Seasonal Thoughts

Some thoughts-
Today I am especially grateful for comfortable people, those that I have known for a long time. They know me and I know them. We have traveled rocky roads together. We have survived the bumps in our relationship to find the smooth road of acceptance on the other side. We can read the other’s face and catch the fleeting shadow of sadness or the tense lines that indicate stress. When we are wounded by life, we come to each other to stop the bleeding and find the humor. I am more fortunate than most; I have always had a lot of comfortable people in my life.

The discussion taking place on Peacebang’s web site about sentimental stories has given me a lot to think about. After reading some of the posts, I am afraid to share sentimental feelings and experiences with others in my UU church. My first inclination was to label some of the posters as intellectual snobs, but then I began to feel a little sorry for them. How hard it must be to analyze everything instead of experiencing it. I think I am a kid at heart, not very sophisticated really. But then, who seems happier adults or kids?


I attended Socrates Café in Medina last night. This group sponsored by the Medina Library had about twenty people in attendance. We are mostly retired, semi-retired, or in our second career and fifty above in age, but from varied backgrounds. The discussion is always interesting and stimulating. Last night we talked about Christmas and spirituality. Most cultures have some type of winter solstice celebration, so we talked about what human need was filled by celebrating at this time of the year. Does everyone have spiritual needs? Some in our group are atheists, some agnostic, some Christian, and of course this Unitarian, so I found other’s views on the subject quite interesting. We have discussed religious beliefs before, and I always find myself closest in agreement with a member of the group who is Catholic, but very knowledgeable about other religions. What is most impressive about the group is that everyone is respectful of the beliefs of others and willing to open their own to questioning. The discussion got around to the age old question of, Had God created man or had man created God to explain the unexplainable and calm fears of death? One of the members asked if any of us had been taught how to deal with a mystery. We thought he was going to give us the answer, but instead he said it was just a question for discussion. I was about to answer, “With awe” when my Catholic friend answered, “With awe and reverence”.
I think that is the basis of our spiritual need, the desire to connect with the mystery of the universe? Some did not agree that we had spiritual needs. In their view, people were motivated by instincts and survival. Wrestling with the unexplainable was futile, and they felt no need to connect to something greater than themselves, though science was quite important because it was based in reality that could be tested. We have discussed reality before and the fact that none of us can really put our finger on what that is. One member suggested that not all people have spiritual needs, that only some of us are interested these questions. As the discussion progressed, I realized how important the spiritual connection is to me. I like to stand on the mountaintop, look up at the stars and feel how small I am; yet feel a part of it all. In this time of winter’s darkness I greet the mystery with awe and reverence.

"The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.

The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things.

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.

Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding."

Tao Te Ching
Written by Lao-tzu