REFLECTIONS

The cosmos is a gigantic fly-wheel making 10,000 revolutions a minute. Man is a sick fly taking a dizzy ride on it. Religion is the theory that the wheel was designed and set spinning to give him the ride.
-- H.L. Mencken

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
-- John Lennon, "Beautiful Boy"

First there is a time when we believe everything, then for a little
while we believe with discrimination, then we believe nothing whatever,
and then we believe everything again - and, moreover, give reasons why we
believe.
-- Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

The discipline of the writer is to learn to be still and listen to what
his
subject has to tell him.

-- Rachel Carson

George Odell tells us,
We need one another when we mourn and would be comforted.
We need one another when we are in trouble and afraid.
We need one another when we are in despair, in temptation,
and need to be recalled to our best selves again.
We need one another when we would accomplish some great
purpose, and cannot do it alone.
We need one another in the hour of success, when we look
for
someone to share our triumphs.
We need one another in the hour of defeat, when with
encouragement we might endure, and stand again.
...
All our lives we are in need, and others are in need of us.

The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the
point than the fact than a drunken man is happier than a sober one.
-- George Bernard Shaw

Robert Green Ingersoll expressed these conclusions on how we should live:


“To love justice, to long for the right; to love mercy, to pity the suffering, to assist the weak, to forget wrongs and remember benefits; to love the truth, to be sincere, to utter honest words; to love liberty, to wage relentless war against slavery in all its forms; to love wife, and child, and friend, to make a happy home; to love the beautiful in art, in nature, to cultivate the mind; to be familiar with the mighty thoughts that genius has expressed, the noble deeds of all the world; to cultivate courage and cheerfulness, to make others happy; to fill life with the splendour of generous acts, the warmth of loving words; to discard error, to destroy prejudice, to receive new truths with gladness; to cultivate hope, to see the calm beyond the storm, the dawn beyond the night; to do the best that can be done and then to be resigned: this is the religion of reason, the creed of science; this satisfies the brain and heart”.

Be master of your petty annoyances and conserve your energies for the
big, worthwhile things. It isn't the mountain ahead that wears you out
- it's the grain of sand in your shoe.
-Robert Service, writer (1874-1958)

"Take from the church the miraculous, the supernatural, the
unreasonable, the impossible, the unknowable, and the absurd, and
nothing but a vacuum remains.... Religion has not civilized man--man
has
civilized religion."--Robert G. Ingersoll

"Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual
journey
is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love
back in
our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To
be
consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is
the
meaning of life."
Researching author?

"People who want to share their religious views with you, almost never

want you to share yours with them". --from columnist Dave Barry

SPEAKING WELL
Much of ministry
is a benediction
A speaking well of
Each other and the world
A speaking well of what we value:
Honesty
Love
Forgiveness
Trust
A speaking well of our efforts
A speaking well of our dreams
This is how we celebrate life
Through speaking well of it
Living the benediction
And becoming as a word
Well-spoken

Susan Manker-Seale - UU Minister

As I Lie Dying- POETRY
Unitarian Universalist minister Robert Tucker wrote this poem for folks to think about
ahead of time when confronted with the imminent death of a loved one. It was printed in
the Lakeland paper along with Tucker's explanation. He had witnessed too many
incidents where the terminally ill person was pestered, literally unmercifully, by friends or
relatives concerned that the dying person was not "saved."



As I Lie Dying

If you love me,
As I lie dying,
Respect me, and trouble me not
With your religious beliefs.

Stand not beside my bed and pray.
Cajole me not to be converted.
Share not with me your fears or hopes,
But leave me alone religiously.

The faith I have, such as it is,
Is grounded in years of lived experience.
It is not frivolous or shallow.
It may not be yours; but it is mine.

I am at peace in my living.
I am reconciled to my dying.
Disturb not my tranquillity
With your anxiety.

Know that my religion
Is adequate for me
And let that fact
Be sufficient for you.

Hold my hand and comfort my body.
Let me know the warmth of your presence.
Reminisce with me and tell me
Of our good times together.

But if you love me,
As I lie dying,
Respect me, and trouble me not
With your religious beliefs.