A familiar passage from the book of Micah, an Old Testament prophet from about 800 BCE, says:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and we may walk in his paths…
He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall decide for strong nations afar off;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more;
but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make them afraid…
For all the peoples walk
each in the name of its god…He hath shown thee, O man, what is good; and what the LORD doth require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”
Like all good prophets, Micah, called on the people to repent. He was a contemporary of three other prophets: Amos, Isaiah and Hosea.
What the prophets of old called ‘God’s judgment,’ we would call ‘natural and logical consequences.’ Global warming is a good example, or nuclear proliferation.
The prophet Hosea said, “They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind.”
The basic question for all civilized persons is ‘how shall I be in the world…what does it mean to live a good life?’ What are my responsibilities as a citizen of my town, or my country, or as a citizen of the world?
What do we mean by the phrase ‘living a good life?’ What are the basic ingredients to a good life?
Let me offer a personal anecdote in that regard. In the mid-1960’s, when I was advisor to the high school youth group at the Unitarian Church in Wellesley, in my mid-20’s, there was a ski trip for all ages in the congregation. I went, in part, to chaperone the high school attendees.
I had never been on skis, so I rented skis, poles and boots, took a lesson on a gentle hill, and within an hour or two ventured up the chair lift, taking a few falls on my trips down, so that I was soon covered with snow and ice accumulated on my beard – but I was having ‘the time of my life,’ as they say. I learned how to fall without breaking my neck.
On one of the chair-lift trips back up the mountain, I sat beside an older gentleman from the congregation, a college professor who was wearing vintage equipment; he looked me over and smiled; I wasn’t sure just what the smile was about, but I didn’t think too much about it—I was having a great time.
After a couple of minutes, as the chair took us higher, he broke the silence and said, simply and affirmatively, “Life is good.” I don’t remember my verbal response to his statement of affirmation, but I remember my inner response quite vividly – I remember that it was more of a feeling than a rational thought. I felt it!
I felt a kind of affirmation…a definite “Yes” that was connected more to what we call heart than what we call mind.
I felt that feeling of “Yes” in the depths of my being, and it has stayed with me. In that precious moment there was no question in my mind: I was living the good life. I felt it, I knew it, and I appreciated it.
That moment, and that feeling, has stayed with me for all of the 45 years since, and his simple affirmation has come back to me again and again: life is good.
Like most things in life, it has a double-edge to it. I’m very well aware that my life and the lives of my family and friends is privileged.
It was at that time that that I was confronted by the realization that the racial prejudice in America gave me an advantage — white privilege.
I was surprised to learn that with regard to gender inequality I had male privilege.
I was surprised to learn that with regard to those who are gay, lesbian and transgender, I had heterosexual privilege. In all these ways, then, I had a head start up the ladder of success…the American Dream.
My new-found realization (aka consciousness raising) about race, class and gender and sexual orientation inequalities was deeply disturbing to me. I lived with it, trying in whatever ways I could to change that inequality.
But, and I say this as clearly and carefully as I can, I have not allowed that awareness, that consciousness, to prevent me from ‘living the good life,’ from enjoying my own life; from appreciating my life.
Rabbi Hillel helped, when he said, “If I’m not for myself, who will be? If I’m only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”
Today, as we celebrate the founding of the United Nations, with its high aspirations, and the subsequent establishment of our Unitarian Universalist Office at the UN, we do well to remember what led up to the formation of the UN – which was World War II, the most deadly and destructive conflict in human history.
World War II is referred to as ‘the good war,’ because, in spite of the tremendous destruction, untold suffering and death caused by that war, it helped to usher in a new world order – which is still in its formative or early stage.
“World War II marked the beginning of the end of world imperialism as nationalist movements began to triumph over weakened colonial empires.” The Arab Spring, the movement toward democracy that began in December of 2010, is the most recent outgrowth of the seeds planted after WW II.
In the decades following the end of WWII, nations that had been colonized gained their independence. Historian Jay Winter said that the end of WWII marks the moment when ‘the world broke from its past and moved into a new era.’
One important step in that process was the establishment of the United Nations, which officially came into existence on 24 October 1945, when the UN Charter was been ratified by a majority of the original 51 Member States. The day is now celebrated each year around the world as United Nations Day.
The purpose of the United Nations is to bring all nations of the world together to work for peace and development, based on the principles of justice, human dignity and the well-being of all people. It affords the opportunity for countries to balance global interdependence and national interests when addressing international problems.
The original 51 Member States has grown to 192.The United Nations General Assembly is the closest thing we have to a world parliament. Each country, large or small, rich or poor, has a single vote, however, none of the decisions taken by the Assembly are binding. Nevertheless, the Assembly’s decisions become resolutions that carry the weight of world governmental opinion.
The United Nations Headquarters is in New York City but the land and buildings are international territory. The United Nations has its own flag, its own post office and its own postage stamps.
Six official languages are used at the United Nations – Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
The name “United Nations,” was suggested by President Franklin D. Roosevelt was first used in January 1942, during the Second World War, when representatives of 26 nations pledged to continue fighting together against the Axis Powers.
Our Unitarian Universalist’s involvement in the United Nations can be traced to the early part of the 20th century. Both the Unitarians and the Universalists were active in the League of Nations Association and later closely monitored the creation of the United Nations.
In 1946, the American Unitarian Association appointed Elvira Fradkin as an official delegate to the United Nations. In the 1950′s, the Universalist Church of America and the American Unitarian Association adopted resolutions in support of the United Nations.
With the merger of the two denominations in 1961, the Unitarian Universalist Association formed an Advisory Committee on the United Nations. In 1963, the UUA Principles and Purposes were merged into one document with marked similarity to the United Nations Charter of 1945, and equally similar to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.
The UU-United Nations Office was founded in April of 1962. US Ambassador to the United Nations, a Unitarian layman, Adlai Stevenson, wrote to UUA President Dana McLean Greeley suggesting that each UU congregation nominate an envoy, to promote better knowledge and understanding of the United Nations.
Today, more than 500 congregations have UU-UNO envoys at the United Nations.
Thomas Jefferson’s first draft of the Declaration of Independence said, “ We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Property,” a phrase written in 1774 as part of the Declaration of American Rights.
Owning property – having money – was a requirement for voting in the colonies following Independence.
.”Without property, you couldn’t vote – today’s version of that is the attempt to require a photo ID.
Jefferson later changed the phrase to it to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’
Late in his own life Jefferson referred to himself in letters to friends as an Epicurean, which is related to the phrase: ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’
This brings us back to our original question: what does it mean to live a good life?
The basic philosophical assertion of Epicureanism is that the good life minimizes pain and maximizes pleasure.
Epicureanism is a school of philosophy founded in Athens by Epicurus, who taught that pleasure, particularly mental pleasure, was the highest good.
Note the emphasis on ‘mental pleasure.’ It’s not about over-indulging in food, drink, sexuality and fun. It’s about the elevation of the mind; it’s about the appreciation of knowledge. It’s also about having an appreciation for making a contribution to the world…contributing something to someone else or to the world.
A good example of this is the story of Alfred Nobel Alfred Nobel held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous and the one that made him an enormous fortune.
The story behind the establishment of the Nobel prizes tells us that one morning, back in 1888 when he was 55 years old, he was reading the morning paper when he was shocked to find and read his own obituary.
The story in the paper painted him as the ‘dynamite king’ who had invented explosives and manufactured armaments.
The paper had made a mistake, of course — it was Nobel’s brother who had died. What horrified Alfred Nobel was the way he was depicted – the picture of the person in the obituary, the legacy he would leave, what he’d be remembered for.
That’s the precise moment he decided to dedicate the lion’s share of his fortune from dynamite to creating five annual prizes for those who’d made outstanding contributions in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace.
The story behind the establishment of the Nobel Prize for Peace is one of the most ironic tales – his fortune came from the invention that killed his younger brother, Emil, at the family’s factory when they were still working to develop dynamite that could be more user-friendly.
It’s a great irony, of course. His invention is used today by suicide bombers; his inventions refined weapons of mass destruction, while Alfred Nobel is most remembered for the peace prize in his name.
Most of us don’t have the financial resources to establish a foundation that would encourage work that advances the causes we believe in. Most of us have to settle for a simple legacy that will be noticed only by those closest to us – our relatively small circle of family and friends – the influence we’ve had on them.
While we can’t set up a foundation like Nobel’s, we can do something as basic and easy as joining UUUNO.
To paraphrase the prophet Micah: what is required to live a good life is to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly through the years of your life.
Shakespeare’s line “Sweet are the uses of adversity,” in As You Like It:
Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
And this our life exempt from public haunt
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
I would not change it.
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking.
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.
I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull’s way and the whale’s way, where the wind’s like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.
In 1803, the year Emerson was born, he called himself Christian – and it was Emerson more than any other single person who expanded Unitarianism beyond the confines of Christianity. In 1819 he said he was ‘a sect by myself,’ and 1819 was the year Channing delivered the famous Baltimore sermon, setting forth in a very public way the principles of Unitarianism as a separate and distinct religious faith in his sermon, Unitarian Christianity.That same year Jefferson called himself an Epicurean. Then, in 1825, the year the American Unitarian Association was formed, officially, Jefferson said he was ‘a Unitarian by myself’
UUUNO – 50 years
What it means to be a good person – What it means to live a good life.
The most well-known earthly prizes for living a good life, or at least of making a contribution to life on the planet, is named for its founder, Alfred Bernhard Nobel who was born in 1833 – he was a chemist, engineer, innovator, and the armaments manufacturer who invented dynamite. He owned a major armaments factory which had started out as an iron and steel mill owned by his family.
Alfred Nobel held 355 different patents, dynamite being the most famous and the one that made him an enormous fortune.
The story behind the establishment of the Nobel prizes tells us that one morning, back in 1888 when he was 55 years old, he was reading the morning paper when he was shocked to find and read his own obituary.
The story in the paper painted him as the ‘dynamite king’ who had invented explosives and manufactured armaments.
The paper had made a mistake, of course — it was Nobel’s brother who had died. What horrified Alfred Nobel was the way he was depicted – the picture of the person in the obituary, the legacy he would leave, what he’d be remembered for.
That’s the precise moment he decided to dedicate the lion’s share of his fortune from dynamite to creating five annual prizes for those who’d made outstanding contributions in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature and peace.
The story behind the establishment of the Nobel Prize for Peace is one of the most ironic tales – his fortune came from the invention that killed his younger brother, Emil, at the family’s factory when they were still working to develop dynamite that could be more user-friendly.
It’s a great irony, of course. His invention is used today by suicide bombers; his inventions refined weapons of mass destruction, while Alfred Nobel is most remembered for the peace prize in his name.
Most of us don’t have the financial resources to establish a foundation that would encourage work that advances the causes we believe in. Most of us have to settle for a simple legacy that will be noticed only by those closest to us – our relatively small circle of family and friends – the influence we’ve had on them.
While we can’t set up a foundation like Nobel’s, we can do something as basic and easy as joining UUUNO
Write an ethical will…
William Ernest Henly, a contemporary of Alfred Nobel, gives us an example of an ethical will penned as a poem he wrote from his hospital bed in 1875 when he was just 26 years old, not knowing he would live another 26 years. He had been struggling with poor health since the age of 12 when he contracted TB of the bone, had his left leg amputated below the knee and suffered from the effects of the disease for the rest of his life. His poem is titled Invictus, which is Latin for ‘unconquerable.’
Living the good life…Henley’s poem is best remembered for its closing line: “I am the master of my fate/I am the captain of my soul.” Henley wrote:
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Recently I became aware of another foundation established by a very wealth man, Philip Anschutz who became a billionaire at age 42 – he holds the record for the youngest billionaire. Thinking, perhaps, about what his own obituary would say, as Nobel did, might have been uncomfortable.
Fortune once called him America’s “greediest executive,” for dumping $1.57 million in stock of another company he founded, Qwest Communication, just before its share price collapsed — and after urging other stockholders to hold on to their shares. The Securities and Exchange Commission agreed with Fortune’s estimation of Anschutz, and ordered him to pay $4.4 million in penalties.
Anschutz is a big supporter of groups that have worked, and are working, to deny human rights and dignity to gays and lesbians, among other right-wing causes.
Yet, he is the sole source of funds for The Foundation for a Better Life. They do not accept private donations. About themselves they say “In this day and age, it can be hard to believe an organization’s only goal is to encourage others to do good—but that really is why we exist.”
The foundation made a list of 50 words that describe aspects of ‘the good life.’ The lists includes things like peace, strength, character, courage, compassion, hard work, optimism, stewardship, rising above (your circumstances) hope, soul, preparation – as in the Boy Scout motto: be prepared.
They are in the process of naming individuals who most epitomize each of these characteristics and putting their faces and the characteristic that epitomizes their life on huge billboards, like the one in Times Square. For example, for peace they have named:
Peace, Desmond Tutu
Strength, Christopher Reeve
Character, Jackie Robinson
Courage, Mohamed Ali
Compassion, Mother Teresa
Hard Work, Whoopie Goldberg (overcame dyslexia)
Optimism, Michael J. Fox
Stewardship, Jane Goodall
Rising Above, Bethany Hamilton (surfing after losing arm)
Hope, Dali Lama
Soul, Gandhi
Preparation, Captain Chesly Sullenberger
The Outdoor Advertising Association of America and the Foundation for a Better Life teamed up to communicate these values; launched in Times Square in 2001…donated space… also posters in schools…
In addition to the above list, words that describe aspects of ‘the good life,’ include: (in alphabetic order) caring, commitment, confidence, courtesy, encouragement, forgiveness, friendship, generosity, gratitude, honesty, humility, inspiration, integrity, listening, love, loyalty, patience, perseverance, respect, responsibility, sacrifice, team work, trusty, unity and vision.
They have identified people that exemplify some of these characteristics. They include:
Einstein, confidence
George Washington, leadership
Ben Franklin, ingenuity
Abraham Lincoln, persistence
Winston Churchill, commitment
I like the concept. I’m moved by the posters with pictures of inspiring men and women who have helped move us along the evolutionary path toward a better life, ‘the good life.’
They might have a billboard for Alfred Nobel, though his face is not generally recognizable.
They won’t have one for Alice Graves, whose life we celebrated recently, but if we were to do our own in-house posters, matching persons with our highest values, we would have a poster with a picture of Alice and the banner she brought back from the March on Washington in August of 1963 when MLK, Jr delivered his ‘I have a dream’ speech; it would include a picture of some of the buttons she wore at dozens and dozens of other marches for peace and justice.
“Feed the cities, not the Pentagon;” “The hole in the wall gang;” “Children, our investment in the future;”
There’s a button that reads: ‘It will be a great day when our schools get all the money they need and the air force has tohold a bake sale to buy a bomber.’
“National Grape Boycott, 1989;” “Promise the Children;” “Stop Apartheid;” “Poor People’s Campaign, 1968;” and a button for Mel King, who helped to integrate the Boston Public School in the 60’s: “I Have a Dream Too.”
She kept her green button with a picture of our church that says, “I pledged.”
Alice pledged more than money — she lived the values we hold dear, summarized by the prophet, Micah when he said, “What is required of thee but to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Most of us won’t be able to establish a foundation, as Alfred Nobel was able to do, and as Philip Anschutz did with the Foundation for a Better Life. We may never write a poem as William Henley did with Invictus, but each of us leaves some kind of legacy with our influence on family, friends, and by extension on the community and the world.
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the UUA’s United Nations Office. We can all be justifiably proud that our presence has been felt and our voices have been heard in the international community for the past five decades.
The UU-UNO has attained a commanding place of very important influence in all areas of human rights at the United Nations. We are unique in the international faith community for our ability to speak out in defense of the world’s most disadvantaged: the marginalized, the poor, the weak, the young, the old, and those whose very lives are threatened by injustice and neglect. Every day, we have proved that we can change the world for the better because our advocacy attracts others willing to follow our lead and who learn to speak out from our example. The United Nations is a place where Unitarian Universalists have clout and influence to change the world for the better.