Byron Carrier – Page 19 – Earthly Religion

Emerson, on his 200th

January 25, 2012
Byron Carrier

On May 25th of this year we could celebrate the 200th birthday of a quintessential American: Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson exemplified American individualism as the holy duty of being human. He was the ultimate Protestant, preaching we should be ourselves as daringly, caringly and authentically as we can – that is God’s infinite creativity made manifest and satisfied. “Man is timid and apologetic; he dares not say, “I think,” “I am,” but quotes some saint or sage,” said Emerson. I don’t mind the irony. …

January 25, 2012
Byron Carrier

The essence of liberal religion lives in you as you. There is no separation between body and soul. You are embodied soul. The worldly and the worthy are not different things or places. Your unique incarnation inherits inherent freedom and responsibility. Who you are and how you live in your spirit, body, community, world, and cosmos is yours to live as you choose. So it is for each and all of us. This is the common existential condition we attempt to understand and care for…

January 25, 2012
Byron Carrier

Wild Geese You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves. Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine. Meanwhile the world goes on. Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes, over the prairies and the deep trees, the mountains and the rivers…

January 25, 2012
Byron Carrier

Picture this: Our president in the White House takes scissors to Bible, cutting out of the New Testament all that makes Jesus more God than human. Out goes the virgin birth story, the miracles, even the resurrection. When preachers object, he calls them “soothsayers and necromancers.” To top it off, he is having an extended affair with his half-black servant, fathering children with her. Such a scandal would leave Fox News sputtering, unsure how to begin the spin. How prissy and protected we are…

January 25, 2012
Byron Carrier

Carrier’s Comments for The Catalyst, a UU Newsletter From time to time I hear I’m “too political.” As a minister, this perplexes me, but I’m willing to listen so I can address your concern and fulfill mine. Wouldn’t it be ironic to claim Martin Luther King was too political? Or Jesus, or Amos? The Kingdom of Heaven is to be made manifest, incarnated; not constrained to other realms only. Or put humanistically, the world is as much ours as any one else’s. It…

January 25, 2012
Byron Carrier

I’m not one to prove a point by quoting scripture, as if it puts the wisdom in us, but the Widow’s Mite story says so much about the reality of our country’s economic relations I just have to use it. Luke 21 tells of Jesus observing the collection bowl at the temple. A rich Pharisee makes a big show of putting in a relatively large amount. A widow meekly puts in a mere mite. “See,” Jesus says to his followers, “she gave more, for she…

January 25, 2012
Byron Carrier

“Egotists,” I joke, “are those more interested in their selves than me.” We all have egos. We all see and work the world from the unique locus we know as “I.” We each have our particular body, genetic disposition, situation, and story. While I admire the quest to be egoless, I doubt it happens. Even saints can get caught in their very spiritual ego. And you know what’s harder than being a saint – living with one. We all know people with egos so big…

January 25, 2012
Byron Carrier

Carrier’s Comments in November, 2008 Catalyst Newsletter Federal tax law bars me from a partisan directive to you on how to vote. I wouldn’t presume to do that anyway. The intent of the separation of church & state is to bar the government from promoting, or persecuting, any religion in order that the religions have the latitude to speak to social trends & issues. The church should not be beholden to, or afraid of, the government. To suggest that religions should remain silent on political…

January 25, 2012
Byron Carrier

I’m wearing this impractical but elegant ceremonial robe to illustrate the longer and larger tradition of friendliness in American sectarian relations. Baptist deacon Norman Bennet liked what we did at the Red Hill Universalist Church in rural southeast North Carolina, a liberal Christian congregation going back some 150 years. Norm liked me so much he bought my graduation robe. He gave me it and a 12 gauge shotgun, which I also still have. Norman valued our liberal religious ways because they provide needed balance to…

January 25, 2012
Byron Carrier

Announcements for November 2 “Religiously Political” with Rev. Brad Carrier (See also accompanying newsletter entry "Religiously Political prep" in Editorials) We inherit the responsibility and opportunity to tend to our own government. We should vote, but that is the minimum we can do. Citizens can more importantly speak their truth in community discourse. Authenticity and honesty are the fruit, flower and seed of democracy. Let’s remember our founder’s intent and evaluate our political directions according to our religious values and aspirations. Sermon We’re so inundated…

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The dream of an Earthly Religion…

Earthly: our precious natural earth which allows us our bodies, lives, cultures and future.

Religion: from the old root words religare and religio, meaning “to bind back to the root and be whole again.” This does not assume we need to believe in God or the Bible. Rather, we should be well-related with our own bodies, each other, natural life, and natural existence as it actually is. If there is connection with divinity or God, it is in and through our bodies and beings that we relate primarily, not via scriptures, traditions, rituals, or supposed religious authorities. In short, by religion we mean “relating well with reality.”

The emphasis here is on the earthly. It is not an afterlife or an instead-of-life that interests us. Living well here on earth together does.

While we take our religious perspective and work seriously, we don’t want it to be stuffy. Too often, religions can be alien to the human condition rather than affirming of it. They can be demeaning and demoralizing, dull and bossy, ponderously pretentious. We lean more towards the fun and sexy, natural and lively, human and humane, thoughtful and pertinent.

Reality: the obvious and inescapable stuff of physical existence. We intend to enjoy and tend our lives in these bodies, for our time, in our cultures, for our singular and interrelated ecosystem. There may be more, but there is AT LEAST THIS of which we are born, in which we live, and into which we will die.

God or no-God is not the point; Earth is. Both believers and non-believers are welcome here, for we all share a common source, opportunity, and responsibility: life as it is and could be. This ranges from simply improving one’s own life to your helping save and restore Eden’s, not just to “sustain” it, but veering it to thrive as never before. If you value your life, each other’s, and Earth’s – welcome!

Learn more…

Emerson, on his 200th

Doctor’s Advice

From Despair to Delight

Faith in the Larger Liberty

Too Political?

The Widow’s Mite and the Widow’s Might

Selfish, Selfless, and Self-Fulfilled

Religiously Political prep in Newsletter

Rescuing America and Christianity from Conservatives

Religiously Political