Author Archives: unitarian reform

12/22/09

Liturgical Calendar Graphic Added

A new graphic depicting the American Unitarian Reform liturgical calendar has been added to AUR’s LC page.  The chart shows the 10-Day Gap, and the rough dates for the Four Great Thursdays: Harvest (or Thanksgiving) Thursday, Garden (or Gethsemane) Thursday, Ascension Thursday, and Declaration Thursday.

Please note, of course, that the seasons from Carnival through Pentecost can vary broadly from year to year.

A rough depiction of the liturgical calender; note that many seasons move from year to year.

12/13/09

The Importance of Christmas

Today is St. Lucia’s Day, the first of the 12 Days of Light honoring the Star of Bethlehem.  Time to put up the lit decorations!  But, also a good time to reflect on the importance of Christmas.

A celebration of the Nativity was never a foregone conclusion in Christianity. Tertullian’s list of major holidays among North African Christians in the 2nd Century makes no mention of Jesus’s birthday. Origen specifically denounced the idea of celebrating the birth of Jesus in the 3rd Century as something more fitting to the followers of a “pharaonic king.”

Despite this evidence that the earliest Christians did not observe Christmas, ironically some have used the December 25th celebration of the Nativity as “proof” that Jesus was a fictional character, invented as the last in a long series of sun gods considered by ancient mystics to be born/reborn on the Winter Solstice.

While this absurd and counter-factual argument holds no water historically, the evidence certainly does demonstrate that aspects of this pre-existing Middle Eastern holiday were added to Christian worship just as northern European traditions associated with Yuletide—including the tree—were also later adapted to Christianity.

Indeed, Christmas continues to accrete moving imagery and morally-instructive traditions (like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) even today.

Continue reading →

12/12/09

Unitarian Reform’s Lady of Guadalupe

The AUR liturgical year opens with a series of holidays emphasizing the multi-cultural, multi-faith nature of American Reform Unitarian Christianity.

All Corners Day on November 12 honors “Pious Outsiders” from other nations and faiths.  The Thanksgiving season is famously devoted to peaceful cooperation between different ethnic and religious communities.  And, these holidays culminate on January 6 with Epiphany — the epitome of Christian syncretism — which commemorates the adoration of infant Jesus by the Magi, who were foreigners to Judea and members of a non-Abrahamic religion.

December 12, which is the last of the 12 Days of Gold commemorating Mary’s motherhood, is also in the tradition of inter-faith community.  On this day, in conjunction with Roman Catholics we honor the Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is believed by many scholars to be an exaptation of Aztec devotion to Tonantzin, meaning “Our Mother,” a title bestowed upon various divine female figures, similar to the Hindu term “Devi.”

Continue reading →

12/10/09

Happy Birthday, Emily

On this day in 1830 was born in Amherst, Massachussetts, a girl named Emily Dickinson, raised Unitarian, confirmed Christian as a teenager, and a veritable prophet who gave us a collection of poems that could rightfully be called America’s book of Psalms. 

Her simple yet profound spirituality — and her legendary reputation as a mysterious, ghostly personage that people referred to as “The Myth”  — place her prominently among the figures revered by the Reform. 

Below are reproduced some of her insightful lines, followed by perhaps her most inspired poem: Continue reading →

12/6/09

We Forgive You, Saint Nicholas

Nicholas of Myra punching Bishop Arius at the Council of Nicaea

Nicholas of Myra punching Bishop Arius at the Council of Nicaea

Today is Saint Nicholas Day!

While it is widely known that the Santa Claus of Christmas is derived from St. Nicholas, few know much about the original Saint Nick beyond the fact that he did not live at the North Pole, own flying reindeer, or employ a workshop full of elves.

Nicholas of Myra was a political ally of Athanasius of Alexandria during the Church intrigues of the 4th Century and, like Athanasius, he is rumored to have come into power at an absurdly young age through dubious means.

Fast Track to Bishop

The legend begins with Nicholas as a young man on his way back home to Asia Minor (what we now call Turkey) either from studying in Egypt at Alexandria or from visiting Jerusalem.  While still at sea, as the tale goes, he rescued an overboard sailor.  Or, perhaps he calmed a sea storm with his prayers.  To put it mildly, the stories differ.   His ship then made port in the city of Myra.

Just before Nicholas arrived, the bishop of Myra had died and one of the city’s church leaders was instructed in a dream to choose a “conqueror” as the next bishop.  You or I might be suspicious of such an instruction, not necessarily assuming its Divine origin even if we did accept it as a message from a supernatural source.  But, the church leaders of Myra were not so cynical.

The root of the Greek name Nicholas (Νικόλαος) is nike, meaning “conquest” or “victory,” so when sailors astounded at the exploits of this youth spread the name Nicholas around Myra, the leaders of the church felt they had no choice but to elect the young Nicholas as bishop.

Continue reading →

11/29/09

Andrew, Advent, and Annunciation

The Reform celebrates the transition from November to December with the feast of St. Andrew on November 30th (honoring the first disciple of Jesus) and Advent/Annunciation on December 1st.

This differs significantly from other Christian traditions, which celebrate Advent four Sundays before Christmas, and celebrate the Annunciation (the day on which Mary was told by the Angel Gabriel that she would conceive Jesus) on 25 March, a materialist nine months of gestation prior to Christmas.

For the Reform, the historical placement of the Annunciation is not as important as the inspirational role it plays as part of the Nativity story.   By observing this herald of the Nativity together with Advent, AUR brings the entire narrative of the birth of Jesus together in one ritual season, setting aside December as a month of preparing for new beginnings: the beginning of the life of Christ, the beginning of the age of the Tree of Life, and the beginning of the new year when December finally turns over to January.

And, on the Eve of Annunciation, as disciples of Christ we celebrate St. Andrew, the first disciple of Christ.

Reform Unitarian Advent is also the traditional feast day of St. Eligius, patron of goldsmiths, giving us the start of the first Dozen of the Advent/Christmas season: the Twelve Days of Gold celebrating Mary as the Mother of Jesus, which ends with the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12th.

Now is the time for unlit Christmas decorations, and for placing Mary and the Angel in the crèche!

(NOTE: Our Lady’s Day falls on Thursday in 2009, setting the observation of the Twelve Days of Gold to Thursday the 5th.)

11/22/09

Notional American Unitarian Reform Church No. 6

This is the sixth in a series of light-hearted signs for hypothetical American Unitarian Reform churches, created using an online image generator. I hope to show a range of attitudes and ideas all possible within the scope of AUR.

The sign for today’s notional church, Unity Christian, announces guest speakers from other faiths for Harvest Thursday, here called Thanksgiving Thursday to avoid confusion. Harvest Thursday is the only one of the Four Great Thursdays of American Unitarian Reform.

Significantly, the guest speakers are from Islam and Judaism, for whom Unitarian Christianity creates a continuity of true monotheism.

11/1/09

All Hallows Begins Again the Liturgical Year

AllSaintsToday is the beginning of the Twelve Days of Piety, a holiday AUR shares with other Christians: All Hallows Day, the commemoration of all Saints, known and unknown.

On this day, we honor those who have died after long and pious lives, or who have sacrificed their lives for a good and just cause.  For AUR, this means not only a list of officially accepted Saints, but anyone who has expressed a remark-worthy excess of virtue in the way they lived or died.

Tomorrow, All Souls Day, is the Memorial Day of AUR, when we honor all of the departed and meditate on the meaning of death.  The Twelve Days of Piety end on All Corners Day — which falls on a Thursday this year! — when American Reform Unitarians specifically honor the virtuous in other nations and other faith communities.

10/16/09

The Cloud of Knowing

The AUR blog has been offline for a while to attend to personal issues, and as a sign that it is coming back here is a word cloud (thanks to wordle!) of the blog so far:

AUR

07/2/09

Notional American Unitarian Reform Church No. 5

This is the fifth in a series of light-hearted signs for hypothetical American Unitarian Reform churches, created using an online image generator. I hope to show a range of attitudes and ideas all possible within the scope of AUR.

The sign for today’s notional church, Unity Christian, announces a “Seven Year Jubilee” for Declaration Thursday. Declaration Thursday is the only one of the Four Great Thursdays that has a date traditionally associated with it, and every seven years when the 4th of July falls on Declaration Thursday, this is celebrated as the Jubilee!

Sadly, the last Jubilee in 2008 was skipped over due to the leap year. The next will take place in 2013.

05UnityChristian