Unity Spiritual Center of Anchorage

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Unity Spiritual Center of Anchorage
PO Box 240173
Anchorage, AK 99524

Total Eclipse (of the heart)

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You have probably heard that there is a solar eclipse coming on Monday. Here in Anchorage, we’re only going to have about half the sun blocked. I haven’t noticed much eclipse excitement here, but for my friends who live outside, especially in the path of totality, there’s been a lot of excitement. (Unity Village will experience 99% coverage.)

Eclipses are not a rare occurrence, the fuss is mostly because this one will be visible by so many people. You would think as the first recorded observation of an eclipse was over 5000 years ago, scientists would know what they wanted to know by now. Even though the math of determining when and where is old news, there is still plenty to learn.

When the moon covers the sun (from our perspective) the corona, or edges, is visible. Usually the sun is so bright these things can’t be seen.

This got me thinking about the things we can’t see. Often when we’re in the midst of a situation it’s like being in the middle of the sun, we can’t see the edges to know if there’s other information that would be helpful to us.

Most of us have a lot going on in our lives, there are plenty of ways to stay in the busyness and having constant input from music, news, tv. There is nothing wrong with having a handle on the news of the day or enjoying some entertainment. However, like the sun, they can blot out the more subtle learnings with their brightness, I’ll listen to one more song, read one more article, watch one more episode. Or maybe the concerns of the world and your life keep you distracted with worry and “what if’s.”

An eclipse is an opportunity to remember that there is learning in the stillness. When we take time to turn off the input devices, set aside our concerns, and just be, deeper understandings and truth can emerge, just like the corona coming into focus.

Sometimes when we’re looking for a solution to a problem, we may discover that the answers we seek emerge quite easily when we give them the opportunity. There is another side though, sometimes the reason we keep all the input happening is so that we can blot out truths we don’t want to see. Maybe we don’t want to recognize that a relationship is unhealthy, or that our behavior isn’t in alignment with our values, or that doing the same thing really will have the same results no matter how hard we wish it to be otherwise.

These are not comfortable discoveries to make for sure, but ignoring them isn’t going to make them go away, they simply exist behind the noise. But what if we, like the scientists, took the information from these glimpses into our hidden selves and did something with it? What if we confronted the uncomfortable truths and moved toward changing, healing, and growing? The good news is that we don’t have to wait a couple years for the next eclipse. The opportunity to see ourselves more clearly is always available and takes no special equipment, though practice is helpful.

No matter where you find yourself, remember to look at the edge of the sun with proper eye protection, and to look your own edges with a brave heart.

Lessons from the trail

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One of the fabulous things about Alaska is there are what seems to be an endless supply of outdoor adventures to be had. Bill and I went to check out a trail we had heard of in Girdwood this week, the Winner Creek Hand Tram.

It was a lovely hike through the forest then we got to the tram. There was a short line of folks waiting their turn, as the tram has a two-person capacity. As we moved closer to the front, we witnessed a wonderful example of community in action. The people waiting their turn helped pull the car along, and held on to the car so others could enter and exit. Which was perfect, because when it was our turn, we learned that it is harder to pull yourself along from inside the car then it is to help from the ends.

As Bill and I disembarked the tram and continued our trek, I was touched by the simple act of people working together to make the journey easier for everyone. It’s something that I think comes instinctually in some circumstances, if someone drops a stack of papers, you stop to help pick them up right? I have witnessed the power of community to step in and help when someone needed it. Think of a barn raising, or meals for someone undergoing medical treatment. When I was a teen, my parents did a lot of driving not just me and my sister, but also several of our friends whose parents were not able to commit to driving that much. If my parents hadn’t stepped up those friends would not have been able to participate in the activities we had so much fun doing.

And so it seemed completely natural that everyone would help each other on the tram. But it always surprises me when I discover that for some people that’s not natural. That’s not to say that we can all do everything, or that we shouldn’t have an eye on our needs, selfless-ness can go too far just as selfishness can. However somewhere in the gray area is community.

It’s a bit of a paradox, when I act in ways that are best for my community, it usually is also beneficial to myself.

But sometimes that’s not enough, sometimes folks don’t want to lift up others or render assistance because they are not seen as deserving of help. I think that this relates to the topic of fear I wrote about last week. Some fear that if they agree that a certain person or group needs/deserves assistance or a boost, somehow that takes away from the assistance available to all. From a limited viewpoint, that makes some sense, if 100 widgets are available, and I allow someone who needs the widgets to have half of them, there’s only half left.

But what people who ask if the glass is half empty or half full fail to realize, is that the glass is refillable. The abundance of life is not a one-time allocation, but more like a mug of coffee at your favorite diner, always being filled before you even get to half-empty.

It comes down to how you choose to see the world, are there limits on resources which one must fight for and hoard, or do we trust in the abundance of the universe that our needs will be met and with joy?
Some people who showed up at that tram were not able to pull their own weight to get across, some were little kids, or experiencing a temporary or permanent physical limitation. But everyone got across, because no one was checking to see who was worthy, we just all put our back into it to the best of our ability.

That’s the lesson from this about how to go about my life, and an invitation to you:
Do what you can, embrace your part in the dance of community, and don’t worry about who is doing how much, everyone will get across.

The Futility of Fear

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Something that has been on my mind lately is the trouble we cause when we are afraid. Now many folks will say, I’m not afraid, you got it wrong. But let’s back up and look at that. Is it really true?

We all have something we’re afraid of, losing someone we love, getting injured, missing something important are at least low-level concerns for many of us. Hopefully we realize that there is only so much we can do about some of these

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
― Nelson Mandela

One of the reasons fear is on my mind is because I attempt to pay at least partial attention to what’s going on in our world. Many learned and not so learned folks have a lot of theories about why we are where we are on any topic, but I say that the root of many of these problems is fear.

Sure, a natural disaster is not caused by fear, however the generous response needed to support those recovering from the disaster can be slowed down or stopped by fear. Fear that if I share I won’t have enough, fear that people will not behave how we think they should, etc.

There are many angles that can be taken, and I’m not aiming for a long blog today, more to spark your further or discussion on the matter.

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”
― Marie Curie

This quote really sums it up for me, something in our nature wants to diminish, discount, suppress those things and people we don’t understand. It is much easier to say ‘they’ are different and therefore to be disdained, it is much harder to stand and say, I don’t understand but I am willing to understand. I, having the benefit of a seminary education, have briefly studied most of the mainstream world religions. I know that they are nothing to fear, and that the folks who are part of that faith tradition have more in common with you and I than we have different.

I know that there is plenty of rhetoric being spun that wants to keep us on edge and afraid, but we don’t have to believe it.

This is my invitation, if you notice you are thinking that so and so is outside the ‘acceptable’ box ask why. Is there something to understand about them? Have you made assumptions about who they are or what they believe or value? And then he doozy, does it matter? If someone is doing their life, unless they are causing harm to someone else, what does it matter?

Fear gets in the way of connection. Fear gets in the way of our own best expression. Fear gets in the way of our joy.

Let’s transform fear into freedom.

Yes you can!

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Rev. Rachel and Jenny Hahn at an art fair.

What makes us think we can’t (or can) do something?

I have spent many a Friday at my best buddy’s studio helping her show and sell her art to the crowds. I hear over and over, oh I couldn’t do that, I can’t even draw a straight line. First, who says straight lines are required to be a good artist? (and we have these great things called rulers) Second, every person who is good at something was probably bad at it first, or at least less skilled. But Jenny has now spent thousands of hours painting, she’s immersed herself in using her preferred medium of acrylics, and she has developed her own process of creating which continues to evolve over time. This is a serious relationship she has going on with creative expression.

Now if you put in half the time she has and still haven’t found your painting ‘groove’ then sure, maybe you’re not a painter, but if you haven’t how do you know?

The point is that mastery takes time. Playing an instrument, cooking a meal, writing a report, building something, whatever you do well took time for you to learn. And even when you become proficient, you’re still making improvements to your skills, strategies, methods.

This summer we’re overviewing the book Living Originally by Robert Brumet. This book is all about the tools to help transform your life. But it’s a funny thing I have found when people are talking about the spiritual journey, they expect enlightenment to happen in a snap. For it to stick around. If this was any other area of your life, you would expect plenty of time and energy and practice to be required to get some skill.

Just like the folks who say they can’t paint, I hear ‘I can’t meditate’ or ‘nothing happens when I try.’

That old saying, ‘anything worth doing is worth doing well’ is well known for a reason, it’s true! Our spiritual growth is worth doing, and just like that hobby you dabble in, it’s sitting there waiting for you. This transformational practice we’re exploring this summer is as effective as the time we put into it.

Therefore friends, I say you can do it! Begin where you are and be ok with ‘nothing’ happening. Something is happening, you are practicing.

Peace be with you.

Rachel

 

PS, if you want to see Jenny’s art, you can here, or check out the original I have in my office!

History and Museums

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Rev. Rachel at the Washington Monument

Last week I traveled to Washington DC to visit a friend and attend a concert. This was only my second time in the Capital, the first being very brief, so we did some of the tourist stops. We went to the Air and Space Museum where I touched a moon rock and saw spacecraft, the American History Museum where we saw the flag that inspired “the Star Spangled Banner,” and we waited in line and received the hottest tickets in town, to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

This is an amazing museum, and yet it is not easy on the heart. The history and legacy of oppression is something that seems beyond comprehension to my 37 year old brain. We hope, of course, that if faced with similar situations, we would do better. But honestly it’s hard to know for sure what we might do if the whole culture around you has constructed and fiercely defends these norms.

My friend and I pondered as we walked along the Mall afterward if there are things we have accepted as part of ‘normal’ now that in 100 years will seem reprehensible. It’s a big question with no easy answers.

This morning I awoke to the news that Germany is close to legalizing same-sex marriage and this month marked the 50th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia which invalidated laws prohibiting interracial marriage in the US. We have certainly come a long way in the quest for it to be OK for people to be who they are and love who the love. Laws are important, but they don’t change culture, and there are still too many who feel the sting of oppression. The work is not done.

I could make a big ol’ list of the places we fall short, but you know at least some of them, and that’s not really the point of my writing this. Because we can easily get overwhelmed by all the stuff happening and even feel paralyzed by not knowing where to start to make a change.

That is something I can give some clues on. But I must warn you, once you know, it’s hard to un-know. Ready?

The most important thing you can do is to move more and more into alignment with the truth of your spiritual being. Seem simple? It is in concept, but a lifetime of steps in practice.

From a wall at the museum: “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” Ida B Wells

The rationale is that as you become more in-tune with your deeper truth, you will see the connections you have with all of the humanity. As this happens, you will notice and correct ways that you have behaved that have been less than kind/inclusive/fair/etc. When you hear of injustices, you will find in the stillness of prayer and meditation what right action to take in response.

You cannot fix everything; instead we must go deeper, deeper into ourselves and deeper into the issues that are alive for us. In this age of information, it is so simple to go online for the answers and to throw money at a problem. And there are plenty of worthy causes to send your money too. But action is more than that.

How are you willing to show up, in your day to day interactions and choices to truly honor the humanity and spirit of each person you come across? What judgements or assumptions do you have that might not be true or fair? Once you ask these sometimes uncomfortable questions, what are you willing to do to change it? How are you willing to be God in action and not just talk about it?

Just as there have been plenty of people throughout our history who have perpetuated or allowed others to be treated as less than, there too have been many who have stood up, at great personal risk, for others to have physical, emotional, spiritual, and cultural freedom and equality. This is the theme of all the museums I visited and the biggest lesson too. As individuals and as a world, we must continue to examine where we fall short of expressing our oneness with all, then do what we can and must to right it.

It may seem too big, however the spiritual strength to do what is yours to do is within you now and always, ever a conscious moment away.