I Offer Love to Longing

Words and Music by Craig Werth,

here at the shadows,new, I begin,emptying open,I venture in.

this Current through me,flows to the cracks,in misery,

in deep despair,to wash away,reveal the Light in there,surrendering,with tender care,I offer Love to longing

Video on Youtube

Craig Werth is an interfaith chaplain ordained by the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine in 2017. He is in his third year of service as pastor for Nottingham Community Church (UU) in Nottingham, New Hampshire. Craig is also a singer-songwriter and composer who has toured internationally since 2006. Now, additionally, he applies his musician craft to his ministry, and as artist in residence and faculty member at Portsmouth, NH’s Krempels Center in support of people living with brain injury. Craig’s Spirit-filled songs have traveled the world, comforted many through hospice, and inspired NASA’s New Horizons space mission team.

Windows into Other Worlds

Original art by Rev. Cathy M Grigsby,

This is a quilted fabric piece. The individual panels are made using disperse dye. The dye is mixed and then painted on paper. Once dry it can be cut into collages and then heat pressed onto polyester fabric. Individual panels are machine quilted by the artist.

These little individual landscapes were made over a number of years as an exercise in playfulness, as I would use scraps of the papers from other pieces and sometimes not even know what the colors were going to be as the papers are often very different when they are transferred to the fabric. As I was looking at them last spring they suddenly seemed to go together as small glimpses into imaginary landscapes.

Rev. Cathy Grigsby is an Interfaith Minister, artist, retired art teacher, Arts Minister for Chime, Founder of the Interfaith Ministers of New England, and Director of the Community of a New Monastic Way. She lives in Bridgton, Maine with her husband, Greg, who is also an Interfaith Minister. They have three sons and six grandchildren.

Lady Parnashavari

By Khenmo Drolma,

In Buddhism, healing, ultimately, is a peaceful mind filled with love. We have many practices and visualizations to help us embody that realization. Tibetan Buddhism particularly cultivates images that evoke a personification of that state as various deities. It is sometimes explained that this is similar to light passing through a crystal lens, becoming a multicolored rainbow reflection, or many images to inspire devotion for different kinds of minds.

Within the family of Buddhas that evoke compassion, there are famously 21 Taras, who represent the activity of compassion. Lady Parnashavari, the dakini who is attired in green leaves of medical plants, is the 20th of the 21 Tara, the one who protects us from contagious diseases such as the Coronavirus we have today. I find her image compelling, as unlike most deities, who are depicted in royal attire, she is clothed in medicinal plants and herbs. She also carries medicinal plants and a bow and arrow and battle axe to vanquish illness (ignorance). She sits with one leg extended, ready to jump into action, an ancient super-hero! The significance is to cultivate confidence in our own seed of wisdom and that of others by imagining a powerful accomplished example.

Chanting mantra unites our body, speech, and mind with her realization, and we send that state to all beings.

Mantra: OM PI-SHA-TSI PARNA-SHA-WARI SARVA MA-RI PRA-SHA-MA-NI HUNG

This explanation of the mantra comes from one of our great teachers:

OM: sacred syllable that consists of three sounds A, O and M, representing Buddha’s purified body, speech and mind. Here in particular, the sounds are invoked to prevent, protect, and liberate our body, speech, and mind from the epidemic disease such as the coronavirus.PISHATSI: a female divinity of great powers such as a dakini or yogini who can protect, prevent and liberate beings from all negative and obstructing forcesPARNA: a leaf of a tree or a plantSHAWARI: a tribal lady of the forest who masters magic and healing using forest herbs and medicines.PISHATSI PARNASHAWARI: a powerful dakini who is attired in green leaves of medical plants that are remedies to all illnesses and pestilencesSARVA: all, everythingMARI: illness or pestilencePRASHAMANI: pacifierSARVA MARI PRASHAMANI: the Pacifier of all illnesses and pestilencesHUNG: to attain the siddhis (attainment), to fulfill the aspiration, to be established in the deity-state, the Parnashavari-hood.

 

Abbess of Vajra Dakini Nunnery, Ven. Khenmo Konchog Nyima Drolma has studied with the foremost Buddhist teachers of our time. She was ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1997 after a distinguished career at the Maine College of Art as a professor of sculpture. After completing philosophy studies and solitary retreats, she was given the responsibility of abbess. She teaches the Buddha Dharma internationally, with an emphasis in the practical application in daily life. In addition, she has created a Tibetan Nun Leadership Program and is the International Chair of a historic monastic gathering in India in 2020. www.VajraDakiniNunnery.org

 

 

 

Time to Pray

By Sivani Katie Gelfand,

 

In this time of uncertainty it can be hard to know where to direct our energy and how to find connection, grounding, and support. I believe prayer can help. If this word is triggering for you, please think of it in a new way. Think of prayer as the humble expression of your heart and soul's deepest longings of hope and gratitude. Perhaps you believe in and pray to a higher power (Goddess, God, Spirit, Allah, Creator, etc.), but that is not a requirement of prayer. You need not believe in a higher source, for the intention of your words and deeds have power.

As the mystic poet Rumi said “Let the beauty we love be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” Some pray with their bodies, some pray with their words, some pray with medicine, some pray with water, some pray with beads, some pray on their knees. Some pray through service, some pray through song, some pray through creation, some pray through ritual and ceremony. Whatever your flavor of prayer, however you can connect to the energy of the universe, to the holiness of all life, to that which is greater than all of us—do it now, do it daily, and do it with faith.

With the isolation recommendations it is difficult for many of us to pray the ways we usually do, and in the places and with the people we usually pray with. But that doesn't mean that prayer should stop. On the contrary, it is needed now more than ever. It is time to get creative in the ways we pray: connect with each other online or by phone, write prayers and post them on the internet, pray alone or with those in your house, create a sanctuary or altar in your home. Learn new ways of connecting spiritually and expressing the hope of your heart. It is hard to not be able to pray in the ways we are accustomed to... but the longings of our souls do not cease just because we are physically separated from our house of prayer or our spiritual community. Is it harder? Yes, of course. But this is a time that calls for courage, hope, and creativity. We must continue to nourish these times with the blessedness of our prayers.

Our world is changing rapidly before our eyes. Change can be scary, but it is also an opportunity for innovation and possibility. Pray that the changes taking place will ultimately lead to the healing and wholeness of all humanity where we awaken to the sacredness of our beloved Mother Earth. Real change is happening now. Let us ready ourselves to face the new day with patience, compassion, hope, integrity, and courage.

Blessed Be

Sivani Katie Gelfand is the Director of Religious Exploration at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans, the congregation in which she was raised. Concurrent to this ministry she is also a Reiki Master Teacher and is studying Interfaith Spiritual Guidance at the Rowe Center. Sivani believes healing is the process of strengthening, deepening, and surrendering ourselves in the name of transformation. She is committed to compassionately supporting others along their journey to wholeness by guiding individuals to nurture and trust the deep wisdom of their own hearts. sivanistar.com

Photo by Sivani Katie Gelfand of Statue at Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe, New Mexico depicting "Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha” 1656-1680, first Indian of North America to be promoted a Saint.  Estella Loretto, Artist, the artist is honored to share the genuine spirit of “Kateri" embracing Kindness, Forgiveness, Love, Compassion and Joyful Peace.

 

 

 

 

 

Certainty in Uncertain Times

by Lindy Gifford,

Today, the people of Earth share more than a pandemic. Today is Spring Equinox—we are half way to mid-summer. We all hang in the balance together, between light and dark, between day and night. Equinox means “equal night” in Latin: day and night are, for a short moment, each twelve hours long. And this is the experience of every person, every creature, every plant—everyone, no matter where you live.

After this moment, our experiences diverge once again. If you live close to the equator, day and night are about equal all year long. If you live in the southern hemisphere, starting today, you will begin to experience the nights growing longer than the days and the days, shorter. But if you live in the northern hemisphere, the Equinox is the beginning of Spring. From this moment on, the days will become longer than the nights and continue to grow longer for another three months.

People have marked and celebrated this moment for thousands of years. We know this from the many ancient stone monuments in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, which are precisely and laboriously aligned to the rays of the rising Equinox sun. We don’t know how these ancient people celebrated, but we know how many of us celebrate still. Nowruz or Naw Ruz, Holi, Purim and Passover, Ostara and Easter are all connected with the Spring Equinox.

In times such as these, I take comfort in the ebb and flow of the seasons, as they spiral round, carrying us each year back to the same place—but of course, different. The death and darkness of Midwinter must always give way to the swelling light and rebirth of spring. Light is born in the dark and life springs from death. Winter lingers on in Maine after other places are enjoying forsythia and cherry blossoms. I have learned Faith from the seasons in Maine. Even this year, when it feels as if life has ground to an unnatural halt—it has not, of course. Today, Spring has arrived.

I turn to this balm of certainty, so rare in these uncertain times. And it is no small certainty. For it has always been and always will be thus. And it belongs to us all. Wherever we live, no matter our religion, and even if we say we have none, the Equinox holds power. Here in the northern hemisphere, we can welcome spring with gratitude and rejoicing. Perhaps we won’t be able to all gather in one place for our festivities, but still we celebrate. As we have for thousands of years. And as our children’s children’s children will celebrate.

May it be so.



Lindy Gifford is an artist, photographer, graphic designer, creative coach, and writer, ordained an interfaith chaplain in 2015 by the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine (ChIME). A life-long Unitarian Universalist, she is rooted in daily interaction with and connection to the Earth and Creation, as well as the Christian and pre-Christian heritage of her ancestors. She is the author of the Doodle-ography Journal. Her spirit-based practice as a creative coach and publishing consultant is Manifest Identity. Lindy lives on and learns from the Damariscotta River where she and her husband Steve raised two shining daughters.

Stump photograph by Lindy Gifford

You Want to Enter My Garden

By David C. Weiss,

You want to enter my gardento stroll barefooton morning dew-brushed grass

scent the redolenceof morning gloriesopened by dawn’s first light

and dip your cupin sunlit shimmering brookto nourish your parched tender mouth.

If you want to enter my gardenyou must entermy cave where dank air

is smoldering with the stenchof childhoodabandonment and grief

and smear your naked bodywith the acidic dustof terror and despair.

Then you will discovera child’s school lunch boxcontaining shards of a ceramic Jesus

four tiger-eye marblesa plastic whistlefrom a Cracker Jacks box

and words scribbledon the insideof a candy wrapper

“I Am Beautiful Just The Way I Am.”

After closing his practice of thirty-five years in 2011 as a marriage and family therapist and with the publication of his first collection of poems, “A Heart on Fire, Poems from the Flames,” David has been devoted to writing poetry and offering presentations and workshops on the poetry of eastern and western mystics. He is a student of the Shakuhachi, a Japanese bamboo flute played in Zen meditation and performs, combining flute music with poetry readings. David has a Master of Theology and Ph.D. in Pastoral Psychology degrees from Boston University. He is on the faculty of OLLI College at the University of Southern Maine and a visiting instructor of poetry at Sera Jhy Tibetan Buddhist Monastery in South India. David’s website is www.davidcweiss.com.

Cave Image by Hans Braxmeier

Cause for Frivolity

by Rabbi Jared H. Saks

On March 10 this year (the 14^th of Adar in the Hebrew calendar), Jews around the world will celebrate the holiday of Purim. The celebration of Purim is based upon the biblical book of Esther, set in the Persian capital city of Shushan, where King Ahasuerus is duped by his chief advisor, Haman, into allowing a plot to kill all of the Jews in the empire. At the beginning of the story, Ahasuerus’ wife, Queen Vashti, refuses to dance in the nude before the King and his friends. For this act of defiance, which his advisors fear will inspire their wives to disobey them, as well, Vashti is removed from her post and the King begins a quest to find a new wife. This is where the hero and heroine of the story, Mordechai and his niece Esther, enter the picture. Mordechai convinces Esther to hide her Jewish identity and enter the contest to become the new queen in order to save her people. Through a series of comical events, Esther entraps Haman, reveals his plan to the King, and lays the groundwork to save the Jews. Scholar Adele Berlin writes in The JPS Bible Commentary:  Esther, “The comic aspects of the book are not incidental, merely to provide comic relief; they are the essence of the book… We cannot appreciate the story fully unless we realize that it is meant to be funny. Berlin categorizes the book of Esther as burlesque, which The Random House Dictionary of the English Language defines as, “an artistic composition … that, for the sake of laughter, vulgarizes lofty material or treats ordinary material with mock dignity.”

Today, Purim is celebrated with masquerade balls, comical recounting of the book of Esther (called Purimshpiels), and, often, excessive drinking. There’s a teaching that one should become drunk enough that they can no longer tell the difference between, “Blessed is Mordechai,” and “Cursed is Haman.” The book of Esther is the only book of the Hebrew Bible that doesn’t contain mention of God. The name Esther means hidden, so some look for the hidden hand of God in the text. Others recognize, as I do, the importance of not taking everything so seriously all the time. While there is always cause for gravity and solemnity, the holiday of Purim reminds us that there is much to celebrate in our lives and much cause for frivolity. We can’t lose sight of that.

Rabbi Jared H. Saks serves as the spiritual leader of Congregation Bet Ha’am in South Portland, where he has served since 2011. Through his rabbinic leadership, Rabbi Saks aims to foster connections between people that will help the divine spark in each of us to shine. He believes strongly that encounters with one another are opportunities for encounter with God. Rabbi Saks believes that we live in partnership with God and we are the vehicle for God’s presence in the world when we engage in tikkun olam, the repair of our world, through social justice and social action. He lives in Portland with his husband, Kirk, and their son and their dog, Vegas. www.bethaam.org

Floating art by Emma Hindall www.emmahindall.com

Laying Down Our Burden: Keep the Sabbath Holy

By Mirabai Starr,

Here. Come here. Take a moment to set aside that list you’ve been writing in fluorescent ink. The list that converts tasks into emergencies. Items like “feed the orchids” become “If I don’t accomplish this by 11:00 a.m. tomorrow morning the rain forests are going to dry up and it will be all my fault.” Or “If I fail to renew my automobile insurance I will probably crash my car and everyone will die.” Or “This friend just had her breast biopsied and that friend’s brother-in-law beat up her sister and my aunt just lost her job with symphony and my nephew is contemplating divorce and I must call them all, and listen to them for an hour each, and dispense redemptive advice.”

Gather your burdens in a basket in your heart. Set them at the feet of the Mother. Say, “Take this, Great Mama, because I cannot carry all this shit for another minute.” And then crawl into her broad lap and nestle against her ample bosom and take a nap. When you wake, the basket will still be there, but half its contents will be gone, and the other half will have resumed their ordinary shapes and sizes, no longer masquerading as catastrophic, epic, chronic, and toxic. The Mother will clear things out and tidy up. She will take your compulsions and transmute them. But only if you freely offer them to her.

Excerpt from "Wild Mercy" © 2019 Mirabai Starr used with permission from the author and the publisher, Sounds True, Inc.

Mirabai Starr writes creative non-fiction and speaks internationally on contemplative practice and inter-spiritual dialog. She has received critical acclaim for her revolutionary new translations of the mystics, John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila and Julian of Norwich. She is the award-winning author of God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and Caravan of No Despair: A Memoir of Loss and Transformation. Her latest book is Wild Mercy: Living the Fierce & Tender Wisdom of the Women Mystics. She lives with her extended family in the mountains of northern New Mexico.

Six communities, including the Abbey of Hope, have come together to bring Marabai Starr to Maine, March 13 & 14. Both events are sold out, but for more information and to join the waiting list, go to unitygreaterportland.org/mirabai-starr. The book, Wild Mercy, is available at local bookstores.

Lent and the Christian liturgical calendar

By James A. Weathersby, Chaplain II,

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 or Sirach 15:15-20, 1 Corinthians 3:1-9Matthew 5:21-37, Psalm 119:1-8

People’s lives are about seasons and times. These stages of development mark successful transition from an earlier functioning to the next stage or phase of growth. These transitional points serve as steppingstones into our future, into the next experience of our lives. This is true for life, for our lives, and the Christian Church. The seasons of the life of the church are marked on the liturgical calendar. This calendar allows believers to anticipate, participate and fully observe the seasons of the Christian church. The first season we enter into with excitement is Lent.

The word lent is not included in the Christian Bible. It is a season of teaching and preparation for new believers and a time for reflection and discipline for older participants. This time is preceded by ‘Strove Tuesday’ or ‘Mardi Gras,’ a time of indulging temporary, worldly pleasures as we prepare for forty days of discipline, examination, and realignment of our lives to follow our beliefs. All this information is to remind us of our faith: for many their faith is new and exhilarating, for others faith is a reminder that life is not permanent. What we do with our lives among others counts. We are not alive to live for our own pursuits or appetites. Lent calls us from outside distractions, to inner disciplines of prayer, humility, and charity. Lent helps participants of the Christian faith a measurable step in their maturation.

I remember the words of Ash Wednesday, which follows Mardi Gras. The palm branches from last years’ Palm Sunday are preserved all year and burned to ash. These cinders are combined with a light mixture of oil or fragrance and made into the sign of the cross on the foreheads of Christians. The words are powerful and a good stepping stone for humility; “from dust you have come, to dust you shall return…remember the Gospel.” When I live as if this life were permanent, I recall Ash Wednesday. When I feel my angst in life is intolerable, I celebrate Lent and the liturgical steps of the Christian church.

The Rev. James A. Weathersby M.Div., BCC was born in Chicago, product of a dedicated single mother and the Public-School system. He is a genetic Baptist and a historic Democrat; spirituality in his veins for generations. His family valued Education and the Black church; there are four generations of ministers in his family, serving as Pastors of congregations and Chaplains in Institutions. His Bachelors of Arts came from Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights, Illinois from the Reformed Churches of America tradition. His Masters of Divinity Degree (specialty in Pastoral Care and Counseling) came from the southern Baptist Theological Seminary of Louisville Kentucky, from the Southern Baptist tradition. His professional career as a Chaplain includes serving populations in Hospitals, Hospice, both Men’s and Women’s Corrections (Death Row Chaplain) in several Midwestern states. His time in Maine has included Chaplaincy at a Youth Development Center, Pastor to an island congregation and lately, Chaplain (II) of the State Forensic and civil Psychiatric Center. He has been honored to be married for 27 years and enjoy writing, yoga, and reading.

Reflections, painting by Valerie A. Clemons.

On Wood

By Rev. Thomas A. Kircher,

I’ve come to knowI’m too oldTo fight with woodButI’ve come to love its honesty.This one—Grain that runs straight and true,One swing,One smooth exhaleAnd it splits. More please,It seems to say.Another—Grain that swaggersIn complex swirls and knots,Just begging to be tried,ConfidentIn all its mysterious tenacity.Kindling is not this one’s destiny,Rather,A slow, steady burnAt the end of a long winter’s eve—Mysterious, tenacious warmth.

Rev. Kircher is an Interfaith Minister (ChIME ’17) living in Biddeford. His great joys include chaplaincy, writing, gardening, and walking at the beach. He is currently working part-time as Assistant Chaplain at Volunteers of America Northern New England. He works in various residential programs including transitional housing for homeless veterans, senior citizens, those with mental illnesses, and those in addiction recovery.

Trees image by Thomas Kircher

We’re Gainin’

by Rev. Jacob Watson,

All this searching for freedom, this determination not only to listen, but also to hear the still voice, led me inexorably into silence, to my interior, to self-examination, to self-realization. I made a month-long pilgrimage to India to live in a Hindu-Christian ashram. It was named Saccidananda, a combination of the words, Sat, Chit, Ananda, which translated from the Sanskrit means Existence, Consciousness, Bliss. I use this mantra daily. When I forget, I remember the irreverent phrase, “Hot shit Amanda.” But I seldom forget; it is part of me now. So is the freedom.

At our recent reunion, we recreated our Collins Brook meetings. I looked at each person as they spoke. Right in front of me was the excited young student and the earnest young teacher, changed from all those years ago, their body widened or thinned, their hair whitened or gone, but the person still beautiful, still full of spirit. I was touched deeply when my daughter Sarah said, with tears in her eyes, “I love hearing how you guys remember Collins Brook and what it meant to you, but I feel special gratitude. For a few years, you got to go to Collins Brook, which my parents ran, but I get to have my parents my whole life.”

Sharon and I turned to look at each other and saw tears in our eyes. Amongst all the change, I realized anew what doesn’t change. Everything manifest and phenomenal changes: Collins Brook was born and died. The stories we lived at Collins Brook, our natural emotions, our feelings, our personalities—the sweet meadows and the babbling brook—all change, season to season, year to year. For me, now, Collins Brook points to the unchanging, to the realm of what-is-ness, that which witnesses without judgement, the great silent stillness of love.

Rev. Jacob Watson, D.Min. is the author of We’re Gainin’: Collins Brook, A Maine Free School—A Memoir, which he wrote to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the school’s founding in 1969. This Reflectionary is from the book’s final chapter, “Spiritually Alive.” Jacob founded Collins Brook School and the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine. His Morning Blessing Gift meditations and Mini-Satsangs are available as audio recordings on the free meditation app Insight Timer. He provides individual students with Spiritual Companionship, and may be reached through his web site: revjacobwatson.com.

Love: Don’t let me go!

By Rev. Carie Johnsen

My son is in prison. Held in an 8×8 cell. A container perpetuating trauma and dehumanization. A container interrupting his alcohol use, his drug use, his access to a needle, a spoon, and the possibility of an overdose. A container. I know where he is. I know he is not using. I know he is alive. A container, nonetheless.

For that I am grateful. For that I am sad.

My son is in prison. Held in an 8×8 cell. Life interrupted. Family interrupted. Parenting interrupted. Plumber at work interrupted. Sure, there was a crime. There is also an illness, a health issue for sure. Society says, punishment. I say, compassionate care. Society says, he must pay. I say, restorative justice. He says, “This may be the thing that saves my life Mom.”

For that I am confused. For that I am angry.

My son is in prison. Held in an 8×8 cell. Prison gates, bullet proof vests, stun guns, loaded guns, locked doors, buzzers, steel, steel and more steel, and plexiglass barriers greeting each visit.  Safety, they say! Cold, hard defenses necessary to subdue the criminal, they say! Stoic, curt guards, holding power, heroes protecting society, they say! The crime: adverse childhood experiences. The crime: substance use disorder. The crime: a hardened society incarcerating the ‘junkie’. The crime: a privileged society casting out the wounded. The crime: a justice system exploding for profit. The crime: a people locking their doors and their hearts and their soul. Protecting themselves, they say!

For that I am angry. For that I rise up.

My son is in prison. Held in an 8×8 cell. The visit: one hour. A container for the heartbreaking beauty of love. We speak with our eyes. I imagine the hug. We speak of regrets. We speak of the love that will not let us go. We remember the years shared. The years to come. We tell the stories. We laugh. We cry. I imagine the hug. His head tucked neatly on my shoulder. My arms wrapped around his pain, his tears, his sorrow, his despair. He speaks of fear. Reflects on bad choices. Life on overwhelm. He worries of release. Apprehension of life on the outside. He speaks of hardship. Parenting behind bars. He speaks of dreams and getting a second chances. We love with our eyes. I imagine the hug. His head on my shoulder. My arms wrapped around his tears.

For that I am hopeful. For that I am heartbroken.

---

Rev. Carie Johnsen is minister at Unitarian Universalist Community Church in Augusta, ME. Speaking as a mother and serving as co-chair of the Public Policy Committee for the Maine Council of Churches, Rev. Carie works to influence drug policy and criminal justice reform in Maine.

Bicentenary celebrations of the Birth of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh

by Nasser Rohani,

In 2017, the Bahá’ís observed the 200^th anniversary of the birth of Bahá’u’lláh, the Prophet Founder of their Faith. 2019 coincided with the 200^th anniversary of the birth of the Báb, Herald of the Bahá’í Faith. The Báb (1819-1850) is a special personage in the faith. In 1844 He announced that He was the bearer of a message destined to transform humanity’s spiritual life. His mission was to prepare the way for Bahá’u’lláh, who would usher in an age of unity, peace, and justice. The community has been in festive mode since 2017 and will continue these celebrations for some time into the future, with a variety of public meetings, community service projects, and artistic presentations, that include music, poetry, drama, painting, embroidery, dance and singing.

The Bahá'í Faith upholds the unity of God and the principle of the oneness and wholeness of the entire human race. It proclaims the necessity and the inevitability of the unification of mankind, asserts that it is gradually approaching, and claims that nothing short of the transmuting spirit of God, working through His chosen Mouthpiece in this day, can ultimately succeed in bringing it about. It, moreover, enjoins upon its followers the primary duty of an unfettered search for truth and condemns all manner of prejudice and superstition. It declares the purpose of religion to be the promotion of amity and concord, proclaims its essential harmony with science, and recognizes it as the foremost agency for the pacification and the orderly progress of human society. It unequivocally maintains the principle of equal rights for men and women; insists on compulsory education; rejects extremes of poverty and wealth; prohibits slavery, asceticism, and monasticism; prescribes monogamy; discourages divorce; emphasizes the necessity of strict obedience to one's civic laws; exalts any work performed in the spirit of service to the level of worship; urges either the creation or the selection of an auxiliary international language; and delineates the outlines of those institutions that must establish and perpetuate the general peace of mankind. The essence of Bahá'í teachings is summed up in these words of Bahá’u’lláh: “The Earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.”

Nasser Rohani was born in Iran. At 18 he left Iran for India to pursue higher education. After the advent of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, Nasser who intended to return to his homeland, was unable to go back, due to his religious affiliation—the Bahá’í Faith. The Bahá’ís are being persecuted by the fundamentalist regime. He continued his education and completed his Pre-PhD studies in village cooperative banking from Osmania University. After an 11 year stay in India, he and his wife and child emigrated to the United States in 1985. He soon joined the L.L. Bean company and for thirty two years he worked there as a systems programmer/analyst in the information services department. Nasser and his wife Parivash have four children and live in Portland, Maine.

Awakening to Awe

by Lisa Steele-Maley,

Awakening to AweRising SunWaning moonIn me, of meOver, under, around, throughWorld soulListeningAttendingPresentingIn me, of meBeautiful Mystery

After growing up in small towns of New England and Wisconsin, Lisa developed a strong connection to the affirming rhythms of the natural world while working in the mountains and coasts of Alaska and Washington. She currently lives in an aging farmhouse on the coast of Maine with her husband, two teenage sons, and a handful of animals. Lisa was ordained an Interfaith Minister by the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine (ChIME) in June of 2019. She is the author of, Without A Map: A Caregiver’s Journey through the Wilderness of Heart and Mind. Lisa shares reflections regularly at lisa.steelemaley.io

Sunrise image by Lisa Steele-Maley

A Closer Look

by gkisedtanamoogk

Reflections on the unity of religious doctrines and the consciousness the unity transforms, can be quite appealing and inspiring. Indeed, Enlightened characterizations of the leading world religions provide profundity to the thought of such unity. The foundations of reflections on unity may in fact be forming a developing global consciousness, which is timely and needed. What concerns me most deeply is that a form these aspects of unity and enlightenment take is reminiscent of narcissism and privilege, the result of a privileged, sheltering class system.

While warming my heart and yearnings, i* need to reflect the reality and realities of Peoples of Color, some 75-80% of the global population, not reflected in the candidus of privilege. As a person of color and Indigenous at that, i observe the socio-economic conditions wrought upon Peoples of Color, as well as the outcomes flowing from such conditions, as a horrid on-going legacy. For Indigenous Peoples, systemic genocide prevails as fundamental policy pervading the vast vestiges of treatment (political, legal, social) and lack thereof (medical, educational, social), and remain a key factor promoting the systems of socio-economic conditions passing as “normal.”

In the matter of Indigenous experiences, i wonder what proponents of unity and enlightenment and the congregation of their followers would have to say regarding their teachings in light of these questions. i would feel more enlightened if they would also caste such unity as the mandate to make religiosity the catalyst for finally ending the increasing abject poverty and class systems, which appear to normalize such conditions; the violence toward Women, particularly Women of Color; and what some world religions describe as “unforgivable sins,” which plague humanity still and throughout history. This should have been the norm from the beginning. Such “sins” might have us believe in the innate violence of the human species, rather than in the innate love which infants and children, not-yet-corrupted by our adult systems, display for us. Followers of Jesus, Mohamed, the Buddha, would not have engaged in such history if all would have simply lived those profound teachings.

*What may seem like non-standard capitalization in this Reflectionary is intentional and consistent with the Wampanoag worldview.

gkisedtanamoogk, is from the Wampanoag Community of Mashpee located on cape cod south of boston, massachusetts, married to Miigam’agan. Together they have three Children and three Grandchildren. He was one of five Commissioners on the Maine Wabanaki State Child Welfare Truth and Reconciliation Commission and taught for 10 years at the University of Maine. He has shared several presentations with the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine. gkisedtanamoogk resides with his Family at Esgenoôpetitj on the Burnt Church Reserve; he would say that Mi’kmaq Homelands are occupied by the province of new brunswick and canada.

Opening image: Manitou by gkisedtanamoogk

Epiphany

By Sara Bartlett,

You are the light of the world, for the city on the hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people put a light under the bushel, instead they put it on a lampshade and shine a light for the whole household.”

Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew (chapter) 5: (verses) 14,15.

 

"After the Magi had heard from Herod, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him.” 

Gospel of Matthew (chapter) 2: (verses) 9-11.

According to tradition, Magi from other cultures, ones otherwise known as Kings, knew something amazing had occurred after observing a unique shining star in the sky. These Kings knew they needed to follow the light breaking through the dark, so they left their homes and journeyed until they met this bright, shining star at its place over Jesus.  This encounter is known as Epiphany, a time in the Christian calendar that symbolizes the birth of God incarnate, aka a baby named Jesus. A baby who is the pure light which reflects through the darkness of human struggle and suffering. Jesus is the light that guides others.

But more than that, Jesus as an adult taught his followers that all humans are light, all humans have something within us that is unique, special and should never be hidden. I lift up this: just for a moment, think of what it would have been at night in first century Palestine. No street lights, no electric lights, no flashlights, etc, etc.  Any light which shown was important to guide the way.

This is who we as humans are—we are light, we are to be unique, we are to shine brightly, and break through and create cracks in the darkness. We are not to hold back whoever we are, no covering who we are. We are important.  Jesus’ light guided others, and reminds us that we are never to cover up who we are: love and light.

 



Rev. Bartlett is a graduate of Andover Newton, now part of Yale Divinity and is the pastor and teacher of the Parish Church in Alfred, Maine. She serves on the Board of the United Church of Christ’s Maine Conference, is a chaplain at Pilgrim Lodge (an outdoor ministry camp), serves as Chair of the UCC York Association’s missions committee, and in the past served as a community chaplain at Bates College, and on call chaplain at Maine Medical Center. She is a trained facilitator for the UCC/UU human sexuality program Our Whole Lives, and is always willing to volunteer as “Chaplain of the Day,’ for the Maine House of Representatives. Rev. Bartlett currently lives in Auburn, Maine with her husband Jeremiah, sons Josh (16) and Tristan (6). Completing the family is their dog Amelia, and cat Merlin. Her places of hope are found by the ocean, walking in the woods, and in reading a good book.

Christmas light image by Sara Bartlett

Hanukkah

By Joel Grossman,

This year Hanukkah, which is celebrated on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev, starts on December 22^nd. It is always close to a new moon, and the solstice, so very near the darkest time of the year. Hanukkah, which means “dedication,” is celebrated by lighting one more candle each night for eight nights, increasing the light, night by night.

It is a celebration of the Maccabees, a priestly tribe, battle against Hellenic overseers in Israel, from 169-166 BCE. Antiochus, Hellenistic king of the Syrian branch of Alexander’s empire, forbade Jewish practices. Pagan practices were enacted at the Jewish Temple. Following the leadership of Mattathias, a Jewish priest, and his five sons, called the Maccabees. After three years of guerrilla warfare, they were victorious and recaptured the Temple. They celebrated their victory, on Kislev 25, the anniversary of when the Temple was defiled, at the Temple for eight days.

When the Maccabees first entered the Temple and looked for oil to rededicate the Temple, they only found enough oil to last one day, but, by a miracle, it lasted for the eight days of celebration.

Popular Hanukkah customs are the use of a menorah, a nine branch candelabrum, one branch for the candle for each night and one for lighting the other candles; giving children small gifts each of the eight nights; eating fried potato pancakes, called “latkes,” which celebrates the lasting oil; and playing with a “dreidl,” a spinning top, as a children’s gambling game.

Rev. Joel Grossman is one of the founders of the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine (ChIME), and was the Director of ChIME’s Massachusetts campus. He has been a hospice chaplain for over fifteen years. Joel has been a president of his local synagogue, Ahavas Achim, in Newburyport, MA, and has led Kabbalah and Jewish meditation sessions there. He is the leader of the “Spiritual Breakfast Club.”

Image of menorah by Evgeni Tcherkasski

When a Child is Born

By Lori Whittemore,

Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people!”

—Luke 2:10

As I reflect on the days approaching Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Jesus, I think about some of the similarities between then and now. I think of Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem to be counted as part of the Roman census, as many of us travel to see relatives this time of year. According to Kenneth Bailey, New Testament scholar and resident and historian of the middle east, they probably didn’t go to an Inn, but instead went to Joseph’s childhood home, because he was from Bethlehem. Like our homes at Christmas, theirs was probably full of relatives who had also been called to Bethlehem to be counted. Joseph’s family probably had to scramble to make a place for people to sleep, just as they had to find a place for Mary to give birth. I can just picture all the harried activity, with women cooking and preparing space for the guests, as well as preparing for the birth and then midwifing Jesus into the world.

This story was punctuated by the birth of a child that would forever change their family and the world’s story. In so many ways, this is true of every child that is born. Every child beckons us to be our best selves, so that we can show the child the way to live a good life. For Christians, Jesus was born of God to call them, his people, to be their best selves. For us, Advent and Christmas can be a time to reflect on what we have done with this call. As Advent comes to the realization of the birth of the Son, how may we be counted on to show our children how to live a good life? In what ways can we not only share the good news, but live the good news to help make it good news for all people? On this last Sunday in Advent what does this mean to you? I invite you to reflect on how you will live out this good news now and into 2020. How will you show this child Jesus and all children how you live your own precious life?

Lori Whittemore a spiritual care volunteer for the American Red Cross and Maine Behavioral Health, as well as the founder and director of Abbey of Hope and Clinical Pastoral Training Center of Southern Maine (CPTCSM). Through CPTCSM she trains chaplains and pastoral care givers with today’s varied religious and spiritual landscape in mind. Rev. Whittemore approaches interfaith ministry from her Christian background and training as well as her interfaith education at Chaplaincy Institute of Maine.

Solstice—Ever Green

By Lindy Gifford,

My family gathered evergreens to decorate the house for Christmas, as we always have and as our ancestors have for thousands of years before us. Long before they did this for Christmas, they gathered them for Solstice. All my life, I have loved walking the mossy paths of the woods around our camp, “tipping” the balsam branches. When I was young the spruce and fir trees there were much smaller. Now they have grown so tall that their roots struggle to hold onto the thin soil that barely covers the rock below. And the fall and winter storms are getting ever worse. For many of the tall trees, their time has come and more and more of them topple every year. They are so big and so tall, that they fall like enormous dominoes, mowing great swaths of tangled destruction. In places, the woods of my childhood are unrecognizable.

As I clip greens in the apocalyptic landscape I wonder about the increasingly savage storms. Our modern human roots feel as shallow as the trees. I worry for my two twenty-something daughters, one of whom is clambering through the fallen trunks like a forest elf. Then the sharp scent of the cut branches brings me back to what my ancestors knew that I forget: that evergreens in the winter remind us of the presence of the Life Force in everything—even death. I take great solace in these ancient rituals, for they are a tenuous thread of the fabric that once held our world together. I believe that even simple rituals like these can work to reweave life’s fabric and strengthen our shallow roots against coming storms. And when we fill our house with Evergreen’s wildness and scent, we remember that embedded in the dark moment of Solstice is the seed of the journey back toward the light.

Lindy Gifford lives on, and learns from, the Damariscotta River. She is the mother of two smart, independent daughters and has been successfully married for 38 years. She has worked as an archeologist, photographer, artist, and graphic designer and was ordained an interfaith chaplain in 2015 by the Chaplaincy Institute of Maine (ChIME). She is Reflectionary editor, the author of Doodle-ography Journal doodle-ography.com, and soul proprietor of manifestidentity.com, helping people publish books and websites.

Ever Green photograph (taken at Christmas Cove!) by Lindy Gifford

Spiritual Path as a Family Story

By Khenmo Drolma,

Often when we tell the life story of the Buddha we begin with Buddha/Siddhartha leaving his family, just after his child was born, to find enlightenment.  As westerners, we hear this story through the lens of our culture and conflate it with the classic “hero’s journey” or see it as abandonment, lacking in compassion. One of four major holidays in the Tibetan tradition, Lha Bab Duchen, depicts Buddhas return to our realm after teaching his mother in the Tushita heaven realm. On Lha Bab Duchen, we understand that we are telling a family story.

As we expand our picture of Buddha’s spiritual life, we see that it also includes his aunt, Mahaprajnapati, his wife Yasodhara among his most accomplished disciples. Both attained enlightenment and they represent the realities of many women’s lives.  Yasodhara, his wife, knowingly supported the unique conditions that allowed Siddhartha to achieve his potential, enlightenment.  Understanding the benefit for all beings, she let him go.  Mahaprajnapati, his aunt, raised Prince Siddhartha as a child (before he became the Buddha) and accepted the responsibility of ruling the country as queen after her husband died. She accepted a life of responsibility due to compassion. Completing worldly responsibilities, Mahaprajapati became the first nun and Yasodhara followed her. They became enlightened practicing within the nun’s community.

These women became enlightened, equal in spiritual understanding. The subtle teaching of this holiday is non dual understanding of spiritual capacity among genders and differences. There is no lesser Enlightenment, there is realization and nonrealization. We are all the hero journeying in our own unique way towards recognizing our inner perfection and we are at the same time interconnected.

Abbess of Vajra Dakini Nunnery, Ven. Khenmo Konchog Nyima Drolma has studied with the foremost Buddhist teachers of our time. She was ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1997 after a distinguished career at the Maine College of Art as a professor of sculpture. After completing philosophy studies and solitary retreats, she was given the responsibility of abbess. She teaches the Buddha Dharma internationally, with an emphasis in the practical application in daily life. In addition, she has created a Tibetan Nun Leadership Program and is the International Chair of a historic monastic gathering in India in 2020. www.VajraDakiniNunnery.org

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