BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.2.1//EN TZID:America/Los_Angeles X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:VEVENT UID:17211@uucpa.org DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260311T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260311T130000 DTSTAMP:20260308T014105Z URL:https://www.uucpa.org/events/resonant-reading-wednesday-2026-03-11/ SUMMARY:Resonant Reading (Wednesday)-On Pascal’s Wager from Pursuit of Wo nder DESCRIPTION:Resonant Reading (Wednesday)-On Pascal’s Wager from Pursuit o f Wonder An exploration of ideas\, feelings\, and our life experiences\, using a different short reading as our springboard each time. The sessions are on Saturdays\, 4-5\, and on Wednesdays\, 12-1. All are wide open and you are welcome to come twice a week or once in a while.\n\nThe participan ts over the years have found that the approach we take\, and the respectfu l\, affectionate community of inquirers in which we read and converse\, ar e as important as the reading itself. While many small groups begin with a check-in\, with a session only an hour long\, Resonant Reading jumps righ t in to the conversation. Those who are frequently in the group get to kno w each other very well this way\, and those who are new will soon find the y are among friends.\n\n\n\nFacilitators use a light hand\, posting the re ading in the chat and calling on whoever's Zoom hand is up. Suggestions fo r readings* come from group members\, who also take turns facilitating\, i f they want to try that role.\n\nThe reading for this session: Wednesday\,  March 11th\n\nOne of Pascal’s most famous arguments is what is known a s Pascal’s Wager. In short\,  the argument claims it is a better bet to believe in God than to not. This is because  if you’re right\, and God exists\, you gain eternal salvation in Heaven\; if you’re wrong\, you  only lose some finite\, earthly pleasures\, which\, for Pascal\, are ult imately trivial relative to the stakes. And even if God doesn’t exist\, Pascal argues that living as if he does leads to  a more stable and meani ngful inner experience here on Earth. He doesn’t see this argument as pr oof of God but rather proof that it’s worth searching for him—the hope and striving toward him. However\, could not the same fundamental argumen t and wager be applied to the search for the value and meaning of earthly\ , human existence without belief in God? Could not a compelling wager look like this: It is a better bet to believe this life is meaningful\, valuab le\, and good in and of itself\, and that this life is all there is\, beca use\, if you’re right\, then you win the reward of experiencing the only time you have as positively as possible—not with disdain or dejection\, not with the hope and holding out for something else\, but with the embra ce and love  for this right now. If you’re wrong and there is some kind of afterlife\, then you also gain the upside of whatever that may be—wh ich surely no human can know enough about to predict the terms of. Likewis e\, this is not proof that human existence is meaningful and worthwhile in and of itself\, but it is proof that it is worth striving toward this bel ief\, toward creating its truth. Pascal wanted to compel us toward God by showing us how terrible our condition is. But in the process\, arguably\, what he really showed us is how strong we are—or can be. He shows us tha t everything isn’t and won’t be okay\, and yet\, somehow\, we can and continue to endure. Whether through God or something God-shaped\, we can c reate and imagine worlds and ideas  worth living in.The morbid absurditie s of our condition. The frenzied nature of our lives. Our anxieties. Our d epravities. It is all real\; it is all in everyone. But we can survive the se  qualities—and the knowledge thereof—and still be compelled to see k redemption. Regardless of any religious belief\, this profound impulse a nd ability is embodied in Pensées\, and it is found in every instance whe re the human psyche confronts the hardship of existence and continues  fo rward\, overcoming\, transmuting\, and justifying.\n—On Pascal’s Wage r from Pursuit of Wonder\n\n \;\n\n \;\n\nHow to join:\n\n\n\n Jo in this class from your Web browser: https://zoom.us/j/96865808923\, passc ode 227385\n Join this class using the Zoom app: Meeting ID: 968 6580 892 3\n Join this class by phone: 669 900 6833 US (San Jose) Meeting ID: 968 6580 8923\n Join this class by one-tap on mobile phones: 6699006833\,\,96 865808923#  (San Jose)\n Phoning in\, but not in the Bay Area?  Find yo ur local number: https://zoom.us/u/abL8clvIYT\n\nThis is the Zoom link for Wednesdays. For the Zoom link for Saturday\, go to Calendar and click on a Saturday session.\n\n\nQuestions? Drop an e-mail to resonant-reading+own er@uucpa.org.\n\n\n \;\n\n*This activity was formerly called "Sacred T ext Reading." That proved misleading--for one thing\, more often than not our sources are secular--but it's worth describing the qualities of a sacr ed text\, which we still look for in the readings we choose. It is any rea ding that helps us to:\n\n connect to something of supreme importance to us\n feel more connected to other beings or to the universe\n feel more intensely alive\n align our lives with our values\,\n perceive or feel m ore deeply\n be more fully and authentically ourselves.\n ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.uucpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09 /Resonant-Reading.png CATEGORIES:Adult,Learning,Ongoing Events,Small Groups END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20260308T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR