Transcendentalism and Mediocre Jazz

As I said in my last post I went to First Unitarian Church of Dallas this morning for two reasons. First, I discovered that the music for the service was being provided by the resident jazz ensemble for the church. I wanted to hear how they fit into a service and understand the level of musicians that participate. Second, the Adult Forum was continuing their lecture and discussion of Transcendentalism, which sounded interesting. I was stimulated by the second, disappointed in the first.

The Adult Forum uses lectures from the Great Courses lecture series that are available on DVD. These lectures are produced and delivered by noteworthy college professors in the topic. They are an excellent way to learn about a particular study area. Especially when they are viewed in a classroom setting followed by further facilitated discussion. The video lecture gets everyone on the same page to help prepare for the follow-on discussion. The only downside at First Unitarian is that there is very little time left after the video portion to have much of a discussion. But the material is usually very stimulating.

The jazz at the service was very disappointing. The keyboard sounded like a bad lounge keyboard sound. The arrangements were very low key. The solos were very short, subdued and could have been written out since they seemed to have very little spontaneity. The drums were very low energy and repetitive. The only bright spot was that the vocalists sounded good.

Maybe this is what was desired since Unitarian services tend to be very dry and subdued. That's the opposite of jazz.

From Unity to Unitarian (again)

Over the last year or more I have been going to classes at Unity of Dallas that are part of the Unity Spiritual Development Program. Completion of the SDP and a following Leadership Development Program are pre-requisites to obtaining a Licensed Unity Teacher Certification. Obtaining the LUT is required to be able to teach classes within Unity spiritual communities. I did not necessarily set out to become a LUT but I was very interested in the Metaphysical studies offered there and figured as long as I was going to spend the time I might as well get credit for it. The Metaphysics classes have been excellent and last year I also completed studies in Metaphysical Bible Interpretation and Abundance.

The next class on the list was The Story of Unity which traces the history of the Unity movement from the original founders throughout the early 20th century and beyond. The material is very straightforward and not nearly as stimulating as the Metaphysics classes have been. I attended one class last week and have been considering whether to follow through with it. This morning I believe the decision was made and the answer is No. In fact, I may abandon the quest for completing the SDP as well. Here's why.

Unity of Dallas offers lots of classes and discussions. The curriculum for the SDP and LDP and LUT are interesting, life affirming and connected with self-actualization ideas from other traditions and secular expressions of healthy minded living. Some of the topics, though, are all in the same vein as each other. The breadth is sometimes lacking. For example, there will not be specific curricular study on Transcendentalism (which is a strong contributor to New Thought as a whole), Buddhism, Hinduism or other philosophic strands and traditions. You might find these as supplemental classes or discussions on the menu as well as topics that might be considered "New Age" whatever that means. But pursuit of the LUT through the SDP and LDP will be more narrow than that.

I have attended several interesting and insightful discussions at the First Unitarian Church of Dallas over the last couple of years as well. This morning I decided to go to the Adult Forum lecture and discussion on Transcendentalism. The topics covered in various adult discussion groups there are very broad and include topics on world religions, philosophy, history, current affairs and comparative mythology. I believe I am gravitating toward that approach for a while. Perhaps I will return to the Unity discussions at a later date.

Unitarian Universalism compared to New Thought

I've finally had some time to explore the Unitarian church. I was curious about the difference between Unitarian and New Thought churches such as Unity and Religious Science. Since about March of this year, I have been exploring these three denominations to see if I can find a church I can tolerate for more than a few visits. New Thought and Unitarian Universalist brands definitely have a chance. I believe I know enough now to characterize the differences from my perspective.

I'll try to be succinct, as there is plenty of information elsewhere that compares these two approaches. Here are some ways they are the similar:

1. Both accept all religions as valid paths to the truth
2. Both believe in the quest for individual spiritual truth
3. Both support free thought
4. Both are tolerant of all races and sexual orientations
5. Both are metaphysically robust
6. Both share some overlap of thinkers in the 19th century (e.g. Emerson)

Here are some ways they are different:

1. Unitarians encourage no particular form of theistic belief - New Thought has a somewhat specific theistic concept
2. Unitarians draw from all theological, philosophical and other sources equally - New Thought emphasizes Christianity and the New Thought tradition while accepting and drawing from other sources as well
3. In particular, Religious Science draws from the Gospels, Eastern Religion, Ernest Holmes and Emerson somewhat equally while Unity tends to give a metaphysical interpretation of Christianity more emphasis
4. Unitarians have a more traditional form of worship service, drawing from many traditional hymns and using lots of classical music during worship services - New Thought is more contemporary with music
5. New Thought emphasizes meditation and affirmative prayer more than Unitarians
6. Unitarians are more intellectual, where Unity is more emotional
7. Unitarians appear to be somewhat equally represented by both genders - Unity/Religious Science appears to skew toward females
8. Unitarians are more intellectually broad in their sources - New Thought writing seems to have a more specific conceptual mentality

That's just a few. I wanted to get these down while I was thinking about them. My experiences recently in some of the discussion groups at the First Unitarian Church of Dallas have been extremely intellectually stimulating and thought-provoking.