First Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Second Life (FUUCSL)<\/p>\n
Thursday, October 9, 2014<\/p>\n
6:30PM SL Time (Pacific Standard Time)<\/p>\n
Leading the service: dav0 Turas
\n
\n——————————–<\/p>\n
Welcome.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n ** Announcements **<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Welcome to the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Second Life.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n An Order of Service is available by saying “oos” in chat. For<\/p>\n visitors, a special welcome. If you are not familiar with Unitarian<\/p>\n Universalism (“UU”), a single service is not enough to experience the<\/p>\n diversity of ideas and styles of interaction that we offer, either<\/p>\n here in SL or in RL. Please come again.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n You might also wish to look at UUA.org. or consider joining the group<\/p>\n “Unitarian Universalists of SL” to receive regular announcements.<\/p>\n There are lots of events besides this weekly service to take part in.<\/p>\n Be sure to check out our web site: http:\/\/fuucsl.org, for more details<\/p>\n on these and other such events.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n We are always looking for members of our community who wish to get<\/p>\n more involved.<\/p>\n There is rental property available in UUtopia as well – contact Zyzzy<\/p>\n Zarf to learn more.<\/p>\n If you would like to try your hand at leading a service, please<\/p>\n contact a member of the Leadership Group – their names are available<\/p>\n in the notecard dispenser in the welcome area.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Please also join us after the service for coffee and conversation –<\/p>\n perhaps the only true UU dogma!<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Are there any announcements?<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n ** Lighting the Chalice **<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n “We gather this hour as people of faith With joys and sorrows, gifts<\/p>\n and needs. We light this beacon of hope, Sign of our quest For truth<\/p>\n and meaning, In celebration of the life we share together”<\/p>\n – Christine Robinson<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n ** Joys and Concerns **<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Please feel free to share any joys and concerns…<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n ** Opening Words **<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Moral Perfection – 10\/9 2014<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n “I thought I would state a principle which I was going to teach.<\/p>\n I have this theory for doing a great deal of good out there, everywhere in fact,<\/p>\n that you should prize as a priceless thing every transgression,<\/p>\n every crime that you commit – the lesson of it I mean.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Make it permanent; impress it so that you may never<\/p>\n commit that same crime again as long as you live,<\/p>\n then you will see yourself what the logical result of that will be –<\/p>\n that you get interested in committing crimes.<\/p>\n You will lay up in that way, course by course, the edifice of a<\/p>\n personally perfect moral character.<\/p>\n You cannot afford to waste any crime,<\/p>\n they are not given to you to be thrown away, but for a great purpose.<\/p>\n There are 462 crimes possible and you cannot add anything to this,<\/p>\n you cannot originate anything.<\/p>\n These have been all thought out, all experimented on and have been<\/p>\n thought out by the most capable men in the penitentiary.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Now, when you commit a transgression, lay it up in your memory,<\/p>\n and without stopping, it will all lead toward your moral perfection.<\/p>\n When you have committed your 462 you are released of every possibility<\/p>\n and have ascended the staircase of faultless creation<\/p>\n and you finally stand with your 462 complete with absolute moral perfection,<\/p>\n and I am more than two-thirds up there,<\/p>\n It is immense inspiration to find yourself climbing that way<\/p>\n and have not much further to go.<\/p>\n I shall then have that moral perfection and shall then see my edifice<\/p>\n of moral character standing far before the world all complete.<\/p>\n I know that this should produce it.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Why, the first time that I ever stole a watermelon –<\/p>\n I think it was the first time, but this is no matter,<\/p>\n it was right along there somewhere –<\/p>\n I carried that watermelon to a secluded bower.<\/p>\n You may call it a bower and I suppose you may not.<\/p>\n I carried that watermelon to a secluded bower in the lumberyard,<\/p>\n and broke it open, and it was green.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Now, then, I began to reflect; there is the virtual –<\/p>\n that is the beginning – of reformation when you reflect.<\/p>\n When you do not reflect that transgression is wasted on you.<\/p>\n I began to reflect and I said to myself, I have done wrong;<\/p>\n it was wrong in me to steal that watermelon – that kind of watermelon.<\/p>\n And I said to myself: now what would a right-minded and<\/p>\n right-intentioned boy do, who found that he had done wrong –<\/p>\n stolen a watermelon like this.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n What would he do, what must he do; do right; restitution; make restitution.<\/p>\n He must restore that property to its owner, and I resolved to do that<\/p>\n and the moment I made that good resolution I felt<\/p>\n that electrical moral uplift which becomes a victory over wrong doing.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n I was spritually strengthend and refreshed and carried that watermelon<\/p>\n back to that wagon and gave it to that farmer – restored it to him,<\/p>\n and I told him he ought to be ashamed of himself going around working<\/p>\n off green watermelons that way on people who had confidence in him;<\/p>\n and I told him in my perfectly frank manner it was wrong.<\/p>\n I said that if he did not stop he could not have my custom,<\/p>\n and he was ashamed. \u00c2\u00a0He was ashamed;<\/p>\n he said he would never do it again and I believe that<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n I did that man a good thing, as well as one for myself.<\/p>\n He did reform; I was severe with him a little, but that was all.<\/p>\n I restored the watermelon and made him give me a ripe one.<\/p>\n I morally helped him, and I have no doubt that I helped myself<\/p>\n the same time, for that was a lesson<\/p>\n which remained with me for my perfection.<\/p>\n Ever since that day to this I never stole another one – like that.”<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n -Mark Twain – from a lecture given at the Music Hall in Cleveland on<\/p>\n July 15th, 1895<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Perfect! \u00c2\u00a0The key word in this story of course is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153confidence\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n since this piece of satire is all about confidence.<\/p>\n Of course, Twain wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hired to speak about confidence.<\/p>\n He was hired to speak \u00e2\u20ac\u0153all about morals\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on this tour.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Twain replied:<\/p>\n \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have a great enthusiasm in doing that and I shall like to teach morals to those people.<\/p>\n I do not like to have them taught to me and I do not know any duller entertainment than that,<\/p>\n but I know I can produce a quality of goods that will satisfy those people.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n And I suspect he did just that.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n So while we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on the subject of conning people out of their hard earned money<\/p>\n and feeling a sense of moral perfection when doing it to boot,<\/p>\n it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time I segued into the offering portion of our service.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n You see, the trouble is, we are facing a growing budget crisis here in UUtopia,<\/p>\n and it won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be long before we too will have to start stealing watermelons<\/p>\n to help cover the costs of running this wonderful place,<\/p>\n so anything you can spare will definitely be appreciated.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n (bells)<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n ** Offering **<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Please be generous and donate to the offering plate so that we can help sustain UUtopia.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n ** Musical Interlude **<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Also – a reminder – please consider renting property here<\/p>\n on the UUtopia islands as this will help defray the costs as well.<\/p>\n There is plenty to do around here and we would love to have you<\/p>\n join us if you are so inclined.<\/p>\n Contact Zyzzy Zarf for more details on rental property.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n ~Principles and Beliefs~<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Unitarian Universalists hold the Seven Principles as strong values and<\/p>\n moral teachings. As Rev. Barbara Wells ten Hove explains, “The<\/p>\n Principles are not dogma or doctrine, but rather a guide for those of<\/p>\n us who choose to join and participate in Unitarian Universalist<\/p>\n religious communities.”<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n The Principles are:<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n 1st Principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person;<\/p>\n 2nd Principle: Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;<\/p>\n 3rd Principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;<\/p>\n 4th Principle: A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;<\/p>\n 5th Principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;<\/p>\n 6th Principle: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;<\/p>\n 7th Principle: Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n As a leadership goal, we are challenged to explore at least one of<\/p>\n these principles each week.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n This week, I would like to explore the 4th Principle: A free and<\/p>\n responsible search for truth and meaning<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n What is our responsibility in this search for truth and meaning?<\/p>\n Are you truly free to pursue such a search? \u00c2\u00a0And if so, for how long?<\/p>\n If you are lucky enough to be able to conduct such a search<\/p>\n then you should rejoice in your relatively free corner of the world.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n You can bet that it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always this free and it might yet again not be.<\/p>\n In fact, we still really aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even all that free in many areas of the western world,<\/p>\n but we let these inconsistencies be explained away in a relatavist shrug.<\/p>\n Many fellow creatures on this planet are not so lucky for they are not so free.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, there are some who are free but who take their freedom for granted,<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Most people are filled with curiosity about the wonders of the world,<\/p>\n only to discover a much more shocking reality when they begin their spiritual search.<\/p>\n We are all born with bright inquisitive eyes,<\/p>\n and for those of us who do retain their curiosity as they grow up,<\/p>\n the search many times unfolds as follows:<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n “…it will almost certainly be suggested to you that the answer to<\/p>\n the question of origins requires you to believe in the existence of a<\/p>\n further, invisible, ineffable Being “somewhere up there,”<\/p>\n an omnipotent creator whom we poor limited creatures<\/p>\n are unable to even perceive, much less to understand.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n That is, you will be strongly encouraged to imagine<\/p>\n a heaven with at least one god in residence.<\/p>\n This sky-god, it’s said, made the universe<\/p>\n by churning its matter in a giant pot.<\/p>\n Or he danced, Or he vomited Creation out of himself.<\/p>\n Or he simply called it into being, and lo, it Was.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n In some of the more interesting creation stories, the single mighty<\/p>\n sky-god is subdivided into many lessor forces – junior deities,<\/p>\n avatars, gigantic metamorphic “ancestors” whose adventures create the<\/p>\n landscape, or the whimsical, wanton, meddling cruel pantheons<\/p>\n of the great polytheisms, whose wild doings will convince you that the<\/p>\n real engine of creation was lust: for infinite power,<\/p>\n for too-easily-broken human bodies, for clouds of glory.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n But it’s only fair to add that there are also stories which offer the message<\/p>\n that the primary creative impulse was, and is, love.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Many of these stories will strike you as extremely beautiful and, therefore, seductive.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, however, you will not be required to make a purely literary response to them.<\/p>\n Only the stories of “dead” religions can be appreciated for their beauty.<\/p>\n Living religions require much more of you.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n So you will be told that belief in “your” stories and adherence to<\/p>\n the rituals of worship that have grown up around them<\/p>\n must become a vital part of your life in the crowded world.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n They will be called the heart of your culture, even of your individual identity.<\/p>\n It is possible that they may, at some point, come to feel inescapable,<\/p>\n not in the way that the truth is inescapable, but in the way that a jail is.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n They may at some point cease to feel like the texts in which human beings have tried to solve a great mystery,<\/p>\n and feel, instead, like the pretexts for other properly anointed human beings to order you around.<\/p>\n And it’s true that human history is full of the public oppression wrought by the charioteers of the gods.<\/p>\n In the opinion of religious people, however, the private comfort that<\/p>\n religion brings more than compensates for the evil done in its name.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n As human knowledge has grown, it has also become plain that every<\/p>\n religious story ever told about how we got here is quite simply wrong.<\/p>\n This, finally, is what all religions have in common. They didn’t get it right.<\/p>\n There was no celestial churning, no maker’s dance, no vomiting of galaxies,<\/p>\n no snake or kangaroo ancestors, no Valhalla, no Olympus,<\/p>\n no six-day conjuring trick followed by a day of rest.<\/p>\n Wrong, wrong, wrong.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n But here’s something genuinely odd. \u00c2\u00a0The wrongness of the sacred tales<\/p>\n hasn’t lessoned the zeal of the devout.<\/p>\n If anything, sheer out-of-step zaniness of religion leads the<\/p>\n religious to insist ever more stridently on the importance of blind faith.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n . \u00c2\u00a0. \u00c2\u00a0.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n So perhaps a war of religion is beginning, after all,<\/p>\n because the worst of us are being allowed to dictate<\/p>\n the agenda to the rest of us, and because the fanatics,<\/p>\n who really mean business, are not being opposed strongly enough<\/p>\n by \u00e2\u20ac\u0153their own people.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n And if that is so, then the victors in such a war must not be the close-minded,<\/p>\n marching into battle with, as ever, God on their side.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n To chose unbelief is to chose mind over dogma,<\/p>\n to trust in our humanity instead of all these dangerous divinities.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n So, how did we get here?<\/p>\n Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look for the answers in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sacred\u00e2\u20ac\u009d storybooks.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Imperfect human knowledge may be a bumpy, pot-holed street,<\/p>\n but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the only road to wisdom worth taking.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n The ancient wisdoms are modern nonsenses.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Live in your own time, use what we know, and as you grow up,<\/p>\n perhaps the human race will finally grow up with you and put aside childish things.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n As the song says, It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy if you try.”<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n — Salman Rushdie – excerpts from his contribution in 1997 to a UN-sponsored<\/p>\n anthology which was addressed to the 6 billionth human child born that year<\/p>\n that he entitled \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Imagine there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no Heaven\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n ** Discussion **<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Please discuss…<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n ** Closing words and Extinguishing the Chalice **<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n “We extinguish this flame but not the light of truth, The warmth of<\/p>\n community, Or the fire of commitment. These we carry in our hearts<\/p>\n until We are together again.” – Elizabeth Selle Jones<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n ** Dance **<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n ** Coffee Hour **<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" First Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Second Life (FUUCSL) Thursday, October 9, 2014 6:30PM SL Time (Pacific Standard Time) Leading the service: dav0 Turas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fuucsl.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fuucsl.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fuucsl.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fuucsl.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fuucsl.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fuucsl.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fuucsl.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fuucsl.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fuucsl.org\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}