01/12/11

The 6th Day of Defiance – John Hancock Day

john_hancock_signature_civics January 12th is John Hancock Day for American Unitarian Reform, the 6th Day of Defiance on the AUR Winterval Season liturgical calendar.

Not only was John Hancock a prominent Unitarian Christian, but he has become iconic in American culture for a single, famous act that has out-shined (or over-shadowed, depending on your point-of-view) everything else he did during the Revolution: he signed his name almost absurdly large on the Declaration of Independence.

He has become so iconic, in fact, that his name has become slang for “signature.”

The moral lesson to be drawn from the icon of Hancock is the importance of committing oneself publicly to a good cause, regardless of the consequences. At the time, Hancock’s signature was an act of sedition, and he was putting his own life at risk. By making his decision known in such a public and non-repudiable manner, he was enacting a sort of ritual, the same sort we see at weddings, confirmations, and in oath-taking like that in presidential inaugurations. Continue reading →

01/11/10

John Hancock Day – The 6th Day of Defiance

john_hancock_signature_civics January 12th is John Hancock Day for American Unitarian Reform, the 6th Day of Defiance on the AUR Interval Season liturgical calendar.

Not only was John Hancock a prominent Unitarian, but he has become iconic in American culture for a single, famous act that has out-shined (or over-shadowed, depending on your point-of-view) everything else he did during the Revolution: he signed his name almost absurdly large on the Declaration of Independence.

He has become so iconic, in fact, that his name has become slang for signature.

The moral lesson to be drawn from the icon of Hancock is the importance of committing oneself publicly to a good cause, regardless of the consequences. At the time, Hancock’s signature was an act of treason, and he was putting his own life at risk. By making his decision known in such a public and non-repudiable manner, he was enacting a sort of ritual, the same sort we see at weddings, confirmations, and in oath-taking like that in presidential inaugurations. Continue reading →

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.

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

06/29/09

Declaration Thursday

[originally posted 03 July 2008]

AUR celebrates Four Great Thursdays, two for the universal expression of virtue and two for the specifically American expression of virtue.

On Garden Thursday, Jesus celebrated a feast with his disciples and, later in the Garden of Gethsemane, recognized the contingent nature of human life by accepting his fate: “If it be Your will, take this cup from me; nevertheless, Your will be done.” This feast day was followed by the violence of the Passion. AUR celebrates this Thursday as a Feast Day and a day of commitment to the contingent condition of the individual life.

On Thanksgiving in 1621, two worlds met in Massachusetts: the Old World represented by the Pilgrims and the New World represented by the Wampanoag. Rather than one group dominating the other in oligarchy, they met as brothers and sisters. It was a moment of human community that, unfortunately, was followed by violence. AUR celebrates this Harvest Thursday as a Feast Day and a day of commitment to the contingent place of each social group.

On Ascension Thursday, 11 disciples gathered to witness Jesus rise up to Heaven. Here they received the Great Commission to spread the Christian message to all humanity. AUR observes this Thursday as a reminder of our duty to spread the message of personal liberation.

On a Thursday in Philadelphia, 1776, 11 colonies (New York abstained) sided with the Massachusetts delegation to declare to the world the right of human beings to rise up against oligarchy. Charged with writing a document announcing the reasons for the colonies’ rebellion, Virginia delegate Thomas Jefferson went beyond this and declared rights for all humanity. AUR observes this Declaration Thursday, the first Thursday in July, as a reminder of our duty to spread the message of social liberation.

HAPPY DECLARATION THURSDAY!

03/5/09

Thursday Observance

AUR views itself as a particularly American and Unitarian Christian expression of the universal search for Truth. Just as the earliest Christian communities struggled with the question of Saturday or Sunday worship (the outcome of which is disputed even today by Seventh Day Adventists) and Muslims took Friday as their Day of Gathering, the Reform sought a weekday that honors the particulars of its idiom. Continue reading →

01/12/09

John Hancock Day – Time to Put Your Name on the Line

john_hancock_signature_civics Today is John Hancock Day for Americian Unitarian Reform, the 6th Day of Defiance on the AUR Interval Season liturgical calendar.

Not only was John Hancock a prominent Unitarian, but he has become iconic in American culture for a single, famous act that has outshined (or overshadowed, depending on your point-of-view) everything else he did during the Revolution: he signed his name almost absurdly large on the Declaration of Independence.