Monthly Spiritual Themes guide Chalice Circles, small groups that gather monthly to explore meaningful spiritual themes through personal sharing. For more information on Chalice Circles, please email chalicecircles@uuprinceton.org. Our Chalice Circle thoughts and questions around the theme of Resistance this month are:

“Pain is a relatively objective, physical phenomenon; suffering is our psychological resistance to what happens. Events may create physical pain, but they do not in themselves create suffering. Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is… The only problem in your life is your mind’s resistance to life as it unfolds.” – Dan Millman,  Author

What are you resisting in your personal life right now? Why? What will happen if you stop?

 

“Our whole life is set up in the path of least resistance. We don’t want to suffer. We don’t want to feel discomfort. So the whole time, we’re living our lives in a very comfortable area. There’s no growth in that.” – David Goggins, Endurance Athlete and Author

Has your life journey been on the path of least resistance? Have you ever been defiant and how did it turn out for you?

 

“ . . . being a rabble-rouser did not appeal to me. Not that I didn’t care about the group’s causes; rather, I had my doubts that linking arms, chanting slogans, hanging effigies, and shouting at passersby were always the most effective tactics . . . this style of political expression sometimes becomes an end in itself and can lose potency if used routinely.” – Sonya Sotomayer, Supreme Court Justice

Do you believe in the power of protests? Have you participated in such or other acts of civil disobedience? What are the alternatives for affecting change?

 

“The work that anybody does as an artist—if it doesn’t reflect resistance then they’re helping a system of control become more perfect.” – David Wojnarowicz, Artist and Activist

Do you agree that artistic efforts are most significant when they challenge the status quo? What works of art (songs, books, plays, paintings, etc.) have inspired you to resist social norms?