UU Lent - Possibility

There was the possibility of me actually going outside and enjoying daylight and warm weather but unfortunaly I'm sick. I do have my bedroom window open though to air out the place.

UU Lent - Hospitality

First thing that comes to mind is part of the intro statement of my congregation - "wherever you are from, whomever you love, you are welcome here."

Coming out poly

by Patrick Kelly

My husband is okay with me marrying my boyfriend.

What? you say. Don't worry, I'm not breaking any laws. All 3 of us are well aware that polygamy (marrying more than one spouse) is illegal in the US. As far as biblical laws, well, none of us are Christian so there's that. As you may know I'm Buddhist Pagan Unitarian Universalist and my men have no particular religious affiliation. My political affiliation is Libertarian. I'm all about personal freedom and choice as long as it doesn't infringe on anyone else's freedom and choice.

I identify as polyamorous (literally: many loves). The opposite is monogamous. If you are content with having an intimate relationship with one person at a time- gender irrelevant - then you are monogamous. If, like me, you desire you have a relationship with several people at one time with their consent then you are polyamorous.

So yeah, although the union between boyfriend and I will not be recognized by the government, it will be recognized by us and anyone else who matters.


And now I will take questions:


How does it work?
Well, for me, my husband knew I was polyamorous when we met. He still married me knowing that this would not change. The most important rule was honesty. If I was going on a date, I told him. Unfortunately, my dates didn't quite know what poly was even though it was spelled out in my dating profile. Once I told them that my husband was well aware that I was on a date, they lost interest.

And your boyfriend?
He knows how to read and he understood my profile. Win win.

How's the sex?
How's the sex in your relationship? Just because I'm not in a traditional relationship that doesn't mean I want to talk about sexual specifics. But since you asked, none of us are complaining.

Isn't polyamory the same as swinging?
No, although there can be some overlap. Swinging implies more of a sex-only relationship between 2 or more couples. Polyamory is more of an emotional relationship between several people which can include sex.

Why have a ceremony when it's not legal?
Because my boyfriend is important to me and because why not?

You sinner! You will burn in Hell!
I don't believe in hell so....

Do you have any questions for me? I'm not an expert and I will try to point you to other resources if I don't know the answer.

UU Lent - Transcend

From Dictionary.com
Transcend
1. to rise above or go beyond; overpass; exceed; excel.

2. Theology. (of Deity) to be above and independent of the Universe, time, etc.


A lunar eclipse was visible today from Baltimore in the early morning hours right before moonset. I wasn't able to get a good view. The moon peeked out for a second then clouds covered Her. Restlessness consumed me; no wonder, the eclipse occurred almost dead center in my (sidereal) sun sign of Virgo. I think of Deity as both transcendent and immanent. Perhaps on some level She was trying to reach me. I like to think that when I rid myself of my physical body, I too will become more like Deity.

UU Adult RE Spirit in Practice

For this week's journaling, reflect on something you do/have done to increase justice, equality, and/or compassion in the world. It could be serving at Sharing Table, bringing grape jelly to church, writing to your legislator, marching for a cause, participating in anti-racism training, adding some coins to an anonymous neighbor's expired parking meter, or any of an infinite number of expressions of interdependence. As you are reflecting on your practice, how would you articulate its deeper meaning? What inspires you about what you are doing? How does your action help you come alive?

What have I done to increase justice, equality, and compassion? Not enough but I'm trying to change that. I voted for the first time in 2012 as a registered Libertarian. Without arguing about politics, my goal is to educate whenever the topic comes up. (Did you know that the commission that handles the Presidential debates are owned / run by Dems and Reps? They set the rules for who gets to be in the debates which automatically disqualifies all 3rd party and independent candidates. Also most states have stipulations on 3rd parties in order to acquire and maintain ballot access. They have to meet a certain number of party-registered voters or else have to ask other voters to sign a petition. How is that fair or just? So I encourage those who say they are voting for the lesser of 2 evils to check out a 3rd party's platform.)

More recently, like today - just now - I registered for Pets on Wheels. My ex-religion didn't encourage any type of charity or community service, just their own door-knocking for converting purposes. Samus,, my 1st furbaby, is very friendly and I know she would bring a smile to someone's face.

Speaking of Samus - she is one of 4 furbabies that I have. They all come from my area rescues. If I had more room, I would have more kitties and puppies.

I'm not a people person. Really. I'm not. I'm painfully socially awkward but I deal with it well enough to get by. Samus picked me; she is such a loyal doggie. I hope with us doing PoW I can be a little less awkward.

My plan is to expand this part of my practice by participating more in the community service aspects via my church, (Honey, don't forget the grape jelly!)

UU Adult RE Spirit in Practice

In what ways are you creative? 

I didn't inherit the artistic gene. My mother and my siblings draw pretty well. I draw well enough for Pictionary. I used to write poetry often but I'm out of practice. If you follow me on Twitter (@queenj) you may see some of my haikus from time to time. The first post for UULent2015 was a poem composed of haiku verses. Dramatic reading seems to suit me; I love to read parts for Sunday service when I can make it. Oh, and I sing a little.

When and where do you apply your inspiration, problem-solving, and sense of beauty? 

Sadly, inspiration is hard to come by these days. Crazy work schedule coupled with no time to connect to those who mean the most to me leaves me feeling depressed most of the time. It is a struggle to not write about doom and gloom. 

What creative processes do you engage in regularly?

I try to listen to the Universe. Instead of internalizing my problems, I see if the solution is "out there" somewhere. Occult practices require some creativity simply because of their nature. One can read tarot and use the accompanying book or one can feel the tarot.

I've thought about getting into some sort of knitting or crocheting. Anyone want to teach me?

UU Lent - Kindness

Random Act of Kindness Week was Feb 9-15 2015.
World Kindness Day is Nov 13 2015.

UU Lent - Beauty

Lilies are my favorite flowers. So beautiful.

UU Lent - Listen

House Made of Dawn Light by Douglas Spotted Eagle

UU Lent - Trust

My boyfriend of less than a month made a key for me to his house. He's mentioned doing it a few times before but I was apprehensive. I'm honored.

UU Lent - Home

Observable Universe
Virgo Supercluster
Local Group
Milky Way
Orion Arm
Sol
Earth
North Hemisphere
North America
United States
Maryland
county
city
neighborhood
street
number

Home.

UU Lent - Friendship

My 2 favorite cartoons stress friendship. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic constantly shows how friendship is important. The series centers around 6 main (or mane!) characters. Usually one of them has a problem and refuses to get help which makes the problem worse. The other friends finally help and the original friend writes to the pony queen about the lesson.

The other cartoon is Winnie-the-Pooh. His best friend is Piglet who never turns Pooh away when he wants honey. Roo befriends a Hefflelump (elephant) in one of the movies. Pooh and the gang throw Tigger a party dressed like Tigger when it comes to light that he doesn't have a family.

International Friendship Day has several dates: July 30, Aug 2 or the 1st Sunday in Aug.

UU Lent - Hospitality

Hospitality - the friendly treatment of guests or strangers (Dictionary.com)

Every Sunday before service my church says a welcoming statement. We also invite any new persons to stay afterwards to have any questions answered. The coffee hour is new to me. After the service, there are snacks and coffee. Everyone mingles and talks about the service or what is going on in their lives.

UU Lent - Waiting

I'm still waiting to have another baby. It's been several years since my tubal reversal. Sometimes I fear that it's too late and the Mother phase of my life is turning into the Crone.

UU Lent - Notice

I want you to notice me like I notice you.

UU Lent - Practice

unitarian
"deist-buddhist-pagan-witch"
universalist

north east south and west
call the quarters, cast circle
i'm goddess and god

calming buddhist chants
nam myoho renge kyo
ding ding sound the chime

she's full of mercy
hail! om mani padme hum!
blessed sweet qwan yin

decisions aren't clear
pentacles, cups, wands, and swords
clarity ensues

is there a god? *shrugs*
who knows? is science proof? yes?
no? Schrodinger's cat

lunar cycle divine
new, waning, full, waxing, new
crescent and gibbous

7 principles
all congregations unique
everyone welcome

unitarian
"deist-buddhist-pagan-witch"
universalist

UU Adult RE: Spirit in Practice #3

What have your experiences been with meditation and prayer? What forms have you tried? What forms of meditation and prayer have been personally meaningful for you? How have your prayer and/or meditation practices affected you? 

My views on prayer have changed drastically from when I was a kid. First I needed to define who or what I was praying to and for what. It's more meaningful to visualize a loving Creatrix not a patriarchal dictator. Deity resides within and without. Prayer accesses and connects the two forms. Prayer as a conversation between you and Deity should remain that way although interfaith group prayers embrace community. 

I suppose prayer can be a form of meditation. When I chanted daily, I was able to concentrate better, to sit still without fidgeting. One needs to still the monkey / kitten mind. In the stillness comes realizations and solutions to problems. 

Where would you like to go with a personal spiritual practice?
I would like to get into a daily routine of some kind of spiritual practice. Right now, it's hit or miss but it's better than nothing. So far, I'm enjoying my trip through the tarot. Maybe I'll delve into yoga.

UU Adult RE: Spirit in Practice #2

Write about the prospect or the experience of discussing spirituality with someone else. If spirituality isn't a meaningful term for you, write about discussing your participation in a congregation or revealing something else about yourself related to your search for meaning.

I have no problem discussing spirituality with others. It's a way to get to know others and opens the way to acceptance, not just tolerance. People should connect by finding common points instead of distancing by focusing on differences. Problems occur when the objective is to convert. No one likes being told they are wrong. If at the end of the discussion parties "agree to disagree," fine. But hopefully everyone will come out of it with a better understanding of the others.

Eight Spheres of Spiritual Practice
#5 Body Practices

I know, I know, I need to exercise more. I've been walking around my building on my 15 min break at work. When it gets warmer, I'll walk outside. Maybe I'll get a human walking partner by then. Weight Watchers program helps a bit with how to eat. Denying oneself food is a recipe for disaster, unless you are allergic to said foodstuffs. All things in moderation including eating. Therefore, no more carb-less meals for me. Ever. 

Other things that may fall under body practices:

• Body is a temple. Decorate it as you see fit. I usually don't wear makeup but I love gold jewelry (I have multiple piercings). Looking to get another tattoo.
• Smoking can be a ritualistic practice. Smoking what, you say? *wink*
• Limiting unnecessary medications. Instead of reaching for aspirin to clear a headache, I try to calm myself to see if will go away on its own. USA dispenses way too much medication each with its own side effects. So then we take more medication to combat the side effects.
• Safe, sane, consensual sex. Again - Safe. Sane. Consensual.
• Learning to love your body even through the changes. This is a struggle I deal with which is why you will hardly see any full length pictures of me. Here is a body meditation that you may find useful. It is not my own but I forgot where I read it. Stand in front of a mirror au naturel. Look at yourself from all angles. Study yourself as if you were a piece of artwork. You are Art and the mirror is a frame. Look at your "flaws" and how they make you, you. Look at them without judgement. Do not be afraid to see You. 

UU Adult RE: Spirit in Practice #1

Reflect on your lifelong spiritual journey.

Well, that's what this blog kinda sorta started out as. I needed somewhere to put my thoughts down about finally breaking free of being Jehovah's Witness. Many things that I've said before will probably be repeated here but this is an assignment so...whatever.

What did you learn about practicing spirituality as a child?
Not a damn thing! JW is not a study in spirituality. To me, spirituality is a private thing; one has to find the beginnings of it from within. As a JW, you are told what to believe and if you disagree, you get kick out if you don't conform or get badgered (read: brainwashed) until you do agree.

JW is a Christian sect. Lots of doctrines to remember and points of the Bible to argue with other Christian sects. I suppose I should be grateful that I know something about America's majority belief system. I missed out on everything that normal childhoods consist of since I was a "born-in": birthdays, ALL holidays, extracurricular activities, picking my own friends --JW only, everyone else is "worldly", Saturday morning cartoons, going to college, dating. We were told that only JW is "The Truth" and everyone else will get destroyed at Armageddon. Sounds elitist, right?


I was baptized at 17, a year after I had my daughter. I felt forced because I was made to feel like a failure for having a child out of wedlock. People in the congregation would not even look at me when I was pregnant and would console my mother as if someone just died. I felt no different when I came up out of the water. No connection to Jehovah, no ray of sun from the ceiling, just an awful feeling that I just made a huge mistake. At age 21, I was shunned for being pregnant out of wedlock.

How have your spiritual needs changed?
Where do I begin? After trying through the years trying to go back to JW, my mother who doesn't speak to me was the one who made me see that that religion was no longer for me. She said to me in an email, "I love you but I love Jehovah more." I cannot imaging telling either of my children something like that. From that point on, I started doing research for a spiritual home. I was non-denominational Christian but I didn't understand why a Savior or Mediator was needed to get to God. A co-worker introduced me to Nichiren Buddhism and from there I found my way to Paganism.

I wanted to find somewhere to practice and to meet people. The Buddhist sangha was too far and honestly turned out to be somewhat similar to my old religion. Wiccan covens required an invitation from a current member. I can't remember what led me to Unitarian Universalist, maybe a Beliefnet quiz? A Google search turned up a congregation close to me and the rest as they say is history.

My spirituality needs to be on my own terms. I'm an agnostic deist - I cannot say for sure there is a God but I choose to believe there is one. My belief is based in science and logic, not a holy book. I'm an eclectic Pagan, a solitary witch.

What practices have you engaged in at different points in your life? What practices might speak to your ideas and needs as they are today?
As a child, I went door-to-door trying to convince people that they are wrong and we are right. Meetings were 3x a week. Family study night was another night. And we were suppose to study on our own for all of the meetings. A minimum of 10 hrs door-to-door was strongly suggested.

Now, I follow the natural cycles of the sun and moon (and realize the Gregorian calendar lacks any connection to nature). Chanting was a part of my practice; I could return to that. Other items of spiritual interest are sidereal astrology, tarot, I-Ching, the Divine Feminine / Triple Goddess, and the Egyptian pantheon.

My goal this year is to get through the tarot (by solar month) and I-Ching (by lunar month). Ugh, I'm already behind. Thank Goddess for backdating!

What do Unitarian Universalists believe?

This post is a sort of answer to Adrian's post, a fellow UU. So you may want to read his before reading mine.

What do Unitarian Universalists believe? Before I started on my path of searching I had never heard of UU. The simple answer lies the 7 principles of the Unitarian Universalist Association; all non/beliefs are welcome. Historically, the two separate parts of UU are part of liberal Christianity. Since the merge in 1961, UUs who express Christianity as their primary belief system are a minority*. Note that there are some Unitarians and Universalists who are separate from Unitarian Universalists.

Adrian says on his blog:

If I could believe in whatever I wanted, I would believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God the Father Almighty up in Heaven, that He is my Lord and Savior, and that He came to Earth, suffered, died for my sins, and rose from the dead to offer me eternal sanctuary with Him now and at the end of days. Why would I want to believe these things? Because that's what most of my family believes; and because I don't like conflict, I don't always enjoy being on the outside of the in-group (it gets lonesome here), and life in the United States of America might just be a little less rife with tension if I believed as many others claim to believe.

Amen!! Sometimes I think for a millisecond of trying to be a Jehovah's Witness again. But I can't. I've eaten from the tree of knowledge. I cannot unlearn what I've learn. I believe what I must. If my current beliefs have flaws, then I will change them. I'm sure there are Christian UUs but they accept me and I accept them.

For a time I was reluctant to consider myself a UU. After 30+ years in the JW cult, I was reluctant to identify as part of a group. However, I craved fellowship. UU is the best of both worlds. It is so important for me to retain my own beliefs, to search for God/dess (or not) on my own terms.

Is UUism for you? That depends. If you are looking for instruction from the pulpit, then no, UUism may not be for you. UU caters to the searcher, to the open-minded, to the ones who want to learn. Some folks want to be told what to do; they need clear directions and an instruction manual. Keep in mind that each congregation is autonomous. UUA has ideas for religious education, sermons, dedications, holiday celebrations, etc., but congregations are under no obligation to follow them. Each congregation chooses its own order of service. One of my tweeps wrote that he visited a UU congregation and although everyone was nice, he was turned off by the prayers. My congregation sings hymns, plays secular music, and doesn't do prayers.

Collectively, Unitarian Universalists believe all sorts of things. Maybe that's why I still say I'm Pagan if asked about my religion. It's somewhat easier to explain Paganism than UUism. I'm definitely not embarrassed about being a UU like I was when I was a Jehovah's Witness.

If you are UU, do you identify as such or do you identify as your primary belief system? How would you answer the question, what do UUs believe?


*For the life of me, I can't remember where I read this. If you can help me out or if my statement is incorrect, please let me know.