Issue 386 NEWSLETTER Nov/Dec 2009

Articles

John's Jottings
The President's Piece
The Minister's Musings
Reflections
Shinto: Back to the Future
All Quiet on the Western Front — Lest We Forget
On Bodhisattvas
The Mennonites
Letters to the Editor
Unitarian Women Who Made A Difference – Part 1
Significance and Triviality
NUF E-Learning
Web News
NEWS

JOHN'S JOTTINGS

Well, the British summer was mixed with sunshine and rain in equal measure. We are fortunate to live in a temperate climate. Most of the time it's like 'Baby Bear's porridge' (not too hot and not too cold, neither too dry nor too wet). The forecasters, despite all their technology, still can't predict with certainty. We have to 'see what the weather brings' in its unpredictability (even if we complain on occasion). Perhaps we take our good fortune for granted. We inhabit a largely benign part of the planet, well way from tectonic plate boundaries with earthquakes and volcanoes and tropical storms. As I write these jottings, I am mindful of the misfortunes of those in the Philippines, Vietnam and Cambodia stricken by typhoons and Sumatrans in Indonesia subject to a powerful earthquake causing loss of life and great devastation. I am sure our thoughts are with all those affected.

NUF members attended the NUF weekend on 18th-20th September at the Nightingale Centre, Hucklow. The weather was all 'Indian summer' warmth and sunshine. As I was one of the 'special guests', I hope I'm not blowing my own trumpet when I report a stimulating and enjoyable time was had by all. I took the role of Dr. Joseph Priestley, Joan Wilkinson took on the persona of Anna Laeititia Barbould and Tony McNeile remained Reverend but transmogrified into Theophilus Lindsey. We three contemporaries were outspoken, radical dissenters when it was 'impolitic' to be so. Each contributed significantly to Unitarianism, leaving a legacy to be cherished. Time shifting from the 18th to the 21st century, we met our fellow guests at a special house party. Perhaps the presence of the Psychical Society, who shared the building, assisted this 'resurrection'. The Newsletter editor has advised me that this issue is already filled so you'll get to know more about each of these influential characters in the next issue.

Whilst at Hucklow, several members had meditations recorded by Joan Wilkinson. These are to augment those done so ably by her and Tony McNeile. They were videoed for the NUF website. Do look out for them.

As I write, it is early October with Hallowe'en related goods in the shops. Like Christmas, it is being exploited for commercial gain with sight of the spiritual meaning often lost. Nevertheless, I don't want to be churlish and, as the next Newsletter goes out in January, may I wish you the compliments of the upcoming festive season.

As always, feel free to contact me at any time with your suggestions or concerns by letter, email or telephone

John Greenwood

THE PRESIDENT'S PIECE

'To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted - A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance -' (Ecclesiastes)

Being a natural lark I rise early and when I come downstairs the first thing I do is to unlock the front door. Then I always open it wide and stand for a while and look at the little wood on the opposite side of the road. It changes subtly as all living things do with the seasons. The world is quieter at this time of day for there are few humans about.

One morning in June, on a perfect day when the blue sky and the many shades of green of the trees filled my eyes, when everything looked new-washed and sparkling I heard a voice singing. I was wondering where it came from when into view pedaled a young woman cyclist singing with great spirit, as if she could not contain the joy of being alive. She passed by and did not see me. I shall long remember her.

In Autumn when the leaves were thinning so that I could see into the top path of the wood along came a portly matron escorted by a dog. She caught my eye because she was prancing and cavorting along the path in a most unusual manner. Then I realized that with her outstretched hands she was trying to catch a falling leaf to make a wish. I remember her with a smile.

So the seasons swing round. Now it is winter and darkness blankets all except when the moon is full and the sky cloudless. The only person about is Nigel the milkman who comes any time after 5.30 a.m. Owls hoot down the valley.

The darkness is welcome. It feels comforting and healing and in so many places it is driven away. When we have unexpected electricity cuts we light candles and wonder how earlier folk managed without our gadgets. Perhaps they truly welcomed a season of darkness and sleep after the toiling of the rest of the year.

Candles and lights and warmth are to the fore at our celebration of Christmas for at this time, in the darkest part of the year, as the seasons prepare to turn again, they mark the outflowing of warmth, fellowship and hospitality and peace which is most welcome.

Nearer Christmas itself up the dark lane by the trees the village brass band will come marching in good order, carrying lanterns and torches. They stop outside clusters of houses and as the lights glint on their instruments break into a roaring blast of 'Hail Smiling Morn' and other carols. Another moment will be treasured.

I hope that when the seasons turn again towards Spring you can take with you many memories of 2009 into 2010. They may be memories of lightness or of darkness, of blossoming or fading but they will have already become a part of you.

Happy Christmas and a memorable New Year.
Dorothy

THE MINISTER'S MUSINGS

I enjoyed our NUF House Party at the Unitarian holiday centre at Great Hucklow. Because I had to play the part of Theophilus Lindsey, I felt that I was better able to understand his feelings at the time he set out to be the first Unitarian Minister at a Chapel in Essex Street, London. He was first and foremost a practising Christian and a minister to a congregation. His concern was that he was made to believe in things that he found no proof for - particularly the dogma of the Trinity. Freed of that restraint he was happy to be the minister to his congregation and adapt the prayer book to take out the things which were unfounded dogma.

He must have found it quite alarming that once the walls of dogma were breached there was no stopping the tidal wave of change. Unitarianism went out far beyond him and turned over all the long held beliefs and reviewed them all. If we looked at it as a comet bursting through the solar system, Lindsey would be somewhere at the back of the tail, still Christian, still secure with his God, still believing that the Bible would reveal God's plan for the progress of the world. Today Unitarianism is still a comet passing through the religious solar system. It has demolished what was left of the ancient Tower of Babel. No longer do we aspire to reach into the heavens and join the angels. More and more we accept that God was made in the image of man than man in the image of God.

What are we left with? I feel that the first thing we are left with is responsibility. Responsibility for the earth we inhabit and responsibility for each other. If we ignore either we are doomed to starvation and warfare. The second thing we are left with is a spiritual void to fill. I believe that it is in our human nature to have a spiritual self. I believe too that this spiritual self has to be discovered. You could say it is a light that needs some life experience for it to be switched on. It is from that moment that we become aware of ourselves as true individuals. It is from there that we find a strength to live in the world. I said in the address I gave at the Hucklow Chapel that we have to begin by tuning into the world around us; tuning in to what other people are saying to us; tuning into the forces of nature around us; tuning into the ancestral chain of our lives and what we have been taught; tuning into the overarching sacred, spiritual and mysterious dimension of the known unknown; Sometimes we might think that the resignation of Theophilus Lindsey cast us eventually into a spiritual void but we can also think that he broke us free of the fetters and chains of a religion that had imprisoned our free spirits. One thing is sure. We are cast as individuals and we are free to turn over the stones for ourselves and read what they say. The stones are many - Bible stories, lives, religions, theories. I suppose that is all that Theophilus did and he had the courage to follow his convictions and live in peace with himself.

With best wishes
Tony McNeile

REFLECTIONS
THE LIGHT IN THE SKY

'You may call God love, you may call God goodness. But the best name for God is compassion.' - Meister Eckhart

Gideon knelt on the bedroom windowsill. He could feel the edges of the dark brown tiles bite into his cold three year old legs and when he looked out into what should have been the night black sky, he was afraid. What, he asked, was the flickering red-gold light which had spread across the edge of the world. Out of the darkness his mother's voice, sharpened by a terrible anxiety, replied that the light in the sky was London burning; German pilots were dropping fire bombs on the City.

The boy who had learned to be afraid the night the sky burned, now in the aftermath of war learned to hate the enemy who had captured his Jewish doctor father near Anzio and sent him back to Germany and the gas chambers of Dachau. This hatred survived university, Middle Temple and an increasingly successful legal career. In 1978 he was asked to advise the Home Office on the likelihood of successfully prosecuting a former Unterfeldwebel accused of the murder of four Russian Jews, P.O.Ws in the Sylt Concentration Camp on the Island of Alderney. The evidence against the man was considered to be fairly slim, but there were those in government anxious to prove their wholehearted support for the State of Israel. Gideon accepted the offer, he told himself, as a duty - an almost sacred duty - and he was seized with a curious trembling excitement. He had dreamed for so long of somehow avenging his father's death. He studied the prosecution papers, pondered various legal opinions and flew to Jersey to interview the suspect.

In a claustrophobic room, windowless and airless, with armed guards on every corner of the corridor outside, he watched the prisoner, grey pale from incarceration, soft voiced and still like a heron watching for fish. This then was his enemy; now was the longed-for time of retribution. He looked into the watery grey eyes and saw in them not the cruelty of the fanatic Nazi who had once perhaps strangled Jewish P.O.Ws, but a but a frail, weary, hopeless, shadow of a man seventy five years old - another pathetic victim of hatred and fear, rather like himself. This was no blinding Damascene moment, no trumpets sounded in that bleak cell, just his own voice gentle now: "I shall recommend to the Home Secretary that you be sent back to Germany. I think you are not well, and I hope you will be allowed to return to your own folk for what is left of your life."

Gideon stood up, his own fear and hatred wonderfully purged, and he quietly clasped the old man's hand. He walked out of the prison into the sharp air of a late December evening and shining in the north over the cliffs of Alderney he saw a great light. Not this time the reflection of a city on a fire, he thought, but the radiance of angels on a hillside proclaiming their eternal message: 'Peace on earth to men of goodwill'.

Naomi Linnell

SHINTO: BACK TO THE FUTURE

In March this year, I was fortunate enough to receive an invitation to the Setsubun, a Shinto ceremony to welcome the coming of spring. This colourful, life-affirming event took place not in Japan, the home of Shinto, but in Amsterdam, organised by the Japanese Dutch Shinzen Foundation and presided over by Paul de Leeuw. Paul is a Kannushi - Shinto master or priest - and in this role is unique in Europe. He has undertaken intensive study and practice in Japan and is committed to bringing to Europe the rituals of Shinto, to reconnect urban men and women with nature and the spirit world (which in Shinto are not separate entities but extensions of each other).

More than ritual, however, Paul wishes to introduce to Europeans Shinto ways of thinking and being. Through Shinto, we can rediscover our own suppressed spiritual energies, attuned to the seasons and reflecting the patterns within nature. It is the form of spirituality represented by the Green Man images that adorn English cathedrals and country churches, or the horn dances, well-dressings and folk festivals that (whether they are 'truly' ancient or revivals) give us memories of our roots. Shinto unites these fragments into a coherent whole and links them to the modern world, restoring the continuity between past, present and future.

Shinto is the indigenous spiritual tradition of the Japanese people. This is a fact, but taken on its own it is trite and incomplete. This is because in Shinto we find the earliest spiritual impulses and intuitions, common to all humanity, the point of origin of the spiritual quest, the earliest sense of the sacred in trees, rivers, waterfalls and rocks, as well as within every living being. There was no word for Shinto in Japanese until the introduction of Buddhism in the 5th and 6th centuries CE.

It was merely the way people lived, thought and felt. Paul de Leeuw says that Shinto is essentially the same as the Celtic and Germanic spiritual pathways of old Europe. It is also the same as the Native American and Australian Aboriginal paths that are beginning to revive today after a long night. All are local manifestations of the same underlying truth.

At the same time, one of Paul's favourite phrases is 'Nature is the City'. In other words, a modern, technologically advanced civilisation need not be detached from the rest of nature. True progress involves integrating technology with nature, rather than placing them in opposition. It involves integrating tradition and modernity, so that one enriches the other. The Shinto perspective does not ask us to renounce the world, but to live responsibly within it, understanding that a simple life is more socially and ecologically just and at the same time healthier for us spiritually, psychologically and physically.

Shinto represents an unbroken stream of thought and feeling that is as vital to modern humanity as it was to our forebears. In Japan, Shinto imagery was put to perverse use by a despotic and expansionist regime in the 1930s and 40s, much as in Europe the swastika, an ancient symbol of life, was besmirched by the Nazi agents of death. Yet the real Shinto has shown a subtle strength. Today, it fulfils a powerful and resurgent need for a nature-centred spirituality, as we seek a more balanced and co-operative relationship with our environment.

The other term for Shinto is Kami-no-Michi, the Way of Kami.* Kami is an idea that is central to Shinto and operates on several layers of consciousness, of which I shall mention three. At one level, 'the Kami' are the deities of the Shinto pantheon, such as the sun goddess Amaterasu, who is the source of all life. At another, Kami are the 'nature spirits' embodied in mountains, trees, rocks – all living things. And at another level, Kami is the life force that permeates and connects everything in the cosmos. Modern science tells us that all life is interconnected, confirming the primal awareness of the power of Kami.

Aidan Rankin

Aidan Rankin's book Many-Sided Wisdom: a new politics of the spirit is published by O Books later this year. (Anyone who would like to review this for the newsletter please contact the editor.) He is also working on a book called Shinto: a celebration of life. Japanese Dutch Shinzen Foundation website: www.shinto.nl

*The word Shinto also means 'Way of the Kami', the character 'Shin' being synonymous with Kami and 'To', meaning Way, as in the Chinese 'Tao' or 'Dao'.

ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT — LEST WE FORGET

I have written this piece for the November issue of the NUF Newsletter, mindful that it will be read around the time of Remembrance Day when NUF members receive it. This year is particularly poignant following the deaths of the last survivors of the Great War earlier this year.

When I am approached to arrange a customised driver-guided tour, it is often not just delivering what is requested. On many of the tours my clients and I 'discover' more than we had anticipated with insights and reflections beyond our expectations.

This Spring, I accompanied a retired American Lieutenant Colonel and his son, meeting them in Paris and taking them to the D Day landing beaches and retracing the steps of the Allied forces to the German border. The father had served in the American sector of Germany after WWII during the Cold War when he was a reservist (akin to the territorial Army) being stationed in Wiesbaden, where he flew a helicopter on manoeuvres) on several three month tours of duty but hadn't been east of the Rhine apart from a brief visit to Strasbourg. He was 'billeted' with a German family and was made to feel very welcome whilst there so he certainly had bore ill will towards the Germans. His son had taken an interest in WWII, as a result of his father being away in Europe for extended periods as a consequence of the aftermath of WWII when he was young. He wasn't glorifying the war in any way but wanted to see for himself what he had read about so avidly.

They chose to come on the 65th anniversary of the D Day landings (before the US President was invited). We started our tour at Pegasus Bridge on the River Orne which was captured by British commandos with the adjacent Café Gondree's occupants being the first French family to be liberated on the morning of D Day. We walked on Omaha beach which had the most casualties of any of the five landing beaches, now a very tranquil sight (unlike on 6th June 1944). Just to the east of Omaha is the Colleville American military cemetery where US servicemen who died there and elsewhere in Normandy are buried. We were there the day after President Obama and Gordon Brown.

We also visited Ste Mere Eglise where an American paratrooper landed (beyond the intended drop zone outside the town) with him dangling from the church spire where his parachute snagged, saving his life through his feigning death until his Airborne colleagues arrived to liberate the town. We then visited Bayeux about 10 miles south of the Normandy coast which was overrun so quickly that it was spared any shelling. There we saw the tapestry which tells the story of the invasion of England in the opposite direction in 1066 when William, Duke of Normandy, became King of England.

Whilst in Normandy we stayed just north of Caen, which was fiercely defended by the Germans. For several days later in June 1944, the original farm house was on the front line, commandeered as a command post by the British. The lady of the house was a young girl at the time and she tearfully told us of a family member losing his life during the conflict. We remember the casualties amongst the armed forces and the resistance but we tend to overlook the innocent civilian casualties who get caught up in war. Her loss certainly brought this home.

From Normandy, we headed east. Skirting to the north of Paris, we arrived in Compiegne where Joan of Arc, Maid of Orleans, is known to have visited the local church, receiving communion before she was subsequently captured and burned at the stake (by 'the English') in Rouen. That was at a time when the English Crown, having added to their ancestor's (William the Conqueror) Normandy possessions, controlled at least as much of what we now know of France as the French did, France being originally being the area of the Île de France (around Paris).

Compiègne is perhaps better known for the clearing in a nearby wood in which a requisitioned Wagon Lit railway carriage was the location where Germany signed the armistice at 11 a.m. on November 11th 1918 to end the Great War. Unfortunately, the seeds of WWII were sewn by the subsequent Treaty of Versailles in which such punitive reparations were imposed on Germany that its economy was crippled and its people humiliated, enabling Adolph Hitler to take power by promising to restore German pride. The irony was that Hitler accepted France's surrender in the same railway carriage just over two decades later in 1940. The carriage that is there today is a 'recreation'. It is virtually identical though, built at the same time for the Wagons Lits company. The original was taken back to Germany and installed in a museum but was burned as a result of Allied bombing. Only the chassis survived which was returned to France as a gift by the town in the former DDR (East Germany) where it had been housed after the fall of the Berlin wall in 1990.

The museum at Compiegne also includes harrowing photographs showing scenes from WWI. They are mounted in a series of 'what the butler saw' type style machines from the era but they are not at all entertaining. You rotate the 'carousel' by hand as you look through the viewfinder. The photographs appear to be three dimensional and are incredibly life like. They not only depict scenes from the trenches but also the towns. The devastation is unimaginable. They were not shown at the time because they would have been considered too damaging to morale and so their publication was banned. They survived because they were kept by the people who took them and only subsequently came into the hands of the museum many years later.

To the east of Compiègne is a wide river valley in which Americans fought in both WWI and in WWII where we stayed overnight on a farm that used to serve the monks in nearby Soissons, with evidence of the land being cultivated as long ago as Roman times. Superficially, there were few signs of the two twentieth century conflicts that have taken place there, other than the military cemetery and the 'new' bridge over the river which the Americans left behind, replacing the one that retreating Germans blew up.

However, as in Normandy, the scars were still evident amongst the locals. The owners of the village auberge we dined in that evening, which has been handed down through generations, were most hospitable but, as with the wartime experiences of old soldiers, they were somewhat circumspect in recounting wartime memories. In Britain, thank goodness, we didn't have the atrocities perpetrated against the resistance and innocent civilians against whom reprisals were taken nor did we have collaborateurs. To show how beautiful the countryside was, the BBC filmed the recent Robin Hood series in the vicinity.

From there we drove further east to Luxembourg. Just east of Luxembourg city is another US war cemetery with soldiers from the Battle of the Bulge which was fought in late December 1944. The whiteness of the marble of the serried ranks of 'crosses' is almost blinding, contrasting with the vivid green grass that would grace any lawn. Appropriately, there is no differentiation between ranks or religion. The grounds are immaculately maintained and surrounded by trees making it a very peaceful resting place. Close by is a German cemetery. Contrastingly, here the stone is grey. Because the Germans had less money in the immediate post war period they had to economise so each headstone is for four individuals, two at either side an economy measure which doesn't in any way detract from the sombre, respectful treatment of those interred there.

From there we went to Bastoigne which was the epicentre of the Germans' attempt to break through Allied lines in an effort to recapture Antwerp. This was the 'last throw of the dice' by the Germans, thwarted by the stubborn American defence in what had been thought to be an unthreatened area because of its inhospitable terrain, requiring only light troop cover. The Battle of the Bulge caught the Allies completely by surprise. The Allies were preparing to cross the Rhine and didn't realise that the Germans still had the resources to make such a counteroffensive. The battle took place in very cold, wintry conditions in the Ardennes forests and valleys which straddle northern Luxembourg and south east Belgium. The reversal of this attack effectively ended the German hopes of stemming the Allied advance on the western front. From January 1945 onwards the Allies advanced rapidly into Germany from the west, linking up with the Soviets from the east, culminating in the German surrender in early May. Mistakes were certainly made by the Allied commanders, resulting in casualties that might have been avoided, not least through a 'gung ho' attitude and a disregard for the losses incurred which was a regrettable stance taken by some of the generals as they sought victory 'at all costs'. In the Battle of the Bulge had a strategic withdrawal been ordered by the Allies, the Germans would have advanced further but would have exhausted their fuel which would have stopped their tanks and they would have been unable to replace ammunition and supplies and so have 'run out of steam' resulting in the halting and reversal of their territorial gains, rather than every inch of Allied ground being held until the last man. All very easy to say in hindsight, I suppose!

Just as with the WWI trenches of Flanders, seeing where key battles of WWII were fought does not glorify war. What one does acquire is a respect for those who lost their lives and those who suffered appalling injuries, both physical and mental in these and in other wars. The last survivors of the Great War have recently passed away. One can argue the rights and wrongs of the causes of and justification for war both in bygone days and in the present day. War should always be the last resort and not be pursued for aggressive reasons. However, I do think it important that we don't forget the sacrifices made both by those who fight and those who 'get in the way'.

I feel privileged and humbled to have made this journey in hosting this tour which I arranged for my American guests. We shared many hours in conversation whilst en route. Although descended from Scottish emigrants from Aberdeenshire, neither father nor son had been to the British Isles before and so this was their first encounter of any duration with someone from 'the old country'. It was good to be able to establish the common bond and heritage that we share with those whose forbears came from this side of the Atlantic Ocean.

History, to me, is endlessly fascinating. Its study provides us with an understanding of the human condition, who we are and how we got here. It also provides lessons as to how to avoid the pitfalls that have befallen others and to cherish the achievements of those that have gone before us helping us to address the challenges that face us. Much of today's generation may think of history as 'bunk' as someone once said (in jest I hope)! I beg to differ. Nowadays it's 'all quiet on the western front'. We and subsequent generations should know that this was not always the case and what it took to make western Europe peaceful to ensure that history isn't repeated. Lest we forget!

John Greenwood

ON BODHISATTVAS

Many readers will know that Buddhism is divided into two main branches called Theravada and Mahayana. Theravada, the oldest, arose in India, spreading to Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. Its emphasis is upon the historic Buddha (Buddha Sakyamuni) who lived in India around 560-480 B.C. (dates vary) and upon his teachings.

Mahayana is different, placing the emphasis more upon the mystical, and what we may call the celestial. In Mahayana, the Buddha Sakyamuni becomes Buddha Amitabha, 'the archetype of cosmic compassion'.

It is doubtful whether Western minds can ever fully comprehend the profound teachings of Buddhism, but it seems to me that the two schools can be roughly compared with those approaches to Christianity which, on one hand, regard Jesus as a reforming teacher within Judaism, and, on the other, the orthodox Christian belief in Jesus as a Divine incarnation, God on earth, who lives on as the ever-available compassionate Christ.

Mahayana Buddhism is to be found in countries such as China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Essential to Mahayana is the belief in bodhisattvas, saintly beings in this life who, in the next world, instead of moving on to the utter bliss of nirvana, which, by their compassion and holiness they have greatly deserved, stay available in the unseen world to help and comfort, as much as they are able, struggling earthlings like ourselves. Kuan-yin is a significant bodhisattva.

The full name of Kuan-yin is Kuan Shih Yin, which means 'She who Harkens to the Cries of the World'. This is a translation of the Sanskrit name of the Indian bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, a male figure of great compassion. In countries where she is adored, Kuan-yin is regarded as next in significance to Amitabha Buddha himself. Usually, Kuan-yin is depicted with a small figure of the Buddha adorning her headdress.

Somehow, centuries ago, a compassionate and chaste young Chinese girl, Miao Shan, became identified with the bodhisattva of compassion, and there are representations of her as Miao Shan Kuan-yin. She is popularly called 'The Chinese Goddess of Mercy', where mercy is a similar concept to the New Testament Greek word 'agape'. In Japan, Kuan-yin is called Kannon, in Vienam, Quán-Thé-Ân.

Perhaps it may be of interest to mention that many of the names used in Buddhism have Sanskrit origins, and that Sanskrit was the ancient language of India. Words such as Buddha, bodhisattva, Mahayana, nirvana, mantra (occasionally called mantram) Sakyamuni, Amitabha and Avalokitesvara all came from Sanskrit. Kuan-yin (sometimes 'Guan-yin') is, of course, Chinese.

Such figures as Kuan-yin, the living Christ and the celestial Mary, are wonderful expressions of the great virtues of compassion and chastity, virtues for which many sensitive hearts yearn. They are not only exemplars, but living, loving presences. Thinking of them, and using their names as mantras, can be uplifting, comforting and transforming, for just as we need people, so we have a deep psychological need for human-like upholders in the unseen world, for 'Lovers of our soul', as Charles Wesley perceptively understood.

Lastly, for anyone who wishes to explore these matters further, my two main reference books are 'The Seeker's Glossary of Buddhism' (The Corporate Body of the Buddha Educational Foundation, Taiwan, R.O.C.) and 'Bodhisattva of Compassion, The Mystical Tradition of Kuan-yin', by English writer John Blofeld. (Shambhala Publications Inc., Boston, Mass. U.S.A.)

Ross Howard

THE MENNONITES

Each Sunday at 3 p.m. a group of Mennonites meets for worship at Wood Green, North London. Their headquarters is known as 'The London Mennonite Centre', 14 Shepherd's Hill, Highgate, London, N6 5AQ.

The Centre has a dozen staff, a library and a postal book service which stocks around 400 titles. There is also a garden which contains a prayer hut and guest rooms are available for possible over-night stays. The Centre is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., enquiries are encouraged and guests are welcome to attend either here or on any Sunday at the Westbury Avenue Baptist Church Fellowship Hall in Wood Green, London, N22.

Early in the 16th century, groups of Christians came together to share the belief that reform of the Catholic Church was necessary. Martin Luther, the Augustinian monk and Theology professor was critical of certain Catholic practices and doctrines and in 1517 he triggered the chain of events which instigated the Protestant Reformation. In his theology Luther stressed the doctrine of justification of the existence of God by faith alone.

Jean (John) Calvin was a protestant reformer whose political and theological teachings had a decisive influence in Europe, Scotland and North America. Like Luther, he felt that salvation is by faith, which comes about through God's grace. Traditional proofs of God's existence appeal to reason only and this, purely intellectual understanding of Scripture, is insufficient for salvation. Calvin also rejected the view that religious authority be subordinated to civil authority.

A few years after Luther's reforms were begun, many Christians in various European countries felt that reform should go yet further. The leader of the largest group of dissenters was a Dutch Catholic priest named Menno Simons and it is from him that the Mennonite Church took its name. These European Christians wanted a church which was independent of state control, adult baptism and only for those who truly followed Christ, a leadership drawn from among the believers, not from a special class of priests, and that members should live a life of Christ-centred simplicity , non-violence and love.

These 'new' believers were give the somewhat reproachful nick-name of 'Anabaptists', or re-baptists, having already been baptized when they were babies; the prefix 'ana' coming from a Greek word meaning again or anew.

Re-baptism, then, implies a commitment to Christ which is adult and voluntary. Many such people gave their lives to establish a Christian church separated from state control. Persecution, in the form of imprisonment, torture and execution, forced thousands of Mennonites from many parts of Europe to migrate to North America. In London, two Anabaptists were burned at the stake in 1575 and a third died in prison.

Contemporary Mennonite witness in London dates from 1940 when, during WWII, the North American Church sent relief workers to the U.K. The 'London Mennonite Centre' was establishes in 1952.

World-wide there are some 1.5 million believers, most of whom are members of 97 churches throughout 67 countries; at least 60% of believers are African, Asian or Latin American.

'The Mennonite World Conference' is a global community of Anabaptist-related churches which has its headquarters in Strasbourg, France. Within this organisation is their 'Faith and Life Council' which, some years ago, set out to discover what beliefs its member churches held in common. Statements of faith were gathered and compared and an international body of seven people prepared a document which, after a three-year period of consultation, was finally approved. Of 325 words in length, it is entitled 'Shared Conviction of Anabaptists'; it is clear and precise yet broad.

In 2006 the M.W.C. commissioned a seminary teacher, who is also a church leader, to write a book which would explore these beliefs. Entitled 'What We Believe Together', the book draws on the Old and New Testaments and on history and contemporary church life.

In all, there are seven beliefs and each is explained from its biblical root and in its theological and historical context. Importantly, the book suggests how we might live our lives in today's world. A chapter is given to each shared conviction and they are, briefly:

1. God: as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
2. Jesus: as the Son of God.
3. Church: as a community, receiving baptism.
4. Bible: accepted as the ultimate authority.
5. Morality: the renunciation of violence, the seeking of justice and concern for the needy.
6. Worship: as being communal and regular.
7. Living: as a world-wide faith community, transcending boundaries of nationality, race, class, gender and language.

Mennonite congregations are generally led by a pastor or a team of pastors or by lay ministers and elders if the congregation is small; key decisions are made when all re in agreement. The church supports many groups both practically and financially and members will also attend demonstrations, for instance, against the arms trade and war.

At the 'London Mennonite Centre' the daily programme of events is as follows:

11.00 a.m. — Morning coffee, informal gathering.
12.50 p.m. – 1.00 p.m. — Noon prayer in the chapel.
4.00 p.m. — Afternoon tea, informal gathering.

Education is offered through seminars, writing and study groups.

The teachings try to encourage new forms of contemporary discipleship which cut across traditional, denominational boundaries and conventional attitudes towards lifestyle. The weekend seminars focus on faith, worship, spirituality, Biblical studies, peacemaking and conflict transformation. The programmes are very flexible and the 'Anabapist Network Trust', a registered charity, distributes a regular 'Newsletter' showing all courses and events to be held.

Staff at the Centre work also with urban institutions, congregations and individuals to explore God's work and the life and teachings of Christ. Links are gradually being made with other churches which share the particular Mennonite emphases. Sunday worship at Wood Green is important, though informal, with several members leading the way. Once a month a communal meal is eaten and time is given to sharing, socialising and prayer. Membership of this Church means joining an extended family in which all aim to care for each other.

The Mennonite way shows how Christ may be followed in today's world. Visitors and enquiries are warmly welcomed.

Michael Ablett

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

NUF Archive
Further to Ken Smith's article, in the September 2009 Newsletter, John MacMurray – A Philosopher for Unitarians, I would like to advise readers that the NUF archive of the Essex Hall lectures is kept here at 10, Shirley Close, Castle Donington, Derby, DE74 2XB, Tel. no. 01332 814055 or joan@yorkshiregirl.org.uk There are years when no lecture was presented but for those that were the archive contains almost all of them. If anyone would like a list of these lectures please contact me. A very few of these lectures have been added to either the NUF website/Viewpoint or on the GA website: www.unitarian.org.uk The 1998 lecture, Transformation & the Unitarian Movement, given by Peter Hawkins featured as our October 1998 Viewpoint Issue 201 and is archived at: www.nufonline.org.uk/archives/viewpoint201.html and the 2000 and 2004 lectures can be found on the NEW GA website but even better Google for various websites including various Essex Hall texts and items about them. If permissions are granted to post the 1944 lecture, which Ken Smith mentions in his article, it will be copied and added to a website and I will advise readers in the next Newsletter.

Joan Wilkinson

Free thinking and Unitarianism
The Talmud makes the profound observation that we do not see things as they are. We see them as we are'. Both Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln give credence to this statement, each according to his own perceptions. The important thing is that they were both enlightened and inspirational thinkers who greatly improved their very different worlds.

How were they able to do this? Modern science suggests that the human Mind and Cognitive Processes are inherently embodied. This means that we are all subject to biological and physical events that move us, change our body states, and constrain thoughts and actions (Johnson, M., New Scientist 12th January 2008). Even abstract thinking appropriates the meaning and logical inference structure of a sensory-motor source to shape our understanding of a notion. (Neuroscience is now shedding light on the possible neural basis of image schemas and conceptual metaphors). It has long been known that drug abuse, and brain damage caused by accident or genetic constitution and ageing can radically change human temperament or disposition. Taken together, these observations suggest that both Darwin and Lincoln acquired Meaning by the positive, observant, and independent ways they engaged with other people and their surroundings.

Deductive and Inductive spirituality

It appears to me that current difficulties in British Unitarianism reflect a lack of understanding of the potential impact of personal circumstances on individuals and communities. This will affect 'growth'. In her analysis of 'Spirituality in British (Secondary) State Education', Anna Williams (Faith and Freedom, Vol. 2, Part 2, Autumn and Winter, 2004) suggested that definitions of Spirituality fall into two principal categories, - a priori (or deductive) and a posteriori (or inductive). Both of these emphasize that there is more to humans than merely the sum of their parts, and both share the premise that humans have the capacity to enjoy an awareness which transcends experience. They differ, however, in the following critical ways:

1. The more traditional deductive category maintains that spirituality is a state or an experience achieved through an initial understanding of religious theology, dogma and faith. The content of this experience is a logical consequence of doctrines held within a theology and is deduced from first principles through Faith, - itself defined as a strong or unshakeable belief in something.
2. The inductive group of definitions perceives that experience comes first, and that reflection, interpretation and response follow from this. Accordingly, the capacity to have spiritual experiences is not something to strive after and attain through religious belief and practice but rather it is a fundamental, inherent characteristic of humans, open to all people. In this light, religion is perceived as a particular cultural response to the natural disposition of humans to experience heightened, spiritual awareness. Of course, personal experiences may or may not point to the existence of a transcendent being or reality, and may even lead to a particular religious philosophy.

These differences are important. Some people prefer the top-down pattern of traditional religions, but others prefer a more individualistic bottom-up approach. Unitarianism must accommodate both. The biological sciences suggest that irrespective of the path taken in the search for Meaning, the nature of the personal struggle will be greatly affected by individual genetic make-up, the quality of education, and the environmental conditions under which an individual is raised or lives. If Darwin and Lincoln had been born with different genotypes, or if they had been brought up in different economic, cultural or religious settings, their thinking, perceptions and achievements would probably have been very different.

Vic Mason

Ebb and Flow
I was well impressed with Tony McNeile's letter 'All the fuss about Darwin' (Sep/Oct issue). Tony wrote so perceptively and succinctly about the changing core of unifying belief within the Unitarian movement which threatens its very existence . . . Or does it?

I joined the Unitarians as I had been told that our local congregation spend most of their time disagreeing with each other! This indicated a fellowship of people intent on a search for the Truth. I couldn't wait to be a part of it! And this is my point…

A 2,000 year old bank statement or medical procedure would be of no use to us today. Our search then must be for the 'TRUTH OF WHAT IS' – those 'three in the morning questions'. For some the search is for a rock to cling to but the fact is that the only constant we can know in this life is change itself. Since the journey is always more invigorating and fulfilling than the attainment of the goal, then why not swim rather than cling?'

On a forces posting in Cyprus I would swim, off duty, in the Mediterranean. I spent time just floating on the water, letting my body go with the movement of the waves, and gazed through my snorkel mask at life on the seabed. I saw the swaying sea plants, big fish swimming gracefully between them and shoals of tiny fish performing an underwater ballet. I was for those fleeting moments an intrinsic part of it all, a gift of meditation for me. The rocks will still be there but the plants and fish will have been replaced many times.

During my life I have belonged to a number of churches, religious groups and secular clubs and have found almost without exception that the ebb and flow of human folk and their endeavours has been reflected in the organisation's existence. To stop the pendulum is to stop the clock!

In the past I have experienced the dark night of the soul. Then, those beings in the higher realm guided my footsteps to a Spiritualist Church where I rebuilt my spiritual life and my physical life also. I have moved on since then and that church is no longer there for me, that is to say, the people and ethos have changed though the bricks and mortar remain. The glad memories of that time live on within me.

People who comprise a fellowship change and give rise to the EBB and FLOW of life. So; Grasp your moments with both hands and enjoy your journey.

Eric Talbot-Batting MBE

UNITARIAN WOMEN WHO MADE A DIFFERENCE Part 1
Anna Laetitia Barbauld 1743-1825;
Mary Wollstonecraft 1759-1797; Mary Hays 1760-1843

Mary Wollstonecraft is held up by many Unitarians as 'one of ours', but it isn't quite as clear cut as it is of the other two literary women of their day, who I've chosen to write about. Mary Wollstonecraft, brought up an Anglican, attended Newington Green Chapel to hear Richard Price preach thus becoming part of the rational dissenting community, who were connected through the dissenting publisher, printer Joseph Johnson. Anna Laetitia Barbauld, was born into a rational dissenting family, her father being a minister and then one of the first tutors at Warrington Dissenting Academy. Mary Hays was brought up in a dissenting family but made the decision that she was a Unitarian for theological reasons. All three knew each other but the two Marys were good friends, both being feminist writers who wrote for a living; this couldn't be said of Anna Barbauld.

The differences between women then and now can be seen all that time ago in their approaches to life and work. Anna Laetitia was fortunate in having an educated mother who taught her, and a father who gave her private tuition in the classics. Being encouraged by a Warrington tutor and friend, Joseph Priestley, to continue writing, she wrote many privately circulated poems to friends and family, who eventually persuaded Anna to offer them to printer/publisher Joseph Johnson, a friend of the Academy. In 1772, when Anna was 29, a volume of her poems were published and went into four editions in that first year alone. This was followed in 1773, by 'Collection of 10 Essays' that included six pieces written by Anna and two by her brother.

In spite of becoming aware of both the opportunities and excitement of becoming a well read published author Anna had no wish to follow this route when in 1774 she chose to marry Rochemont Barbauld, past student at Warrington looking to take up his first post as a Rational Dissenting Minister.

But hush my heart! Nor strive to soar too high,
Not for the tree of knowledge vainly sigh;
Check the fond love of science and fame,
A bright, but ah! A too devouring flame.
Content remain within thy bounded sphere,
For fancy blooms, the virtues flourish there.*

Like many ministers and their wives, they established an educational establishment at Palgrave near Norwich. Anna was crucial to this enterprise, teaching and preparing material for the younger classes as well as being the matron. Samuel Johnson felt she was wasting herself. However, not finding suitable material for young Charles, her brother's son who the Barbaulds had adopted, she proceeded to write material in clear print well spaced, with wide margins. Instead of fairy stories she wrote tales based on a moral and what children encounter every day. This went on to be published, copied and incorporated by other educationalists of the day. The school grew from taking eight boys to almost 40 eleven years later. In these early days she also wrote 'Devotional Pieces – selection from Psalms and Job with introductory essay'. As the school grew Anna discovered new ways of helping pupils to learn and understand hymns and 'Hymns in Prose for Children' published 1781 was read and recited by children right through the following century. The material had been accumulated from daily preparation for the pupils to learn, understand and recite. Religion and devotion in all areas of life made the material meaningful and memorable. She felt religious encounter was that which was everywhere around us. The Martineaus remembered them in adulthood as did other nineteenth century Unitarian ministers and many other famous nineteenth century figures.

Differences within their chapel and exhaustion saw the Barbaulds leave Palgrave in 1785 to travel in France before moving to Hampstead, London in 1787. Whilst taking in a few lodging pupils, this period saw Anna move on to a period of campaign writing. In 1790 she writes; 'An Address to the Opposers of the Repeal of the Corporation and Test Act' signed by a Dissenter. In 1791 Joseph Johnson published the 'Epistle to William Wilberforce Esq on the Rejection of the Bill for abolishing the Slave Trade', signed in her own name. These are followed with anti-fasting/war letters and sermons published anonymously, which herald in the period of escalating writing of tracts and pamphlets. Here we have challenging, well argued writing from a woman's perspective of morality without stepping outside the accepted sphere of women.

At the beginning of the new century we find a new direction leading up to her major contribution to the world of literary criticism, editing, in 1804, Samuel Richardson's letters in six volumes including a 212 page essay on his life and works. In 1810 a 50 volume, 'The British Novelists', with a sixty page introductory essay, 'On the Progress of Novel Writing' and prefatory remarks on the nineteen novelists included was commissioned and published. This was a crucial work at a time when poetry was considered the superior form of literature. That she needed to write for money following the suicide of Rochemont in 1808 is likely.

Sadly her writing came to an abrupt end following her poem

'Eighteen Hundred and Eleven' criticizing the war against France and pointing out that this was the end of Britain's dominance in the world and the beginning of America's. The critical reviews of writers she held in high regard caused her pain. The style and content of writing poetry had moved with poets like Wordsworth and Coleridge losing their radicalism of the 1790s. It hurt to have her femininity and domesticity dragged through the reviewing journals of the day and to be told she should not step into a territory understood better by her male counterparts; i.e. as a woman she should know her place.

Joan Wilkinson

*Quoted in Anna Laetitia Barbauld by Dick Wakefield 2001 Centaur Press P31

More wisdom from the pen of Francis Terry

I hope that readers will continue to find much to ponder on from these old Newsletter excerpts brought together in: Finding a Language. This one from November 1965 reassures me of my own absurdity, silliness, bleakness, joy and seriousness all rolled up in what it is to be human. Care in making judgement of accepted behaviour and knowing when and how to challenge it. Good old Mrs Thrale, I say – but read on …

Joan Wilkinson

SIGNIFICANCE AND TRIVIALITY

For some days I had been labouring under a mood of depression, in which, like the writer of Ecclesiastes, I could see no enduring value in anything under the sun. The oppressions and injustices of history threw a shadow over everything. From such beginnings, what genuine good could come? Most comforts and pleasures were built upon unseen foundations of wickedness. The crusaders against evil were themselves corrupted by the situation around them, which, in the end, was made worse by the violence of their self-important willfulness. Quiet men, who kept out of harm's way, were evading the challenge of life. Men who did small-scale good in their families or neighbourhoods were deluded in fancying that there could be separate patches of order and happiness in a world of chaos and tragedy. Holiness, if there was any to be found, consisted in unremitting and apparently ineffectual bearing of the sorrows of the world: it was not a way of life that appealed to me, or to anyone I knew, and any movements in that direction were usually mere gestures of self-deception or hypocrisy. Probably such moods have some physical origin. But that does not mean that one can ignore the aspects of reality which they reveal. For they probably act like colour-filters, or other photographic apparatus, which, by altering the range of sensitivity, bring into prominence, features of the landscape which would otherwise not be noticed.

In this state of mind, I was in the Public Library with my wife, who pointed to a book, which partly related to a place where we had both grown up. I got it out, and found it interesting. It was about Mrs Thrale, who, in her first husband's life-time, had had Dr. Johnson staying for long periods at their house, and had then, in widowhood, scandalized everyone by marrying an Italian singing-master. I became immersed in the book, and by bed-time, was brimming over with delight in what I had read.

But the characters and incidents which so delighted me were not of any admirable sort. Dr. Johnson himself had some very admirable characteristics, but these were not much seen in his relations with the Thrales: here he mostly showed himself a grotesque mixture of petulant bully, moralizing toady, and slovenly ladies' man. Mr. Thrale was rich, conventional, dull, obstinate and self-indulgent. Mrs. Thrale had married him for money, behaved towards him with great propriety, bore him thirteen children (most of whom died), and very much disliked him and them. The incidents were mainly quarrels, which divided children from parents and friend from friend, and striking displays of self-will. The interest consisted largely in the moral confusions in which these people were involved. Most of them set up for a good deal of religion and principles, and, in letters or diaries, would solemnly analyse the moral issues, confronting them and justify the line they felt obliged to take: and yet the line they took was often such a queer one – for instance, most dutifully ostracizing a wealthy widow for marrying a poor man of good character but foreign origin, with whom she had fallen in love, although they had fully approved her earlier mercenary marriage to a man she disliked, and had silently tolerated his keeping a mistress. None of them was atrociously wicked – merely silly and selfish, and sometimes spiteful, with, no doubt, a good deal of day-to-day decency and kindliness to keep things going. Any interest they took in public affairs was almost completely wrong-headed.

Why should this sort of thing be so immensely cheering? It broke the set of my thoughts, and diverted me with new interests. It relieved moral tension by giving me holiday from my own standards. Because these people were shown in rather contemptible light, I was not overshadowed or put to shame by them. Perhaps I found comparison flattering. But, taking full account of these cynical aspects, it remains true that I was interested in these people, that I sympathized with them and enjoyed their company. One is not interested in a mere nuisance, or flattered by comparing oneself with someone completely worthless. I had been switched into a situation which renewed my perception of the delightfulness of human nature – the vitality, for instance, with which people keep bobbing up again, in spite of set-backs, and persist in being their own selves, however absurd, and not someone else. And the fact that, to restore my love of humanity, I had to be shown people behaving rather badly, was itself a part of the delightful absurdity.

The comic vision, no doubt, blinds us temporarily to many important aspects of reality, which should not be permanently ignored.

Like depression, it is a colour-filter which alters our range of sensitivity: it cuts out some features, but brings into prominence other features, which might have been overlooked. We cannot be equally responsive to all aspects of reality at the same time. We need sometimes to be reminded that there is a place in the world for the ridiculous trivialities of life, its irregular variety, its resilient individuality. The universe would be poorer without them. 'Surely,' I thought as I finally got into bed, 'if I can find such delight in these people, God must see far more of value in them – and, if in them, then in all of us.'

Francis Terry (NL November 1965)

NUF E-Learning

It seems a long time ago when we embarked on introducing to the NUF website The British Unitarian Journey written by Vernon Marshall and published by the Education and Training Commission. However it has now been trialled and amended so that it is as accessible and flexible as possible for as many people who may wish to use it. We soon discovered that the written study course wasn't quite so easily transferred onto the Internet as at first thought. However, the final presentation should offer a good course that can be followed at the pace most suitable to each participant. It can also provide a useful resource for information of names and dates.

Although using it as a distance learning educational course does mean that face to face discussion is lost there are more advantages than drawbacks to following the Internet course. Internet links are recommended for further reading, the opportunity to build a glossary and links to all those terms we often hear but which seem to slip our mind just at the point we need them. There is the scope to add our own sections in the future. All those many thoughts that would normally come to mind after a meeting can be added to the discussions on-line at a convenient time. For those who may have already done the course with a local group this offers an opportunity to continue with those particular modules of the course that interest them most.

The modules are:

1. Where Do We Come From?
2. Our European Origins.
3. The Unitarian Story in Britain.
4. Unitarianism Worldwide.
5. Unitarianism and Women.
6. Diversity or Division.
7. Our Place in Society.
8. Where Are We Going?

There is no fee to be paid and no certificate at the end, just a sharing together in the learning and religious journey. If you are interested in registering please go to the front page of the NUF website where you will find directions prominently displayed at the foot of the front page or on the menu at the left-hand side. I look forward to welcoming you to your NUF E-Learning Circle.

Joan Wilkinson

WEB NEWS

GA Announcement: We are wishing to add some new worship material to the GA website and make it a larger, more accessible and useful resource for everybody. If you have ever created any opening/closing words, prayers, readings or other worship material that could be published on our website, please do send it to me. We ask that you only send material you have written yourself, as we will be acknowledging the articles to those who submit it. We are particularly looking for some light-hearted articles with a touch of humour, but all contributions will be welcome. If everyone who ever took a service submitted one article, we would produce a fantastic resource for us all.

Best regards to one and all, James Barry, Essex Hall.

NEWS

DIARY DATES

Please note dates of the Youth Weekends at The Nightingale Centre, Great Hucklow in 2010: Inter & Senior Weekend 26-28 February* NEW (changed from 5 -7 March); Inter & Senior Weekend 19-21 November; Junior Weekends 5-7 February, 1-3 October; FDA (Five Days Away) Saturday 7 – Friday 13 August; Bridging weekend 14-16 May.

The Nightingale Centre are pleased to announce a new event for the Christmas period. A Christmas Lights Weekend will take place over the weekend of 4 – 6 December. Options include: A guided ramble in the lovely Derbyshire countryside; the official switching on of the Hucklow village Christmas lights; perhaps a visit to Castleton for a little Christmas shopping. Enjoy the usual welcome and delicious food at the Nightingale Centre. Friday evening to Sunday lunch from just £96. Book early by contacting stella@thenightingalecentre.org.uk or Telephone 01298 871218.

CONGRATULATIONS to N.U.F. member Mel Prideaux on being awarded a Ph.D in Theology and Religious studies at Leeds University. Dr. Prideaux's thesis was titled Together? Muslim – Christian co-working in Beeston Hill South, Leeds' and is based on field work she has done in that area. She observes the influence of personal contact and neighbourliness as being the prime factors in relationships, greater than that of the teaching in mosques or churches.

Mel is a former editor of the Newsletter and is at present a member of the N.U.F. committee.

NEXT ISSUE

The deadline for contributions to the next issue is Tuesday 15th December 2009
Contributions on any theme and responses to any item in the newsletter are always welcome.
All contributions are acknowledged.