From Salon: “What’s worse is the likely fate of the Current Occupant, who is contending with Pierce, Buchanan and Warren G. Harding for the title of All-Time Worst President. He’s got a good shot at the title if only because he’s had so much more to be worst with. (Any young persons who have been inspired by Mr. Bush to take up public service should be watched very closely.)”

The Journey has it nailed: “. . .aiming for community is a bit like aiming for happiness. It’s not a goal in itself. We find happiness as an incidental by-product of pursuing love, justice, hospitality, and generosity. When you aim at happiness, you are bound to miss it. Likewise with community. It’s not our goal. It emerges as a by-product of pursuing something else. Those who love community destroy it, but those who love people build community.”

To push further on my last post, is ubuntu enough? If not, what is it we need that isn’t ubuntu?

I’m still enamored by Doug Muder’s suggestion earlier this year of a UU mission statement: becoming the people the world needs.

It leads to the question: who does the world need? Notice we’re not asking what the world needs; that too easily leads to an empty causism. The question is: who do we need to become?

The Bantu word ubuntu came onto the global scene during the fall of apartheid in South Africa. There are no hard and fast definitions, but I’m fond of “a person becomes human through other persons.”

We need other people. We’re radically dependent upon others from the day we’re born until the day we die. We hide from this basic, raw fact of life, fearing a loss of independence. But interdependence, not independence, is the root and stem of human life.

Who does the world need? The world needs people who practice ubuntu, intentionally and effectively. Click to continue reading “Becoming the people the world needs (Part one in ubuntu series)”

It’s fun to be right. Being right as often as I am, I am, of course, well aware of this.

But even more fun than being right is being right when others aren’t even aware of just how right you are. They should, of course, know just how right you are. They would be much better off.

Actually, no, that’s not fun so much as frustrating. Very frustrating, actually. If only they would listen to you! If only they would hear you out! If only follow your good advice! No, not very much fun at all.

What is fun is when they think you’re wrong and just wish you’d shut the fuck up. Please, please, go away, they say. Now that’s when it starts to get fun.

What’s so fun about that? You see, being the remnant is always fun. It’s a real blast to be an imaginary persecuted minority keeping the one true faith alive. Righteous indignation!

They’re out to get you, you know. Sure, they won’t come out and say it. But they let it slip now and again, if you’ll just read between the lines.

See, when that guest preacher told that story about some church folk who started a little program to buy coats for the day laborers in their community, he wasn’t saying it’s good to help people. No. If you paid attention, you’d have noticed he said the day laborers were “legal immigrants.” That means he hates illegal immigrants. You see? You have to read between the lines. You always knew he was bad.

And when folks in your congregation say, no, they don’t agree with you that the worship services are getting too Christian/Buddhist/Humanist/whatever, it’s not because they think that. No. If you pay close attention, you’ll notice that what they really mean to say is that they think it’s not Christian/Buddhist/Humanist/whatever enough and that they hope no one will notice until it’s too late. Click to continue reading “Remnant is fun!”

Whole lot of linky goodness this week from the folk at The Daily Scribe:

• Macacawitz-gate: Democrat fired for calling Sen. George “don’t cast aspersions” Allen an “anti-semitic” name. (jspot)
• A history of the Middle East in 90 seconds. (Jewschool)
• Altoids have been nerfed—no more curiously strong peppermint oil. (Yet Another UU)
• Fellow Atlantan Cleave rises in defense of hookas. (pomomusings)
• Gandhi, Nietzsche, Malcolm X and Carlos Mencia on Jesus. (the mindful mission)
• And, finally, Fred Phelps is a christoterrorist. (Religion Blog)