Outstretched Wings of the Spirit--Day Twenty-eight

The Twenty-eighth Day            
(Tuesday, April 2, 2019)

The Choir of Heaven and Furniture of Earth

“Prayer is not subjective but objective if one means to ask whether any reality is reached by means of prayer which is greater than the personality itself. Prayer does reach such a reality. The growth of meaningful and mutually sustaining connections between activities is far wider and fuller than the single personality. Furthermore it is super-human. It is a doing which we ourselves cannot perform. Meaning and value grow in human life, when required conditions are met; but the growing is not construction of human labor. Therefore prayer is objective in the sense that is reaches a reality that is not only greater than the single personality, but is greater than humanity. The reality is a growth which weaves all manner of activities into a system of mutual support and meaning. This includes not only the activities of many personalities, but also the activities of the wind and sea and trees, and coal and machines, and much else of the choir of heaven and furniture of earth. It weaves them all into a meaningful system. . . . There is nothing which reaches a powerful good extending so far beyond human power as does prayer. In that sense prayer is objective. 

“Some of the conditions of effective prayer are the following. (1.) One must earn the right to pray (a) by facing the situation or problem squarely, formulating is as clearly and analyzing it as fully as possible; and (be) meeting all other conditions for its solution that one can . . One must get into the problem as far as one can, grapple with it until one has the true sense of it, before one is able to pray about it with any understanding of in such a way that God can help in the form of increased connections of mutual support.

“(2.) One must commit one’s wants to the transforming growth of meaning. When God answers prayer, God transforms personas, institutions and ideals into a higher unity of richer value . . . We who pray must commit ourselves and our wants to the transforming power of God. We must seek what is genuinely Is greatest good and not merely the specific things which will satisfy our present wants. . . . ‘Not my will but Thine be done.’

“(3.) One must have faith is prayer is to be effective. That means one must be alert, responsive, outreaching and anticipative toward the growth of good wherever and however it may appear. Therefore—the connections of mutual support and meaning can hardly form unless one is sensitive, responsive, outreaching and anticipative. One must have faith if growth is to work, weaving activities, new and old, into a higher order of value. God can do very little for and with anybody in any way unless such a one has faith after this manner.

“We must think differently about prayer from our forebears. But our manner of praying, if we pray aright, will not be much different from the praying of all the great saints. As they connected with God through prayer and were caught up in the growth of meaning and value along with the causes of persons for whom they prayed, so can we. Prayer is mightily effective with God when we meet the conditions. Without prayer, the growth of meaning and value in the world are disastrously crippled.” (Wieman & Wieman)

Prayer is not self-hypnosis. It is an exercise of the imagination by which we deliberately try to accord ourselves with that which made us and sustains us, the upthrusting order of the universe. It works when we let it change us so as to become more and more the image of its mutually reciprocal Being-Becoming. But often we don’t want to change. We are comfortable as we are. It is then we most need truly to pray. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

Abiding God, Ye pray for all our many needs and desires. Sort them out. Help us to separate the worthy from the unworthy, the creative from the uncreative, the constructive from the destructive, the uniting from the divisive.

Grant us the joy of feeling ourselves a part of Your Vast Magnificence, You’re all-Encompassing Love.  Amen.

Hymn

At first I prayer for Light:
Could I but see the way,
How gladly, swiftly would I walk
To ever-lasting day!

And next I prayed for Strength,
That I might tread the road
With firm, unfaltering feet, and win
The heaven’s serene abode.

And then I asked for Faith:
Could I but trust my God,
I’d live enfolded in his peace,
Though fears were all abroad.

But now I pray for Love,
Love that encircles all,
A living love that will not fail,
However weak our call.

And Light and Strength and Faith
are opening everywhere!
God only waited for me till
I prayed the larger prayer.

—Edna Dow Cheney (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 275)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religiousbased on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit--Day Twenty-seven

The Twenty-seventh Day         
(Monday, April 1, 2019)

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit

“Certain attitudes of the personality are like the outstretched wings of a bird which catch the wind in such a way that they are lifted into heights of the sky. Vultures soar into the blue until they are invisible, mounting in a spiral, but never moving their wings. Their outspread wings, while motionless, are adjusted to the upper currents of air in such a way that they are lifted ever higher. Certain attitudes of the personality are like the outstretched wings of the bird. Prayer is adjusting the personality to God in such a way that God can work more potently for good than otherwise, as the outstretched wings of a bird enable the rising currents to carry it to higher levels. 

“But what is God? The idea of prayer is inextricably involved in the idea of God. The present confusion in thought and practice of prayer is due to the present confusion in thought about God . . . God is the growthof meaning and value in the world. This growth consists of increase in those connections between activities which make the activities mutually sustaining, mutually enhancing and mutually meaningful . .  . Prayer is the conscious attempt directly to adjust one’s own personality to God, often to the end of the attaining some specific result.” (Wieman & Wieman)

Prayer, in one form or another, has always been the heart and soul of the deeply religious life. But because our concepts of God have become unreal, the practice of prayer has faded. Once one regains an intellectually acceptable concept of God, the ability to pray, to enter into an emotional relationship with our deepest, dearest Being-Becoming, returns full-blown and ready for daily use. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

Infinite yet Intimate God, You are always near us—around, under, over, behind, before, within, “closer to us than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet.” Grant that we may be always aware of Your Everlasting Arms holding and sustaining us. You are the “Love which will not let us go.” Amen.

Hymn

We pray no more, made lowly wise,
For miracle and sign;
Anoint our eyes to see within
The common, the divine.

‘Lo here! Lo there!’ no more we cry,
Dividing with our call
The mantle of thy presence, God,
That seamless covers all.

We turn from seeking thee afar,
And in unwonted ways,
To build from out our daily lives
The temples of thy praise.

—Frederick Lucian Hosmer (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 274)
(Hymns for the Celebration of Life, no. 188)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religiousbased on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit--Day Twenty-six

The Twenty-sixth Day              
(Sunday, March 31, 2019)

Practice

“We do not form ideas about prayer until after we find ourselves practicing it. It is one of the vital functions of human living, like talking and tool-making, which spring up quite spontaneously. We did not first develop the idea that we ought to pray and then begin. We did not first discover the god of our prayer and decide to address prayers to such a one. Our first prayers would scarcely be recognized as such by one who has learned to pray from socially established patterns. Rather they were impulsive cries of joy and need, appeals for help and for sympathy. 

“The difference between prayer and magic is that prayer is an attempt to address the personality in such a way as to attain community of interest and creative interaction. Magic, on the other hand, is an attempt to exercise coercive power to get results, either directly or through controlling a deity or other spirit or force. The efficacy of prayer depends on the adjustment of the personality to some reality in such a way as to attain desired ends. The efficacy of magic consists of the precision with which the words or gestures are performed which have the coercive power. Since prayer is an adjustment of the total personality seeking community of interest in creative interaction, it is a moral and religious undertaking. Since magic does not involve any such endeavor, it is not moral or religious. . . .” (Wieman & Wieman)

We all pray, whether we know it or not. Prayer is natural to us, for we instinctively feel ourselves to be part of Something far greater than ourselves, to which we need successfully to relate. In times of crisis, we pray spontaneously. The important skill to learn is how to pray intelligently and seriously daily so as to grow gradually into mutuality with the Superhuman Reality. It has been said that “Our extremity is God’s opportunity,” but it is better to be in relation with ultimate resources before the crisis arrives. Then it may be faced and resolved more easily and soundly. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

Universal Being-Becoming, help us to learn how to open ourselves to awareness of Your Omnipresence, and to accord all our doings with Your evolving character. For Yours is the Power which lifts us up on high when our prayers are sincere and germane. Amen.

Hymn

Almighty, while our hearts unlearn
The creeds that wrong thy name,
Still let our hallow’d altars burn
With faith’s undying flame!

Not by the lightening gleams of wrath
Our souls thy face shall see.
The star of love must light the path
That leads to heav’n and thee.

—Oliver Wendell Holmes (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 235)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religiousbased on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit--Day Twenty-five

The Twenty-fifth Day               
(Saturday, March 30, 2019)

An Illimitable Realm

“The redemptive  process delivers one into this way of living: From inner conflict or stagnation to progressive integration of personalities; from personal powers confined to personal powers released; from a disjunct personality to a conjunct one; from a sense of insecurity to a profound and indestructible peace; from specific objectives that imprison and perish , to a total objective that is eternal; from bondage to an established social pattern of life to a pattern that opens out into an illimitable realm of possible value and meaning.

“The institutions and prevalent ideals of modern society represent and order which is at one time connected with activities of people in mutual support with one another and the physical processes of nature so as to give meaning and value to life. But machinery and scientific techniques have elicited new activities, and put us into new relations of interaction with the physical processes of nature, so that this old order no longer connects activities in mutual support. It no longer gives the meaning and value to life which once it did. But the older order is still with us, unfitted though it be to modern conditions . . . 

“A new order is expressed in new institutions and ideals of society must be developed and is being developed. But the development is not fast enough. Human activities and their interactions with physical nature keep changing faster than the new order is developed. Hence the established order becomes more and more obstructive to the growth of meaning and value in life, and more and more obstructive to that mutual support which is required by human beings. . . .

“This shackling of the social processes by outworn institutions constitutes a crisis. The redemptive process for society would be a reordering of institutions, ideals and customs which would restore mutual support and release growth of meaning. In such a reordered society the redemptive process of the individual could occur more readily and more completely.” (Wieman & Wieman)

It is not enough for persons to be born again, and yet again. Society, too, must constantly be reborn and renewed to meet the demands of ever-increasing human and environmental interdependence. There comes a time when unchanging social institutions hamper or even prevent individual, personal redemption. Then, such institutions must be changed. As they are made by people, so must they be changed by them. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

Goading God, make us quick to face the reality of social wrong, and brave to make it right. For Your Kingdom of Love’s sake. Amen.

Hymn

Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings,
Thy better portion trace.
Rise from transitory things
Toward heav’n thy native place!
Sun and moon and stars decay,
Time shall soon this earth remove:
Rise, my soul, and haste away
To seats prepared above!

Rivers to the ocean run,
Nor stay in all their course;
Fire, ascending, seeks the sun;
Both speed them to their source:
So a soul that’s born of God
Pants to view God’s glorious face.
Forward tends to God’s abode
To rest in God’s embrace.

—Robert Seagrave (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 62)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religiousbased on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit--Day Twenty-four

The Twenty-fourth Day            
(Friday, March 29, 2019)

Every Objective a Prison House

“What is this power, mightier than voluntary effort of the individual, that holds and keeps us in the larger unity that gives the meaning of life to us? When our interests and activities are woven into meaningful connection, a wide and growing system of activities which give meaning to life, we are held in that unity by the total organization of which we are a part, and not by our own voluntary effort. This is a common fact of experience. We have no power to break away from such a fellowship and unity of meaningful activities. They hold us and keep us. . . . We who are thus saved are able to recover in spirit from disaster. We have ‘overcome the world.’

“The redemptive process is progressive deliverance from bondage to limited objectives, inner conflict and stagnated spirit . . . To be redeemed is to be awakened to responsiveness. . . .

“Every objective is a prison house to the human spirit if it falls short of the infinite possibilities of meaning which inhere in the cosmos. Nothing less than the wholeness of God can house the human soul with a dome so vast as to release all these potentialities for living. The redemptive process is the way we are released into this freedom and fullness of God. God is the infinite growth of meaning.” (Wieman & Wieman)

“The freedom and fullness of God.” It is this we all supremely seek, and would serve, for it alone can give the greatest meaning to our lives. As we grow older, if we are sensitive, we begin to ask, “Have I lived enough, loved enough, given enough, shared enough? Have I contributed enough?” And the answer is always Yes and No. Perhaps I have done all I could at any particular moment, but there still remains an unfulfilled potential beckoning ahead. To feel that pull towards perfection, and to mark some progress along that path is life’s greatest joy and reassurance. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

God of All, stretch our souls, open wide our hearts, that day by day we may more and more fully know the freedom of Your fullness. Amen.

Hymn

Go forth, O child of earth!
Still mindful of thy heavenly birth;
Thou art not here for ease, or sin,
But virtue’s noble crown to win.

Tho’ passion’s fires are in thy soul,
Thy spirit can their flame control;
Tho’ tempters strong beset thy way,
Thy spirit is more strong then they.

Go on from innocence of youth
To full grown pureness, full grown truth:
God’s angels still are near to save.
And God of all doth help the brave.

Then forth to life, O child of earth!
Be worthy of thy heavenly birth!
For noble service thou art here;
Thy brethren help, thy God revere!

—Samuel Longfellow (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 290)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religiousbased on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980.  

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit--Day Twenty-three

The Twenty-third Day              
(Thursday, March 28, 2019)

In the Midst of All Ruin

“To be converted . . . is to learn that every specific organization of existence is an obstacle to the realization of further possibilities. After it is achieved it must be gotten out of the way to clear the path for these fuller values. . . . Thus success and failure, fulfillment and frustration life and death, take on a different significance to one who is converted to high religion. Such a one knows that every form of existence must perish in order that further possibilities of value and meaning may be realized. Supreme conversion is to have that re-direction of interests by which we can perish and see our work perish and our loved ones, without loss of hope or courage or zeal. In the midst of all ruin there is a glory which abides. In the midst of all success there is a tragedy which lingers. 

“Many people find nothing in the world of such abiding worth that they feel inclined to live for it supremely. There is nothing that draws their diverse interests together and toward another . . . Such people are lost souls. . . .

“To be saved means, first, to be controlled by a loyalty which integrates the personality and releases all its powers in adoration and service of a cause that gives most inclusive meaning to life for that individual. To find such a cause and live for it in this way is to be converted.

“To be saved means, second, to belong to a unity of life in which one functions as a member, being sustained by the whole and helping to sustain the whole. When one becomes a functional member in such a sustaining and inclusive organization of activities, one is converted.

“It means, third, to be held to this loyalty and in the keeping of this unity by a power greater than one’s own voluntary effort. To find oneself in the keeping of such a power is to experience conversion.

“Finally it means to be lifted beyond all disillusionment because one lives in a growth which moves on to new fulfillments with the perishing of the old. One enters this kind of living by way of supreme conversion.” (Wieman & Wieman)

Jesus once asked, “What shall it profit you if you gain the whole world and lose your own soul?” Yet, it may be possible to gain the whole world, and thereby win one’s own soul, if the gaining be by entering into a fully shared, mutually supportive relation with as much of the cosmos as one at any moment can encompass. To aim for this, and to work for it with all one’s might, is to enjoy supreme conversion. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

Transforming God, help us to feel at-one-ment with all of Your Being-Becoming by finding ways to live helpfully with all our fellow creatures. Grant us the joy of reverence for all life. Amen.

Hymn

Now thank we all our God
with heart and hands and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
In whom this world rejoices;
Who from our mother’s arms
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
And still is ours today.

O may this bounteous God
Through all our life be near us,
With ever joyful hearts
And blessed peace to cheer us;
And keep us in this grace,
And guide us when perplexed,
And free us from all ills
In this world and the next.

—Martin Rinkart (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 262)
(Hymns for the Celebration of Life, No. 19)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religiousbased on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit--Day Twenty-two

The Twenty-second Day           
(Wednesday, March 27, 2019)

Living for the Highest Fulfillments of All Time

“To be converted, in the noblest sense, is to undergo that transformation of interests and loyalties by which one can live not only for the highest fulfillments of one’s own time, but for the highest fulfillments of all time. It is that reorganization of the personality which enables one to live for those unexplored possibilities which transcend all time but are nevertheless possibilities of existence because they can be approximated to an indefinite degree by reason of the indeterminate nature of existence and through the growth of meaning.

“For example, Jesus stands out in human history pre-eminently as living for a realm of value called the City of God that was highly impractical. His highest loyalty was given to values which cannot be actualized in any one particular form of existence or any one epoch of history, nor, perhaps, in the entire history of the human race. Nevertheless, the City of Love for which he lived was and is a possibility of existence in the sense that it can be approximated to some indefinite degree. The indeterminate nature of existence makes it impossible to set any limit to the degree of approximation. . . .

“Thus Jesus stands before the world, as (an) incarnation of the growth of meaning and value which is not limited to any specific for with its limited perfection. He embraces that way of living which strives beyond itself toward the continued perishing and new growth of further forms of value to the end that the infinite possibilities of value in God may be actualized to the maximum. . . .”  (Wieman & Wieman)

When one lives in God, one becomes an instrument for the accomplishments of higher and higher, and more and more complex forms of mutuality—mutual support, enhancement and meaning in the whole. There is almost no limit to the perfection towards which one can aspire. But growth always takes time, and is always gradual because if it is genuine it is organic. Prophets like the Rabbi Jesus encourage us to continue to strive for ever more nearly realized perfection of our growth in actual, lovingly mutual relationships. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

Creative God of growth, make each of us to be an instrument of Your growing love in the universe. Help us to bear bravely the challenge of our lesser selves that we may be reborn more perfectly at-one with all things and with Your Larger Life. Amen.

Hymn

My God, I thank thee who has made
The earth so bright,
So full of splendor and of joy,
Beauty and light;
So many glorious things are here,
Noble and right.

I thank thee, that thou hast made
Joy to abound;
So many gentle thoughts and deeds
Circling us round,
That in the darkest spot of earth,
Some love is found.

I thank thee more that all our joy
Is touched with pain;
That shadows fall on brightest hours,
That thorns remain;
So that earth’s bliss may be our guide,
And not our chain.

I thank thee, God, that thou hast kept
The best in store;
We have enough, yet not too much
To long for more;
A yearning for a deeper peace,
Not know before.

—Adelaide Ann Proctor (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 263)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religiousbased on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit--Day Twenty-one

The Twenty-first Day                
(Tuesday, March 26, 2019)

As a Plant is Ready to Burst into Bloom

“All genuine conversion is an incident in the process of growth of meaning and value . . . Since it is caused by growth of meaning and value, and since God is that kind of growth, conversion is caused by God . . . Conversion is that change of personality by which the individual is received into the life of God.

“While all conversion is an incident in growth, there is a certain kind which is peculiarly a crisis. One develops to a certain point where the personality is ripe for some new venture in living. But this new way of living cannot begin until certain further conditions are provided. When these arise one finds oneself quite suddenly and gloriously in the midst of this new way of living. As a plant is ready to burst into bloom when the warm sun and rain come, so a personality may be already to flower when certain needed conditions are brought about. We find ourselves living abundantly with interests, loyalties, sensitivities, appreciations we never knew we had. Prior growth had developed in us the capacity for them, but they could not blossom, until we began this kind of work, made this kind of personal contact, read those books, had the fellowship of this group, entered this kind of discussion, or whatever the required conditions may be . . . This kind of transformation may come suddenly. It may seem miraculous, in a day, in a night, we are living in a new world. . . .

“One may undergo an emotional experience which one and others may think is conversion, but in which no important change in personality and way of living takes place. This is a false conversion . . ., there is no genuine reorientation of personality.”  (Wieman & Wieman)

Some liberal religionists think they have outgrown the traditional concepts of sin and salvation, that they have no need for conversion, no need to be “redeemed.” But the truth is that all of us have repeated conversion-type experiences when some new insight opens us to new and broader loyalties. I well remember when I first became aware of the reality of poverty, and the injustice suffered by many at the bottom of our society. My old world of complacent indifference fell to pieces, and a new commitment of my life to “liberty and justice for all” took its place. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

God of growth, Your Larger Life within our own little lives keeps bursting the comfortable bonds of habit we cherish. You cast us into crises of uncomfortable opportunity again and yet again. You break us open to more and more glorious loving. Thank you, God of Growth. Amen.

Hymn

One God there is, all gods above;
The name is Truth, the name is Love,
The name is Beauty, it is Light,
God’s will is everlasting Right.

But ah! To wrong what is the name?
This God is a Consuming Flame
To ev’ry wrong beneath the sun;
This is one God, the Holy One.

God of the Everlasting Name,
Truth, Beauty, Light, Consuming Flame!
Shall I not lift my heart to thee,
And ask thee, God, to rule in me?

—William Brightly Rands (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 293)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religiousbased on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit--Day Twenty

The Twentieth Day                   
(Monday, March 25, 2019)

God’s Forgiveness Is

“God’s forgiveness lies in the fact that this growth of meaning and value is forever reaching out to take us and weave our activities into a growing system of meanings, eliciting in us new responses, new interests, bringing us wider and richer vision and more profound appreciation. The gentle, innumerable, persistent interactions which work upon us to this end, are the work of God. It is God’s forgiveness extended to us. But we cannot have it, we cannot be taken up and absorbed into this growth unless we confess our sins against it.

“This forgiveness of God is granted to us at the high price of tragedy. For we have seen that the evil consequences of our wrongdoing are not nullified by our confession. Only the psychological barriers are removed so that we can enter again freely and fully into the growth and meaning of value which is God . . . The forgiveness of God is the renewal, after disloyalty, of the interplay of innumerable activities weaving connections of meaning and mutual support between us and our physical and social environment, healing and building anew the maimed and broken connections caused by the disloyalty.”  (Wieman & Wieman)

There is no way for any of us to make right all of our wrongs , done to others of to ourselves. Nor can we escape the consequences for us or others of our failures. What we can do is to acknowledge them before God, and thus clear away the obstacles to our correcting them. Many wrongs can be righted and failure is only failure if we do not learn from it. God’s forgiveness is in getting us back on track of growth in love and mutuality, and that is always available, always waiting our desire. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

Merciful God, help us to see ourselves and all our doings in the light of Your demand for growth in love. Help us to know that when we live in love, we live in You, and You live in us. Amen.

Hymn

Oh God, to us thy children, humbly kneeling,
Conscious of weakness, ign’rance, sin and shame,
Give such a force of holy tho’t and feeling,
That we may live to glorify they name.

That we may conquer base desire and passion,
That we may rise from selfish thought and will,
O’ercome the world’s allurement, threat and fashion,
Walk humbly, gently, leaning on thee still.

Let all they goodness by our minds be seen,
Let all thy mercy on our would be sealed:
Lord, if thou wilt, thy power can make us clean;
O speak the word, thy servants shall be heald!

—James Freeman Clarke (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 231)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religiousbased on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit--Day Nineteen

The Nineteenth Day                 
(Sunday, March 24, 2019)

Sin Unconfessed and Unforgiven

“Confession of sin is vital to religious health. Only through confession and repudiation of disloyalty can one reinstate and preserve one’s loyalty in the midst of that constant and inevitable unfaithfulness which life imposes. . . . The act of confession is itself an act of loyalty which neutralizes disloyalty.

“Confession . . . keeps the conscience sensitive and keeps living and growing the fine powers of discrimination of better and worse. Without confession of sin, sensitivity and appreciation for the noblest values of living and of God are gradually atrophied. This s inevitable. As surely as disease destroys the organism, so surely does unconfessed sin destroy the capacity to appreciate and serve the highest values. Aspiration fails, love of God declines, the far reaches of glory fade from our vision. The sublimity and the tragedy that hover over life give place to drab routine and nothing more. A creeping death spreads over the fine powers of love, loyalty and appreciation. Sin unconfessed and unforgiven is death to the powers of appreciation. Such death incurred by sin is the teaching of all the great religions.

“Finally confession of sin enables on to yield oneself to the purging, remaking process of growth which is God.”  (Wieman & Wieman)

To be aware of one’s guilt is not enough. Our tendency is to acknowledge it absent-mindedly, and then to say to ourselves, “I’ll do something about this someday,” or we rationalize, “Yes, I may profit from the exploitation of fellow humans in the underdeveloped world, but what can Ido about it? This is the sin of politicians and presidents, of captains of industry and banking interests over which I have no control.” And so we “play the game” of exploitation of our fellow humans, which is disloyal to the growth of creative mutuality that is God at work in the universe. We need to confess our sin—before God—and honestly and diligently search for ways to change the evils we acknowledge. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

Just God, we confess before You our own participation in and profit from the ways we are contrary to Your Will for us and for our world. We are sorry, God. We are ashamed of ourselves. We will do better. Amen.

Hymn

When wilt thou save the people?
O God of mercy tall?
Not kings and queens, but nations!
Not thrones and crowns, but all!
Flowers of thy heart, O God, are they;
Let them not pass like weeds away,
Their heritage a sunless day:
God save the people!

Shall crimes bring crime forever,
Strength aiding still the strong?
Is it thy will, O Great One,
That some should toil for wrong?
“No” say thy mountains,; “No” thy skies;
Earth’s clouded sun shall brightly rise,
And songs be heard instead of sighs:
God save the people! 

When wilt thus save the people?
O God of mercy tall?
The people, God, the people,
Not thrones and crowns, but all!
God save the people; thine they are,
Thy children, as the angels fair;
Save them from bondage and despair!
God save the people!

—Ebenezer Elliott (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 324)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religiousbased on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit--Day Eighteen

The Eighteenth Day                  
(Saturday, March 23, 2019)

The Sense of Guilt

“The more vividly one senses the reality of that wholeness of God which infinitely exceeds the scope of conscious envisagement of values, the more deeply will one have the sense of guilt. This is a tremendous truth: the sense of guilt is altogether wholesome and noble when it arises from the depth and breadth of our appreciation of values.  It comes not from the poverty of life and its possibilities, but exactly from the opposite. It springs from the realization of the glory that might be and ought to be. It is the mark of our dignity and our greatness of human life and history, and not of the meanness of it. Only when it comes from one’s awareness of high values that ought to be, is sense of guilt an awareness of reality and a form of clear discernment that is necessary for noble and intelligent living.”  (Wieman & Wieman)

As we become aware of the reality and insistent urgency of God’s will for the creative oneness of the world, we become equally conscious of how we ourselves may be obstructing its realization. We are not ready to sacrifice some of our affluence to help the poor at home or abroad to help themselves; we are slow to turn our hearts toward the things which make for peace, if this may cost us even a little of our comfort. We have put our loyalty to multi-national corporations, to all kinds of things, to our own country above our loyalty to God, the growth of mutuality and meaning. We are in sin, each and every one. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

God, keep us strong and brave enough to be able to feel and face our guilt, to acknowledge where we have not loved as purely or shared as fully as we easily could. Stab our spirits broad awake to where we are and where we ought to be, and goad us towards a higher, holier way. Amen.

Hymn

Hard is now the constant woe,
Bitter is the long despair,
Casting doubt on all we know,
Blotting out our visions fair.

Weakly strain we after truth,
Slowly mount we toward the good,
Searching long in gloom and truth
For the soul’s sustaining food.

Our immortal task is great.
Greatly must it be achieved;
And our doom is still to wait,
Hoping still, though still deceived—

Hoping for the greater day,
Hoping for the larger light—
Day that shall endure for aye,
Light that yieldeth not to light.

—G. W. Fox (Hymns for the Celebration of Life, no. 129)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religiousbased on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit--Day Seventeen

The Seventeenth Day               
(Friday, March 22, 2019)

Disloyalty to God

“Sin is disloyalty to God. Another way of saying it is that sin is the insubordination of any interest or impulse to the complete sovereignty of God. Still again, sin is any state of being which is not completely dominated and controlled by one mastering devotion to the whole reality of God. Sin is the insubordination of any interest to the one supreme interest in God. . . .

“Religion is loyalty to God. God working in human life and the world is the growth of meaning and value, with all the unknown and unlimited possibilities of this growth. Sin is disloyalty to this growth. 

“The disloyalty that is sin has four different forms. There is the sin of incomplete loyalty; there is the sin of divided loyalty; the sin of no loyalty or indifference; and finally, the sin of idolatry. This last is most damaging of all, most subtle, yet most deadly. It is the sin that is incurred in the steadfast loyalty to some one specific object in lieu of God.” (Wieman & Wieman)

The moment we become deeply aware of the potential for growth in mutuality between ourselves and others, both near at hand and far away, and realize God’s will as commanding such growth, we cannot help but have a sense o\also of sin. We become acutely, painfully aware of how far we ourselves fall short and how great is our need to grow. This is inevitable and entirely sound. It prepares and motivates us for further growing, for richer broader loving. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

Dear God, who is the growth of love everywhere, make us aware of our too frequent smallness and selfishness. Help us to learn how to give, and not be afraid. For when we give with love, we discover there is always more to give, and we bind ourselves to ourselves, and to one another, and to You, the Most High. Amen.

Hymn

Make channels for the streams of love,
Where they may broadly run;
And love has overflowing streams,
To fill them, ev’ry one.

But if at any time we cease
Such channels to provide,
The very founts of love for us
Will soon be parched and dried.

For we must share, if we would keep,
That blessing from above:
Ceasing to give, we cease to have,
Such is the law of love.

—Richard Chenevix Trench (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 276)
(Hymns for the Celebration of Life, no. 157)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religious based on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit--Day Sixteen

The Sixteenth Day                    
(Thursday, March 21, 2019)

The Great Surging Sea

“The last characteristic of genuine religion is, like the preceding, one of the most outstanding. It is the sense of glory which behavior may reveal now as awe and wonder, now as glow and radiance, again as heightened, intensified responsiveness in spontaneously interpretive movement. This is one form of the real root of religion. Religion originated in our sensing the great forces and beauties and values not attained nor even yet served. . . .

“This experience of glory does not imply that the devotees know and discriminate all the great forces and beauties and values, but they sensethem. They  feelthe great surging sea  of infinite value, existent and potential, in which humanity lives. They know it by faith, and this gives the sense of glory. This faith that there is this great, dimly discerned wealth of potential values and possibilities shapes their feeling and action. . . . 

“The thinking, feeling and action of the genuine religious person are imbued with the sense of the presence of the more-than-I-can-behold-or-hear.  Our responding is not keyed to the things and occasions about us. We respond to these through a behavior keyed to the great and mysterious On Beyond, whose glory we sense.” (Wieman & Wieman)

Human life can be terribly small, mean and selfish. Sometimes it seems totally to circle around ME. Worse, it can be humdrum, dull, meaningless, just plain boring. But human life under the command of growing mutuality must reach out to others and to the world, must touch, take hold, share, respond, unite and rejoice. Then comes the glory, glory realized, more glory glimpsed. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

God of power, help us to know and realize in our own experience the truth of Jesus’ great affirmation, “Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory Forever and Ever.” As we are yours, it shall be ours as well. Amen.

Hymn

“Thy kingdom come!” O God, we daily cry,
Weary and sad with earth’s long strife and pain;
“How long, O God!” thy suff’ring children sigh,
“Speed thou the dawn, and o’er the nations reign!”

Thy kingdom come! Then all the din of war
Like some dark dream shall vanish with the night:
Peace, holy peace, its myriad gifts shall pour,
Resting secure from danger and affright.

Thy kingdom come! No more shall deeds of shame,
Brutish and base, destroy the soul divine:
Bright with thy love’s all-purifying flame
Thy human temples evermore shall shine.

—Henry Warburton Hawkes (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 333)
(Hymns for the Celebration of Life, no. 210)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religious based on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit--Day Fifteen

The Fifteenth Day                    
(Wednesday, March 20, 2019)

Dynamic Peace

“One of the most important characteristics of religious responding is dynamic peace. That is, the devotee, regardless of the turmoil and disappointment and tragedy going on near or within her or his own living, sustains a poise that keeps her or him from destruction of faith and spirit. It does not come from negative adaptation, nor indifference, nor insulation of the self. It comes rather through the conviction that no matter what may occur, there still stands The Highest, and that he paramount thing is to keep in functional relationship to it, to orient the self all the more completely toward it.

“Three forms which this dynamic peace may take are important. First, there is the ability to relax, to sleep, and to sleep deeply. First we can relax in truly deep peace, require less of ordinary sleep. Second, there is freedom from unresolved conflict, harmony, release. There is sweetness of a peculiar sort. There is an inner sense of unity following the experience of a relatively integrated reaction. There is a feeling of harmony of communion unbroken by inner conflicts or outer interferences.”  (Wieman & Wieman)

One of the chiefest values of the religious way of life is its capacity to give us peace of mind and soul in the face of all of life’s unpredictable confrontations and heartaches. There is always a Power greater than oneself to fall back upon. So real is this that it can lead us even to say, triumphantly with Paul, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

God of peace, grant us Your healing touch. Your greatest gift, the knowledge that in You is our peace, that as we spend our lives for Yours, you take possession of us, and no harm can come. Amen.

Hymn

O Thou whose power o’er moving worlds presides,
Whose voice created, and whose wisdom guides,
On darkling earth in pure effulgence shine
And cheer the clouded mind with light divine.

‘Tis thine alone to calm the pious breast
With silent confidence and holy rest:
From thee, great God, we spring, to thee we tend—
Path, motive, guide, original and end. 

—Boethius, translated by Samuel Johnson (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 67)
(Hymns for the Celebration of Life, no. 128)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religious based on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit--Day Fourteen

The Fourteenth Day                 
(Tuesday, March 19, 2019)

Spontaneity—Emotional Verve—Effectiveness—Artistry

“Religious life is meaningful. The interconnectedness and mutual support between all the acts and situations of living which genuine religion fosters (make all life more meaningful). Routine and instrumental acts escape being drudgery because of their symbolic meanings. Behavior is thus more marked by spontaneity, emotional verve, effectiveness and artistry.

“Religion develops enthusiasm, zeal, courage, morale. It tends to sustain a relatively steady emotional tone which minimizes moodiness. . . And absorbing challenge to action comes from the observing of the needs for devoted service. There are occasions when the magnificence and wonder and preciousness of The Highest seem to flood upon the worshippers and stir them to mightier endeavor.

“The crusading spirit enters into religious behavior at the point where the sense of mission grows strong within the individual.” (Wieman & Wieman)

As a person grows secure in an understanding of, and feeling for, his or her relationship with the vast, quiet upthrust of growing mutuality in the universe, he or she becomes transfused with it and transformed by it. It becomes “second nature,” and one feels him or herself born again. Then come the sense of glory. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

Mighty God, grasp us with your Glory, transform us by Your goodness, touch every moment and every aspect of our lives with Your light and love. Amen.

Hymn

Praise to God and thanks we bring,
Hearts, bow down, and voices, sing!
Praises to the Glorious One,
All the year of wonder done!
Praise God for the budding green,
April’s resurrection scene;
Praise God for the shining hours,
Starring all the land with flow’rs!

Praise God for the summer rain,
Feeding day and night the grain;
Praise God for the tiny seed,
Holding all this world shall need;
Praise God for the garden root,
Meadow grass and orchard fruit;
Praise for hills and valleys broad,
Each the table of our God!

Praise God now for snowy rest,
Falling soft on nature’s breast; 
Praise for happy dreams of birth,
Brooding in the quiet earth!
For this year of wonder done,
Praise to the All-Glorious One!
Hearts, bow down, and voices sing,
Praise, and love, and thanks we bring.

—William Channing Gannett (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 140)
(Hymns for the Celebration of Life, no. 308)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religious based on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit--Day Thirteen

The Thirteenth Day                  
(Monday, March 18, 2019)

Sudden New Light

“Detachment qualifies religious behavior. The absorption in religious matters felt to be vital tends to divert attention and participation from many of the ordinary, so-called secular, interests of living. The ‘world’ does not have power over devotees, for they are in, but not entirely of, the world. They have selected that which they believe to be the Supremely Worthful.  . . . Detachment involves perspective, it enables us to see things somewhat in the whole. Having a supreme objective, we see different situations relative to this. We are not so panicky in the presence of certain aspects because we see them as connected with some greatly larger aspect. . . . Perspective promotes poise and balance. Also, persons who are marked by a worthy sense of detachment tend to arrive at a more original evaluation of things and processes. They do not so readily accept the current or formulated interpretations. . . . Again, perspective tends to imply a sense of humor, an ability to look objectively upon experiences, including our own. Behavior in which we take ourselves over-seriously as against the totality of our cause, is irreligious. It disintegrates the personality. Humor, laughter, many times are announcements of sudden new light upon value or of true interpretation of life.”  (Wieman & Wieman)

To be non-self-referent, to be able to stand off from oneself, and see oneself from an objective viewpoint, is a good worth cultivating. It invites insight, humor, self-correction, increasing self-confidence. It helps one to rise above daily frustrations and to overcome human inadequacies. It leads one to give oneself to God’s larger purposes. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

Lord of All Life, grant that we may see ourselves as others do, yes, even as in Your sight, that we may laugh at our foolishness and not be afraid of being lost in it, knowing that we can overcome. Amen.

Hymn

I see the wrong that round me lies,
I feel the guilt within;
I hear, with groan and travail cries,
The world confess its sin.

Yet in the maddening maze of things,
And tossed by storm and flood,
To one fixed stake my spirit clings—
I know that God is good.

The wrong that pains my soul below
I dare not throne above;
I know not of God’s hate—I know
The goodness and the love.

And thou, O Lord, by whom are seen
Thy creatures as they be,
Forgive me, if too close I lean
My human heart on thee!

—John Greenleaf Whittier (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 256)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religious based on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit, Day Twelve

The Twelfth Day
(Sunday, March 17, 2019)

Self-Criticism—Dynamic Patience—Aspiration

“An open and constructive attitude toward limitations of the self characterizes genuine religious living . . . Normally, self-criticism grows out of an awareness of the greater possibilities for growth ever glimpsed in the search for value and Supreme Value. It takes place without despair of morbidity or marked discouragement. It provides incentive, illumination, challenge and aspiration for creative growth.

“Patience has been a predominant characteristic of religious living until recently . . . Great values issue from dynamic patience, whereas dumb or weak passivity is devilish.

“Aspiration is a thoroughly essential characteristic . . . It is the inevitable consequence of loyalty to that which one holds to be The Highest. The realization of one’s own limitations [in relation to The Highest], perhaps to the point of feelings of inferiority, sets up a process of projection of the self toward the great rich possibilities on beyond present realizations . . . The act of prayer is a revelation of aspiration, a longing to put the self into communication or touch with that worshipped.”  (Wieman & Wieman)

Growing requires a certain balance of dis-ease, of dis-satisfaction with one’s self and present accomplishment and a sense of the great potential within which remains awaiting realization. It takes unremitting faith and patience to keep the balance on the positive side. Religion can do this for us. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

Aspiring God, You know, as well as we, how far short we fall from realizing our high calling as children of Your Larger Life. Help us to keep trying, to be patient with ourselves as long as we continue to move towards the great goal. Amen.

Hymn

It is so long a way that I must go,
A pilgrim in a country that is strange!
Only my distant city do I know,
And all the rest is changelessness and change.

The changeless way that all my forebears trod,
The way of life, that is so old, so old!
And yet so changeful that each travelled rod
Discloses alterations manifold!

It is so strange a way that I must go,
I scarcely know how I might best prepare.
Only my distant city do I know,
And all my heart is willed to conquer there.

O brave to tread the way as yet untrod,
Undaunted by the dangers that I see;
This is the spirit I would show to God
Who showed my distant city unto me!

—Charles M. Luce (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 551)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religious based on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit, Day Eleven

The Eleventh Day
(Saturday, March 16, 2019)

A Joyous Quality

“Religious living is oriented and integrated toward one supreme area of worth. Consequently all living is measured and ordered with reference to that which the devotee holds to be The Most High. . . .Certain correlary qualities of responding belong with the characteristic or organized reaching under a dominant loyalty. There is a feeling that life is worth living. There is a sense of direction. There is a joyous quality through the sense of moving on toward that value set as supreme, a consciousness of making progress, there is an accentuated emotional element because everything that occurs makes much more difference to the religiously integrated person than it does to the unreligious person. . . .”  (Wieman & Wieman)

To have a clear sense of direction, a definite hierarchy of loyalties so as to be able to put first things first, is fundamental to real enjoyment of life. We want to know that we are accomplishing something, getting somewhere worth while, if we are to be happy. In the light of such an o’er arching commitment, every smallest detail of life gains an eternal significance. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

Dear God, awaken us to the glory of Your heavenly command and the joy of our high calling. Let them transform our humblest tasks and most mundane moments into blessedness. Amen.

Hymn

Seek not afar for beauty; lo! It glows
In dew-wet grasses all about thy feet;
In birds, in sunshine, childish faces sweet,
In stars and mountain summits topped with snows.

Go not abroad for happiness: for see
It is a flower blossoming at thy door.
Bring love and justice home, and then no more
Thou’lt wonder in what dwelling joy may be.

Dream not of noble service elsewhere wrought;
The simple duty that awaits thy hand
Is God’s voice speaking a divine command:
Life’s common deeds build all that saints have thought.

In wonder-workings, or some bush aflame,
we look for God and fancy God concealed;
But in earth’s common things God stands revealed,
While grass and flowers and stars spell out the Name.

—Minot Judge Savage (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 40)
(Hymns for the Celebration of Life, no 174)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religiousbased on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit, Day Ten

The Tenth Day                          
(Friday, March 15, 2019)

Reinforcement through Fellowship

“What are the marks of religious responding in genuine religion? . . . 1. . . . Consciousness of superhuman power in the universe. . . . This consciousness . . . shows itself in some degree in a manner of humbleness, a subjecting of the self to what is felt to be the commands, the laws, ‘the word’ of the powers. The degree to which the power is supremely worthful gives beauty and significance to this humbleness.”  (Wieman & Wieman)

When belief becomes faith, religion becomes real. God is felt deeply within us and can be noticed and identified at work all around us in the environing world. The more intense our faith, the greater our wonder, and the more ecstatic our wonder, the deeper our sense of humility. Humility before God’s continuing thrust for mutuality and meaning opens us to such growth within ourselves. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

Universal Being, ever Becoming, before Your greatness and goodness we become humble indeed, and in our humility—open and teachable. Thus we let You in to change our lives for good. God be in us always. Amen.

Hymn

I look to thee in ev’ry need,
and never look in vain;
I feel thy strong and tender love,
And all is well again:
The tho’t of thee is mightier far
Than sin and pain and sorrow are.

Discouraged in the works of life,
Disheartened by its load,
Shamed by its failures or its fears,
I sink beside the road;
But let me only think of thee,
And then new heart springs up in me.

The calmness bends serene above,
My restlessness to still
Around me flows the quickening life,
To nerve my faltering will:
Thy presence fills my solitude;
Thy providence turns all to good.

Embosomed deep in thy dear love,
Held in thy law, I stand;
Thy hand in all things I behold,
And all things in thy hand;
Thou leadest me by unsought ways,
And turn’st my mourning into praise.

—Samuel Longfellow (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 258)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religiousbased on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980. 

Outstretched Wings of the Spirit, Day Nine

The Ninth Day
(Thursday, March 14, 2019)

A Manner of Humbleness

“What are the marks of religious responding in genuine religion? . . . 1. . . . Consciousness of superhuman power in the universe. . . . This consciousness . . . shows itself in some degree in a manner of humbleness, a subjecting of the self to what is felt to be the commands, the laws, ‘the word’ of the powers. The degree to which the power is supremely worthful gives beauty and significance to this humbleness.”  (Wieman & Wieman)

When belief becomes faith, religion becomes real. God is felt deeply within us and can be noticed and identified at work all around us in the environing world. The more intense our faith, the greater our wonder, and the more ecstatic our wonder, the deeper our sense of humility. Humility before God’s continuing thrust for mutuality and meaning opens us to such growth within ourselves. (Donald Szantho Harrington)

Prayer

Universal Being, ever Becoming, before Your greatness and goodness we become humble indeed, and in our humility—open and teachable. Thus we let You in to change our lives for good. God be in us always. Amen.

Hymn

I look to thee in ev’ry need,
and never look in vain;
I feel thy strong and tender love,
And all is well again:
The tho’t of thee is mightier far
Than sin and pain and sorrow are.

Discouraged in the works of life,
Disheartened by its load,
Shamed by its failures or its fears,
I sink beside the road;
But let me only think of thee,
And then new heart springs up in me.

The calmness bends serene above,
My restlessness to still
Around me flows the quickening life,
To nerve my faltering will:
Thy presence fills my solitude;
Thy providence turns all to good.

Embosomed deep in thy dear love,
Held in thy law, I stand;
Thy hand in all things I behold,
And all things in thy hand;
Thou leadest me by unsought ways,
And turn’st my mourning into praise.

—Samuel Longfellow (Hymns of the Spirit, no. 258)

Donald Szantho Harrington wrote the Lenten meditation manual Outstretched Wings of the Spirit: On Being Intelligently and Devotedly Religiousbased on the theology of Henry Nelson Wieman and Regina Westcott Wieman. It was published by the Unitarian Universalist Association in 1980.