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:8871@uucpa.org DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20200919T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20200919T170000 DTSTAMP:20200916T222250Z URL:https://www.uucpa.org/events/sacred-text-reading-group-via-video-confe rence-2-2020-09-19/ SUMMARY:Sacred Text Reading Group DESCRIPTION:Sacred Text Reading Group \n\nUsing a spiritual-practice appro ach\, in each session we will explore a different brief scriptural text in depth. The aims of the sessions are educational (learning something about the texts and traditions)\, spiritual/moral (discovering what the texts a sk of us)\, and community-building (getting to know each other better). We 'll have a version of the text available to share\; "bring" your own if yo u like. All are welcome\, as are your suggestions of future texts.\n\n\nOn Saturday\, September 19\, we'll read an excerpt from the essay "Of Experi ence" by Michel de Montaigne. Perhaps only in a UU church would Montaigne' s writing be considered sacred\, as he was a thoroughgoing skeptic in reli gious matters. But like us\, he valued doubt while also passionately seeki ng truth\, meaning\, and a good life. Our discussion on that day will be f acilitated by faithful attendee Clark Zhang.\n\n\n\nFrom the translation b y J M Cohen (1950s):\n\nXerxes was a fool when\, lapped in all human delig hts\, he offered a reward to anyone who would invent others. But hardly le ss of a fool is the man who curtail those pleasures which nature has found him. They should neither be pursued nor shunned\; they should just be acc epted. I accept them a little more liberally and let myself follow my natu ral inclination. We have no reason to exaggerate their emptiness\; it make s itself sufficiently felt and seen\, thanks to our sickly and kill-joy mi nd\, which disgusts us with them and with itself as well. For it treats bo th itself and all that it receives\, now well\, now badly\, according to i ts insati­able\, unstable\, and changeable nature.\nI who boast of embrac ing the pleasures of life so eagerly and so deliberately\, find in them\, when I consider them so minutely\, little more than wind. But what of that ? We are all wind. And the wind itself\, wiser than we\, takes pleasure in blustering and veering round\, and is content with its own functions. It does not desire stability or solidity\, qualities that do not belong to it .\n...\nThe man who knows how to enjoy his existence as he ought has attai ned to an absolute perfection\, like that of the gods. We seek other condi tions because we do not understand the proper use of our own\, and go out of ourselves because we do not know what is within us. So it is no good ou r mounting on stilts\, for even on stilts we have to walk with our own leg s\; and upon the most exalted throne in the world it is still our own bott om that we sit on.\n\n\n\nThe full text of his essay "Of experience" can b e found here.\n\n\n \;\n\nHow to join:\n\n Join this class from your Web browser: https://zoom.us/j/578882781\n Join this class using the Zoom app: Meeting ID: 578 882 781\n Join this class by phone: 669 900 9128 US (San Jose)\, Meeting ID: 578 882 781\n Join this class by on-tap on mobi le phones: +16699009128\,\,578882781# US (San Jose)\n Phoning in\, but no t in the bay area?  Find your local number: https://zoom.us/u/abL8clvIYT \n\n\n\n\n\n ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://www.uucpa.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03 /Online-Sacred-Texts-Reading-Group.png END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20200308T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR