Sacred Words

This quotation from Stephen Lingwood's The Unitarian Life summarises neatly the Unitarian attitude to sacred texts:

"We can pay attention to a cloud of witnesses from many different countries around the world and many different times in history. We can delve deep into the traditions of our spiritual ancestors and listen to their voices. In doing so, we can create a 'living scripture': a loose, dynamic collection of texts which bring together essential insights from the past and present of our movement."

In our worship and our devotions, we are not limited to readings from a particular sacred text - we are free to create our own 'living scripture' of readings that will speak to our condition and that of our congregations. 

Der lesende Klosterschuler - the reading monk

Every Unitarian will have different books which inspire them, which speak to their condition and influence their lives. The Bible used to be our primary source of inspiration and revelation, and for some Unitarians, it still is. But times have also moved on. At a recent conference of the Ministerial Old Students' Association at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, Sister Benedicta Ward, Supernumerary Fellow & Dean of Degrees at the College and a member of the Anglican religious community of the Sisters of the Love of God, led a session on Devotional Literature, which she described as "written words that help us give ourselves over to the Divine."

She had asked those present to bring a book with them, which had helped in their own spiritual journeys. The choices (from current, retired and aspiring Unitarian ministers) were fascinating:

• The Benedictine Rule
• The works of UU minister Forest Church
• A Year of Grace, compiled by Victor Gollancz
• Love Poems From God: Twelve Sacred Voices from East and West
• The Great Companions
• Writings by Julian of Norwich
• The prayers of James Martineau and Harry Lismer Short
• Guide to Walking Meditation by Thich Nhat Hanh
• In the Holy Quiet of This Hour by Richard S. Gilbert
• Poetry by R.S. Thomas
• The Psalms
• The Sacred Space -scriptural readings & reflections on them by Irish Jesuits
• Quaker Advices and Queries
• The works of Henri Nouwen
• The Shaking of the Foundations by Paul Tillich
• New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton
• On Praying the Psalms by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
• The Language of the Heart by A. Powell Davies

Quite a mixed selection. Many of the titles put forward "rang bells" with other folk. Sr. Benedicta explained that devotional reading was a very different exercise from reading to analyse and dissect a text. The important thing is to be still and to learn to listen to what the Divine is telling you through the medium of the text. This approach may be too mystical for many Unitarians, but most of the ministers present seemed to resonate with it.

Unitarian Spiritualities

Unitarian minister Cliff Reed provides a succint summary about Unitarian spiritualities in his book Unitarian? What's That? He writes: "Within the Unitarian historical tradition there have been many strands. These include deeply devotional Christian and Theistic forms, as well as a strong belief in the necessity of reason. Religious humanism has also played its part, by locating the focus of spiritual concern wholly in our life in this world rather than in realms or beings deemed supernatural. Another long-standing, and now resurgent theme, is that of nature or the creation as replete with spiritual significance." 

In other words, Unitarians are free to recognise the Spirit or the path to the Spirit where they will - in God, in other human beings, or in the natural world. Or in all of them. In the first half of the 20th century, following on from Martineau, much emphasis was laid on the primacy of reason and conscience. But in the last 50 or 60 years, many Unitarians have moved away from this purely rational approach to the Spirit, and towards a more right-brain, intuitive, mystical approach. Meditation has become much more commonplace among us, both in church services, and also for personal devotion. Workshops are held to explain and allow people to experience different spiritual practices - prayer beads, lectio divina, journalling, different kinds of prayer, Taizé chanting, Dances of Universal Peace - the list is endless. A certain amount of ritual has crept back into our services, which the Rational Dissenters of another age would have frowned upon. Some churches hold short communion services at particular times of the year; others celebrate the Pagan festivals connected to the wheel of the year - the solstices, the equinoxes, and Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas and Samhain. I believe that this has added immeasurably to the richness of Unitarian worship.

One ritual which the vast majority of Unitarian chapels and churches observe weekly is the lighting of the chalice flame. The chalice represents the Unitarian community, and the flame can represent various things: freedom, truth, liberty, spirit. Some also light Candles of Joy and Concern regularly, which give the congregation a chance to participate in the service. And there are special Unitarian communion services, which we have imported from Unitarian traditions elsewhere in the world. Many British congregations hold an annual Flower Communion service, for example, which involves bringing a flower with you, that has some meaning for you, and taking home another, that someone else has brought.

John Midgley explains: "The Flower Communion Service originated in the Czechoslovak Republic before the Second World War. Rev. Dr. Norbert Capek, a former Baptist minister and journalist, who founded the Unitarian Church in Prague in 1921, felt that the traditional Christian Communion Service, with bread and wine, was unacceptable to many of the members of his congregation because of their strong reaction against the Catholic faith. So he turned to the native beauty of their countryside for elements of a new communion, which would be genuine to them. It became one of their most significant services and was soon introduced in other Unitarian congregations."

So these days, it may be said with some truth that Unitarians connect with the Spirit in many different ways. And that is good.