Issue 8063

THE

INQUIRER £1 | Issue 8063 | 8 July 2023

Caring for all beings

Feargus O’Connor’s vision for universal compassion Inside this issue…

Faith and the body Not all humanists are atheists Danny Crosby finds love on a busy street

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The voice of British and Irish Unitarians and Free Christians

THE

INQUIRER The Unitarian and Free Christian Paper Established in 1842, The Inquirer is the oldest nonconformist religious newspaper.

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www.unitarian.org.uk Page 2 | Issue 8063 – 8 July 2023

Inquiring Words…

Prayer for all the world’s animals Eternal Spirit, for all living creatures of Earth, sky and sea; For the gentle eyes of deer, the friendship of dogs and playfulness of kittens, the humour of chimps and intelligence of all the Great Apes, the grace of dolphins and the magnificence of whales.

For the bonds between all living beings and our kinship with all our fellow creatures on this, our mother planet, we give thanks.

We pray for all the animals of the wild in their beauty and glorious diversity. May we be ever mindful of the dangers they face, too often caused by us.

We pray for the companion animals who share our lives and homes, who show us loyalty and love. Bless them for the pleasure and companionship they give and protect all those who suffer cruelty and neglect.

We pray for all animals who suffer and die in laboratories, those who endure the horror and misery of factory farms, slaughterhouses and traps and those abused in the name of entertainment and sport. May we sense their fear and feel their pain. May we raise a voice of heartfelt protest at these and other cruelties perpetrated in our name.

Give us ears to hear the cries of all creatures tortured in the name of science, skinned in the name of fashion and sacrificed in the name of any heartless economic system which puts profits before lives.

Give us eyes to see our responsibility not just to our human community but to all living Creation.

In a world marred by violence and cruelty may we reach out in gentleness, kindness and love to all who live and breathe, suffer and feel.

Eternal Spirit, inspire us with a vision of the peaceable kingdom imagined by those prophets and sages who dream of the ideal commonwealth in which all living creatures may dwell in peace and love. Touch our hearts, each and every one of us, to work ceaselessly for its realisation here on Earth. Amen.

Feargus O’Connor Photo by Peggy and Marco Lachmann-Anke via Pixabay

Feargus O’Connor outlines a Unitarian vision of universal compassion

Fight against factory farming Is it likely that God takes no delight whatever in the more than a million other life forms on this planet yet does delight in the one human species lately emergent on the planet? If such an idea is not sheer anthropomorphic bias, what would be such bias?

So wrote Professor Charles Hartshorne, the eminent process philosopher and Unitarian Universalist minister, in the true spirit of the Seventh Principle of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).

As a Unitarian philosopher and behaviour. That is apart from the theologian, Hartshorne perceived dangers of genetic modification “In terms of sheer with the utmost clarity the global intended to accelerate growth dimensions of this immense ocean and reproduction, and chemically numbers of animals of suffering and the cruel and treated feed, dangerous to animals abused and killed every heartless exploitation of billions of and human consumers alike. our fellow creatures on our home All of this comes at an enormous year, the iniquity of planet. Hartshorne would have cost to the animals in the negative factory farming is clearly deplored that each year 100 million impact on their physical and innocent and helpless animals were psychological wellbeing. Although the worst cause of animal still used in laboratory tests. He this perverse exploitation of animals suffering worldwide.” would have been shocked at the is intended to maximise profits for ever-growing evil of factory farming agribusiness, it involves very serious and unflinchingly contemplated consequences for human health and the stark reality behind the the environment. astronomical figures involved.

Intensive farming hurts the environment In terms of sheer numbers of animals abused and killed Factory farming is a potential source of deadly zoonotic every year, the iniquity of factory farming is clearly the disease outbreaks, including bird flu and swine flu. And, to worst cause of animal suffering worldwide. According all our costs, perhaps Covid-19, resulting in a major human to United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation pandemic. The overuse of antibiotics as a growth promoter figures, it is estimated that 83 billion non-human land as well as to try to prevent outbreaks of bacterial animals were used globally to produce meat, eggs and disease on factory farms has led to widespread antibiotic dairy products, and least 2.2 trillion fish were killed for resistance in the field of human medicine. food.

The negative impact of factory farming on the Depriving animals of basic needs environment must now be evident to all, and its grave Factory farming is a highly intensive and unnatural dangers can no longer be denied. Intensive farming practice. It deprives most captive animals of their most practices waste enormous amounts of drinking water basic needs, including sunlight, fresh air, pastures and and cause disastrous pollution of natural waterways and freedom to move about and to express their natural aquifers. Huge forest clearances in order to grow feed Continued on page 4 > www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 3

“It is estimated that 83 billion non-human land animals were used globally to produce meat, eggs and dairy products.”

Shown left: Processing eggs photo by Steven Weirather via Pixabay

Continued from page 3 >

for animals result in far fewer trees to combat global warming. The health, environmental and economic costs are incalculable.

So how, if we are to be true to our core convictions, should we as a compassionate liberal religious community respond and show how much we care not by our words but our deeds?

Take inspiration from UUA groups I hope that we may be inspired to decisive action not only by the Unitarian Universalist Ministry for Earth (See: www.uumfe.org) and its dedicated environmental witness on climate change and protecting biodiversity, but by the practical compassion shown in life-changing action by the UU Animal Ministry (UUAM) (See: www.uuam.org).

UUA Principles rightly affirm the ‘inherent worth and dignity of every person’, but the UUAM seeks to extend this ethic to include other species which possess their own intrinsic value: Recognising the beauty and interconnectedness of all species, we strive for wholeness and toward justice for all beings. As a result, we dedicate ourselves to: • Growing our Unitarian Universalist faith in the interdependence of all life that reveals itself in the inherent worth and dignity of all beings.

• Informing ourselves about non-human suffering.

• Seeking and promoting ecological justice.

• Inspiring respect and reverence for the Earth and all its creatures.

• Living in harmony with the natural world, which includes a deep respect and commitment to human as well as non-human animals.

Among the UUAM’s initiatives is its inspirational Reverence for Life Programme. Grounded in Unitarian Universalist foundational principles and ethics and its rich religious and philosophical traditions, most notably Albert

Schweitzer’s Reverence for Life ethic, this programme seeks to deepen awareness that all life is indeed interconnected and interdependent, and all sentient fellow beings do have such inherent worth and dignity.

This awareness gives humankind ‘a chance for nourishment, healing and a sense of belonging to the web of life so that they may, in turn, nourish and heal the world’. This has led UUAM to submit a proposal to amend the wording of the Seventh Principle itself to include these new inspiring words: We honour the interdependent web of all existence of which we are part. With humility and reverence, we covenant to protect Earth and all beings from exploitation and cruelty: creating and nurturing sustainable relations of repair, mutuality and justice.

Examine the moral questions Many concerned Unitarian Universalists feel impelled to examine these moral questions more deeply as they begin to create a vision of liberation that truly includes all living Creation. Should not we UK Unitarians seek to join them in solidarity and help shape that vision?

I would like to think that Prof Hartshorne, a vegetarian, animal lover and keen student of bird behaviour, would have welcomed both our 2013 Unitarian General Assembly resolution and its 2015 follow-up promoting humane medical research. That 2013 resolution, itself invoking the UUA’s Seventh Principle, urged all people of goodwill to ‘promote a greater awareness and understanding of the interdependent web of all existence of which we are part and, recognising the dignity and worth of all living creatures, cultivate an ethic of compassion and mercy to the billions of sentient beings who share this planet with us and to act in ways that promote our common welfare.’

Acting in that spirit in 2015, I successfully moved a Continued on page 5 >

Page 4 | Issue 8063 – 8 July 2023

What is humanly possible?

By Alan Ruston When you hear the word humanist, do you immediately think it means people who are firm in saying that some type of God doesn’t exist? That’s the commonly accepted meaning of the word amongst most in Britain today – a belief represented by the British Humanist Association, now renamed Humanists UK. However, this is a narrow meaning of the word, as argued by Sarah Bakewell, in her new book which follows on from her last bestseller, At the Existentialist Café (2016).

Sarah is a philosopher, not of the academic variety, but one who attempts to put complex concepts in simple and clear terms. She asks: ‘Religious, non-religious, philosophical, practical and humanities-teaching humanists – what do these meanings have in common, if anything? The answer is right there in the name: they all look to the human dimension of life.’ Nobody owns the word, as she illustrates in describing thinkers and activists from the 1300s onwards, starting from Petrarch and Dante. And what a collection she puts before her readers, transforming often dense, complicated material from numerous writers into clear lively prose.

She makes them come alive in a way I much appreciate, bringing out little bits of their personal oddities and activities, which can only come from wide reading and a particular type of mind. She sees unexpected connections.

For example, Karl Marx thought Charles Darwin’s Origin

of Species was most interesting, so when his own Das Capital appeared, he sent Darwin a copy. This ‘remained with uncut pages on the naturalist’s shelf though he did send Marx a warm thank you letter.’ The philosopher Erasmus she calls a travelling humanist, a general consultant to institutions all over Europe. He once said, ‘Home is where I keep my library.’

Readers may recall my piece in the Inquirer (13 May), titled ‘Off to church with granny’ about Bertrand Russell possibly being taken to Richmond Unitarian Church in the 1880s by his forceful grandmother Frances, Countess Russell. There is more about her here in the section on Russell. ‘She was ascetic and traditional … Bertrand remembered, particularly, that she would never sit in a comfortable chair until after teatime.’ Apparently, it was widely held in late Victorian times that easy chairs could be seen as a soft option, the use of which must be limited.

However, Frances’s influence was wider than that: ‘She gave me a Bible with her favourite texts written on the fly leaf. Among these was “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.” That, he said, remained a guiding motto all his life.’

Perhaps the core of Sarah Bakewell’s argument is that humanism is a wide concept and is a doctrine about a form of salvation – ‘the belief that human kind can take charge of its destiny.’ She is keen on the aphorisms of Robert G Ingersoll (1833–1899), an American 19th-century Continued on page 9 >

Protect all from cruelty Continued from page 4 >

further GA motion/resolution: Recognising the universal kinship of all sentient beings affirmed by the world’s great religions, philosophers and sages… (this motion) encourages fellow Unitarians and all people of goodwill to support the Universal Kinship Appeal (of Animal Free Research UK) and other humane research charities in order to advance nonanimal medical research and in so doing help save human and animal lives.

Over £50,000 raised To date, that appeal has raised £55,377 for humane medical research into breast and prostate cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Should not we UK Unitarians seek to join our American counterparts in the UUAM in solidarity and help shape the vision set out in their proposed Seventh Principle?

If you are interested in helping form a UK chapter of

the UU Animal Ministry please kindly contact me at ggunirev@aol.com and I shall be pleased to involve you in its formation and activities on this side of the Atlantic.

Feargus O’Connor The Rev Feargus O’Connor co-founded the Animal Interfaith Alliance and served as chair 2014–22.

He is a retired Unitarian minister.

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 5

Faith has resisted bodily pleasure for too long, says Nicky Jenkins

Reuniting body and soul For too long in the past, the church denied the pleasures of the body – equated sin with sex. Some of us might be saying, ‘Come on, we’re a bit too old for this sort of thing.’ But think back to a time you were in love.

Remember the joy of looking at your beloved, of listening to them, of being in their presence and of reading their letters. The blood flows faster, an irrepressible joy flows through us. We feel alive. Everything takes on a different look. virtue based on overcoming the base In The African Queen, the movie nature of the body – rising above its (of Joseph Conrad’s novel) with weaknesses. St Augustine’s teaching Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey in the 5th century reinforced this.

“Denying one’s Bogart, Hepburn’s character pours He said that before the Fall in the Bogart’s supply of gin overboard Garden of Eden there was no sexual physicality became a while he sleeps. Bogart protests, ‘It’s desire related to procreation. After condition for growing only human nature’ to take ‘a drop Adam and Eve displeased God by too much once in a while’. eating of the fruit of the tree of closer to God. ” Katharine, as the missionary, says, knowledge, they had to fight against ‘Nature, Mr Alnutt, is what we are the forces of passion, which were put in this world to rise above.’ not part of God’s ideal for human This line perfectly expresses the existence. Denying one’s physicality theological principles which have became a condition for growing perpetuated the division of body and soul. closer to God. This led to celibacy and the creation of In fact, these ideas first came not from Christianity, but monasteries and convents. from Greek philosophy. The Jewish people believed that it was their duty to be fruitful and multiply, but Greek Get body and soul back together thought was that the rational part of the self was the Whether (or not) we believe in sin, Adam and Eve, or St highest ranking, with the physical world the lowest rank.

Augustine, we are left with the legacy of these beliefs Aristotle associated women with matter and men with – and a struggle to get body and soul back together; to thinking or rationality, and I think that – for some of us be more fully integrated as people. This way of thinking women who grew up in the 1970’s – our feminism was about our bodies has led us to misuse them and treat related to showing how rational we could be and denying them badly. A spiritual approach asks us to recognise that our emotional side. we are our bodies and that health and beauty can only come from the inside out. As Sarah York says in her book Christian virtue Pilgrim Heart: ‘Our world is not a fallen paradise where we In this way of thinking, the body was considered the need to rise above our nature; it is a blessed garden.’ lowest of the low. From this arose the idea of Christian Unitarians, in particular, can be guilty of this separation

Page 6 | Issue 8063 – 8 July 2023

“Katharine, as the missionary, says, ‘Nature, Mr Alnutt, is what we are put in this world to rise above.’”

Shown left: Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart in a publicity still for ‘The African Queen’.

from the body. Some of us might have worshipped at the temple of rationality where we see reason as providing the only truth. However, as the poet Walt Whitman says: ‘If life and the soul are sacred, the human body is sacred.’

If we listen to our bodies we can hear things our rational minds filter out. Instead of simply trying to understand God, we can experience God with our senses.

We can experience God: • In a sunset.

• In a child.

• In a mountaintop view.

• In a soft, furry pet.

We can experience God: • In our honest physical work.

• In our bodies’ movement.

We can experience the Divine through all our senses – scent and sound as well as touch and vision. And we can respect that experience as true, not to be ignored or risen above, but part and parcel of ourselves as whole integrated sacred beings.

Opening the entirety of ourselves When I fell in love – when I was 16 – it was painful as well as joyous. When we allow ourselves to fall in love we also open ourselves to pain, the pain of unrequited love and the pain of separation. When we open ourselves to the entirety of ourselves as feeling, physical beings, we also open ourselves ultimately to the pain of death. Perhaps we have been using our rationality to keep ourselves safe from pain, but the truth is that we cannot be fully open to the life-enhancing power of love without risking loss.

In embracing our bodies, we need also to embrace their ageing and mortality. Some of us are better at this than others. Ultimately we must embrace our own deaths.

Death is not a failure, it is a great mystery, a part of the cycle of life where the elements of our bodies return to nature to be incorporated once again to form new life.

Once we have accepted our whole selves, we must extend that acceptance and love to others.

If love comes from God, then there can be no exceptions.

• Love cannot be just for one, or some of us. If it is for any of us, it must be for all.

• Love cannot be just for those with loud voices, but also for the voiceless.

• Love cannot be just for those with power, but also for those who are marginalised.

• Love cannot be just for those who still hope, but also for those who despair that help and hope will never come.

Love is a choice The Unitarian Universalist Rev Peter Morales expressed it with these words: There’s no difference between spiritual values and social action. They’re two sides of the same coin. When we experience our connection with that which transcends us and with other people, we become compassionate. We suffer with, not separated from the other. That’s a deeply spiritual experience ... Standing on the Side of Love ... is simply a way in which we can act upon our deepest religious passions.

Love is a choice. It is a stand. It is a deep, life-changing passion, not just for our hearts, but also for our souls.

Nicky Jenkins The Rev Nicky Jenkins is a retired Unitarian minister who lives in York.

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 7

New EC Convenor Jo James says trust the wisdom of our faith

We need clarity

Shown above: The Rev Dr Paul Rasor addresses the GA in 2018.

Photo by Molly Ramsay

I think it is important to keep our core Unitarian and liberal religious values … in front of us, because this is where our prophetic practice is grounded.

The Rev Dr Paul Rasor, in his address to Unitarian General Assembly, Birmingham, 2018 In May, I was appointed convenor of the General Assembly’s Executive Committee (EC). I’m very grateful to my colleagues on the committee for entrusting me with this role, and to our Chief Officer Liz Slade for being so open to my perspectives – which are sometimes quite different from her own.

I told this new group at the opening of our first meeting that I hoped to support Liz in her leadership – even when we differ. Since we have invited her to lead transformational change, we also now have an opportunity (and even an obligation) to let her lead.

I know from personal experience that congregations can sometimes appoint a minister and then do everything they can to obstruct that minister’s leadership. But I take it as a given that no one should be expected to take responsibility unless they are also granted authority.

The best role the EC can provide – and indeed the right relationship between trustees and any leaders – is to provide the guidance of good strategic policy and facilitate good leadership, communication and best practice.

So strategic clarity is key.

But clarity has not always been the strongest characteristic of recent Unitarian culture. In my view our comparative lack of theological and strategic clarity has been one of the major drivers of our sense of anxiety – and our reduction in numbers.

A few years ago the Rev Dr Paul Rasor was our GA keynote speaker. As well as being a minister with the Unitarian Universalist Association, he’s an academic based in the Netherlands; a fellow in theology and religious studies, and visiting professor of law at the University of Groningen. Rasor’s books Faith without Certainty: Liberal Theology in the 21st Century and Prophetic Witness are excellent, and his talk was a highlight of the 2018 assembly. The Rev Dr Rasor was kind enough to share his

notes with me, and the talk was also published at the time

by Faith and Freedom (no.186, Spring 2018). He said, in part: Faith without certainty points to an important characteristic of liberal religion, the belief that you don’t have to have all the answers, or indeed any of the answers, to be a religious person … Faith without certainty does not mean that liberals never find any answers, or that we live our lives without convictions. Far from it … Our internal documents and our public declarations reflect a set of core values and principles which shape our faith and help guide our lives. Of course these values and principles are not creeds; they remain open-ended. That is the nature of liberalism. We liberals may sometimes have strong opinions, but we seldom think that we, or anyone else, have the ultimate answers. In other words, faith without certainty …

Doing ‘faith without certainty’ I was at the time struggling with the difficulties that ‘faith without certainty’ can pose for a Unitarian ministry, difficulties we all struggle with as we seek to provide just enough structure to create a securely defined sanctuary, without imposing so much structure that reasonable minds may hesitate to align. So I was very struck by what Rasor said next: Let me begin, then, with a brief look at our core Unitarian and liberal religious values… I think it is important to keep them in front of us, because this is where our prophetic practice is grounded. We can begin with the values identified Continued on page 9 >

Page 8 | Issue 8063 – 8 July 2023

What is humanly possible?

Continued from page 4 >

humanist whose statements can often be found in books of notable quotations. She quotes twice in her book his aphorism: Happiness is the only good.

The time to be happy is now.

The place to be happy is here.

The way to be happy is to make others so.

Extracts from Humanly Possible have been read on BBC 4, and she was in discussion in a Start the Week programme titled ‘Humanism – what is it good for?’, in March with Julian Baggini and others. It remains available online. (See: www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b074w30k) She is not a member of Humanists UK, but does not go as far as that stark and challenging modern thinker John Gray, who in his Seven Types of Atheism, states that ‘contemporary atheism is a continuation of monotheism by other means.’ She does finish her much to be recommended, thought-provoking book with the Humanists International Declaration of Modern Humanism, agreed at their General Assembly meetings held in Glasgow in 2022.

Its main heads are: 1. Humanists strive to be ethical.

2. Humanists strive to be rational.

3. Humanists strive for fulfilment in their lives.

4. Humanism meets the widespread demand for a source of meaning and purpose to stand as an alternative to dogmatic religion, authoritarian nationalism, tribal sectarianism and selfish nihilism.

Most Inquirer readers could likely agree with these heads without problem. Unitarians, of the American variety, do get a specific mention. To quote: ‘During the 1930s, it occurred to a few people in America, mainly Unitarians, that it would be useful to make connections between groups by writing “some kind of humanist blast.” That blast became the world’s first Humanist manifesto, issued in 1933. It presented humanism as a “religion”, partly because that was the Unitarian approach, and partly because it made a handy way to talk about a movement that otherwise fitted no obvious category.’

Many objected to its content, and in the end just 34 people signed it. It stressed concern for civil liberties, social justice, and a belief in the importance of reason, and much else that Unitarians of the time affirmed, and that 21st-century Unitarians can still affirm today.

Humanly Possible: Seven Hundred Years of Humanist Freethinking, Inquiry, and Hope, Sarah Bakewell, Chatto & Windus, 2023. Hardback. 434 pages. Price £22. ISBN 978-1-78-4 74166-2 Alan Ruston is a Unitarian historian and author.

Trust our faith Continued from page 8 >

in the Constitution of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches. The preamble begins by naming ‘mutual sympathy, co-operation, tolerance and respect’ as the guiding principles of your association.

It goes on to affirm ‘the worth and dignity of all people’, freedom of conscience, and, in the next paragraph, ‘service to humanity and respect for all creation’. These values lie at the heart of our liberal Unitarian faith. The Constitution also speaks of ‘upholding the liberal Christian tradition’, which of course has its own deep values. These include love and compassion, forgiveness and reconciliation, and social justice, especially for those who suffer from poverty or oppression.

This seems to me a vivid description of the core values that underpin our purpose and I was gratified to find that the other trustees in the EC agree with me that re-establishing these values at front and centre of our strategic policies should be a priority.

I’ve been interested that, in a period of escalating tension and anxiety within the culture, and of course within our denomination, one of our responses has been to codify our relationships and activities.

But I wonder if introducing more guidelines and codes,

however well intentioned, will ever really resolve our problems? Can guidelines even influence the real drivers of our corporate anxiety?

To better honour the spiritual inheritance of our Unitarian ancestors, who knew that truth is best served where the mind and conscience are free, I believe we should rather trust to our conscience and, with the wisdom of faith, rediscover and reaffirm the validity of the Objects as they are set out in our constitution. They were the product of much thoughtful and diligent work; I believe we can steer by these Objects as we navigate what will inevitably be difficult waters.

Jo James The Rev Jo James is minister at Mill Hill Chapel, Leeds, and is convenor of the Executive Committee of the Unitarian General Assembly.

www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 9

The Nightingale Centre – Job Vacancy CENTRE MANAGER Are you looking for your next new challenge?

Do you want to help create a ‘Centre of Excellence in a venue with a difference’?

This management role is absolutely central to improving our Guest offering, attracting new Guests and adapting to their changing needs.

Having implemented several very exciting developments at the Centre, we continue to build on our successes and are therefore delighted to be in a position to recruit a new Manager for our 4-star hostel accommodation in the heart of the Peak District.

Title: Reporting to: Salary: Hours:

Centre Manager The Management Committee/Trustee Board £40,000 37 ½ hours per week

Purpose of Post •

To manage the day-to-day operation of the Centre to ensure excellent Guest experiences.

•

To establish a ‘no blame’ culture amongst the staff and excellent, supportive team working.

•

To work closely with the Board to understand the strategic priorities and how these can be achieved.

Background The Centre is a Charity with close connections to The General Assembly of Unitarian & Free Christian Churches. The members of the Management Committee/Trustee Board are responsible for ensuring that the Centre is run responsibly and in accordance with its Charitable objects. The members are all volunteers with relevant skills and experience.

There are four staff teams: • Office where the Centre Manager will normally be based • Housekeeping led by the Head Housekeeper • Catering led by the Head Chef • Gardening team reporting to the Centre Manager We aim to establish excellent, collaborative working as one team focused on delivering high quality experiences for our Guests and a warm, supportive working environment for our staff.

If you think you have the skills, knowledge and experience needed for this post please email Marion Baker at marion.baker@tiscali.co.uk and ask for an application pack.

This will include: • Background Information • Application Form • Job Description • Person Specification Deadline for Applications: 18:00 hours on Thursday 31st August 2023 Candidates who are shortlisted will be informed by Monday 4th September 2023 by email.

Interview dates:

Wednesday 6th September 2023 and Thursday 7th September 2023 (Please keep both dates free in the event that you are shortlisted)

Start date:

Subject to the availability of the successful candidate.

We hope to hear from you soon.

Page 10 | Issue 8063 – 8 July 2023

A matter of trust and of love I was outside Caffè Nero with friends enjoying coffee in the early morning sun recently. I was facing away from the street, a position I don’t usually enjoy; I prefer to face out, watch the world go by. We were in a positive mood, the beautiful hot weather no doubt playing a major part in this.

This was suddenly brought to an abrupt halt. There was some kind of distressed sound from right behind me. We all stood up and turned round. We saw a street cleaner with his cart, he had halted and looked shocked. There was also a woman with a baby in a papoose in front of her; she had a black Labrador – her guide dog. The cleaner and the woman had bumped into each other. We were all in shock, not knowing what to do. There was the fear the baby was hurt, thankfully the child was not.

The guide dog knew the way The woman broke down in tears and was led to sit down.

The street cleaner was OK too. Things settled down and all was fine. Folk continued about their business. I returned home a little later. The woman, her baby and guide dog were just behind me and two friends as we walked towards the chapel. As we were talking we saw the woman, her baby and guide dog safely cross the road. We spoke with her, all was well, and interestingly she was coming to the large schoolroom at the chapel to go to her regular mother and child exercise class. The guide dog knew the way very well.

The whole incident has been on my mind ever since. It got me thinking about how much the woman has to trust in her guide dog to live freely in the world. How much that incident must have shaken her up. How frightening it must have been not only for her own safety, but also for her baby. How, while we were all shocked, everyone responded in loving and caring ways and just wanted to make sure everyone was OK. How, after breaking down, the woman picked herself up, dusted herself down and started all over again. She got on with her day. She trusted her dog absolutely and all was well. She knew the path that she must follow, as did the dog, and she continued on it.

I’ve never had a great sense of direction and or spatial awareness. My mind does not operate in images. Maybe this is why I rarely if ever remember my dreams or even recall having them. I’m more of a communicator really, and mainly through sound and conversation. I can describe to you exactly how things felt that morning, the emotions of the individuals, but the imagery is all a bit vague. I

FROM FROM NOTHING NOTHING TO TO EVERYTHING EVERYTHING

By

By Danny Danny Crosby Crosby

have other friends who will be able to describe who was where, what people were wearing and what the individuals looked like. We are all different; it is very important to understand this. We truly do not all think alike, although I do like to believe that we can all love alike.

Now while my way of operating has its advantages, there are some disadvantages too. I get lost very easily. This is why since I learnt to drive I have relied on a satnav, moving onto the Waze system in more recent years. It has usually proved reliable. The great thing about it is if you take a wrong turn, it will quickly adjust and direct you back on track. Generally, this has worked out well, but once or twice it has not. A satnav is very good, but it cannot be relied upon 100%; sometimes it can send you down the wrong path, especially if you follow unquestioningly.

You must never stop trusting your eyes, and/or common sense. No guide is 100% reliable all the time, even the best-trained of guide dogs, it seems. We will take knocks; we will get lost on our journeys through life.

The problem isn’t getting lost, we all get lost at times. The problem is in losing faith that you cannot find your way again. The key is how we live when we find ourselves lost.

A beautiful example Do we close down and get lost deeper in our fear, or do we pause and reach out and ask for help from those loving forces that are all around, whether visible or invisible?

I saw a beautiful example of faith and trust that day outside Caffè Nero. A woman had experienced a terrifying knock. It must have been an awful shock to her confidence in herself and her guide. She took stock, she accepted help and comfort and then she got up once again, with her baby safe and secure in her papoose, hanging in front of her heart. She trusted her guide dog and she continued on her way with her daily activities. I saw she had absolute trust and no fear as she waited, later, to be guided across the road. What a beautiful example of faith and trust and – most of all – love. www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 11

Unitarian College offers worship course

Chowbent school joins congregation Chowbent Junior and Infant school came to Chowbent Unitarian Chapel for their Easter celebrations, where they sang and told the Easter story. The Chapel has close associations with the school, which was founded by the chapel in 1860. Two governors from the chapel are part of the governing body of the school The Rev Lynne Readett

Unitarian College is offering an online course for all Unitarians interested in leading high-quality worship services. The newly refreshed course will also offer training in online worship. Led by Unitarian Ministers and experienced lay people, the course consists of eight modules, which include: exploring your own theology, addresses, prayers and meditations, copyright, children’s worship and stories, and practical next steps.

The course will run via Zoom and will take place on Wednesday evenings (7–9pm) on 20 and 27 September, 4 and 11 October, and 1, 8 and 15 November, with an additional day for the final assessment on Saturday 2 December. The cost of the course is £100, and participants are encouraged to approach congregations and districts to help with funding. If you would like to take the course but cannot afford the fee, please contact us and we will see what we can do to help. If your congregation is affiliated to the North West Provincial Assembly, you will be entitled to a £50 subsidy.

To book your place and find out more, please email HMason@unitarian-college.org.uk or send an enquiry via the Unitarian College website: https://unitarian-college. org.uk

Faith in Words Share what inspires you Contribute to The Inquirer’s summer edition of creative material. Share expressions of your faith.

New contributors most welcome • Prayers • Addresses • Visual art • Meditations

For more information or to submit material, email: Inquirer@btinternet.com or send typed contributions to the editor’s postal address on page 2.

Material is due by 19 July THE

INQUIRER

Coffee & Comms a success Well attended by about 25 Unitarians from across the UK, this was the first ‘Coffee & Comms’ online gathering, led by the Rev Robin Hanford, minister of Hinckley Unitarians in Leicestershire, who shared his experiences of using social media to engage with the local community and wider public.

The idea behind this is to have a new, informal series of Zoom gatherings for sharing the excellent communications work being done by Unitarian congregations. It was a great chance to share and connect with others, and Robin’s experience of social media was very interesting in terms of what works and what doesn’t.

It left me thinking that perhaps it’s time to revive the old Uni-Coms network of Unitarian Communicators, maybe merge it with Unitarian Digital Resources Network and the work done by Lizzie Kingston-Harrison (Congregational Connections Officer) and the Rev Rory Castle-Jones (Communications Officer). Hopefully there will be more of these meetings, as it’s great to hear what works!

Louise Reeve www.inquirer.org.uk | Page 12