This week marks the beginning of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting and prayer. I have been thinking about the spiritual practice of self-denial that this Muslim tradition represents, and what it means for non-Muslims like myself. Fasting for Ramadan, as I understand it, is to deny the body in order to feed the spirit. It is done in community, and breaking the fast nightly is a communal event. A Muslim observing Ramadan is removing the habit of eating during daylight hours, and making room for prayer and community.
 
Many Christians practice a period of self-denial and reflection called Lent, leading up to the holiday of Easter. In mainstream secular US culture, however, the only widespread practice of self-denial I can think of is dieting. Many Americans have never fasted for religious reasons, but they have dieted for personal reasons. Unfortunately, most often the practice of dieting is not for spiritual deepening, nor even for true physical health, but for the sake of external appearance. We go on a diet when we are not happy with how our bodies look to ourselves and others.  If this is the only kind of self-denial practice that we know in mainstream US culture, we could learn something from the Muslim practice of Ramadan.
 
For any human being, Muslim, secular, or Unitarian Universalist, a practice of spiritual discipline that involves self-denial, and using this as a chance to deepen spiritual awareness, community, and self-esteem is a healthy practice. Self-denial that is undertaken through a sense of shame or punishing the self is not healthy. Seeing my Muslim neighbors and colleagues and fellow human being practice Ramadan gives me a chance to reflect on this larger human truth: may this truth enlighten us all.
 
PRAYER:
Spirit of Life, divine energy that some call God and some call Allah, be with me now.
 
May those fasting for Ramadan be blessed and safe. May their practice deepen their connection with tradition, with culture, with community, and with spirit.
 
May I be blessed with healthy practices for my body, mind and spirit. May all people be guided to make choices that increase their health, their connection to loved ones, and their relationship to the Divine--however they understand or experience the Divine.
 
May it be so.
 
A salaam alaikum.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz
April 15, 2021

I have one Sunday free per month, and this month it was Easter Sunday. Some of my friends and family were very confused by this -- how can the minister have the day off on Easter? It felt a little bit strange to me also, because my Christian upbringing tells me that Easter is an important holiday. The more I think about it, I think that the minister being absent on Easter shows how far Unitarian Universalism has come from its Christian roots, and how far I have come in my personal beliefs. 
 
Unitarian Universalism is a historically Christian religion. The Unitarian Church and the Universalist Church, two liberal Christian denominations, merged in 1961. Since then, UU has become less and less Christian and more and more theologically diverse. Officially, “Jewish and Christian teachings” is just one of the six sources of faith that today’s UU church claims--alongside world religions, earth-centered traditions, and others. At the UU Fellowship of Central Michigan, a congregation of 100 people, I know that some people consider themselves Christian and would therefore consider Easter an important holiday...and many don’t. About 20 of us right now are doing a class called “Building Your Own Theology,” which asks everyone to figure out exactly what they believe. It will be interesting to see how many name Christianity as a primary part of their religious beliefs.
 
Personally, I was thinking about this as I walked by the river on Easter Sunday. The holiday felt less significant because I had already ritualized and honored spring, hope, new life beginning--the classic themes of Easter--on the spring equinox two weeks ago. Spring equinox is the pagan holiday of Ostara, from which the word Easter is probably derived. And I realized that my beliefs and practices have evolved to be more pagan than Christian.
 
Pagans today recognize and honor the cycle of the year with their holidays. To me this has become a core of my spirituality: marking the time that I spend on this planet, rotating daily and going around the sun yearly. This is my 53rd trip around the sun. Spring equinox, marking light ascending, days growing longer, spring arriving--this is the main religious story for me. The story of Jesus being killed and resurrected is one example of that for me: an example of death and rebirth, like the trees and flowers, like the sun and the river. The bigger story for me is the earth circling the sun and where I am placed on the earth to observe it. Happy Easter to all who observe the holiday; happy spring to all who live in this hemisphere and see light and warmth returning; may hope bless all of us, whatever our religious beliefs.
 
PRAYER:
Divine and undying spirit of Jesus, be with me now. Nurturing energy of Mother Earth, be here now. I pray for all people, and all living beings, to have peace and life and hope today. May spring bless the fields and rivers, the marshes and hills, bringing food to sustain the deer and the rabbits and the birds.
 
May people in their families and by themselves be renewed and blessed by the spring. May the story of Jesus dying and being reborn give hope and meaning to those who connect with that story.
 
May the whole world know peace and hope, with no exceptions.
 
Amen.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz
​April 7, 2021

May nothing evil cross this door,
and may ill fortune never pry
about these windows; may the roar
and rain go by.
 
By faith made strong, the rafters will
withstand the battering of the storm.
This hearth, though all the world grow chill,
will keep you warm.
​
 (hymn #1 in the Unitarian Universalist hymnal)
 
Last week I moved into my new house, across town from where I had been renting an apartment. Spiritually this means settling more firmly into this place; claiming this city as my new home; creating a space for love to thrive, for rest and recovery, for welcoming loved ones and visitors. Physically this means being surrounded temporarily by piles of boxes, and trying desperately to dig through them when I need a baking sheet to make dinner.
 
I live within sight of the Sacred Heart Catholic church, and I can hear their bells ringing regularly. Walking from home to the UU Fellowship building last Sunday, I cut through Sacred Heart’s parking lot. It was full of cars. One person was hurrying toward the door and putting on her face mask: it was 9:05 and Sunday mass had just begun. I looked in the window as I passed and saw the congregation gathered for Palm Sunday.
 
Having a church as a neighbor is even better than having a school as a neighbor--not quite as good as having a park or a forest; and much better than having a highway or a shopping center as a neighbor. My goal is to be a good neighbor to the people (and the church) around me. To clean up the yard and plant new gardens; to put salt on the sidewalk when it gets icy; to let sweet music flow at times from the open windows.
 
The Sacred Heart building is a neighbor to the UU Fellowship building too. Their theology may be different from that of many Unitarian Universalists, but I see them as partners, as cousins—as neighbors in faith. They are celebrating their highest holiday of Easter this week. They are meeting in person, while we are waiting a little longer before we do that. They gather to honor the sacred and to be in community. We have differences and we have things in common. As a faith community, may we be good neighbors to all the other faith communities around us.
 
PRAYER
For every human dwelling and house of worship, with no exceptions:
 
May the walls keep out hate and hold in love; may the roof shelter from rain and from the hardship of the world; may the hearth warm bodies and spirits; may all be welcome as friends and neighbors.
 
Blessed be.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz
March 31, 2021

Last weekend was the spring equinox, the pagan holiday of Ostara. With the day and night hours exactly in balance on that day, I have been thinking about balance in life: What is in balance, that I should leave alone and honor just the way it is? What is out of balance, and how can I work to restore balance?
 
I read an article about the West African religious practice of Fa (or Ifa). As I understand it, Fa is the grand order and balance of life, and it is expressed in a complex series of signs or symbols. There are 16 primary symbols and they come in pairs, so there are hundreds of variations of the signs. The priests who study and practice the religion study these signs and the myths, parables and sayings that go with each one.
 
When a person in the religious context of Fa goes to a priest with a question, concern, or crisis, the priest consults the signs for guidance. Before the priest begins, however, he or she contemplates the order of the symbols: the 16 primary ones, how they are related, the meanings and combinations. Only then does the priest listen to the question or concern brought to him or her. In this way, the question, concern or crisis is understood within the greater cosmic order.
 
I know very little about this West African religion, mostly what I’ve read in this one article—and the article was written be an outsider trying to understand and interpret an African religion. (The article is “Divination and Deity in African Religions” by Evan Zuesse.) Still, I celebrate the wisdom here. When we seek to understand our own problems (or those of someone asking our advice), it seems like a good idea to look at the problem in a greater context. How does this problem fit into the larger order of things? We should pause to think about our understanding of humans and the divine and of life unfolding—and see how the problem fits or doesn’t fit into that pattern.
 
Another way to say that is, what is in balance (that we should leave alone) and what is out of balance (that we should seek to rebalance)?
 
Pagan wisdom asks me to pause at the spring equinox to reflect on balance. African wisdom reminds me to consider the grand order of the cosmos when thinking about everyday human problems. May we be open to this wisdom and may it enrich our lives.
 
PRAYER
Spirit of life and love, Goddess, Mawu, divine energy of many names and no name, be here now.
 
May there be balance in each one of us. May there be balance in our families. May there be balance in our communities, our nations, our planet, and in the wide universe.
 
May each of us have the wisdom to leave alone what is in balance.
 
May we have the courage and energy to re-balance what is out of balance.
 
May it be so.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz
March 24, 2021

Recently, Mary Alsager gave me the gift of a pair of used cross-country skis with new bindings. Because of her generous spirit and her love of cross-country skiing, she was enthusiastic that I get myself on skis and enjoy the winter. I just needed to get ski boots and ski poles.
 
One Friday in February I was enjoying my day off but feeling bored and restless inside the house. I had an urge to get out of town, and I remembered that the place for boots and poles was at Higgins Lake, an hour’s drive to the north. I decided to go for it – hopefully they could outfit me for skiing, and if not, I would still enjoy the drive.
 
I found the ski shop. The people there were friendly and had the equipment that I needed. I happened to be there on a winter festival day when the trail prices were lower and a hot dog lunch on the patio was included. I found the trail head, strapped on my ski equipment – the combination of a thoughtful gift and a lucky trip north. I started skiing on the trail, my first time on skis in many years, and found that my body remembered how to do it. The trail map – and the advice of the friendly staff -- led me to the spot in the woods where hot chocolate was available by a wood fire.
 
I skied a few more times in the following weeks (closer to home), and I realized two things. One was that I was unlocking a new way of enjoying my adopted home of Michigan. I skied on familiar trails where I had walked and jogged in spring, summer and fall. The beauty of winter illuminated the forest in a new light. Secondly, I realized that this winter held ideal conditions for skiing that don’t come around all that often. Being in the woods on a freshly-groomed ski trail, the air temperature 18 degrees and a light snow falling, fellow skiers would greet me and say, What a beautiful day! Now the calendar has turned to March and the weather is not so perfect for skiing. I am grateful for the time that I’ve had on skis, and I look forward to the next chance.
 
PRAYER:
God of Light and Love, God of powdery snow and forests and gentle hills, hear my prayer.
 
May I enjoy the adventures that life offers me, with enthusiasm. May I appreciate the thoughtful gift, the helpful advice; may I appreciate the weather at every time of the year.
 
Blessed be.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz