From the Hebrew prophet, Jeremiah: For surely you can know the plans I have for your good, and to rid you of any harm, and how I desire to give you a future and a hope… When you search for me, you will find me, if you seek me with your whole heart.

In our Western heritage, there are two main streams of thought and action that comprise the spiritual life. These two complementary and supplementary streams are the mystical or prayerful and the prophetic or the ethical. the first, the mystical, concerns itself with what theologians and mystics call sanctification, that is, the process whereby we can become or realize ourselves as being more godlike; the second path or stream within spirituality, the prophetic and the ethical centers on the need to promote justice and compassion, equality and truth within society and within ourselves. The modern mystic, Thomas Merton once described these two approaches to the Holy in these words: “[ Prayer is seeking a union with God through the path of personal transformation; justice is seeking the community of God through the path of social transformation.]”
Thomas Merton made this observation that comes from his book, Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, in the chapter Truth and Violence,
page 83:
“Christian social action must liberate [man] from all forms of servitude, whether economical, political, or psychological. These words can be easily said. Anyone can say them, and [many well intentioned preachers over the centuries have!]

And yet, in the sake of liberty [man] is enslaved. He frees himself from one kind of servitude and enters into another. This is because freedom is bought by obligations, and obligations are bonds. We do not sufficiently distinguish the nature of the bonds we take upon ourselves in order to be free.
If I obligate myself spiritually in order to be free economically, then I buy into a lower form of freedom at the price of a higher one, selling my soul for the sake of money, and what money can buy.
Today, as a matter of fact, there is very little real freedom anywhere because everyone is willing to sacrifice [his or her] personal integrity
(spiritual liberty) for the sake of security, or ambition, or pleasure, and just to be left alone in peace.”

Today, I want to reintroduce you to the other side of being a spiritual person, that is, becoming the prophet. Being a prophet is simply defined as being willing to become a living testament to the need for change, and to be a vital witness for justice, peace, compassion and truth in your world, and in your life.
In general, prophets are the part of our Western religious heritage we find to be the most troublesome. They are the risk takers, troublemakers, radicals and conspirators against the status quo..( Hmmm.. come to think of it, they might feel right at home here, after all…) their targets have always been complacency, security, apathy, and ego-driven disobedience. One of the main purposes of the prophet is to reinforce that we are all in this world together- we are so interconnected as to our fate and our future that we can say that there is no personal salvation- there is only all of us or none of us.
We are reminded by them that the Kingdom or Queendom of God is the place for those who love, and for those who serve. The prophets emphasize that we are indeed our brother’s and our sister’s keepers, and that we are also stewards of the Earth, and all its gifts and resources. Prophets remind us that we are everybody else’s caregivers, lovers, and healers and that is as it should be in humanity- that we are all one, all equal, all a part of the family of God.

The way of the prophet is not always a gentle way, but it is always sincere and deeply committed to discovering and proclaiming that which is just and true. The prophetic stands defiantly- he or she makes the commitment to act fiercely as a warrior of the heart- to be uncooperative with oppression and evil, while remaining steadfastly compassionate towards those who have been oppressed, toward the truth of our humanity and the dignity and worth of all life.

Being a prophet, or more accurately, feeling called and then being wrenched out of your complacency and resistance’s to act courageously is not a gift that most people want or seek. It contains very little personal glory, but much heartfelt satisfaction. Usually, there is a large price to pay when one chooses God, and for the willingness to stand up for what one believes. Most often, the mark of a true prophet is found in one who won’t volunteer, who is not eager to serve, but found in someone who is reluctant. looking over the lives of these people, there is a good reason for this. Q: Who, in their right mind wants to put themselves out there in front of family, friends, the media, and then become an easy target for either ridicule or criticism?
And yet… something truly happens to those blessed ones, something inside them that to others seems like madness, and to the ordinary way people look at their strange demands- to follow God more closely, it does seem impractical, if not downright insane! From somewhere deep within them, they hear a call, something awakens them, and urges them to accept a divinely inspired mission. Then they are compelled to write, speak, and lead for righteousness sake- for the sake of humanity, for decency, for equality, for the need to establish justice on earth and among nations, among neighbors, and in our own households.
A prophet is constantly on guard and warns us about following or falling into any of the traps of conformity and comfort, routine or apathy and especially to the belief that we are helpless to create a better reality, a better world through our own actions. They advise us strongly, asking us to rally our convictions and our faith in ourselves and in God to prevention defamation, abuse, exploitation, and conflict. On a personal and a social level, they warn us against indulging in any passions or preoccupation’s, idols or addictions- anything that can act as a substitute or counterfeit spirituality. They implore us to stop any behavior that can take us away from identifying ourselves as connected, ethical, and responsible.
A prophet asks each of us to make choices- choices as if the reality, power and grace of God really mattered to you, and to how the world needs to change to respond to those blessings that truly sustain us. A prophet or prophetess is a man or woman whose mission it is to be very protective of their community, and reverent toward the Council of All Beings on earth. They are willing to be very effective, front-line workers for justice, dignity and equality for us all. They see themselves as protecting the value of maintaining a spiritual identity in a world that discourages any serious regard for it.

Are you a prophet, in waiting??? Let’s see…
The classical description of a prophet is the one we get from the Jewish examples in the Hebrew or Old Testament. It goes like this:
First, there is a call to one’s conscience- a compelling, and a welling up cry to come out and serve your God in the highest way you know how, or in a way that God will reveal to you…
Second, there is an assurance that you will never need to be afraid, for you are becoming a servant of a holy purpose, a channel or an instrument, a current for God’s desire to uplift and reform that which had been downtrodden, abused or enslaved.
Then, you are told what the task ahead is, and you might balk, and then finally see that the world has need of you and so you risk, reach out, and declare, in God’s name, what needs to be said and done.
Hear, now, the prophet’s call… God’s call to you… To each of us… Learn of its wisdom, look at your life, and prepare to heed its message and mission for you, and for the world you want to see…

You! You out there, sitting in those chairs! Come Out! Rise Up ! Be the person of God that you were meant to be !
Don’t be afraid… I will never give you a task or a responsibility that I feel is too big for you, and besides… you believe that with God you can do anything, don’t you? That one on my side, on the side of God is a majority!

I have a job for you… a simple task really… but it is also my special gift to you by which you can bless all your brothers and sisters , all your relations on this planet… I want you to be my voice, my heart, my hands…

Now, I warn you… expect to be misunderstood; you might be maligned, ridiculed, made fun of- but… Hey, it just goes with the territory… Human ego and human culture doesn’t like to be corrected, and both are very resistant to change! Read the Beatitudes again… especially that last part!

Besides, there is a certain kind of enjoyable freedom when people think you are crazy- you can get away with a lot, while still teaching them many things!
Speak earnestly and honestly… Speak from your heart… Offer the people a choice and a hope- ask them to change for the sake of their lives, for our children’s sake, for the planet, so that the Earth has a chance to heal…
Meet any resistance you find with courage- teach them the promise of justice; give them the belief in equality, ask them to work for dignity, and to never neglect the suffering they see.
Tell them to stop; stop cooperating with evil, stop being passive, letting sick and evil people in their lives control them or have it all their way. Stop playing it safe; stop trying to be secure in a sick society or secure in your own family dysfunctions. Stop being afraid of judgments; stop your soul-robbing addictions, and seek out a place for God as alive, strong, loving and free within you.
Know, above all, that you are precious to God and that God has need of you- and that the time for you to answer the Divine call and for making peace and justice come into really is here… And NOW. AMEN

Meditation: The Current
from Anthony De Mello’s Wellspring

I pray to God that the Divine will choose me and use me-creating in me a channel for holy love, justice, and peace.
Yet, two things that most prevent me from being a channel of God’s grace are noise and sin.

So I begin my journey God ward by first seeking the silence- learning to quiet all the chatter of my own mind, and to silence all those haunting thoughts and caustic words about not being good enough, not being worthy, honest enough or true.

Then I seek to cleanse my heart from sin- all those ways I have tried to keep hidden from God or that can pull me away from the love, freedom, and dignity I deserve. To free myself, I willingly surrender my feelings of resentment, anger, greed, and fear… and place them before God. I give over my feelings of apathy, false comfort, ease or security knowing that I am only true and secure and at rest when I am near to God and held close by those everlasting arms that also strengthen me. …

Now, being filled by that sense of release, and supported by God’s presence that rededicates my spiritual renewal, I begin to feel a stream of love, justice, and peace begin moving inside me; filling, flowing and flooding my being and then moving out in gentle ripples to touch everyone I know, everyone who is here with me… As this current grows, so does my heart enlarge itself with the courage to share these gifts with others, even those whom I disliked or had been hurtful toward me.

Finally, I let it flow abundantly, indiscriminately, to support and care for everyone of the living creatures on the Earth. For by this stream of justice and love, we are connected to every living being, all who have a need for dignity and freedom, and from our hearts we know that justice, healing, and love cannot be for just one, it has to be for every and all….. AMEN

A Story about Faith and Service:
“Closer to God? No greater than this…”
There once was a famous old Rabbi, known throughout Europe as a wonderful teacher. For his efforts, he received many accolades, yet he remained humble an unimpressed by them. He wore fine garments and received the admiration of many, yet he would disappear every afternoon for about two hours, and then return to the Temple as if by magic. They knew he was not there, but they never saw him leave, nor did they notice when he had come back.

One time, this great rabbi was given a student who was suspicious of his success. This student wanted to track all his comings and goings. Then, in a self-righteous tone, he proclaimed that he would report this rabbi to the chief rabbi and have him censored for his strange and unusual behavior. When the chief rabbi heard of what the student wanted to do, he said to him, “This is a good man, why do you question his activities? The young zealot replied, “people declare that he is almost perfect, that he occupies the second rung on the ladder of holiness, and that is blasphemy!” The chief rabbi heard this and then he reluctantly give the young student his permission to spy on the old rabbi, and to find out what he does when he is missing from the synagogue.
One day, the young student hid himself in the dim light and shadows of the rabbi’s room. When it came to 2 O’clock, the rabbi quietly went to his closet, opened the door, and took out some old, dirty, tattered and torn clothes, and began to undress from his fine linens and began to put on these old rags.
After he had covered himself with rags, he took some soot from the fireplace, and rubbed it against himself, then picked up an old sack, and walked to the servant’s door, opened it, and walked out into the town…
Curious and amazed, the young student followed him at a distance, careful not to let the old rabbi see him…
Eventually, the rabbit reached an old hovel, a shack on the edge of the forest. It was a place where the sick and the poor live.

Going inside, without a word, he began by sweeping and cleaning the floor. Then he began to build a fire for the night. After that, he started to make soup for those who were there with the food he had purchased and brought with him.
After he had finished, he stopped to say some prayers with the people, especially those who were halt and blind. And then he left, quietly, and returned to the temple, and changed his clothes.
The next day, he did the same thing, and the next, until the student saw that he did this every day and that the reason why people did not see him come and go was his tattered and dirty disguise.
Then the young student rushed over to the chief rabbi and told him everything that he had seen about what the rabbi was doing. Then he asked the chief rabbi , ” Is what people say about him true? that he is an almost perfect rabbi, and that he is on the second rung of the ladder to heaven?” and the chief rabbi said to him, ” O yes, its true, but I would place him even higher.”

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“What Is Holistic Isn’t Necessarily Holy”
A Personal Assessment And Overview of New Directions
in Culture and Consciousness

” The way is difficult; The reward is slow;
but once attained, grows beyond measure”
Guatama

Good Afternoon . . . I am Peter E. Lanzillotta, and currently I am in the process of beginning a new interfaith counseling and resource center in the Charleston area. When I was first presented this lecture I was active in the U-U parish ministry, and was serving in my former capacity as the National President of the U-U Psi Symposium. This quotation from Guatama the Buddha was first taught to me over 35 years ago as a beginning Martial Arts student. It also sets the tone and the intent of my presentation, as I feel many of these original ideas and observations still remain true and informative today.
Personally, I have been on a spiritual odyssey for many years and have accrued a diverse background in comparative religion, transpersonal psychology, and consciousness studies. These experiences cover a wide range: From Kundalini to Christian Science; From Japanese Buddhism to doctoral training as a “soul friend’, or spiritual director in the Christian tradition; From completing most of the upper level trainings of the Arica Institute to learning the arduous task of applying and reconciling all these accumulated insights and outlooks with my attempts at liberal ministry to trying to maintain a middle class life!

Afterward. . . If there is sufficient interest, I will share more of my life’s journey with you. As a spiritual disciple and explorer, some would say as a spiritual warrior and modern mystic, I hope to offer what I have learned as a guide or as a resource in ways that will serve others in THEIR journey.
This afternoon, I would enjoy having a lively discussion about some controversial issues in the whole arena of spiritual teachers, practices and philosophies.
I will first present my reflections and concerns then I will offer various checklists from discerning authors. Lastly, as time permits, I will invite or engage you in a discussion with you my aware, curious, and informed audience. My topic for today will center on what constitutes spiritual study, and how it compares to the many opportunities for esoteric and holistic information currently available to us.

One of the central goals of the Psi Symposium has been to provide its members with information that could assist personal and spiritual progress; thereby facilitating wise, conscious, and discerning choices.
When we consider our contemporary culture and its possibilities for psychological and spiritual study, there is just no doubt about it. We live in a transpersonal and interdenominational world and can easily shop in a wide variety of metaphysical supermarkets! The variations and possibilities for study seem endless! The streams of teachers, trainings, and tapes are as mind boggling as they might be mind expanding. One could easily resign or
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retire from contemporary life to try them all, and even IF you studied full time, it would take you at least a couple of lifetimes to plow through them! My central premise is: This expansive access to study and learning is both our opportunity and our peril.
What I mean is this; on the positive side, we are witnessing terrific expansive opportunities to ripen human awareness and spiritually based approaches that encourage personal development and that can foster social progress toward higher levels of consciousness and clearly and courageously applied ethics.
The negative factor is also present; in its less harmful ways, we have seen the formation of a whole subclass called “spiritual junkies” where sincere people, faced with the enormous glut of information, can lead to the development of people who are more confused and alienated, wounded, and worse off than before they began. More commonly though, we have produced a culture full of “spiritual dabblers.” Again, all this access and information is well meaning but remains problematic. IF hungry and thirsty people find themselves continually moving from one teacher to another, working their way through a catalog of techniques, can discover, to their dismay, that the result has been neither to gain full competence nor possess true comprehension. While such spiritual aspiration is admirable, we can easily fall into the trap of horizontal growth- that is, collecting a large trunk full of techniques, and miss the essential task of growing vertically- to grow deeply and transcendentally which will certainly alter your perceptions, values, lifestyle, and quality of your everyday experience.

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By staying horizontal, What develops is a savvy, somewhat convincing counterculture chic, and an impressive “New Age” vocabulary; A source of a superficial strategy or source of personal acclaim that is seemingly indispensable at “yuppie’ cocktail parties!
Just as it is important to take serious care in choosing a physician, attorney or therapist, awareness and diligence is needed if one desires to benefit from a teacher or a spiritual path- it requires just as much if not more discernment and responsibility for its outcome.
Over all, these new ways of perception and understanding have had a leavening and enlightening effect on us. However, many of the methods that are marketed today cannot satisfactorily replace a religious or spiritual need for community nor can they ensure a commitment to ideals and issues that are larger than our personal issues, that are global, humane, as well as being personal and intimate. It is those expressed needs for belonging, for connection and for a sustaining sense of brother/sisterhood that often become the principal reasons behind people reaching out and seeking out membership to a church or to a spiritual group.
Many of the new techniques we are exposed to or that can vigorously be recommended to us by the New Age marketing really are only temporary measures or do not qualify as theologies, as life philosophies, or as true spiritual paths. No assortment of learning techniques suffices without a corresponding encounter with a timeless center or a historical check that any of the genuine world religions can offer us. Our growth and depth benefit from a dialogue and from a balance that serves as a grounding for our individual work and for an ethical comparison
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from which it draws and disciplines itself. Whenever we just extract a technique, or take a new idea out of its intended context, we can easily skew its importance or we can risk a serious misapplication of its merits or simply miss out on its lasting value for us.
For example:
Nutritional studies benefit everyone. Yet, the overly zealous advocate for natural foods or an exclusive diet cannot expect their nutritional philosophy to be an end all, be all. It most likely cannot provide them with a
system of ethics, service, morality, theology or a more complete orientation and explanation of life. While it might be true on a biochemical level, that “we are what we eat,” we can not afford to be so preoccupied by it! We also think and feel, which cannot be reduced to either calories or cellular activity. To carry food beliefs too far creates a god or higher reality that can only be found in a pure kitchen and in a balanced meal. We delude ourselves as we create some deity of the digestive tract!
` Another example: In acupuncture, a system of healing and rebalancing energies that I believe contains much efficacy, there can be an attitudinal problem that states that your acupuncturist is all the help you ever need; that is, a good acupuncture practitioner replaces the need for a psychotherapist, a physician, a spiritual counselor, or any other helper. If one lived in rural China maybe, or if you were to fully adopt a classical Taoist way of life with all its studies, it could be possible but to say its true in our complex culture today is highly unlikely.
A third example: the emphasis our culture places on bodily health… can one’s concern for optimal health
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become a religion? Can health become a god? Does health equal spiritual advancement? Does purity equal piety? Body beautiful is not equal to spiritual attainment and might even delay or frustrate it especially when the concern for physical fitness becomes a counterfeit faith. By the way, this attitude is much more common than the previous two; just look at all the aerobic classes and health club memberships… Even the strict or conservative evangelicals Christians are into the health as godly act- There are many devotional aerobic tapes, and my favorite title so far is “Becoming a Firm Believer!”

Since the 1960′s and with the advent of the Easlen movement out of California, our culture has been given three major paradigms to consider or study. Concerning all things holistic and/or holy, the first new perspective came to us through a metaphysical door that opened out to many paths, all pointed due East; The second viewpoint was the development of humanistic psychology and from it, the fourth wave called transpersonal psychology; and the third outlook came to us by way of new dimensions in health care, the holistic health movement, brain and body research and its various corollary theories and practices.
Additionally, since the 1980′S, we have had an explosive reinvestigation into Native American studies and the reawakening of aspects of the New Thought philosophy. Native American studies and the allied field of Shamanism and Creation-based spirituality have become our indigenous theology. The New Thought Movement, first inspired by Emerson and Thoreau as Transcendentalism in the l800′s provides us with another historical link to Nature as teacher, and as healer which, in turn, has spawned
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religions such as Christian Science, Unity, and Science of Mind and what I would generally call, a reconsideration of church as a place for community based healing, teaching, prophecy, and worship.
All these new and sometimes considered bizarre sources of information often accompanied by innovative, yet largely foreign religious practices have deeply troubled Western churches and their orthodoxies. In past years, sociologists and theologians such as such as Peter Berger and Harvey Cox have spoken out about the potentially disturbing and challenging ideas and implications of these cross-cultural ideologies on our society. Now, in full regression and retreat from a more inclusive modernity, and filled with suspicion, insecurity, and taking on a defensive outlook, the Protestant churches are turning evangelical, conservative and doctrinaire. Interestingly enough, it is a paradoxical development for it is true that Eastern religions and lifestyles have been growing in the West, while capitalism and Christianity have been steadily growing in the East.
However, many Western churches remain skeptical or suspicious; The Roman Catholic Church has an official policy of discouraging any practice of Eastern mysticism and has called into censure any theologian or teacher who might have a wider view or encourage different paths or practices. (Silencing of Curran, Kung, and the removal of Matthew Fox begins the list of examples)
Without lingering here, my more urgent concern is that regardless of how remarkable and wondrous this dynamic cross-fertilization of East and West might be, there needs to conduct an honest assessment of all the results of this influence on our culture. We have to be willing and open
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to air the “shadow” side of spirituality and its accompanying negative effects. There are most certainly charlatans, tricksters, con-men/women, psychic vampires, and cult leaders who have readily plied and imposed their lucrative and destructive trade.
Insidiously, these characters are charming, often
fascinating, and can be quite convincing! Unfortunately, their believability stems from a certain level of insight and competence- they might genuinely adept and spiritually developed in a particular or limited way. As “spiritual materialists” they possess style, aplomb, and can accumulate lots of “hype”– all the necessary tools to be attractive to the spiritual ingenue, or to the naive trusting, and yet sincere seeker. We have to be willing to admit to their presence and effects and ask ourselves what constitutes a valid spiritual path? We ask: Does this person truly represent a genuine, unselfish, and true lineage or spiritual and holistic tradition that is worth our care and trust? But more on that, a little later.
Because these ideas, positive and negative, have entered into our culture and subsequently, into our personal awareness, we have set before us the task of being responsible for their effects on society, and ourselves. We are required either by conscience or conviction to sort and sift, decry, or discard any potentially negative approaches, and then be willing to assist each other in benefiting from any new, positive information that is available. By empowering others to identify whatever is valid or legitimate teachings, we can grow spiritually and ethically and our whole society can truly become more elevated or move toward enlightenment.
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We each need to watchful about zealotry or taking on a “purist” attitude. It is usually a sign of a need for certainty and an inability “to live in the questions” of discernment and remain wanting or attracted the safety of an either/or answer. The paradoxes and intricacies we find in self exploration or spiritual expansion ask us to be challenge ourselves to internalize the insights and the wisdom that can be found. It asks us to be patient, and urges us to be vigilant.
One of the most curious, and I would say theologically, one of the most gracious and redeeming phenomena, is the human ability to learn positive things from adverse situations. Remarkably, students can truly benefit from poor or misguided teachers. The great sage, Lao Tsu once commented, “the second best teacher any of us can have is a totally incompetent one”, because it forces us to learn it right, for yourself! Benevolent, yet erroneous ideas, kindly but false teachers can still benefit our growth and advancement, IF we learn to outgrow their effects or learn how best to redeem them. Ironically, there is some abiding truth in the observation that we often find or get the kind of teacher “we need or deserve.” Like water, consciousness seeks its own level. Another way of framing this human ability to find the gracious out of the grotesque is from the writings of Existential Metapsychiatry, and if not there, from good old common sense; it goes like this, “a kick is as good as a boost,”when it comes to learning some of life’s most essential lessons.

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The vital task that confronts each of us today is the necessity to discern the differences between the various systems of belief and practice. The two main categories of current information can be classified as the psychologically based human potential movement and the more theological rediscovery of spiritual direction, esoteric schools, or wisdom paths. These two predominant and preeminent approaches are not mutually exclusive; they can and do overlap in many significant ways, such as sharing in a spiritual vocabulary. But I contend that the further you go into the roots and branches of their study, the more clear the distinctions become.
A spiritual path differs from a human potential method or system in certain specific ways or goals. The caveat here is this: although spiritual consciousness training can employ certain psychological techniques, its ultimate goal is quite different from the person-centered result of psychology. Human potential trainings and methods need no abiding reference to a world faith tradition or system of revelation. They do not need a true and resonant connection or an ongoing correspondence to a time-honored spiritual path as their correlative and corrective standard or measure. Psychology as commonly understood and practiced is not its original word definition- the study of the psyche or soul- and the refinement of spiritual understanding that such study and knowledge implies. Instead, most psychology has, as its goal, the improvement of the personal self which can become ego identification, fulfillment or aggrandizement. In that way, psychology when practiced to only improve one’s control over the world or to strength one’s will and the results of this self assertiveness can be likened to the definition of
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modern sorcery: ["It is the process or the procedures that seek power without any acknowledgment or recognition of grace"] (Sister Mary Doughtery -Shalem)
Ego cravings or ego gratification can only lead to disillusionment and despair. By the way of existential suffering, and its ego reduction, we finally come to admit our need for God and earnestly begin to seek out the Holy.
Spiritual paths, true ones, might start with important self assessment work, but their intent and their goal is not centered on strengthening the ego, but on its transformation, its transmutation, or its transcendence. Its purpose behind its challenges and obstacles is to draw one closer to what is sacred and accelerate one’s progress towards the higher reality called God. Now, the use of the word God… While I am sure that most people know what they mean when they use the word, not everyone understands it or automatically agrees with the definition they use. I remain highly critical and skeptical of any teacher or training that uses “spiritual” buzz words like love, spirit, light etc., without a knowable deep and reverent understanding of a world faith tradition widely defined… from Judaism to Shamanism…

Points to Ponder: Cults and Consciousness

With all the recent notoriety in the mass media and press concerning the phenomena of religious cults in our society, people have been asking about what to do or how we can best identify one teacher or one religious group from another concerning the possibilities of entering a cult. I thought it might be useful to print a recap of my guidelines concerning religious groups, spiritual teachers, and the potentials for cult membership that has been printed in the UU Psi Symposium magazine and that I have used in my consultations with concerned ministers and family members.
“Depending on your degree of allegiance to a particular faith tradition and to what it teaches, each tradition can offer you genuine access to its mystical, deep roots. However, many of these religious institutions, especially in the West, discourage any methods that seem to be inhospitable to their doctrines or that might undermine the dominate or safe outlooks of the church’s leadership, written creeds and codes. Where and when or to what degree you choose to part from those teachings and rules, is a matter of individual choice- but one does choose knowing full well that moving away from the safe and secure, the historical and the respectable can force you to choose to be estranged from one’s family or social group, where you could risk censure or nonsupport.
U-U’S and other inclusive religious liberals fortunately(?) do not have to overcome such restrictions or biases. Yet those who have been raised more loosely or more secular or more nonchalantly have a different set of risks and concerns.
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From what I can glean from studies on cults and fringe practices, it is the unsure, the irreligious, and the goodhearted but secular seeker that has the most difficulty screening out wily negative teachers and experiences. Incidentally, the most likely recruits for cult membership are people who exhibit these personality traits: 1) little or loose moral and religious upbringing, 2) heavy emphasis on materialism in their home, 3) deep or unfulfilled needs for security, acceptance, and love, 4) scant religious or theological knowledge, 5) desire for structure, given by an external authority or parental figure, 6) lack of sufficient self direction, and having a spiritually informed and balanced will.

That is my overview and summary… I have spent most of my adulthood learning about these concerns and graciously trying to redeem my own life experiences and transform those lessons into useful knowledge and heart felt wisdom… And I know, with great humility, that it is still an unfinished lifelong process… . From my life and from my research, I have now compiled a beginning set of useful measures, or guidelines from various sources. I present them to you now, as information you can use to better learn how to avoid spiritual rip-offs and various charlatans. My hope is that these guidelines will serve to empower clear and positive choices. These guidelines or helpful parameters have been taken from the following sources:
The Observing Self by Dr. Arthur Deikman MD
How To Meditate by Lawrence Le Shan Ph.D.
Journey of Awakening by Ram Dass, Ph.D.

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Next, these sources combine with my own personal and professional observations called the “Charlatan’s Checklist.” In general, beware of teachers or trainings that make fantastic claims such as” instant enlightenment” “total realization in a weekend!” These types of leaders are literally going to the bank on people’s despair or on their gluttony for new bigger and better ways. The Sufi master, Indries Shah states,” Greed makes you believe things you would not ordinarily believe.”

Evaluation of Groups Arthur Deikman M.D.
Before contracting to attend or participate in any training, it would be useful to ask questions such as:

1) Does the group operate to help new members to clarify their own motivations or does it assume that everyone has mature, good judgment? If it is the latter, be wary.

2) Does the group provide its members with a means for seeing and understanding the motivational patterns of ordinary living? If not, be wary.

3) Does the group gratify the wishes for dependency, new experiences, emotional excitement, special status, or vanity? If so, steer clear of it.

4) Does the group employ emotional arousal, repetition, guilt, and the uses of group approval and disapproval? These are the principal components of thought reform known as brainwashing and/or coercive conversion.

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Major Traps In Human Potential Movement
by Lawrence Le Shan Ph.D.
1) Confusion between the scientific and the mythic; in language, and in application. Metaphors and symbols become “actual and factual.” Science cannot prove, the commonly held concepts of “energy’, Vibes, Chakras etc.”
2) Because, on the large scale everything is related, does not mean that specific parts can be connected reliably. Most conclusions are subject to cultural relativity and can be arbitrarily decided or defined.. Gems, colors etc.
3) Withdrawal or Retreat from the world: Any approach that recommends separation from family, the world, life as a prerequisite for belonging is potentially cultic.
4) Fantastic visions are illusions or can act as deterrents to [genuine] spiritual growth. Many spiritual teachers maintain that we are to remain unimpressed by images and visions etc. To stay focussed on the tasks and core teachings serves us best. Exciting phenomena is to be avoided or at least not pursued. (Levitation, ESP powers,
seeing ghosts spirits et al.
5) There are no perfect systems or perfect teachers, but you can evaluate teachers by the quality of their human relationships. a good teacher is not just an adept technician, they are a caring human being.
6) There really is no secret knowledge. All true knowledge should aid the human race. To completely or blindly trust that the way taught to you is the Only way, might be dangerous to your growth. Learn deeply your chosen way, learn it well, then seek to understand what other ways can teach you.

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The Charlatan’s Checklist
The Rev. Peter E. Lanzillotta M.Div. M.Ed. Ph.D.
(Please add to this list, from your experience)

1) Considers him or herself to be a “modern saint” A revealed One, avatar, guru etc. yet have the seeds and glaring evidence of turmoil and unethical behavior all around them.

2) Demands strict obedience or adherence to their tightly prescribed ways of language, thought or behavior. Their word is law, the absolute, final authority. They create manuals and rule books for all behaviors and social interactions. May use or threaten to use violence or social shunning to achieve their aims and goals.
They will prefer to enclose or limit their followers contacts with the outside world. Prefers to build or own their compound, ranch, farm that is remote- away from media and mainstream. Some leaders today might appeal to an excessive patriotism or might be accompanied by a virulent racism take a severe anti-governmental stand.

3) Dwells inordinately on money themes: Seems intent on amassing wealth; devises moneymaking schemes for their followers. Charges large sums for consultations,
trainings, or membership. As it stands, the cost of legitimate and professional medical and psychological care is vastly inflated- Here the problem lies not in insurance debacle, but in competence, and the making of unrealistic and empty promises that can rack up heavy costs and charge the naive, trusting, and willing student incredible sums for the privilege of studying their techniques or getting the “full experience” of their required training’s.

4) Teaches widely on prosperity, personal power, and/or sexual fulfillment. May also hype their own products, books, tapes or make them mandatory reading etc.
to inflate their importance, etc..

5) Inordinate allowance or material indulgence given to their followers to create a “personality cult’ Special praises, awards, gifts, such as cars and jewels, etc., that allow the leader to live a lavish lifestyle. The creation of shrines, pedestals, mansions etc.

6) Promises their followers a “better life”, an existence free of worries, fears, and worldly cares. Proclaims a New Age, and the end of the old one eminent, Promises his or her followers that they are the “chosen ones” who will succeed or survive. Survivalist mentality or Millennial theology and preoccupation’s with being a martyr or a messenger of the end times.

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” I swear upon the altar of God, eternal hostility
gainst any form of tyranny over the mind of [humanity.]”

This quote lays the basis for one remarkable man and his valuable contribution to religious freedom and to our secular republican form of governance.
As a quote, it frames a lifetime of rare dedication, and serves us well as a lasting example of a personal faith that championed truth, reason, and freedom. These ideals formed the heart, mind, and soul of Thomas Jefferson.
As every school child knows, or should know, Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States. He was probably our most brilliant, literary, articulate, and visionary leader. As the first President espousing a republican viewpoint, which in those days meant peer representation and moving away from any monarchy or rule by a wealthy or privileged class. Jefferson’s presidency contributed the most to the progress and solidarity of the American character, it expanded not only its territory but sharpened its governmental ideals, and confirmed its religiously inclusive outlook.
Ironically, history seems to have thought more of his presidency than he did! He purposely left out any mention of presidency on his gravestone epitaph. Instead, it was inscribed to include what Jefferson felt were his most important accomplishments:
The gravestone at Monticello reads:
Here was buried… Thomas Jefferson… Author of the Declaration of American Independence and of the Statue of Virginia for Religious
Freedom and the Father of the University of Virginia
We can ask: Why such a glaring omission? To him, those years were but a step in a progressive life- a life that was dedicated to the pursuit of serving his guiding ideals.

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His intentional omission of the Presidency indicates Jefferson’s wary approach to privilege and to power and the need to direct ones energies towards the common good. Widely read in the classical philosophies, they left him incomplete, for they were too involved in self interest. As a consequence, and as a clear preference, he directly credits this caution to his understanding of moral teachings of Jesus, and to all the parables about money and power as having a persuasive ability to corrupt us, and how the desire for personal success and power can take us away from making sincere and lasting social and moral contributions to the betterment of our society and the world.
As Americans, and as serious students of both our country’s political and religious realities, I expect that you know the contents of the Declaration of Independence; maybe not by heart, although I would guess that it is at least familiar because of its famous, stirring Preamble that so many of us were assigned to memorize in grade school, along with The Gettysburg Address, and along with saying the Pledge of Allegiance on a daily basis. While a case can be made for such patriotism, or at least for greater political literacy, I will not ask that we recite it together this morning… However, I do think that an annual reading of its contents is a valuable exercise in reminding us of its lasting significance- and to recall how those guiding principles, values, and ideals that it contains greatly influences us still.
For Jefferson, the Statue of Virginia, the first such statue since the founding of Rhode Island by Roger Williams, was a cornerstone in his life. With the assistance of his fellow Virginian, James Madison (Remember, Virginia gave us four of the first six presidents, with the other two being from Massachusetts) together they crafted a statement that offered complete religious freedom to all citizens, regardless of their personal creeds or their dissenting convictions. Remember, at that time Maryland was primarily Catholic, Georgia Methodist, and New England Calvinist; Once this statement that became ratified, it was the first governmental statement that did not require any religious beliefs before being accepted as a citizen of a state.
The third most significant and lasting endeavor, was started when he was in his 70′s; This was to found the University of Virginia. …

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Jefferson, an experienced architect, agronomist, and philosopher; he designed all the buildings, its landscaping, horticulture, and he even influenced the recruiting of its first faculty ands the design of its first college curriculum. Remember, Jefferson was known to say that his whole life was in books! In fact, so extensive was his personal library- that after the library was burned by the British in 1814, he gave his library to his country-some 10,000 volumes- that donation became the first Library of Congress!
Because he was such a multidimensional man… Brilliant and flawed, futuristic and patriarchal, ideological and duplicitous, it would be foolish to try to give you a comprehensive biography… He is the subject of much ongoing research!
Besides, I know that I will return to him next Fall, as I am considering a sermon series on how U-Uism has had such an important impact on politics and the national character- so much so, that it has already provided me with definitive information that declares that we are not a Christian country… We are a U-Uist country! But more on that later…
Today, I will limit my focus on Jefferson as a religious reformer, and as a pioneer in creating what he called, “The Philosophy of Jesus” where he asserts, in no uncertain terms, that ethics in action is the true basis for a religion, not some obtuse theology!
For Jefferson, a person’s faith is not just what they believe privately or individually…
One’s faith, be it liberal or conservative, is best seen or revealed by how well they practice what they say that they believe, and how well they support its ideals, and how well they live it out in their choices and responsibilities on a daily basis…
As an astute public servant, letting his pen express his strong opinions, he also learned to be sensitive to the temperamental wind of politics, and the whims of religious controversy. As a man who prized reason above all assertions of faith, he never fully revealed his dissent from traditional Christianity until he left office. Yet, even with such decorum and discretion, he was unmercifully vilified by New England Calvinists, because he was such a strong advocate of personal and religious freedom.

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He was often scourged from the pulpit as depicted as a “corrupter of morals; as a virulent atheist who wished to undermine traditional religion! There is even a story of a baptism; Some Boston cleric refused to christen a child because he was named after Jefferson; to baptize a child named Thomas Jefferson was a blasphemous act!
As a retort, Jefferson once wrote: “[That any attempt towards religious coercion should be resisted, and any rule by guilt, fear, or ignorance are the avowed enemies of religious freedom and personal liberties. If coercive activities win out, because of a lack of support for liberalism, then there is a possibility that half the world will become ignorant fools, and the other half would become hypocrites!"]
You can see how popular he was with priests and prelates! By getting themselves “engrafted into the machine of government,” he said, the New England clergy “have been a very formidable engine against the civil and religious rights of man.” Which clearly relates to the Religious Right today!
Because of the hot controversy surrounding him and his dissenting religious beliefs, his only recourse was to explain and expound on his convictions through a series of now famous letters to his friends; John Adams, James Madison, Dr. Thomas Cowper, Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, Dr. Benjamin Rush, and Joseph Priestley…
In fact, it was Priestley’s book on The Corruptions of Christianity that inspired his own questioning and his further dissent from orthodoxy. His letters to Priestley, Waterhouse, and to Dr. Benjamin Rush, the father of mental health and Universalist minister, Jefferson revealed a religious outlook that was a profound and simple faith.
My colleague Wayne Arnason, formerly the long time minister at Charlottesville, VA near Monticello, once made these observations from the pulpit of the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church:
“[The first thing we may say about Jefferson's Unitarianism is that he took very seriously.... The second thing we might say is that he was " a very conservative Unitarian." ... Earlier in life, he was a believer in God as the first cause, architect, and master builder... As he grew older, Jefferson moved away from Deism, to a belief in a God that is knowable through human love, through justice, moral perfection, reason, and expressed through natural beauty.
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While some would choose to dispute this because of his wide ranging and sometimes paradoxical statements, Jefferson did believe Providence or destiny and in an afterlife though he had no rational proof of it. Now some scholars looking at and
analyzing Jefferson's life say with compassion, that his beliefs reflected all the sorrows he personally endured. His wife whom he adored, died after ten years of marriage. Only two of his six children survived into adulthood, and only one outlived him. In one of his letters, It was said that his fondest hope, as he grew older, was that he might be united with his wife and children."]
In contrast, within his later correspondence, Jefferson stated that his religion was based on logic and not based on faith. It was, at its core, morality in action, and “salvation by character.” So the controversy rages on about whether Jefferson was a Unitarian… Witness a recent posting on the web site dedicated to the new book, Founding Faith by Steven Waldman, in the chapter on Jefferson: “The Pious Infidel”

*Mar 18, 2008 5:28 PM It’s no wonder that Jefferson admired Unitarianism. He had quite the distaste for organized religion, but an admiration for Jesus. Were he transported in time to the present, I’m sure he’d be disgusted with the Christian right, but I also think he’d view secularists as misconstruing his viewpoint. Ultimately, Jefferson wanted us all to be free to form our own beliefs, without … compulsion.
Modern conservatives who can’t bear to think that the Declaration of Independence was written by a Bible-defacer have spread the rumor that Thomas Jefferson created his own Bible as an ethical guide to civilize American Indians. … Actually, Jefferson’s editing of the Bible flowed directly from a well-thought out, long-stewing view that Christianity had been fundamentally corrupted -by the Apostle Paul, the Early Church, the great Protestant reformers like Martin Luther and John Calvin, and by nearly the entire clerical class for more than a millennium. Secularists love to point to the Jefferson Bible as evidence of his heathen nature; but that misses the point, too. Jefferson was driven to edit the Bible the way a parent whose child was kidnapped is driven to find the culprit. Jefferson loved Jesus, and was attempting to rescue him” Release him from all the mistaken creeds and pious and perplexing
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miracles attributed to him. He sought to recapture the moral teacher who had so inspired his character and who most consistently informed his conscience daily.
In a truly admirable, astute, and audacious way, Jefferson took up the challenge of writing a revised, ethical Gospel- a text that he believed would become universally regarded by all Americans as the text for civic and public morality, a basis for human rights, and the guidelines for personal conduct. Because he purposely excluded any texts or references to what he considered to be unreasonable and insupportable, he excluded almost every statement of faith or theological belief commonly held. Without saying, his ideas were considered to be vile blasphemy to the Calvinists, heretical to any pious Anglican, a travesty to any Catholic, an insult to any Methodist… And a refreshing, clear minded, and comprehensive account for any free thinking person!

Let it be known, that there is a serious attempt at revisionism trying to take place in our country today- where religious conservatives and fervent believers are trying to reclaim the Constitution and the Founding Fathers as pious men and devout Christians!
They use such lame evidence as they went to church regularly… As if that was some test of faith! Other than the effort of getting out of bed, it gives little credence to their claim… We all are familiar with the casual member, or the superficial identity, and throughout our lives we have seen ample evidence of those who “go through the motions” and look like they believe what is being said, and come to church only as a social convention… Jefferson, Washington, Franklin and many others did the same… Hardly a convincing tact because they knew their times… So they did not write to their friends or declare their objections publicly because of the political tenor and religious climate that would have easily interrupted any good they would do in the government!
It is also curious, ironic and a wonderful practice how the Congress, at least up to modern times, would award each new representative with a copy of Jefferson’s Bible, to be used as their ethical guide… I have to wonder if any of them have ever read it !

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Jefferson’s religious views, as given to us in his many letters, were the forerunner of liberal religion since he would repeatedly emphasize the superiority of reason over any doctrinaire faith. Following the Great Commandment, he also saw service to his neighbors and to the betterment of his society to hold an equal importance to any profession of beliefs- thereby allowing ethics and compassion to trump any dogmas and directives from an exclusive religious point of view. He called the results of his efforts, ” The Philosophy of Jesus” and what he actually did was this:
He had four copies of the New Testament, and a larger blank book… Excluding the Hebrew scriptures as being too archaic and too inhumane, and excluding the letters of Paul because he saw him as the first corrupter of the religion of Jesus, he focussed only on the Gospels and the words attributed to Jesus according to the best scholarship of his day…. Which is generous by the standards of the Jesus Seminar today…
He then proceeded to literally “cut and paste” separate quotations and collate all the teachings of Jesus that correspond most closely to a humanistic, liberal, and egalitarian point of view. He did this using the Greek, Latin, French, and English translations! With a painstaking precision, and with his investigatory editing, he produced a much condensed version of the Gospels that he felt would appeal to “the moral sentiments of a more enlightened populace”. Without going through all his edits, it is sufficient to say he saw Jesus as a moral teacher, as a man, and as the supreme human example of how to live, and how to treat other people…

Jefferson’s exercise, of creating one’s own set of texts, ideas, and resources that are most inspirational and meaningful to you would seem to be a recommended task for any U-U’s who seeks to identify themselves within our larger movement in a clear and comprehensive way. To me, it sounds like the best Adult Education imaginable!

For a few years, I subscribed to the Jesus Seminar reports and research and found it to be fascinating and complementary to my own investigations. Just to refresh you, The Jesus Seminar is a collection of progressive Biblical scholars, using the very best literary, archeological, and cultural context, sought to discover which of the words of the Gospel, did Jesus actually say- which ones were authentically his… To summarize the work, and following Jefferson’s example, these scholars found that only about 25% of the Gospel could be considered to be original or authentic… Which, for many of them, was sufficient to maintain their progressive faith as liberal Christians. Before returning to Jefferson, I would recommend that every U-U spend some time creating their own Gospel or set of ” Good News.” Each of us has the freedom to draw from World Scripture, philosophy, poetry, lyrics, science, art or any other source that you find to be inspirational, of lasting value, and worthwhile. The creation of your own Bible, your own personal or spiritual resource book, then becomes your enriching personal commentary or literary companion, and can act as an important pathway towards self discovery, inner comfort, acceptance, and peace.
It is my conclusion, after rereading various sources on Jefferson’s outlooks, that we need to look to giants like Jefferson, imperfect as they might be, for our best human and humane examples.
In fact, Jefferson was such an active, avid, advocate of religious freedom that he wrote , in 1822, to his colleague and friend, Benjamin Waterhouse, these words of fervor and conviction:
“I rejoice in this blessed country of free inquiry and belief that has surrendered its conscience to neither kings nor priests, and that a genuine doctrine of only one God is reviving, and I trust that there is not a young [person] now living, that will not die a Unitarian…

Overly idealistic? Of course! But there is no denying the strength, confidence or courage of his words! His earnest ideals sought to challenge public contentment and to energize social transformation.
It is my hope that this community will grow more Jeffersonian; To become as strong, as resilient, as prophetic and willing to add our names beside his… And I believe that such a goal is possible- As a congregation that actively and generously supports its mission, and as a community that will work to clarify, uphold and extend its foundational values.
Following in his example, may we become examples of goodness, truth, mercy, service and freedom… Not just for ourselves … But for all of us to know and see!
So Be It!

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After listening intently to the President’s address last night on the disaster in the Gulf, and in conjunction with some excellent supportive quotes, from Sojourners and other sources, I would like to offer a reflection on the current… And ongoing socioeconomic and cutural-industrial crisis from a spiritual and religious point of view…

I begin by offering this quote from the poet and social critic, Mary Oliver:
We will be known as a culture that feared death and adored power, that tried to vanquish insecurity for the few and cared little for the penury of the many. We will be known as a culture that taught and rewarded the amassing of things, that spoke little if at all about the quality of life for people (other people), for dogs, for rivers. All the world, in our eyes, they will say, was a commodity.
Mary Oliver, from her poem “Of the Empire”

From the writings of progressive Catholic theologian, Donald Gelpi, we find similar questions and an exposition of his larger ecclesial and cultural concerns. He gives us his reflections on the Spirit, the Church, and human nature in these words:

“In my darker moments I began to wonder if humans can achieve authentic faith in the Spirit in a fragmented church composed of fragmented people. Both personal and pastoral experience have taught me that our human perception of God is filtered through feeling, through image, through language, through spontaneous beliefs and prejudices. And evaluative filters can either illuminate or distort our sense of the divine.
Our creedal stance is shaped by ritual but also marred by superstition, neurosis, and human limitation. It is conditioned by history, molded by half-understood abstractions. Our denominational creeds are like the froth that scuds across beach flats in the wake of a storm. The thundering debates that engendered them have subsided into oblivion.
Because it is a form of human awareness, Spirit consciousness flickers. It has flickered in my own life. It flickers in the lives of most Christians. The forces that shape or inhibit Spirit awareness in both individuals and communities interweave in complex patterns. And unless we criticize those forces they will continue to inhibit and distort Christian awareness of the Spirit. One such force is theology.”

One of the glaring omissions so far in the Gulf debacle is the silence of a majority of our mainstream churches. I suspect that some of that reason is their lack of a theological and spiritual connection to ecology and to the ecosystem, and how some churches remain largely uninformed concerning the connection between ecology, Spirit, and life! However, there maybe a more pernicious yet largely unconscious motive which is that most churches, affecting the Protestant ones most acutely, as they have relied on laizze fare capitalism for their funding. It is speculated that 50% of the churches in the East continue to exist because of the historically generous endowments from a few generations ago, and those funds being provided by industrialists whose fortunes were amassed from a general disregard for the ecological results of their industry… and worse, the lack of a theological conscience gave an implicit permission to begin the now looming ecocide that first began with their amoral, yet all too profitable enterprises.
Complicit corporate disregard for an ecologically based consciousness has acted as a systemic and accumulating poison to the biosphere and to the point of species extinction and the endangerment of sentient life. The mounting consequences of industrial ignorance and its greed fueled incentives, has fostered an systemic corporate myopia and an economic stolidness that becomes entrenched and insistent in seeking to satisfy its rapacious and exploitive needs. As a consequence, corporate petroleum and other aggregate businesses, avidly demonstrate an almost total disregard or a glaring disrespect for the privilege of the extraction and expanding use of nature’s gracious bounty.
This alienation from the land, the self, and the patterns of connection that that exists between humanity, life, and planetary survival are just beginning to be bravely accounted for and proclaimed. Historically, our churches and our Calvinist/Protestant ancestral brands of theology have lacked either the sufficient moral courage or the ethical candor to address these issues when they first arrived on the economic and industrial scene. The devil’s bargain between Protestantism and capitalism has only superficially benefited both- the costs to the integrity of a Christ-like concern for the creation, all of its creatures, and for our sisters and brothers has become reduced to a token, if not inconsequential concern. Few churches budget for social justice or economic parity or humanitarian outreach in any substantial or meaningful way. Polite forms of charity, versus true generosity appears paramount- after all, the churches have to worry about their own survival as social intuitions, right? Its popular to ask “What would Jesus Do or What would he say?” I ask, how did the average Christian in most of our modern churches miss his disregard for money, property, and wealth? How is it that we have conveniently forgotten about
“leave everything, take up your cross, and follow me!” And other such declaratives appear regularly throughout the Gospels and their parables about how the rich are spiritually impoverished. Not that social and ecological pioneers such as Rachel Carson in the 1950′s have not tried valiantly to sound the alarm bell, its was never really heard! It has been the whining and incessant clamor for jobs, wrapped up in the prosperity myth as part of the American way of life that drowns out even the most constant and compassionate voices.
As I see it, churches, synagogues, mosques, etc., and every genuine spiritual community that is rooted in compassion and justice are now being summoned- by the tranformative archetypes of the collective unconsciousness- be they angels, dreams, intuitions, or simply empathetically attending to the overwhelming physical evidence- to compel our religious institutions to accept their moral leadership by earnestly and openly take up the gauntlet, to respond wholeheartedly to the crisis, and accelerate the growing awareness of the necessity for wholesale economic and personal change that will eventually lead to a full scale cultural transformation!

From Jim Wallis, editor of Sojourners Magazine:
First, we have to change our language. This isn’t a little “spill,” it is an environmental catastrophe — the potential contamination of a whole gulf (already a third is now off limits for fishing) and hundreds of miles of coastline, and it threatens to expand to an ocean and more coastlines. It will bring the destruction of critical wetlands, endanger countless species, end human ways of life dependent upon the sea, and now, it will increase the danger of a hurricane season that could dump not just water, but waves of oil just miles inland from the coasts.

Theologically, we are witnessing a massive despoiling of God’s creation. We were meant to be stewards of the Gulf of Mexico, the wetlands that protect and spawn life, the islands and beaches, and all of God’s creatures who inhabit the marine world. But instead, we are watching the destruction of all that. Why? Because of the greed for profits; because of deception and lies; because of both private and public irresponsibility. And at the root, because of an ethic of endless economic growth, fueled by carbon-based fossil fuels, that is ultimately unsustainable and unstable.

It’s not just that BP has lied, even though they have — over and over — to cover up their behavior and avoid their obligations. It is that BP is a lie; what it stands for is a lie. It is a lie that we can continue to live this way, a lie that our style of life is stable and sustainable, a lie that these huge oil companies are really committed to a safe and renewable energy future. BP should indeed be made to pay for this crime against the creation — likely with its very existence.

But I am also reminded of what G.K. Chesterton once said when asked what was most wrong with the world. He reportedly replied, “I am.” Already, we are hearing some deeper reflection on the meaning of this daily disaster. Almost everyone now apparently agrees with the new direction of a “clean energy economy.” And we know that will require a re-wiring of the energy grid (which many hope BP will have no part in). But it will also require a re-wiring of ourselves — our demands, requirements, and insatiable desires. Our oil addiction has led us to environmental destruction, endless wars, and the sacrifice of young lives, and it has put our very souls in jeopardy. New York Times columnist Tom Freidman recently wondered about the deeper meaning of the Great Recession when he asked, “What if it’s telling us that the whole growth model we created over the last fifty years is simply unsustainable economically and ecologically and that 2008 was when we hit the wall — when Mother Nature and the market both said, ‘No More.’” The Great Spill makes the point even more.

There is not one answer to this calamity; there are many: corporate responsibility, for a change; serious government regulation, for a change; public accountability, for a change; and real civic mobilization to protect the endangered waters, coasts, species, and people’s livelihoods. But at a deeper level, we literally need a conversion of our habits of the heart, our energy sources, and our lifestyle choices. At a deep level, what’s not working in the U.S. is our lifestyle — particularly the consumerist energy habits we showcase to the rest of the world. Moving toward a “clean energy economy” will require more than just a re-wiring of the energy grid; it will also take a re-wiring of ourselves — a conversion, really, of our habits of the heart. We must adjust our expectations, demands, and values.

Remember, this incident that now threatens to smear the Gulf waters is only the latest insult to the residents and wildlife of that area. First was the accumulating “dead zone in the Gulf from the toxic pesticides, chemical farming, and animal waste disposal from factory farms, then there was the disregard for adequate housing standards in the lower wards of New Orleans, and the dismal, halting and regressive response to Katrina- some five years ago which is still a pressing, stubborn problem where there are still many residents living on the edge of a social disaster. And now… We have what might be considered a deadly gas and petroleum deluge… Who could say what will be next?

There is much to be done… Starting with the basic personal steps of energy conservation in our homes and daily routines, outward to every social group we belong or support, and implore them to make visible and substantial commitments to sustainablity and to proclaim that compassionate, ethical change and the demand for a theological and religious stance that promotes ecological justice is truly a matter of moral integrity and a true case of defending natural security! (Q: What is our National Guard doing in Iraq? How much greater and more important would their presence be in assisting with in prevention and clean up- here… Where we genuinely need them!)

One last glaring point… Because of our greed and the insistence on a profitable bottom line at any cost, we have encouraged a business mentality that does not willingly take into account the consequences of its actions. Is it too far fetched, too aggressive, too interfering in the life of these multinational corporations to insist that at least 10% of their profits be reserved for safety measures, or to create an ongoing substantially funded escrow account that gives the necessary assistance to localities and communities to protect themselves from the aftermath of a soulless technology?

Of course, there are many things we can do… Some would be judged unrealistic, others too unlikely to succeed, but here is one that I received as I was completing my ideas for this blog…
I want to share this with you and ask that you take this petition seriously… And ask your church or spiritual group members to sign it, and then work for whatever reforms and changes that are needed in our country, and in our own lifestyle choices…

Dear Rev. Peter,

Every day, people ask us what they can do about the catastrophe in the Gulf. Here’s one concrete thing: end our addiction to oil.

The Center for Biological Diversity and 350.org took an historic step in the desperate fight against climate catastrophe when we petitioned the EPA to establish a national cap for greenhouse gas pollution under the Clean Air Act. The petition seeks to cap atmospheric CO2 at 350 parts per million, the level leading scientists say is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of global warming.

More than 100 groups signed on in support of our legal petition. Tens of thousands of individuals are lending their names, including the nation’s preeminent climate scientist, Dr. James Hansen, author Barbara Kingsolver, musician Bonnie Raitt, and actor Ed Begley, Jr.

Please take one minute to join us in moving toward a real solution to oil spills by calling on the EPA to do its job as science, the law, the tragedy in the Gulf, and common sense require. Sign the People’s Petition to Cap Carbon at 350 parts per million today.

And if you’ve already signed the petition, thank you. But to reach 500,000 signatures, we need your help again. Please commit to getting just 10 friends to sign the People’s Petition to Cap Carbon at 350 parts per million. You can forward this email or share this link on your Facebook page.
Click here to find out more and sign the petition.
If you have trouble following the link, go to http://action.biologicaldiversity.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2773.

Petition:

I support the legal petition filed by the Center for Biological Diversity and 350.org to the EPA to cap atmospheric carbon dioxide levels at 350 parts per million — the level science says is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of global warming — under the Clean Air Act.

For four decades, the Clean Air Act has protected the air we breathe through a proven, successful system of pollution control that saves lives and creates economic benefits exceeding its costs by many times. It’s time to fully use one of our strongest existing tools for reducing greenhouse gas pollution: the Clean Air Act.

Now is the time to enforce the Act, not gut it. I urge you to move swiftly to grant the petition and enforce the Clean Air Act.

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This morning, my topic for you goes beyond the usual confines of academic religion, and those ethical and justice themes that liberal religious outlooks are so well known for presenting. Today’s theme is a mythopoetic one- it’s about symbols and syncronicites and the archetypal connections between the yearly cycle of the Sun, the solstice, and the changes in one’s life; the revolutions of the heart, the seasons of the soul.
The inescapable importance of the warmth and light of the Sun on earthly life cannot be disputed. We know that the Sun and sunshine affects all life cycles and the patterns of growth in all living things. I propose, through the connections and corelatons of myth and metaphor, that the Sun has other influences on us- on our psyches, our attitudes, our sense of self and soul in the context of wholeness and life.
The light, heat, vitality and energy we unselfishly and indifferently receive from the Sun have been known to affect people’s moods and temperaments. We have all heard of situations and conditions wherein the amount of sunshine is involved a person receives changes or alters their mood and attitude towards daily life. In warm climates or prolonged humidity, the extra sun of the summer can make them testy, aggressive and “hot under the collar.
Where I came from in New England it was the opposite. The lack of sun was always blamed, along with the local weatherman predictions, for people being grumpy, pessimistic, and impatient for the spring thaw and desire to feel the summer’s warmth.
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In psychological theory and literature, there seems to be a strong connection between people’s moods and the amount of sunshine they receive- there is even a recognized mental or emotional illness called SAD (Seasonal Adjusted Disorder) where a person has to have artificial sunlight installed in their home to cure certain forms of depression. That certainly gives validity to the claim that the Sun does certainly affect us on many levels!
The Sun corresponds poetically to what Emerson called the Soul of the Whole. Its effect on our existence are a sum total, for it directly and unmistakably influences all of life. Much earlier in human culture, during the Renaissance, people were much more in touch or in tune with the cycles of the Sun, and how it affected their city and rural life. The philosopher and alchemist Marsillo Ficino, writing in his metaphysical treatise on the planets, put it this way:
[Our sun, besides maintaining the particular power of itself
promotes the common power of life all through us, but especially
through the heart, the source of intimate fire for the soul. Similarly, the World Soul flourishes through the Sun, unfolding and shining, giving us the common power of life.

In later contemporary language, we have the observations of Carl Jung and Thomas Moore, a Jungian trained theologian whose book, Care Of The Soul and other works have become popular. Carl Jung spoke of this tendency and recommends that we maintain our connection to the Sun and the Soul. He gave this statement for our consideration. He said that:
The concept of Sol or the Sun [has much] to do with the growth
of modern consciousness- especially as we derive and connect the observations of the natural world with our inner being.”

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In his first book, The Planets Within, Thomas Moore makes this observation and conclusion:
There is a solar consciousness, an awareness of the spiritual value in material things, bringing these things to life, animating them … giving them soul.”

This ability of the Sun to influence us can be taken one step further. As our emotional patterns and possibilities are very much a part of each of us, so too, it could be said that the Sun adds to the vitality and to the clarity of our identities; that the Sun affects the human soul or psyche as well. Moore points out that we should read these mythic and astrological symbols as an internal landscape, not as hard science. He favors the view that the symbolic qualities of the planets, the Sun and the Moon, and the stars of the heavens, create for us distinct patterns for discernment- they create patterns not only in the night sky, but also in our psyches- [a sky-chart within. The planets in this sky within, somehow correspond with the deeply felt movements and inclinations of the soul.] In the mythopoetic language of astrology and mythology, these movements and the patterns they create, can be seen as celestial clues to our internal workings, and their movements might be barely perceptible at first, but within time can be cumulative and transformative.
We will soon celebrate the summer solstice- the day in astronomy where the sun shines for the longest time, creating the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The opposite occurs on or about December 21, some six months away. That is the time of the winter solstice, when we experience the least amount of sunshine, or what we call the shortest day of the year. Just to round out this quick refresher in Astronomy 101, the days in March and
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September when there is equal or a balanced amount of day and night are called the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.
From a mythical viewpoint, one that can connect a deep sense of light to the energy within us, the experience of the light and warmth of the Sun gives our souls a clue for their best expression. The length of daylight corresponds to the time we are urged or encouraged to go or be outdoors in the light, and the sun also signals when it is best for our psyches or souls to seek the darkness for contemplation and rest.
The longest time period for light and outward energies occurs during June-July and the Shortest time occurs between December and January. In the time of increasing light, the soil and the soul warms to invite growth, expansion and the planting of seeds. Fertile possibilities now can take root, and grow in the earth and in our minds and hearts. In this time of the expansion of light and heat, plants grow to the peak of their height and ripeness, and the creative energies of nature dominate landscape and life. As this time period applies to humans, what seems to happen more in June or July than any other time of the year?
Hmm… let’s see… traditionally there are more weddings during this time period than any other… more children are conceived …. more people graduate, ripen, mature or move out and away,, further up and into the world…. are there any others you can name or add?
Conversely, what could be said about the shortest days? They correspond to an ingathering, a more restful, contemplative and focused energy- a time for reading, introspection, meditation, evaluation and for welcoming more warmth and quiet into our lives.
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I suspect that is one of the psychic reasons that the crass, commercial crunch of Christmas is so hard to endure… It goes against the natural rhythms of sun, soul, and life! But since it is an artificial holiday anyway, I am all for simplification. Christmas is more accurately celebrated on January 6th or if celebrating Jesus, more likely that he was born in early February or March- but that’s another sermon!
The reason for bringing your attention to these cycles and seasons of the Sun, and their potential effects on us, is my concern for the health and well being of each of you as a spiritual and soulful person. In the fields of transpersonal psychology and theology where I make my academic home, it is affirmed and supported that when a person, or a culture, or a nation loses its sense of natural rhythms, cycles and seasons, it endangers their soul; it puts at risk our needed attunement to nature as sacred, which results in a loss of regard for our needs to nurture and reflect, express and create along with these natural cycles.
In astrological and mythological symbolism, the sun has come to represent the core, true individuality of a person, as opposed to the learned personality these cultural ideas and attitudes that comprise social conduct, behaviors, perceptions, and outlooks. The Sun is the signature self; how we most naturally relate to what is sacred and holy in ourselves, in others, and in nature; The Sun reveals how we best express the gifts and graces, talents, desires, and skills of this life.

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It is postulated by soul-centered therapists and clergy that when a person or a culture forgets about the sun and the seasons, they lose contact with the essentials of life- the more heart-centered empathetic and nurturing ways that make relationships more enjoyable and a gratitude for life and love more sustainable.
A couple of provocative, maybe loaded questions:
Do you feel that our society has lost touch with these seasons and reasons? How can we best recover our souls?
Maybe it is that need to recognize and affirm natural ways and cycles of revealed truth that is behind our church membership’s interest in recapturing many of the Native American celebrations, or the Wiccan and Celtic wisdom traditions, that clearly celebrate the seasons with reverence and delight???
Going a little deeper, we can see in the mythical literature a need to look to the Sun and the seasons as ways to define our inner being. In The Upanishads, the ancient sacred texts of Hinduism, we are given a reply to the question the Brahman asks of Ajuna, one of the gods of light and life:
“[Who are you? ... I am a season, and the child of the seasons. I am sprung from the womb of infinite space, the seed of the husband and the wife, I am the light of the year, the Self of all that is; and whatever you are, I am also. ... I am but a phase of the universal life, and a child of the manifest cycles... I am a spark of the Divine, evolved through the cycle of the twelve stages, and by my means, is all growth accomplished.]”

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Moving to the consideration of the solstice as the longest and shortest days, we are given the contrasting image and the complementary rotations or resonance that represents the revolving seasons of the soul. One definition of the cycles of the year and the seasons is this; A year, in the life of day and night, is the way the soul moves, manifests and matures itself.
Some of the physical phenomena that can have mythopoetic and metaphysical correlation’s are these: The solstice points are the only time in the whole year that the Sun stays stationary or is seen as standing still. This station can be seen as a time of concentrated self or soul energy that reinforces what you know about yourself and can affirm the next steps in your path to more complete selfhood. Second, the two solstice points act as complementary and supplementary mirrors of beginnings and endings. The solstice points act as the mirror that has two faces- one summer one is concave- a view that elongates the search for authenticity and true definitions, and the winter one has a convex face that widens and deepens introspection, assessment, discipline and inner peace. These points at the beginning of the summer and the winter act as the two faces in the mirror of our being. They complement one another by showing our psyches our inner make-up- the inner impulse that portrays how we can be attracted to the new search, and they place before us the completion of an important life’s task– These two points give us a special time for expressing and then for integrating what you know about yourself.
Lastly, the solstice points are an opportune and gracious time for the recapturing and the reconnecting of your personal and relational missing links- those parts of you that you had previously let go or places in your life where you have felt lacking or that something is missing.
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The solstice time period offers us the spiritual opportunity that gives us time and energy to reclaim and reconnect them. From these phenomena, we gain insights into our soul life. From these celestial cycles, we find a path to our inner work, our inner release.
As the seasons transpire, circling the cosmos in their divinely ordered rounds, we who value renewal and the potentials for self and soul, are urged to align and attune ourselves to these cycles, and adjust ourselves to accepting that we are creatures who need to heed the rhythm and flow of energy and life.
A parting thought, from one of my recent research projects about connections and correlation’s between grace and time:
“[We live in a soul-centered universe, and all beings share in the blessed perpetual motion of the world within and the world without. At the very center and circumference of life is the Anima Mundi, the World Soul represented symbolically by the Sun. This world soul beckons us to heed the rhythms of existence, drawing us into the ever-flowing constant relationship to all that is and all that could be. ...
These cycles of time and awareness are ours to comprehend; to translate and apply to the complex world of human understanding and behavior.
By following the mythic path of The Sun that will reveal out inner and outer connections to a more seasonal, sensual and soulful life, we can find more of the answers to how our restless, wandering souls can search and find our true selves.]”

Happy Solstice…
and may the blessings of the long time Sun be with you!

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