Find Your Calling

Practice of the Week
Find Your Calling

Category: Occasional. These are practices suggested for "every once in a while." Some of them are responses to a particular need that may arise; others are simply enriching occasional enhancements to the spiritual life. All of them are worth a try at least once. And any of them might become a regular and central part of your spiritual practice.

"The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you need to do and (b) that the world needs to have done. If you really get a kick out of your work, you've presumably met requirement (a), but if your work is writing cigarette ads, the chances are you've missed requirement (b). On the other hand, if your work is being a doctor in a leper colony, you have probably met requirement (b), but if most of the time you're bored and depressed by it, the chances are you have not only bypassed (a), but probably aren't helping your patients much either. Neither the hair shirt nor the soft berth will do. The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet." (Frederick Buechner)

What is your calling?
Is a new calling trying to be heard?
Try the "Billion-Dollar List" test!

adapted from Jonathan Robinson, Find Happiness Now

Imagine you suddenly won or inherited a billion dollars. What would you do? Maybe you'd throw a big party, take your dream vacation, buy a nice house. Then what?

Retire? You might think you'd want to retire, but most billionaires continue to passionately pursue their work. In fact, the one thing rich people tend to have in common is that they love their work. By imagining what you'd do with a billion dollars, it's possible to gain a better idea of what you yearn to do in the world, the important work that you are called to offer the world.

When you become clear about what you really love to do and what you consider to be important work, you become more focused and capable. Twenty-five years ago, I was living in a 1967 Dodge van, making $400 a month. It seemed unlikely I would ever have a bestselling book and speak to millions of people a year. Yet, by consistently pursuing what I love, it happened. Even if I didn't make much money or have much success in my field, I would still be enjoying what I do. I love teaching and writing. I'd definitely do it for free. Had I made the mistake of pursuing a different line of work just to make a lot of money, I'd probably be miserable. Many people make the error of putting their desire for money before their desire for meaningful work. Usually they end up paying a big price. Yet by figuring out what you'd do with a billion dollars, you can easily learn and start to pursue your true passions in life.

A billion dollars is one thousand million bucks. That's a lot of money. Would you want to help end starvation? Would you go into politics? Would you become a writer, inventor, or musician? What line of work seems like it's so fun or so important that you'd gladly do it for free? Take a few minutes now and write down a few answers to that question.

When I first looked over my billion dollar list, I became a bit depressed. After all, I wasn't doing any of the things I had written down. I had never done any writing, never been on TV and was afraid of public speaking. Yet I figured I'd start in small ways. I began by teaching a personal growth class to a few friends for free. I started writing things down just for my own benefit. As time passed, I got better at what I did. Before I knew it, people were paying for my workshops, publishers were buying my books, and TV producers were calling me to be on their shows. Since I really loved what I was doing, it was easy to be dedicated to it, even during times when I wasn't having much success.

Once you've written down what you'd do with a billion dollars, begin in small ways to incorporate some of those activities into your life. For example, if with a billion dollars you decided that you'd work to end the abuse of animals, then why not start to work in that area now? You don't need to quit your job to do that. You can begin by writing letters to your congressman, joining an animal rights group, or volunteering at an animal shelter. I know many people who started doing such things after they wrote out their Billion-Dollar List, and later found themselves in a paying job working for the cause for which they had previously volunteered.

The Billion-Dollar List helps you to think in a new, expanded manner. As you wrok in ways that are in line with your values and passion, you'll feel a sense of inner fulfillment. Many people report that initially making less money at a job is a small price to pay for work that is truly rewarding. Once you've made your list, you'll have a clearer sense of the direction you ultimately want to go in life.

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For list of all weekly practices: "Practices of the Week Index"

CUUC Music: Sun May 28

Music about love is featured this Sunday morning at CUUC, in recognition of the renewed wedding vows of Janet Press and Bob Indra. As a special treat, Janet’s granddaughter Isabella sings “A Whole New World” from Aladdin as part of the ceremony. Unitarian composer Edvard Grieg’s “Wedding Day at Troldhaugen” was written as a 25^th anniversary gift to the composer’s wife, evoking a Norwegian country wedding procession. Writing about “The Maiden and the Nightingale” Spanish composer Enrique Granados counseled interpreters to think more about the jealousy of a wife than the sadness of a widow. Felix Mendelssohn’s Song without Words known as “Duet” and Isaac Albéniz’s celebrated Tango in D both depict a couple’s intertwining voices. Read on for programming details.

Prelude: Adam Kent, piano
Quejas, ó La maja y el ruiseñor from Goyescas (Laments, or The Maiden and the Nightingale)
                                    Enrique Granados

Wedding Day at Troldhaugen, Op. 65, No. 6

                                    Edvard Grieg

Opening Music:
Tango in D

                                                            Isaac Albéniz

Offertory:
Song without Words in Ab Major, Op. 38, No. 6 “Duet”
                                    Felix Mendelssohn

Interlude: Isabella Okelberry, soprano

A Whole New World (Aladdin’s Theme from Walt Disney’s Aladdin)

                        Alan Menkin/Tim Rice

Music: Sun May 21

“What does the May monthly theme of ‘Joy’ have to do with ‘White Supremacy?’” you ask?

The joys of music, creativity, and self-expression can be an antidote to discrimination, as the CUUC Choir’s performances of “Shenandoah” and the Beatles’ hit “Good Day Sunshine” will suggest this Sunday morning. Solo piano selections include works by composers of African descent from the traditions of Ragtime and Spirituals, musical forms which gave hope and solace in times of oppression. Read on for programming details.

Prelude: Adam Kent, piano

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child             

                                                Traditional Spiritual, arr. by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Elite Syncopations

Maple Leaf Rag

                                                Scott Joplin

Anthem: CUUC Choir directed by Lisa N. Meyer and accompanied by Georgianna Pappas

Shenandoah     

American Folk Song, arr. by Brad Printz

Offertory:
Didn’t My Lord Deliver Daniel?

                                                Traditional Spiritual, arr. by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Anthem:
Good Day Sunshine     

John Lennon and Paul McCartney, arr. by Kirby Shaw

Art

Practice of the Week
Art

Category: Might Be Your Thing (This practice is not for everyone -- but may be just the thing for you!)

“The purpose of art is to lay bare the questions that have been concealed by the answers." --James Baldwin

Adapted from Julie-Ann Silberman, "Art," in Everyday Spiritual Practice

Artwork is my daily spiritual practice. My goal is not to create masterpieces, but to get more closely in touch with my interior spiritual life. In my life, I use words a lot, I read a lot, and I think a lot. I need a spiritual practice that will take me away from those things and get me in touch with what is happening at the core of my being.

I was a painter and an art major in college, but then my focus changed, and I left that behind. When my father died, I was sad and lonely and wanted to express the feelings raging inside me. I could feel an aching in my arms and heart. I could see images in my head, but I wasn’t letting them out. I needed a vehicle for the day in and day out process of grieving. So, I returned to the tried and true longing of my body. I went into my basement and dug up some old pastels and oil paints.

Buying new art supplies is part of the spirituality of art and one of the first steps to take in making artwork a spiritual practice. Buy supplies that excite you and that will work as a vehicle for your self-expression. The next step is to put your supplies out in a place where you spend a lot of time! If you spend time at your kitchen table, put the art supplies there. If you spend time in front of the TV, put them there. Initially, you are more likely to be able to tap into the creative aspects of your everyday spirituality if you try to create in the places where you usually spend time. Eventually you may want a special place for creating, but in the early stages of developing your spiritual discipline of creation, it is important that your practice be a part of your daily existence.

Spirituality is not about separating myself from my life. It is about getting more deeply in touch with the sacred in my daily living. Human life is sacred; therefore, what we do and how we fill our lives is sacred. So when you are doing your ordinary things, tap into the sacred. Listen to your soul. Use that to make your art.

Don't try initially to create representational art; rather, try to use color to express your feelings. Often I begin by closing my eyes. Usually in that darkness I see colors, and I begin with what my inner eye has selected. As I continue to work, I will frequently close my eyes and explore the image in my mind's eye, how it changes and develops. It is easier to change things in your head than it is on the paper or canvas. Perceiving images guided by inner awareness is important to understanding creation as a spiritual discipline.

Art as a spiritual discipline is the chosen need to find center. Finding center in an emotional sense is vital to the quality, depth, and meaning of your work, whatever the medium.

One of the pitfalls of art as a spiritual discipline is that others often expect us to display our work or to share it with them in one way or another. Creations that come out of an inner listening are intensely personal. They are every bit as difficult to share as journal entries, personal prayers, or the content of meditation. The advantage of those other disciplines is that very few people expect them to be shared in a public way. To keep your artwork for yourself takes some strength.

There may also come a time when you are ready to share your creations, and this too presents questions. Choosing to share your creations requires you to be comfortable with the work and its place in your life, so comfortable that the responses of others do not change the meaning or the place of the work in your own life and practice. When you are at this point, then you can decide how and with whom to share your work. We must remember that creativity is about the process, not the outcome, especially when it is being used as a spiritual discipline. Creativity is about the experience, the identifying and releasing of feelings and core responses to the world around us.

I have found artwork to be a very powerful spiritual discipline, one that has allowed me to reconnect with parts of myself that I had long negated and devalued. Having integrated artwork back into my life, I feel a sense of wholeness that I had lost. I have also chosen to share my work through a public showing and found it to be a powerful affirmation of the balance in my life. That balance was brought about in large measure for me through the spiritual practice of creativity.

No matter what media or methods you explore, or how you choose to share your art with others, personal authenticity is the most important aspect of art as a spiritual practice. Listen to yourself. There are no limits. Use what you have, experiment, and eventually find what you like. This spiritual practice is based on tangible, tactile responses. If you do not feel in touch with the medium, if it in any way holds you back from self-expression, get rid of it and try something new. If you don't like painting on canvas, try painting on rocks. If pastels on paper don't work for you, see if crayons on fabric do.

The most important things are to find yourself and to let it out. Pay attention to your dreams and the inner workings of your mind and even to the colors you see. The more you pay attention to what you see and how you respond to it, the more material you will have for your creative endeavors. Artistic expression is from the soul, and no one else knows what yours contains, so let it out in your own way.

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For list of all weekly practices: "Practices of the Week"

Music: Sun May 14

Jazz great Valerie Capers teams up with bassist extraordinaire John Robinson in a program of sensitively chosen and artistically re-imagined classics this Sunday at CUUC. Among Dr. Capers’ selections are several works selected in honor of Mother’s Day. The CUUC Choir is also on hand with inspirational numbers in folk and jazz idioms. Read on for programming details, and consider attending our Jazzfest! Concert next Saturday evening at 8pm for more of Val Capers’ enchanting music.

Prelude: Valerie Capers, piano; John Robinson, bass

Some Other Time

                                                            Leonard Bernstein

Opening Music:

A Child is Only a Moment

music and lyrics by Earl Brown

Interlude: CUUC Choir directed by Lisa N. Meyer and accompanied by Georgianna Pappas
Come in from the Firefly Darkness

Amy F. Bernon    

Offertory:
Isn’t She Lovely?

                                                Stevie Wonder

Interlude:

What A Wonderful World    Music by David Weiss, Lyrics by Bob Thiele, arr. by Mark Brymer  

Postlude:
In a Mellow Tone

                                                Duke Ellington

Enjoy Your Hands

Practice of the Week
Enjoy Your Hands

Category: Slogans to Live By: Practices for everyone to keep in mind and pay attention to. These practices don't require setting aside a separate substantial chunk of time. Just have the intention to grow stronger in each of these areas as you go about your day, and sometimes make one of them the focus of your daily journaling. The titles of these practices are guiding slogans to live by.

"Studies suggest that knitting - and crafting in general - can actually act as a natural anti-depressant, as well as reduce stress and even protect your brain from aging." -- The UK Daily Mail, 2014 Mar

"The real action of compassion is touch. . . . Regrettably, we are a touch-deprived culture in the west." -- Dacher Keltner

"To touch is to give life." -- Michelangelo

Adapted from Rick Hanson, Just One Thing.

Sometimes it's worth remembering the obvious: you engage the world with your body — often with your hands.

Human hands are unique in the animal kingdom in their dexterity and sensitivity. Their capacity for skilled action helped drive the evolution of the neural networks that handle sophisticated planning, decision-making, and self-control.

Your hands reach, touch, caress, hold, manipulate, and let go. They type, stir pots, brush hair, wash dishes, shift gears, scratch ears, open doors, throw stones, hold loved ones, and help you snuggle into bed. They may not be perfect, and with aging, they may sometimes be in pain, but they're always lovely and vital.

Appreciating your hands makes you appreciate living. Being mindful of them — paying attention to what they're feeling and doing — is a simple and available way to drop down into a more sensual, in-the-body connection with the world, including the people you touch.

How

Right now, take a moment to be aware of your hands. What are they doing? What are they touching? They are always touching something, if only the air. What are they sensing? Warm or cool? Hard or soft?

Move your fingertips. Notice how incredibly sensitive they are, with about 20,000 nerve endings per square inch. Play with the sensations of your fingers stroking your palm, your thumb touching each finger in turn, the fingers of one hand caressing the fingers of the other one.

Soak up the enjoyment your hands give you. Use your hands to draw you into pleasure such as the warmth of holding a cup of coffee, the relief of scratching an itchy head, or the satisfaction of getting a pesky button through its hole.

As appropriate, touch others more. Feel the grip of a handshake, a friend's shoulder, a lover's skin, a child's hair, a dog's or cat's fur.

Buddha Okays All Beings

Feel the skillfulness of your hands: steering a car, writing a note, replacing a lightbulb, sawing wood, planting bulbs, measuring garlic, peeling an onion. Feel their strength in holding a knife, making a fist, lugging a suitcase.

Watch your hands talk: pointing, rising and falling, opening and closing, thumbs-up, okay, waving hello and goodbye.

Many times a day, try to sink awareness into your hands.

Feel them feeling your life.

For Journaling

For your journaling today, copy this sentence into your journal: "Wow, my hand is amazing." As you copy it, pay close attention to how all the muscles of the hand coordinate their motion to allow you to write that sentence.

Make a list: "Things my hands did today that I wouldn't normally have paid any attention to at all."

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Dacher Keltner on touch:

Rick Hanson on enjoying your hands:

For list of all weekly practices: "Practices of the Week"

Music: Sun May 6

Floral imagery abounds in Sunday morning’s musical selections at CUUC this week, in celebration of our annual Flower Communion service. Sopranos Laura Sehdeva and Kim Force team up with Christian Force and Adam Kent in an arrangement of “The Rose”, popularized by Bette Midler. Elsewhere, a rag jointly composed by Scott Joplin and Louis Chauvin memorializes the heliotrope blossom, Tchaikovsky’s flowers waltz away, and Mendelssohn’s bees pollinate every bloom in sight at their wedding. Read on for programming details….

Prelude: Adam Kent, piano
Heliotrope Bouquet

                                                Scott Joplin and Louis Chauvin

Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker

                                    Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Story Music:
The Bees’ Wedding, Op. 67, No. 4

                                                Felix Mendelssohn

Offertory: Kim Force, Laura Sehdeva, Christian Force

The Rose

                                                            Amanda McBroom