My sermon (UU) on the rise of fascism in the US.

[intheflow]

I posted it in the Religion and theology forum, but thought I'd let you all know about it. I don't want to tie up bandwidth by reposting the whole thing, so here's the link: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=214x14130

Peace! :hi:

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. thanks

going there next

[wildflower]

2. A beautifully written piece.

Frightening and inspiring. I was particularly struck by what you said about the void left by citizens who escape into other pastimes, and how that is the way nonaction leads to the power imbalance.

Thank you for sharing it.

-wildflower

[intheflow]

3. Thank you, Wildflower!

Not just for the nice compliment, but because you have just inspired my next sermon.

I've been doing a sermon series on the 6 sources of UUism this year, and have two left. Tomorrow is the newsletter deadline: they need a sermon topic and title to put in there.

The two sources left are humanism and the "wisdom from the world religions." I wasn't looking forward to either topic. I don't really "get" humanism, and I've been feeling disconnected from the sacred text that impelled me into ministry in the first place, the Tao Te Ching.

But you called me back to my taoist heart. JL Adams always spoke of inaction and being unbalanced, very Western concepts. Your using nonaction and imbalance strikes me as much more conceptually Eastern. This led me to remember the balance that called to me from taoism: East/West, yin yang. You called me to remember to balance my western education with my eastern spiritual inspiration--that they can indded be balanced because they are two sides of the same coin.

Now I know what to submit to the newsletter tomorrow. Thank you! :hi:

[wildflower]

4. You're welcome, though I'm not sure I really did anything :)

I think you did. :)

Love to talk about Taoism sometime. It has struck a deep chord with me - I know, I seem all over the map. But it really does, in part because the issue of balance and flow fit in with both my belief system (such as it is) and, especially, the requirements of my physical body as a result of my illness. I've been wanting to get into it in more depth. (And this feeling led to my additional interest in Feng Shui, which I posted about last week.)

I'd be interested to see your sermons if you'd like to continue to post them here.

-wildflower

[intheflow]

5. You're "all over the map?" Join the club.

Once again, your language has struck a chord with me. You wrote about being attracted to Taoism b/c of balance and flow, and of being limited by your physical nature. My screen name, intheflow, actually comes from both those concepts, though in a different way.

"intheflow" recognizes that I am limited by my physical location and body in the historical present, within the eternal flow of time. By naming myself that, I am reminded that historical perspective will give me balance to keep me sane as we live through the Robber Baron Era Redux. I remember to rest as well as act. I am called back to the fact of my limits, through no fault of my own, merely by my own mortality--which sets me apart from every other person thoughout history how? It affirms my humanity, and my place within human history.

If you're interested, you can check out two very short articles I wrote for my seminary's justice and peace newsletter here and here.

And sure, I'd love to talk Tao! It'd be nice to have someone to talk with about this. I go to a Christian seminary--a seminary with (very enlightened Christians, but no one is particularly interested in Taoism.

[wildflower]

6. Maybe we can start a thread on Taoism sometime soon.

I'd definitely like to learn more. In the meantime, let us know how your sermons go.

-wildflower