janice

by Rev Geoff Usher

The Lawrence Lectures on Religion and Society were established to inquire into the nature and relevance of religion as it relates to personal meaning and fulfillment, to formulation of values and ethical commitment. The Lectures were associated with the First Unitarian Church of Berkeley, California, where I gave the annual Earl Morse Wilbur Lecture in January 1986.
On 17 October 1980, Theodore Roszak gave the Lawrence Lecture entitled “The Personal and the Planetary” .My sermon today is based on Roszak’s Lecture, for which he took as a text a couple of lines from Gerard Manley Hopkins:

And what is Earth’s eye, tongue, or heart else, where
Else, but in dear and dogged man?
And what is Earth’s eye, tongue, or heart else, where
Else, but in dear and dogged man?

We begin by going back some three centuries to the period when the ideal of democratic equality first entered the political consciousness of the modern world.
Few of us today would question the great transformation in moral identity which first taught people to think of themselves as equals:- equal in dignity, equal in their access to the rights and goods of the commonwealth. That conviction holds an axiomatic position in our lives.
And yet, it was once a shocking and disruptive new idea.

These sermons were given on two days, and are presented here as Part 1 and Part 2.

By Rev Rex A E Hunt

During the first days of winter last year Dylis and I were in Canberra and decided to visit the National Gallery. I particularly wanted to view and experience the Indigenous Art Triennial display called ‘Ceremony’. Featured were the works of 38 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from across Australia, which revealed how ceremony sits at the nexus of Country, culture, and community.
But just before we entered the first of several ‘Ceremony’ display areas we passed some other paintings also on display. And among that display were several by the late Australian artist, Margaret Preston (1875–1963).

The compltete talk can be read here.

The ancient Hebrews had an absolute taboo on the use of the word “God”.  This taboo was expressed in the third of the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”  The sharing of silence is an important part of our worship services, and in the services of many Unitarian congregations around the world.  We can’t avoid words altogether, but we do well to remember that our words are no more than nets which we cast into the vast ocean of life in our attempts to capture meaning.

This full sermon by the Rev Geoff Usher can be read here.

If you think of St George, what is the image, the picture, that you have? For most people, the mention of the name of St George conjures up a picture of a brave, handsome knight, in shining plate armour of mediaeval vintage: dealing the death blow to a fearsome, fire-breathing dragon, while a beautiful young woman hovers in the background, full of gratitude and admiration, perhaps also of love, for the gallant hero who has saved her from being killed by the monstrous dragon. Sometimes he is on horseback, using a full-sized lance – the sort of thing used in jousting tournaments, but with a proper sharp point on i t , not a blunt end. Sometimes he is on foot, getting in close to deliver the coup de grace – the final slash – with a bright straight sword.

The rest of this tale can be read here.

Humility is the orphaned virtue of our age.  Charles Dickens dealt it a mortal blow in his portrayal of the unctious Uriah Heep.  True humility is one of the most expansive and life-enhancing of all virtues.  It does not need to advertise itself, but is a glorious revelation of the human spirit.

The full sermon can be found here.