The Transparent EyeBall Of Ralph Waldo Emerson Has Been Quite Helpful To The Emerson Avenger For Some Time Now. . .

Lends a whole new meaning to Unitarian Universalist transparency doesn't it U*Us?

What was it that Rev. John T. Crestwell Jr., former minister of Davies Memorial Unitarian*Universalist Church, said in his Sunday sermon entitled 'Transparency'?

"Being transparent means we examine our actions and ask the tough questions. And most of the time, we must ask those questions to ourselves, like:

Am I hurting someone else with my actions?

Or, am I justifying negative or destructive behavior?

Is what I’m going to do going to tear down instead of build up?

Will what I’m going to do create chaos or community?

These are the questions we must ask ourselves.

When we are in church I believe the same rules apply. We should be an open and affirming ministry where honesty and openness are valued and affirmed."

Needless to say I am still waiting for a U*U World where honesty and openness are genuinely valued and affirmed, rather than censored and suppressed or mocked and ridiculed. . . I guess Ralph Waldo Emerson's transparent eyeball still has some work to do in the U*U World.

Here are some more choice quotes from Rev. John Crestwell Jr.'s sermon on Transparency.

"Now most of us, from a pauper to a president, live with secrets. We have skeletons in the closet, and we prefer to keep the closet closed (amen). But one of the questions today is how can we change our personal lives and church lives in such a way that we are more open and honest about our feelings, hurts, desires, frustrations, ambitions, and the like, so that people really know who we are, where we want to go, and what we love and care about. Particularly us men who internalize so much stuff..."

"We’ve got to be more open. And how much better could our lives be if we could be more open, not holding back sharing who we are for fear of vulnerability? How much better could we be particularly in this community if we knew what was troubling our brothers and sisters so we can offer a word of support or a helping hand? Living a life that is transparent—more open-- I do believe, can make a difference."

"There are cases when one little lie can turn into many big lies! Have you ever been in that situation where you start out with an honest little lie and next thing you know it’s out of control and you can’t even control it anymore? Somebody knows what I’m talking about!"

"If every church in the world set a true course for freedom, if every church got beyond their gossip, were more transparent and raised its children in culture of peace; if all our sons and all our daughters reached in friendship across the waters, refusing to be enemies and study war no more--what a world this would be!

Heed the words of Gandhi again as I close:

"The moment there is suspicion about a person’s motives, everything he/she does becomes tainted."

Transparency must become our way of life.

Amen."

More (im)pertinent transparent links will be added to the text later. . .