Centering (5 minutes)

This is a time to make the transition from the busy world to the group experience. A member of the group may read these words from William Wordsworth:

And I have felt a presence that disturbs me with the joy of elevated thoughts;
A sense sublime of something far more deeply interfused,
Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean and the living air,
A motion and a spirit, that impels
All thinking things, all objects of thought,
And rolls through all things.

Check-in (10 to 25 minutes)

Each person in the group has the opportunity to share something about his or her life. What significant events have taken place recently in your life? Have you accomplished something meaningful to you? Have you experienced any losses or setbacks? Have you had any insights or new ideas?

Group Discussion (45 to 70 minutes)

Our spiritual theme for this month is Spirit. What do we mean by “spirit of life”? What do we mean by “spirituality”? What does it mean to be a “spiritual” person? What do we mean by “spiritual growth” and “spiritual maturity”?

For group discussion, please consider the questions associated with one or more of the following numbered sections. You need not address all of these sections, and you need not address them in this order.

1. Do you think of yourself as a spiritual person? Do you seek to cultivate this quality in yourself?

2. Are there moments or chapters in your life that produced memorable spiritual growth for you? Did you feel challenged during these moments or chapters?

3. How are spirituality and a commitment to social justice woven together for you? If spirituality has no connection with a commitment to social justice, is it worthwhile?

4. Scott Russell Sanders wrote, “No name is large enough to hold this power, but of all the inadequate names, the one that comes to me now is spirit. I know the risks of using such a churchy word. Believers may find me blasphemous for speaking of the wind that blows through all things without tracing the breath to God. Nonbelievers may find me superstitious for invoking any force beyond gravity, electromagnetism, and the binding energy of atoms. But I must run those risks, for I cannot understand the world, cannot understand my life without appealing to the force of spirit. If what I feel for my wife or her father and mother is only a by-product of hormones, then what I feel for swift rivers or slow turtles, for the shivering call of a screech owl or the green thrust of bloodroot breaking ground, is equally foolish. If we and the creatures who share the earth with us are only bundles of quarks in motion, however intricate or clever the shapes, then our affection for one another, our concern for other species, our devotion to wildness, our longing for union with the Creation are all mere delusions. I can’t prove it, but I believe we’re more than accidental bundles of quarks, more than matter in motion. Our fellowship with other creatures is real, our union with Creation is already achieved, because we all rise and fall on a single breath. You and I and the black-footed ferret, the earth, the sun, and the far-flung galaxies are dust motes in the same great wind. Whether we call that magnificent energy Spirit or Tao, Creator or God, Allah or Atman or some other holy name, or no name at all, makes little difference so long as we honor it. Wherever it flows – in person or place, in animal or plant or the whole of nature – we feel the pressure of the sacred, and that alone deserves our devotion.”

Do you believe that we are more than accidental bundles of quarks, more than matter in motion? Can you understand your life without reference to “the force of spirit”?

5. The nineteenth-century Unitarian minister Henry Hedge defined spirituality in this way: “Spirituality: living in the contemplation and pursuit of the highest; the habit of viewing all things in reference to the supreme good.”

Do you find it helpful to look at things from a “God’s eye” perspective?

6. James Hollis wrote, “Religion is for those who are afraid of going to hell; spirituality is for those who have been there.”

How does your personal experience shape your response to this statement?

7. Physicist Freeman Dyson wrote, “I believe that we are here to some purpose, that the purpose has something to do with the future, and that it transcends altogether the limits of present knowledge and understanding. If you like, you can call the transcendent purpose God. If it is God, it is a Socinian God, inherent in the universe and growing in power and knowledge as the universe unfolds. Our minds are not only expressions of its purpose but are also contributions to its growth.”

Would you agree? Can you understand God as immanent rather than transcendent? Can you think of God as growing in power and knowledge as the universe unfolds? Are you comfortable with the idea that our purpose transcends the limits of our present knowledge and understanding?

Conclusion (5 to 10 minutes)

What will you take away from this discussion? What would have made this time together more meaningful or satisfying to you? What did you enjoy?A group member may share these words from Nancy Wood:

Hold on to what is good even if it is a handful of earth.
Hold on to what you believe even if it is a tree which stands by itself.
Hold on to what you must do even if it is a long way from here.
Hold on to my hand even when I have gone away from you.