What are your "sources"?

[Mendalla]

In UU'ism, as mentioned before, we have six "Sources of our Living Tradition". They are, quoting directly from the UUA website:

• 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;
• Words and deeds of prophetic people which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
• Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
• Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
• Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
• Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

I argued in a sermon many years ago (preached in two different UU churches) that no UU has every single piece of religious or philosophical writing as a "source", but that each engages with the various sources in different ways and generally finds some more inspiring than others, creating a kind of "personal scripture" of the ones that have become meaningful or important to them. Some may draw on the Bible, some from the Hindu scriptures, some from a secular school of philosophy, some from a mish-mash, and so on.

What are your "sources"? Do you have a single source for your spirituality (e.g. the Bible) or do you draw on others? How do you decide what is truly spiritual and what is just informative?

 

[Mendalla]

Oh, and this is not about fighting for the "truth" of yours or any other scripture, but about what you find inspiring and meaningful. We must accept going in that not everyone is going to have the same answer and that all answers are valid here. This thread is about learning about and from each other, not debating the merits of each other's sources. Asking questions, sure, but in the spirit of learning, not trying to dissect and destroy.

 

[Luce NDs]

Especially like the broad-based conception as a wider vision ... and thus not trapped into going off the edge without learning something about the nature of abyss? Tis a profound Eire ... with considerable depth!

 

[BetteTheRed]

I like the bible, all of it, including the Apocrypha, and that, in my favourite Inclusive Bible translation, is a primary source for me (although I also use a Oxford NSRV because of all of the good notes). However, equally important to me are writings about theology. I like to know what Spong and Crossan and Fox and newer theologians, like Nadia Bolz-Weber and Bruce Sanguin, THINK about scripture and the direction our religion has headed BECAUSE of how we think about scripture.

 

[Seeler]

The Bible
The writing of many more recent theologians
Personal experience of the Spirit
The traditions and teaching of the church
The gathering of the congregaion

Not necessarily in that order and not limited to this list.

 

[Luce NDs]

Plus more ancient perspectives from meso time ...

 

[Kimmio Laughterlove]

The bible is central, my starting point - maybe that would be different if I was born somewhere else. I'm a universalist Christian and I think spiritual inspiration and compatibility with Christ's message can be found in all kinds of sources, including secular sources. God, and insight about God, can't be contained to the pages of the Bible.

I recently watched the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, about Freddie Mercury. His family was Zoroastrian. I have never met a Zoroastrian. I looked it up and there was nothing I found controversial with the bit I read. Also, from there, I looked up Baha'i which is also universalist, and interesting. Looks like there's a pretty active Baha'i (sp?) community doing good things here. I guess my sources have to have a universalist message that's compatible with universalist Christianity. Nothing else makes sense with regard to the God I believe in.

 

[Mendalla]

. I have never met a Zoroastrian

They are fairly rare today. It was the religion of the old Persian Empire and largely disappeared when Persia became Muslim. The Parsees in India are the only remaining practitioners that I know of, those I suppose there could still be some left in Iran, the modern Persian state. Basically a dualistic worldview with Ahura-mazda on the light side and Ahriman on the dark. The Magi in the Christmas story were Zoroastrian priests/astrologers.

 

[Jae]

My source is the 66 books of The Holy Bible. I usually read the WYC and NLV versions.

I consider the books of the Apocrypha interesting and useful for some teaching but nowhere on the same level as the Bible's 66.

Sources I use to help me understand The Bible include various commentaries, Study Bible notes, writings of missional Christian theologians, the writings found in Concordia, sermons by Christian leaders I trust, and discussions with Christian friends, family members, and people like professors and spiritual directors. Oh, and folk right here on WC2 have helped at times too.

I also have personal experiences with the Spirit of God.

 

[Waterfall]

I use the Bible, listen to other theologians and lately I've been exploring the gnostic books to see what and why some of these books were rejected. I also look at ancient religions before Christianity....their similarities and differences. Ancient Historians also help to put some stories in perspective especially around the time of Jesus, and prior and beyond his death. Fascinated on how our Bible came to be and how Jesus' divinity emerged (declared) or always was.
Another curiousity is how literal translations of the biblical books came about. (a fairly recent anomoly)
I long for a discovery of a book that was actually written by Jesus.... far fetched possibly, but maybe not.

 

[Mendalla]

Now to answer my own question.

I was raised in Christianity so naturally The Bible is a very influential source for me to this day. As others have said, there's also a variety of commentators and interpreters that have influence my view of the Bible and how I interpret it.

However, unlike some, I don't stop at The Bible.

From the religious side, Taoism and Hinduism have been big influences, providing worldviews quite different from that of my Christian upbringing that nonetheless influenced my worldview. In particular, Lao Tzu, the root text of Taoism, and the Gita.

Philosophically, I developed an interest in the Hellenistic schools of philosophy, particularly Epicureanism but also Stoicism to some degree. I find that Stoicism is rising, too. It seems a philosophy suited to one starting to wrestle with age and mortality and I follow a Twitter account called Daily Stoic which tweets quotes from Epictetus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius and other authors in that tradition.

Then there's science. That may seem an odd choice for a spiritual source, but learning about the universe, its origins, and how it works has really influenced my sense of who we are as a species and our place in the universe. Obviously, popular science writers/commentators like Neil Degresse Tyson and Carl Sagan play heavily into that. Sagan, in particular has had a big impact on my sense of our place in existence through things like Cosmos (esp. Who Speaks for Earth?, the final chapter) and Pale Blue Dot.

In the end, of course, it kind of comes back to that first UU source, "Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder...and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life." I am most influenced by sources that either direct or support my sense of my place in reality. Moments from my journey have been sources as much as any book or writer or religion. Hiking in the desert, standing on the edge of a smoldering volcanic crater, looking out from a mountain or other high spot, standing in a place of quiet beauty, holding a newborn baby. In some ways, those are the real sources of my spirituality.

 

[Jae]

...I follow a Twitter account called Daily Stoic which tweets quotes from Epictetus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius and other authors in that tradition.

I read Daily Stoic's daily emails.

 

[Waterfall]

Now to answer my own question.

I was raised in Christianity so naturally The Bible is a very influential source for me to this day. As others have said, there's also a variety of commentators and interpreters that have influence my view of the Bible and how I interpret it.

However, unlike some, I don't stop at The Bible.

From the religious side, Taoism and Hinduism have been big influences, providing worldviews quite different from that of my Christian upbringing that nonetheless influenced my worldview. In particular, Lao Tzu, the root text of Taoism, and the Gita.

Philosophically, I developed an interest in the Hellenistic schools of philosophy, particularly Epicureanism but also Stoicism to some degree. I find that Stoicism is rising, too. It seems a philosophy suited to one starting to wrestle with age and mortality and I follow a Twitter account called Daily Stoic which tweets quotes from Epictetus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius and other authors in that tradition.

Then there's science. That may seem an odd choice for a spiritual source, but learning about the universe, its origins, and how it works has really influenced my sense of who we are as a species and our place in the universe. Obviously, popular science writers/commentators like Neil Degresse Tyson and Carl Sagan play heavily into that. Sagan, in particular has had a big impact on my sense of our place in existence through things like Cosmos (esp. Who Speaks for Earth?, the final chapter) and Pale Blue Dot.

In the end, of course, it kind of comes back to that first UU source, "Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder...and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life." I am most influenced by sources that either direct or support my sense of my place in reality. Moments from my journey have been sources as much as any book or writer or religion. Hiking in the desert, standing on the edge of a smoldering volcanic crater, looking out from a mountain or other high spot, standing in a place of quiet beauty, holding a newborn baby. In some ways, those are the real sources of my spirituality.

Agree with much of this, except maybe the last paragraph. Nature confirms God to me, but as amazing as it is, I suspect God is so much more than His creation.

 

[Mendalla]

Agree with much of this, except maybe the last paragraph. Nature confirms God to me, but as amazing as it is, I suspect God is so much more than His creation.

Since I waffle between pantheism and panentheism, sometimes I see Nature as Divine and sometimes I see The Divine in Nature. Hope that makes sense . Either way, I am very much an advocate for seeing the presence of God, or at least God's power, in the world around me and its been a powerful source of revelation to me over the years.

 

[Mendalla]

Philosophically, I developed an interest in the Hellenistic schools of philosophy, particularly Epicureanism but also Stoicism to some degree. I find that Stoicism is rising, too. It seems a philosophy suited to one starting to wrestle with age and mortality and I follow a Twitter account called Daily Stoic which tweets quotes from Epictetus, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius and other authors in that tradition.

Then there's science. That may seem an odd choice for a spiritual source, but learning about the universe, its origins, and how it works has really influenced my sense of who we are as a species and our place in the universe. Obviously, popular science writers/commentators like Neil Degresse Tyson and Carl Sagan play heavily into that. Sagan, in particular has had a big impact on my sense of our place in existence through things like Cosmos (esp. Who Speaks for Earth?, the final chapter) and Pale Blue Dot.

One quick further comment on this:

Epicurus was very big on the importance of science. He believed that the best life was one free of physical and mental suffering and that much of the latter was caused by ignorance about the world and our place in it. Thus, he encouraged learning about the universe. In fact, the Roman writer Lucretius who gave us On the Nature of Things (basically an ancient Latin Cosmos) was an Epicurean and wrote the book from that perspective. Now, my interest in science came long before I discovered Epicureanism but I suspect that prior interest in understanding the universe was a factor in drawing me to Epicureanism.

 

[BetteTheRed]

Then there's science. That may seem an odd choice for a spiritual source, but learning about the universe, its origins, and how it works has really influenced my sense of who we are as a species and our place in the universe. Obviously, popular science writers/commentators like Neil Degresse Tyson and Carl Sagan play heavily into that. Sagan, in particular has had a big impact on my sense of our place in existence through things like Cosmos (esp. Who Speaks for Earth?, the final chapter) and Pale Blue Dot.

In the end, of course, it kind of comes back to that first UU source, "Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder...and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life." I am most influenced by sources that either direct or support my sense of my place in reality. Moments from my journey have been sources as much as any book or writer or religion. Hiking in the desert, standing on the edge of a smoldering volcanic crater, looking out from a mountain or other high spot, standing in a place of quiet beauty, holding a newborn baby. In some ways, those are the real sources of my spirituality.

This.

 

[Jae]

Hiking in the desert, standing on the edge of a smoldering volcanic crater, looking out from a mountain or other high spot, standing in a place of quiet beauty, holding a newborn baby. In some ways, those are the real sources of my spirituality.

I love such moments of wonder too but I don't consider them a source of spirituality. Rather, I reflect on how great I believe the God is who I hold created such as deserts, craters, mountains and humans.

 

[You just never know]

To some extent the Bible, but it can be annoying more than enlightening a lot of the time. I find spiritual writers to be more interesting than a specific source like the Bible, Koran or Bhagavad Gita. So some writer/theologians I find inspiring would be Thomas Merton, Sara Miles, Matthew Fox, Mary Jo Leddy, Richard Rohr, Tom Harpur. Also, find enlightenment riding my bike when I am "in the zone" on a long ride on a warm summer day.

 

[Luce NDs]

I love such moments of wonder too but I don't consider them a source of spirituality. Rather, I reflect on how great I believe the God is who I hold created such as deserts, craters, mountains and humans.

You mean god's not out there ... the abyss was left devoid of gravity? Ain't that just the ultimate of gravitas ... a hard place ... abysmal! Place enta all that fell out ... the myth repeats on differing dimensions ...

 

[Luce NDs]

To some extent the Bible, but it can be annoying more than enlightening a lot of the time. I find spiritual writers to be more interesting than a specific source like the Bible, Koran or Bhagavad Gita. So some writer/theologians I find inspiring would be Thomas Merton, Sara Miles, Matthew Fox, Mary Jo Leddy, Richard Rohr, Tom Harpur. Also, find enlightenment riding my bike when I am "in the zone" on a long ride on a warm summer day.

Sometimes one gets so entangled that one doesn't like it because you're so intuit that it becomes unconscious ... sort of like a Shadow persona! Thus that abysmal sense of unknown ... when the alternate selves eliminate you from their thoughts!

Solution! Pop-up where and when they least have expectations ... haunt their cognizance! Best done in the dark at 4 in the morning or something like that --- Merle Haggard!

"It's 4 in the morning and once more the Don-in has woken the longing in me" why the subconscious wanders the abyss at night while bohemians rest ... a rare symphony? Some claim it a place to tip a rare E! That's (chi) or the unknown (X) in some mythology! Other's even say mythology is untouchable as it is just fantasyland ... like a drifting soul/mind/self/echo 've egos on wing! Tis a flighty essence ... with feather touch that could be quilled out ... pin feathers? That prickly sensation ...