Universal Life Church Monastery of Massachusetts: December 2014

Thursday, December 25, 2014

LIFE: Be Thankful

Throughout life we are told to be grateful for all that we have, to look at those who have less than us, rather than to those who have infinite times more, in order to be able to appreciate the blessings we have been showered with.

Despite these constant reminders, we find it easier to look at all that has, in fact, been denied us, leading to the building up of frustration and anger towards the world, our family, God, ourselves-whichever force we hold responsible for having deprived us of what it was we wanted-leaving us bitter, and dissatisfied. However, as it has been said in the Bible, "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’.” so we will often find compensation if we think more of what life has given us and less about what life has taken away. Peace and satisfaction will be ours if we rejoice in the gifts the Lord has given us, and if we seek our happiness in what we have, as compared to what we could have had.

Thursday, December 11, 2014

LIFE: Patience

We spend our lives looking to others, trying to copy their success stories, while not understanding why the same could not work for us, or cursing their good luck: the bestselling Self-Help books are a no-go, your mum casting up the impeccable grades of the neighbor whom you hate, in a bid to motivate you doesn’t help-and you end up even more bitter, internalizing all the anger and frustration.

However, as Carl Jung says, ‘The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases’, similarly, we each need to be allowed the freedom to make our mistakes, be given the courage to face our faults, yet not let them bring you down by needless and futile comparisons with vastly different Others, and as the Bible instructs us: “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed”, therefore teaching us an important lesson in patience, contentment and belief.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

LIFE: Searching

Many people spend their lives trying to achieve the magnificent, believing that the magic of living exists only if manifested through grandiose action. If an act is not grand and awe inspiring, there might as well be point of doing it.

However, in their search for the magnificent, they tend to over look the many, little, ordinary things they could do, which, when seen as a whole, create a magnificent picture. In the material race to fulfill our moral obligation, we often fail to realize how our biggest challenge in life is to be able to excel in our very ordinariness, which would enable us to become majestic. As the Bible remarks: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men”, thus do not seek glory in grand actions with which to gain the praise of your fellow beings: little deeds of kindness, done with the right intention and only to seek the pleasure of your Lord hold more importance.