Pilgrim in America

Dream: I'm on the top floor of a high building. I wish to go out to the balcony, but the railing can be barely seen. I'm aware it is there, but still I can't see it clearly, so I do not trust it realy exists. I do not dare to go out and lean on it, so that I can take a look around. I'm afraid of the the deep abyss beyond. I sit down and try to reach out and feel the railing with my feet.

Before worship service I meet Marilyn. She told me about the Saturday lecture, in which there was mentioning about Unitarians in Transylvania. She was surprized on hearing that for them religion means ethnic identity. Yes, it is true, I say, it is the same as in the case of the early settlers in America. Their ethnic identity included religious denomination, too. The Amish are Germans, aren't they? Met Mark and Lil Hosman, talked about how things were going with my translation.

Worship service, Dr. Mark Morrison-Reed Minister in Residence: Christmas in 114th street.

I was meditating again on the mystery of death of God and the ars poetica of ministry. This teaching of mainstream Christianity had a power in America. And in fact all through Western history. From Apostle Paul to Nietzche; starting a new stage with Freud, followed with modern humanism. The UUA should realize it... I start to become a UU... This worship service was different. After 10 weeks an authoritarian church-image was replaced by a more democratic one, where intellectual approach is more likely to have a place.

After service: Randy and Julie introduce me to their daughter, she is home for holiday from New York. We agree on a last dinner. I thank Katie for receiving me as guest on the programs.

After church: lunch in a restaurant with Don & Pat, Henry & Ingrid. Mike will move over, Pat asks me to stay. At dinner: talk about rev. Mark, his intellectual culture (Washington, Chicago). They bring me a sandwich with toast, and sugar powder on it. We talk about the kids' iPhone craze. They text even under the table, without looking at the keyboard.

After lunch: Powell's. Bought two more Erich Fromm. I was reading: Patanjali, Vatsyayana... Three more days. Loitered in downtown, listened to the guitarist, with a feeling that I was part of that UU intellectual religious spirituality present all over the city.
Lately, I started reading Fromm (The Dogma of Christ). Here, it is different: you can feel the need. It is as if you studied engineering. They should introduce it in schools. In the past religious education had the same role. There are many denominational schools in Hungary, too. During the communist era psychology was a banned science in Romania. In a dictatorship neurotics are enemies of the system, because they are freedom fighters. On the main square young guys hand me a piece of paper: "GOD SAYS PLEASE DO NOT GO TO HELL".

Dinner: the last Hungarian sausage. Afterwards I went to Ross to buy something for our friends.