jesus to enter my heart. It was incredible. He filled me up with His love. I'd never been redeemed before, but with Jesus it felt so right, as if the sins of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. For a while there, we were communing via the sacraments several times a week! And every night we spent what seemed like hours in long, mutually satisfying sessions of prayer. I worshipped Him.

Soon the honeymoon period ended, however. Whenever I spoke to Him, He seemed distracted and distant—sometimes I wondered if He was listening at all. Daily devotionals felt like we were just going through the motions of repetitive, meaningless dogma. A few months later, I made a potentially disastrous discovery: I found out I wasn't the only one He was sanctifying.

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Read the full article. Found it on the Pirates of the Unitarians. My favorite quote, " I should take no God before Him—but he never mentioned anything about taking one after Him!"

Is God Keeping You From Going to Church?