Session 2: Everyday Theology

Session Metadata

Session	2
Title	Everyday Theology
UU Source	Direct Experience
Unit	1st Source: Direct Experience
Head / Hands / Heart	Head
Has Exercise	No
Has Ritual	No
Has Spiritual Practice Presentation	No
Special Blocks	None

Preparation

Email to Participants

I so appreciated our first session together! Thank you for sharing and for listening. For our next meeting on [date], we’ll be talking about the first source of Unitarian Universalism:

Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life.

Before our session, please read the following:

“Holy Now” Peter Mayer. Lyrics can be found here.
“Primal Reverence” by Rev. Kendyl Gibbons (long but worth it)
“Things Commonly Believed Among Us” by William Channing Gannett
“Everyday Theology” by Sara Smalley.
If you have To Wake To Rise: Meditations on Justice and Resilience edited by William G. Sinkford, read Gretchen Haley’s “Change my Heart” (p. 5).

Also use your UU Wellspring journal to reflect on the following questions:

As you read the above, note quotes and ideas that especially resonate with you. How do those ideas help you see your life more clearly?
If you had access, what feelings arose in you when reading about Gretchen Haley’s experience in the Denver Women’s Prison? Or, if you listened to “Holy Now,” Peter Meyer sings about how his view on spirituality changed from when he was a child. How do you embody spirituality now?
What does everyday theology mean to you? What is your everyday theology?
Is there a Unitarian Universalist theology? What binds us together as a faith community?
What does “direct experience of transcending mystery and wonder” mean to you? Is it a part of your daily life? Should it be? Or is it powerful because it’s rare?

You might want to check in to the UU Wellspring Facebook********Pagefor Spiritual Practices and UU Wellspring Community.

Looking forward to seeing you all!

Session Plan

Chalice Lighting and Silence

Our openings words are “What Song” by Rev. Victoria Safford.

“What if there were a universe in which a world was born out of a smallish star, and into that world (at some point) flew red-winged blackbirds, and into it swam whales, and into it came crocuses, and wind to lift the tiniest hairs on naked arms in spring when you run out to the mailbox, and into it at some point came onions, out of soil, and came Mount Everest, and also the coyote we’ve been seeing in the woods about a mile from here, just after sunrise in these mornings when the moon is full?… And into that world came animals and elements and plants, and imagination…”

If such a universe existed and you noticed it, what would you do? What song would come out of your mouth, what prayer, what praises, what sacred offering, what whirling dance, what religion, and what reverential gesture would you make to greet that world, every single day that you were in it?

You might choose to play music during part of the meditation. One suggestion is “Everything Is Holy Now” by Peter Meyer or Carrie Newcomer’s “I Believe.” Please set it up in advance to move past ads. You can play “Audio Only” by going to the share screen, choose “Share Computer Sound” in the bottom left, “Advanced” at the top of the screen and “Music or Computer Sound Only.” Then begin the video or audio on your computer.

Let’s take a few minutes of silence to bring ourselves fully into this circle.

Check-In

For facilitators: Again, this is a good time to reassure your group that, with time, silence during UU Wellspring meetings will start to feel less and less awkward and more and more sacred. Encourage participants to be their natural selves, looking into the center or at the participants, but not to respond verbally.

You may want to remind participants that this is a SPIRITUAL check-in, not about one’s life in general.

What are you carrying in your heart? How is your spiritual practice or spiritual companioning going?

Covenant Review

For facilitators: Based on your group, you might choose to read the covenant regularly or share it in some way. There may be times this feels unnecessary, but it offers participants a chance to address any concerns before they become bigger problems.However, if it becomes rote, with no response, you may want to visit it less regularly.

Have copies of the covenant for everyone in the group so you can either refer to it or read it together.

Anything about the covenant that we should address?

Reflection

Today we’re talking about the first source of Unitarian Universalism. I just want to give you a heads up that next week we’ll be talking more in-depth about our spiritual journeys, so know that we don’t have to cover everything today!

The first source is:

Direct**experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life.

Some possible reflection questions:

As you read the above, note quotes and ideas that especially resonate with you. How do those ideas help you see your life more clearly?
What feelings arose in you when reading about Gretchen Haley’s experience in the Denver Women’s Prison? (From TWTR if. you had it) or listened to “Holy Now?” How have you embodied spirituality?
What does everyday theology mean to you? What is your everyday theology?
Is there a Unitarian Universalist theology? What binds us together as a faith community?
What does “direct experience of transcending mystery and wonder” mean to you? Is it a part of your daily life? Should it be? Or is it powerful because it’s rare?

So What?

What does this reflection call you to do? In our circle? In your life?

Gratitude and Closing

Have everyone focus on the chalice. Each person, as moved, says one or two words about something from this session for which they are grateful or how they are feeling in this moment. After everyone has said a word, close with a brief statement of thanks and appreciation such as, “For all this and more, we are grateful.”