My Sweet Lord
Preached 12/26/2021 at SouthWest UU in N. Royalton OH
By Rev. Meg Mathieson
Do you believe in God?
I never know how to answer that question.
I am probably asked that question more than most people, because as soon as folks learn that I’m a minister, a UU minister, people want to talk about God.
And when people say they don’t believe in God, maybe you say that, I am always curious. Tell me about the God that you don’t believe in. Who is he? It’s pretty much always a he that people don’t believe in.
Rabbi Lawrence Kushner tells this story about a conversation with come kids from his Jewish congregation:
(Honey From the Rock p. 16-18)
So I’ll reframe that question. Or rather, I’ll add to it. Do you believe in God? And have you ever felt close to God?
I don’t know if I have ever felt close to God. But for me,. God isn’t something to be close to. God, for me, is already here. God is in us and is us. This is all holy. This is all, I suppose, the word doesn’t feel quite right, but yes, this is all God.
Like the villagers in the story of God’s hat, we all see different things when we look to God. And so the word God itself can feel wrong to many of us who do not experience what we were taught that the word God means. Judging man on a cloud? Nope. Giver of strict rules? Punisher? No, no, no.
Universalism, by definition, is the belief that all are saved. We are universally loved infinitely and hell can’t possibly exist because God welcomes us all. The original Universalists were Christians who simply rejected the idea that Jesus died to save us from hell. They questioned the notion of sin. They said God is too full of love to harshly punish us.
In the course of hundreds of years, Unitarianism and Universalism have expanded to include all sorts of beliefs about God, including those of us who question the very idea of an intelligent designer or a God.
And that’s good, because when God walks by, we see different sides of her hat. Not just her hat, but all of her. I could never connect with my parents’ or sunday school teacher’s idea of a god “out there” that you pray to. A kind and friendly God, yes, but a God that you have a relationship with. A parental God who is an entirely separate being from you.
The God I experience is impossibly massive. Expansive. Limitless. The God that I experience is here and now and is this and is that and is you and is me. God, to me, is the energy that everything is made of, God is the connection, God is all you can see, and all that none of us can comprehend. My God is too big and too intertwined to be described, let alone to have a relationship or a conversation with.
What does your God look like? It is better described by some of the other words that we use, like Great Mystery, Ground of All Being, Spirit of Life?
In times of trial, humans have turned to their connection to God as a source of comfort. In times of pain, we turn to God for comfort, and in times of separation, we connect to one another by connecting to the divine. During this last Worship Service of the year, let’s celebrate what we will call a “Joy Communion” by connecting in the way that we can: through the holy.
Joy Communion: Rev. Meg
I’ve never heard of Joy Communion before. Is it like a Water Communion or a Fire or Flower Communion? Yes. Because we are making it up this morning. We are summoning up all of the reserves of joy in our holy, divine souls and calling forth the many colors of God’s hat to unite us in Joy. We are making this up as we go along. This is the spontaneity of Joy, the Ground of Being.
I’m going to ask you to close your eyes as you feel comfortable and as best you can, picture the color of God’s hat. How does the divine reveal herself, himself, itself, themselves, to you?
Historically, some of the names of God are:
(Sparks of Wonder, p. 319-321)
What are you seeing? What is connecting with you?
As I read this meditation on the names of God by Rev. Richard Fewkes, allow your experience to manifest to you. Can you feel the deep well of joy that overcomes all pain? Can you connect to us, at this time of fear and social distance, this time of masks and vaccinations, can you allow your energy to grow beyond your body and to connect with all that is? All of us who love you? Your SWUU family.
O Vishnu, Maya, Kali, Ishtar, Athene, Isis...Great Mother of Creation, womb of the universe, The Feminine Divine….Blessed art thou who hast given life to all
And receiveth us at the end, forever thine...
Jupiter, Zeus, Apollo, Dionysius...
Lord of creation, the masculine divine,
In quest of the golden apples of Hesperides,
God of ecstasy and wine, and reason sublime...
Amen, Horus, Aten, Ra...
God of beginnings and endings, the soul, the ka,
Soaring like a bird
To the life-giving, light-giving power of the sun,
All life is one...
Shiva-Shakti, Yin and Yang...
The dance of life and death from hand to hand,
In perfect balance the movement of forces,
As the earth turns ‘neath the stars in their courses...
Rama, Krishna, Varuna, Bramah...
God of the Upanishads and Rig Veda, mystic priests and
the Bhagavadgita, Om Shanti, the lotus, a holy vow,
Creating our own karma and reincarnation, here and now,
And the ever present realization, that art Thou...
Buddha, Nirvana, the Enlightened One...
Liberation sought and won, in daily life begun,
Under a tree, in the sun,
To a state of being indescribable, comparable to none...
Allah-Akbar and Ahura Mazda...
There is no god but God, the All, Ah! the One,
The Righteous One, purity of Fire.
Goodness and Truth to inspire,
Fight fire with fire, quench the evil desire,
Let the call ring forth from minaret to spire...
El Shaddai, Adonai, Yahweh, Elohim
The God of Peace be with you, Shalom Haveyreem
Ten Commandments and the Law for Gentile and Jew
The birth of conscience and a Day of Atonement
To confess, to forgive, to begin anew...
Abba, Spiritus, Logos-Son... God in Three Persons, God in One,
God in all persons: prophets, teachers, daughters and sons,
The Kingdom of Heaven is within us, O let thy Kingdom come…
How shall we address thee who art Alpha and Omega,
The stars in their courses from Denib and Altair to Sirius and Vega?
Thou of a thousand names and yet ever nameless,
Let us confess the mystery of thy holiness,
Let us proclaim the wonder of One without a name,
Let the silence praise thee,
And the nine billion stars of thy namelessness.
This meditation on the names of God is a meditation about you, for you are not separate from the divine. It is a meditation about us, for we are the cells that make up God’s body. We are living, breathing holiness.
And so this is our Joy Communion, taking your connection, your knowledge of divinity. For you it might be a comforting mother, for you it might be the vastness of the galaxy, for you it might be holy doubt. Taking all of our experiences and beliefs and recognizing them as joy. Recognising that we are connected like spokes on a wheel, drawing ever deeper into connection and community, into unity, into a singular divine.
Taking that energy, and raising your arms as you are comfortable, and feeling the energy radiate from your hands. With your eyes still closed at first, letting the wild, divine energy of your soul rise out of your palms and your fingertips, seeing in your minds eye as you bless all of us, as we bless you, as we fully connect in ways that are invisible to our eyes, but which are no less real.
And then finally opening your eyes, lowering your hands to your lap, palms up in a receiving pose, receiving the energy, warmth, love and JOY that is shooting around this room. Looking to your left, looking to your right, looking all around you, noticing the eyes of your friends and neighbors. Noticing the unmistakable divinity in them.
Our joy connects us. Our joy, which is deeper than happiness. Joy, which does not deny our pain, but rather holds it, cares for it, leans into the pain and fear, the disappointment and acknowledges them. The Joys and concerns that we share, those concerns are held and loved by the joy. This palpable joy that is with us now.
For those at home, you are no less connected in this moment. I’m going to challenge what you might be thinking. Perhaps you do not feel it, perhaps you still feel isolation or fear, or unhappiness.
All of that is held and loved by the joy that is greater than anything.
And when you ask me if I believe in God, I will say yes. I believe in Joy. It is in us and with us and holds all of us, the dark and the light.
Today my name for God is Joy. The joy that holds us, the joy that you sent out through your fingertips now has been multiplied by everyone here and it knows no boundaries. It knows no time constraints. It is available to you this week and this month and into the new year and beyond. It is shared in the past with loved ones who are no longer here. It is connected to everything. It is bigger and more powerful and more beautiful and any monster that is hiding under your bed.
Preached 12/26/2021 at SouthWest UU in N. Royalton OH
By Rev. Meg Mathieson
Do you believe in God?
I never know how to answer that question.
I am probably asked that question more than most people, because as soon as folks learn that I’m a minister, a UU minister, people want to talk about God.
And when people say they don’t believe in God, maybe you say that, I am always curious. Tell me about the God that you don’t believe in. Who is he? It’s pretty much always a he that people don’t believe in.
Rabbi Lawrence Kushner tells this story about a conversation with come kids from his Jewish congregation:
(Honey From the Rock p. 16-18)
So I’ll reframe that question. Or rather, I’ll add to it. Do you believe in God? And have you ever felt close to God?
I don’t know if I have ever felt close to God. But for me,. God isn’t something to be close to. God, for me, is already here. God is in us and is us. This is all holy. This is all, I suppose, the word doesn’t feel quite right, but yes, this is all God.
Like the villagers in the story of God’s hat, we all see different things when we look to God. And so the word God itself can feel wrong to many of us who do not experience what we were taught that the word God means. Judging man on a cloud? Nope. Giver of strict rules? Punisher? No, no, no.
Universalism, by definition, is the belief that all are saved. We are universally loved infinitely and hell can’t possibly exist because God welcomes us all. The original Universalists were Christians who simply rejected the idea that Jesus died to save us from hell. They questioned the notion of sin. They said God is too full of love to harshly punish us.
In the course of hundreds of years, Unitarianism and Universalism have expanded to include all sorts of beliefs about God, including those of us who question the very idea of an intelligent designer or a God.
And that’s good, because when God walks by, we see different sides of her hat. Not just her hat, but all of her. I could never connect with my parents’ or sunday school teacher’s idea of a god “out there” that you pray to. A kind and friendly God, yes, but a God that you have a relationship with. A parental God who is an entirely separate being from you.
The God I experience is impossibly massive. Expansive. Limitless. The God that I experience is here and now and is this and is that and is you and is me. God, to me, is the energy that everything is made of, God is the connection, God is all you can see, and all that none of us can comprehend. My God is too big and too intertwined to be described, let alone to have a relationship or a conversation with.
What does your God look like? It is better described by some of the other words that we use, like Great Mystery, Ground of All Being, Spirit of Life?
In times of trial, humans have turned to their connection to God as a source of comfort. In times of pain, we turn to God for comfort, and in times of separation, we connect to one another by connecting to the divine. During this last Worship Service of the year, let’s celebrate what we will call a “Joy Communion” by connecting in the way that we can: through the holy.
Joy Communion: Rev. Meg
I’ve never heard of Joy Communion before. Is it like a Water Communion or a Fire or Flower Communion? Yes. Because we are making it up this morning. We are summoning up all of the reserves of joy in our holy, divine souls and calling forth the many colors of God’s hat to unite us in Joy. We are making this up as we go along. This is the spontaneity of Joy, the Ground of Being.
I’m going to ask you to close your eyes as you feel comfortable and as best you can, picture the color of God’s hat. How does the divine reveal herself, himself, itself, themselves, to you?
Historically, some of the names of God are:
(Sparks of Wonder, p. 319-321)
What are you seeing? What is connecting with you?
As I read this meditation on the names of God by Rev. Richard Fewkes, allow your experience to manifest to you. Can you feel the deep well of joy that overcomes all pain? Can you connect to us, at this time of fear and social distance, this time of masks and vaccinations, can you allow your energy to grow beyond your body and to connect with all that is? All of us who love you? Your SWUU family.
O Vishnu, Maya, Kali, Ishtar, Athene, Isis...Great Mother of Creation, womb of the universe, The Feminine Divine….Blessed art thou who hast given life to all
And receiveth us at the end, forever thine...
Jupiter, Zeus, Apollo, Dionysius...
Lord of creation, the masculine divine,
In quest of the golden apples of Hesperides,
God of ecstasy and wine, and reason sublime...
Amen, Horus, Aten, Ra...
God of beginnings and endings, the soul, the ka,
Soaring like a bird
To the life-giving, light-giving power of the sun,
All life is one...
Shiva-Shakti, Yin and Yang...
The dance of life and death from hand to hand,
In perfect balance the movement of forces,
As the earth turns ‘neath the stars in their courses...
Rama, Krishna, Varuna, Bramah...
God of the Upanishads and Rig Veda, mystic priests and
the Bhagavadgita, Om Shanti, the lotus, a holy vow,
Creating our own karma and reincarnation, here and now,
And the ever present realization, that art Thou...
Buddha, Nirvana, the Enlightened One...
Liberation sought and won, in daily life begun,
Under a tree, in the sun,
To a state of being indescribable, comparable to none...
Allah-Akbar and Ahura Mazda...
There is no god but God, the All, Ah! the One,
The Righteous One, purity of Fire.
Goodness and Truth to inspire,
Fight fire with fire, quench the evil desire,
Let the call ring forth from minaret to spire...
El Shaddai, Adonai, Yahweh, Elohim
The God of Peace be with you, Shalom Haveyreem
Ten Commandments and the Law for Gentile and Jew
The birth of conscience and a Day of Atonement
To confess, to forgive, to begin anew...
Abba, Spiritus, Logos-Son... God in Three Persons, God in One,
God in all persons: prophets, teachers, daughters and sons,
The Kingdom of Heaven is within us, O let thy Kingdom come…
How shall we address thee who art Alpha and Omega,
The stars in their courses from Denib and Altair to Sirius and Vega?
Thou of a thousand names and yet ever nameless,
Let us confess the mystery of thy holiness,
Let us proclaim the wonder of One without a name,
Let the silence praise thee,
And the nine billion stars of thy namelessness.
This meditation on the names of God is a meditation about you, for you are not separate from the divine. It is a meditation about us, for we are the cells that make up God’s body. We are living, breathing holiness.
And so this is our Joy Communion, taking your connection, your knowledge of divinity. For you it might be a comforting mother, for you it might be the vastness of the galaxy, for you it might be holy doubt. Taking all of our experiences and beliefs and recognizing them as joy. Recognising that we are connected like spokes on a wheel, drawing ever deeper into connection and community, into unity, into a singular divine.
Taking that energy, and raising your arms as you are comfortable, and feeling the energy radiate from your hands. With your eyes still closed at first, letting the wild, divine energy of your soul rise out of your palms and your fingertips, seeing in your minds eye as you bless all of us, as we bless you, as we fully connect in ways that are invisible to our eyes, but which are no less real.
And then finally opening your eyes, lowering your hands to your lap, palms up in a receiving pose, receiving the energy, warmth, love and JOY that is shooting around this room. Looking to your left, looking to your right, looking all around you, noticing the eyes of your friends and neighbors. Noticing the unmistakable divinity in them.
Our joy connects us. Our joy, which is deeper than happiness. Joy, which does not deny our pain, but rather holds it, cares for it, leans into the pain and fear, the disappointment and acknowledges them. The Joys and concerns that we share, those concerns are held and loved by the joy. This palpable joy that is with us now.
For those at home, you are no less connected in this moment. I’m going to challenge what you might be thinking. Perhaps you do not feel it, perhaps you still feel isolation or fear, or unhappiness.
All of that is held and loved by the joy that is greater than anything.
And when you ask me if I believe in God, I will say yes. I believe in Joy. It is in us and with us and holds all of us, the dark and the light.
Today my name for God is Joy. The joy that holds us, the joy that you sent out through your fingertips now has been multiplied by everyone here and it knows no boundaries. It knows no time constraints. It is available to you this week and this month and into the new year and beyond. It is shared in the past with loved ones who are no longer here. It is connected to everything. It is bigger and more powerful and more beautiful and any monster that is hiding under your bed.