Sometimes it is hard to tap into our spiritual selves or find time to nurture our intellectual curiosity. Here is a section that reflects on some nourishing materials from around the web and related media channels in order to get us thinking, get us feeling, and get us reflecting on the lives we are living in this big, beautiful world. **Some Adult/Mature Themes May Appear in Links and Other Attached Material**
Getting Back to Basics
UU-ism has a noted heritage of learning from youth. So, when I saw the above, it struck me as actually very instructive. “Socialization” is something we think about when we raise youth and talk about the process of growing into a mature person. But, I think we’ve all been in public situations where the basic kind of courtesy expressed here is missing. And I know that our dysfunctional social discourse could certainly use a refreshment in this kind of interpersonal relations.
But even owning up to myself, this kindergarten-level model for owning up to doing something you ought not to have done is a big reminder to me, especially #2 and #4. When I screw up, my initial instinct is to rationalize and to explain myself. If I lived my life in a more 2nd and 4th principle kind of way, I would do what this model suggests and start with explaining what was bad and then I would consider what I could do to mitigate it.
It’s useful to get back to basics sometimes.
Allan T. Georgia, M.Div., M.T.S., PhD