Some of our talks are given in full on our blog and are available for use by others. Please acknowledge the author and our Fellowship.
2023
26th March, Rev Geoff Usher, “Reason and Religion”
The history of religion indicates that there is an area of knowledge which is different from ordinary reasoning. Emerson called it intuition or the “Oversoul”, and said that reason is a tool – the tool by which we can fashion our intuition into truth which we can communicate to other people.
There are both rational and mystic elements in religion. we need to find the balance between the elements based on reason and the elements based on faith or intuition. And both kinds of elements need to be tested in the appropriate ways.
19th March, Rev Geoff Usher, “Gospel Values and Political Attitudes”
Some questions to consider as we prepare for the coming elections. How do we reconcile our faith with the decisions we make in daily life? What determines the way we feel about the body politic? Do we think about our consumer choices and the impact these may have on third-world producers? What determines our attitude towards conflict in all its forms
26th February, Rev Geoff Usher, “God, Mammon and Unitarians.”
Whenever a prophet threatens the status quo, the economic core is also threatened. That has often led to elaborate, often fatal, efforts to end the prophet’s influence. And yet prophets throughout the ages have simply posed the questions: What motivates our actions? Where do we honour relationship? How do we feel secure? How do we live with money?
19th February, Rev Geoff Usher, “What do we mean by Religion?”
What do we understand by the word “religion”? This is a question much more easily asked than answered. Many writers on comparative religion show a distinct reluctance to give a definition. In the Department of Religious Studies at Sydney University in the 1980s the subject was often raised, but no definition was formally agreed or adopted.
5th February, This talk has been postponed to a future date
Martin Horlacher, “Ode to Aesthetics: The Historical Intersection of Ethics and Beauty”
It’s quite alarming when you consider the degree of human suffering that went into the construction of so many works of beautiful art throughout human history, and doubly so when you consider the ideology behind so many of those creations. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still appreciate the aesthetic achievements of those artworks and their makers, and consider what deeper truths they might stand for.
29th January, Ginna Hastings, “Reflections on a book by Mary Trump ( niece of Donald Trump) about her notorious uncle and his disastrous presidency.”
Reviewing Donald Trump as president and leader upon rereading Mary Trump’s book. What we do not need in our political leaders.
22nd January, Rev Geoff Usher, “Quality rather than Quantity”
If we feel essentially incomplete, an easy way to prove our connection with reality/life/the world, and to prove our sense of personal worth, is by conspicuous consumption. Our measures of abstract value are often related to concrete objects; our measures of personal worth tend to be quantitative rather than qualitative.
2022
18th December, Rev Geoff Usher, “Some Christmas Gifts,”
Behind the Christmas story are truths of great significance for humanity. The whole story of Christmas is a mixture of symbol and fact, of imagery and truth – literal truth and prophetic or spiritual truth. The prophetic dreams, the wandering star, the song of the angels: we may find it difficult to accept such elements of the story as historically true. We may be unable to regard the Biblical narrative as a complete and accurate account of what happened two thousand years ago. And yet, they are more than simply a flight into fantasy. There is a truth in such elements, and through them great truths are being communicated; and communicated in depth, not merely superficially.
4th December, Rev Rex A E Hunt , “Eureka! The Politics of Power verses Gold”
Eureka Day is celebrated/remembered on 3 December each year.
At around 3.52am on the Sunday morning of 3 December 1854, 276 troopers of the 12th Regiment, leave the Government Camp and attack the stockade (in Ballarat) at dawn.The attack starts when a digger fires the first shot at 4.35 am.The battles finished by 4.55am.
In a letter to The Age following the uprising, Peter Lalor, leader of the miners, wrote asking why “nothing had been done to fix affairs before this bloody tragedy took place.”He continued: “Is it to prove to us that a British government can never bring forth a measure of reform without having first prepared a font of human blood in which to baptise that offspring of their generous love?… Or is it to convince the world that where a large standing army exists, the Demon of Despotism will have frequently offered at his shrine the mangled bodies of murdered men.”
After the Eureka uprising, most of the miners’ grievances were redressed.
27th November, Martin Horlacher, “Ode to Aesthetics: The Historical Intersection of Ethics and Beauty”
It’s quite alarming when you consider the degree of human suffering that went into the construction of so many works of beautiful art throughout human history, and doubly so when you consider the ideology behind so many of those creations. But that doesn’t mean we can’t still appreciate the aesthetic achievements of those artworks and their makers, and consider what deeper truths they might stand for.
20th November, Rev Geoff Usher, “Humility”
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.
6th November, Martin Horlacher, “Cynicism: A Short History”
An examination of cynicism through the ages, from Ancient Greece to today…as well as whether or not it’s a healthy state of mind.
30th October, Rev . Dan Jantos : “There is a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn’t change.”
The title of this talk comes from William Stafford’s poem “Way It Is.” Recently I invited a group of 6 men, some of whom, I have not seen or heard from in 50 years to meet in Gerringong for a catch up. The long weekend of conversation and reflection provided for much more ongoing introspection. This talk is a form of journaling. It takes the opportunity to clarify some of the reflections that emerge from that encounter. 50 years is, at least, a half of a lifetime. It turned out to be a rare milestone. We stopped and looked back and asked ourselves what has transpired in the interim and what trajectory are we on?
16th October, Gabrielle Donovan, “How does singing together affirm and promote the seven Principles of each Unitarian Universal member?”
Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote seven Principles, which we hold as strong values and moral guides. We live out these Principles within a “living tradition” of wisdom and spirituality, drawn from sources as diverse as science, poetry, scripture, and personal experience. “The Principles are not dogma or doctrine, but rather a guide for those of us who choose to join and participate in Unitarian Universalist religious communities.”
25th September, Rev Rex A E Hunt, “Norbert Capek and the Story of the Flower Communion” (Part 2)
In Celebration of the Life of Norbert Capek (1870-1942) – Part Two – and in the spirit of his unique Flower Communion.The Flower Communion service had its origins in 1923 when Norbert Capek, a former Baptist and later founder of the Unitarian Church in Czechoslovakia, introduced it to his congregation…A congregation that was made up of former Roman Catholics, former orthodox Protestants and former liberal Jews.In all the colours and scents and tastes and sounds of the world, we see the beauty of the universe.In this season of spring it is fitting we should celebrate the renewal of life and hope, using the symbols of spreads and biscuits, of coffee, tea, and flowers.Flowers do not bloom for us. They do not care whether or not we see them. They grow and bloom because they are full of life
18th September, Ren Geoff Usher, “Norbert Capek and the Story of the Flower Communion” (Part 1)
The Czech Unitarian minister Norbert Capek created the Flower Communion as a way of providing a ritual which would be acceptable to a congregation that included people from a variety of religious backgrounds. He was murdered by the nazis in 1942. Marking the 80th anniversary of his death, Geoff Usher will tell his story on the 18th September and the following Sunday (25th) Rex Hunt will lead a Flower Communion.
4th September, Rev Geoff Usher, “Reflections on the pool of Bethesda”
The Pool of Bethesda is in Jerusalem. This famous pool was so important to several empires that it was called “the house of healing”. People believed that “at a certain seasons” an angel went down, stepped into the pool and disturbed the water. They believed that when the surface of the pool was disturbed by the angel the water had acquired special powers of healing. The first person to get into the pool would be healed of his/her ailment.
21st August, Rev Geoff Usher, ” The Empty Space in the Middle “
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.
7th August, Martin Horlacher, ” Bite the Hand -the moral necessity of the Arts”
31st July, Rev Geoff Usher, “The Great Sin”
The Genesis concept of having “dominion” over all that lives and moves on earth has created problems. It is of course a human concept, based on human words which tried to express an answer to the question of the origin of human existence. However, it has helped to foster the attitude that “dominion” includes a right to exploit the earth’s resources with no thoughts for the future; to take all we can get, now, because we are entitled to it. In this attitude the exploiters succumb to the “Great Sin” of pride.
24th July, Rev Geoff Usher, ” Faith”
The word ‘faith” occurs frequently in the Bible and in hymns, but it is frequently misunderstood and mis-used. It is the cause of much confusion in religion and life, particularly in Biblical interpretation. All too often it is used as a synonym for “belief”. Many people seem to confuse the two words and use them interchangeably. Although belief is a pre-requisite for faith, to believe something and to have faith in something involve quite different approaches to it. What do we mean when we use the word ‘faith”?
17th July, Rev Geoff Usher, “Holy Spirit, Truth Divine.”
Our Unitarian faith is bound to Freedom, Reason and Tolerance. Its freedom means that Unitarian beliefs have ranged widely: they have included the “Free Christianity” preached by James Martineau in England and the “Free Religion” preached by Samuel Longfellow in New England. Longfellow was one of our more prolific hymn writers. If you read his hymns carefully you will notice that he rarely addressed them to God the Father or to Jesus the Son of God; rather, he wrote to the Universal Spirit, and sought to write hymns that could provide a bridge between the Biblical tradition and the Transcendentalism of the 19th century.
3rd July, (This talk was cancelled)
Daniel Jantos, “There is a thread you follow. It goes among things that change. But it doesn’t change.”
The title of this talk comes from William Stafford’s poem “Way It Is.” Recently I invited a group of 6 men, some of whom, I have not seen or heard from in 50 years to meet in Gerringong for a catch up. The long weekend of conversation and reflection provided for much more ongoing introspection. This talk is a form of journaling. It takes the opportunity to clarify some of the reflections that emerge from that encounter. 50 years is, at least, a half of a lifetime. It turned out to be a rare milestone. We stopped and looked back and asked ourselves what has transpired in the interim and what trajectory are we on?
26th June, Carolyn Donnelly, “Julia Ward Howe”
A review of this Unitarian poet, writer, lecturer, pacifist and suffragist, and also co- founder of the American Woman Suffrage Association in 1869.
19th June, Rev Geoff Usher, “The Great Sin”
The Genesis concept of having “dominion” over all that lives and moves on earth has created problems. It is of course a human concept, based on human words which tried to express an answer to the question of the origin of human existence. However, it has helped to foster the attitude that “dominion” includes a right to exploit the earth’s resources with no thoughts for the future; to take all we can get, now, because we are entitled to it. In this attitude the exploiters succumb to the “Great Sin” of pride.
5th June, Martin Horlacher, “The Thoughts of Master Mo”
When people think of philosophers and intellectuals from Ancient China, it’s usually names like Confucius and Lao Tzu who spring to mind. And yet, so often overlooked is their contemporary, the sage, teacher and statesman known as Mozi, who taught that everyone is equal in the eyes of heaven, and that only those who are worthy of power should ever wield it. Although the strength of his influence has waned over the last two millennia, there is still much that can be learned from his ideas.
22nd May, Rev Geoff Usher, “Truth: Variation, Deviation, Interpretation”
British Unitarian minister Francis Terry often felt drawn to see how much of religion he could sum up in a single phrase. The attempt may help to bring some matters into a clearer light by the very attempt to focus on something specific and essential. One such phrase which appealed to him was that: religion is a journey, taken in trust, towards an unknown destination.
Religion is a process of learning. It is – or it should be – an active, dynamic process. If it is dynamic, rather than static, then it will be a continuing and a changing thing, so attempts to provide a rigid, immutable definition must always fail.
15th May, Rev Geoff Usher, “What a Piece of Work Is?”
Some women feel excluded by language of worship which portrays God only as father and people only as men.
The issue of exclusive, sexist language is important. It is not trivial. So, what are we to do?
1st May, Rev Geoff Usher, “Fourteen Decades after Darwin”
Charles Darwin died on the 19th of Aril, 1882. He did not invent the concept of evolution. There were many people before him, Christians and Non-Chistians, who held ideas of evolution in some form. What Darwin did was to present a theory explaining evolution through natural selection, and to present it on the basis of a solid sub-structure of observed fact.
The great philosopher of Darwinism was Herbert Spencer ( 1820 – 1903) who defined evolution as “a transformation of an indefinite incoherent homogeneity into a definite coherent heterogeneity, this being accomplished through a long series of differentiations and integrations.”
3rd April, Martin Horlacher , “A Sensitivity to Ephemera”
In the Japanese literary tradition, there exists a concept known as “mono no aware” – which can be translated as “an empathy toward things”, or, perhaps more appropriately, “a sensitivity to ephemera”. It is essentially an idiom for the impermanence of things, as well as both a transient wistfulness at their passing, and a longer, deeper, gentle sadness about this state being the reality of life…and it is a concept all of us would do well to meditate on, and learn from.
27th March, Gabrielle Donovan, “Bela Bartok – Hungarian composer and lover of nature who converted from a Catholic to a Unitarian”
20th March, Rev Rex A. E. Hunt, “Autumn: The Season of Festivals, Harvest… and Leaves”
• Autumn invites us to look for more daily experiences of awe. That feeling of being in the presence of something vast that transcends one’s understanding of the world. Philosopher Sam Keen coined the term ‘wonderosity’ to describe the combination of wonder and curiosity. Wonder is a natural response to the reports of our senses; we are dazzled by something in the world around us. Curiosity helps us stay open to new experiences, and it takes us to places where we can be amazed.
• To nurture the joy of wonder is to be attuned to the simple beauty of the unexpected.
• In Autumn the shedding of leaves from deciduous trees is a significant feature. Albert Camus wrote: “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
6th March, Martin Horlacher , “The Obscenity of Authority”
Authority is typically defined as the legitimate power that one person or group of people hold over others – at least, in the fields of sociology and political science. But, even this definition of the concept is fraught with problems…and it becomes even more problematic in a world in which the very notion of “legitimate power” is arguably more tenuous than ever before in human history.
27th February, Colin Whatmough, “Early Unitarian Transcendentalist scholars: Thoreau”
20th February, Rev Geoff Usher, “Climbing Up the Slippery Slope”
Unitarianism is a religion with its authority grounded in caring relationships – in the reality of life, and not the fantasy of an irrelevant myth; it is a religion which would outwit the torturing demons before they gain ascendance to agonise our souls; a religion that raises life to a living affirmation of creative love. (C.W.McGehee)
6th February, Rev Daniel Jantos, “We are all in this together”
Could it really be that the pandemic has honed our sense of equality and fairness? Some of those who thought the rules didn’t apply to them seem to have not fared well lately. Is this a newish trend? Has the pandemic “levelled the playing field”? Have recent cultural and societal movements built a momentum for equality – even amidst growing inequities? Where is religion in all this? Are the architecture, the rituals and the doctrines of “exception” finding themselves exposed and relegated to spheres of irrelevance in this contemporary imperative of “we are all in this together”?
30th January, Martin Horlacher, “The Shadow Generation”
We all want to live long, full lives. We all want to be happy. We all want to achieve and live out our hopes and dreams and ambitions. And in a country like Australia, though we might not realise it, many of us actually have a chance to do just that, or at least the closest thing possible to it. And yet, what about those of us who don’t have that opportunity…be it in Australia, or elsewhere?
16th January, Rev Geoff Usher, “Morality for Our Time”
Too often faith – the Christian faith – is taken over by fundamentalists and extremists who claim to speak for God, to speak for Jesus, but whose actions are anything but Christian.
We hear a lot about moral values but what ARE moral values? We don’t make them up as we go along – not if we are people of faith. We have an inherited tradition of right and wrong, but we need to ensure that it is appropriate to our time.