Dear readers, this site is undergoing a MASSIVE spam attack and I am busy behind the scenes trying to get it under control. Stay tuned for today’s posting.

UPDATE:

This took forever! During my upgrade and trying out new anti-spam tools, I got an additional fourteen thousand spam comments.

So, you’ll notice a new image-verification requirement when posting comments, which will hopefully cut down on the problem. If you posted a comment that has not appeared on the site, please send me a note through the Submissions and Contact page and I will do my best to restore it.

Back to regular posting on Friday.

One of the struggles in Unitarian Universalism is to balance the needs of the individual with the needs of the community, to go beyond the individualism that a free search for truth and meaning can sometimes foster, and to see our place as part of a greater Whole.

The Rev. Tom Owen-Towle, currently serving as the interim minister at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of San Dieguito, California, spoke beautifully on these concepts to his congregation this September, urging and challenging members to build Beloved Community (pdf) right where they are planted.

For consideration: how does membership in your community challenge you to become more than you are by yourself?

Growing the Beloved Community!

by Rev. Tom Owen-Towle

I wrote a book recently on what I consider the 12 hallmarks of healthy congregations. Now, there’s been a lot written on theology, from every conceivable angle, but precious little on ecclesiology, especially the art of being and doing church the liberal religious way, our Unitarian Universalist Fellowship way.

I will be conducting a Saturday morning workshop, November 17th, here at our Fellowship, on this very topic. I hope you will plan to participate.

As San Dieguitans you pride yourselves on being individual questers: pursuing the good, the true, and the beautiful in your own fashion. And so you should, and so do I. But, I dare say, there’s more to this strange, wondrous business of progressive religion. Being a solitary traveler is but a 100% half-truth. For Unitarian Universalism, at its finest and fullest, demands far more of its adherents than rugged independence. It requires that we become builders and sustainers of the interdependent web wherever we’re planted.

(Read on … )

The third principle of Unitarian Universalism as set forth in the by-laws of the Unitarian Universalist Association is the covenant to affirm and promote “Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations.” In the conclusion of his essay, “Love the Contradictions,” Rev. Robert Hardies challenges individual Unitarian Universalists to take on that spiritual growth through our common struggle with the contradictions of our world and our own selves.

A question for discussion: what responsibility does an individual member of a congregation have to the larger community when it comes to spiritual growth?

The essay was printed in the UUWorld’s summer 2007 issue, from The Seven Principles in Word and Worship, edited by Ellen Brandenburg (Skinner House Books, 2007). Part one can be found here, and part two here.

Love the Contradictions, pt. 3

by Rev. Robert Hardies

Let’s not be fooled by the false dilemma of whether we should focus our lives on spiritual growth or social justice, as if the two are mutually exclusive. When we frame the conversation this way, we undermine both our spiritual health and our work for justice, and we misunderstand the meaning of a world-affirming spirituality.

The moment I first understood this link between spirituality and justice was when I had the opportunity to study with Gustavo Gutiérrez, the father of Latin American liberation theology and one of the preeminent religious thinkers of the twentieth century. Gutiérrez is the priest of a large, poverty-stricken parish on the outskirts of Lima, Peru. I took a class with him just after I returned from working in Guatemala, when I was still trying to reconcile my experience there with my life in the United States. On the third day of class, a student asked Gutiérrez to explain how we, as residents of the richest country in the world, could best serve the poor in Latin America. After some silence, Gutiérrez confessed that he had always struggled with how to divide his time between being a parish priest and a theologian. Sometimes he felt guilty traveling the world giving talks and papers while his parishioners struggled just to survive. Other times, he felt frustrated that he couldn’t more broadly share liberation theology’s gospel of God’s love for the poor and oppressed. “All my life,” he said, “I’ve sought a theoretical or spiritual answer to this question of how I am to serve the poor: as a priest or as a theologian. But I haven’t found one. I simply try to find a balance between being a theologian and being a pastor. And in the midst of all the suffering—I know this might sound romantic—I try to be happy.”

“As for you,” he said to the student, “you have to find the answer for yourself.”

(Read on … )

A smaller segment today of Rev. Robert Hardies’ essay, “Love the Contradictions,” printed in the UUWorld’s summer 2007 issue, from The Seven Principles in Word and Worship, edited by Ellen Brandenburg (Skinner House Books, 2007). Part one can be found here, and part three here.

Here, Rev. Hardies brings in the concept of size in spirituality and faith, an idea in language that I find fascinating. What is big? What is big enough? What capacity do we really have as human beings?

Love the Contradictions, pt. 2

by Rev. Robert Hardies

Not long after divinity school, I stumbled upon the work of theologian Bernard Loomer, who began to point me in the right direction. Loomer is an important figure in process theology, a movement that contends that the universe is always growing in size and complexity, and that as the universe grows, so does God and so must we. Loomer saw the increasing complexity of creation as a glorious blossoming that God was delighted to behold. Late in life, Loomer was a member of the First Unitarian Church of Berkeley, California, where on Sundays after church he would lead thought-provoking theological conversations. After describing his vision of the complexity of creation, he often asked the group, “What is the size of your soul?” By which he meant, “What is your soul’s ability to grow and expand, to stretch when life throws more contradictions your way?”

Size was the defining concept in Loomer’s spirituality. He almost always wrote the word S-I-Z-E, with capital letters and dashes, to better convey the spaciousness that he intended by using the word. Loomer describes the concept this way:

By S-I-Z-E I mean the capacity of a person’s soul, the range and depth of his love, his capacity for relationships. I mean the volume of life you can take into your being and still maintain your integrity and individuality, the intensity and variety of outlook you can entertain in the unity of your being without feeling defensive or insecure. I mean the strength of your spirit to encourage others to become freer in the development of their diversity and uniqueness. I mean the power to sustain more complex and enriching tensions. I mean the magnanimity of concern to provide conditions that enable others to increase in stature.

(Read on … )

This week is dedicated to the ideas presented in Rev. Robert Hardies’ essay, “Love the Contradictions,” printed in the UUWorld’s summer 2007 issue, from The Seven Principles in Word and Worship, edited by Ellen Brandenburg (Skinner House Books, 2007). Rev. Hardies serves All Souls Church, Unitarian, in Washington, D.C.

The essay is just packed, so I’ve broken it into three sections. The first describes Rev. Hardies’ personal realizations of the contradictory nature of the world, and his life within the world. I don’t know anyone who hasn’t struggled with this.

Part two can be found here, and part three here.

Love the Contradictions, pt. 1

by Rev. Robert Hardies

When I was in seminary, I had to take a test called the Minnesota Multi phasic Personality Inventory, a multiple-choice exam that asks questions like, “Have you been hearing voices lately?” When I sat down with the psychiatrist two weeks later to hear the results, he told me, “By and large, this is a healthy profile.” Then he pointed to a line that plummeted from the top of the page to the bottom. “But do you see this? This means that your soul is conflicted, filled with tensions and contradictions. Those tensions can either be a blessing or a curse; they can either stimulate creativity and vitality in your life, or they can shut you down.” Seeing my reaction, he reassured me, “Rob, you have to learn to love the tensions that are in your soul.” Love the tensions? I wasn’t sure I had heard him right.

Ten years later, I am still trying to discover what it really means to not merely accept the tensions and contradictions of life but to love them. We want to love the world, but does that mean we must condone all that is wrong with it, that we must quietly acquiesce to injustice? What is there to love about contradictions?

(Read on … )

Working on a theme here, on how Unitarian Universalist create religious identity, or how we answer the question of, “What is Unitarian Universalism, anyway?”

Today, a sermon from the Rev. Lisa Ward, who serves the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Harford County, Maryland, tackling the question of a creedless faith and what it means to join in covenant rather than in creed — a way of being together in community rather than a list of religious beliefs one much confess to in order to join in.

From Creed to Covenant: Roots of Unitarian Universalism

by Rev. Lisa Ward

Reflection: Navigating Creeds

The most common question asked of any faith community is “What do you believe?” Most expect a formulaic answer, one that is easily recognizable and repeatable, one that would be the answer if you asked anyone of that faith anywhere. A creed. That is not, however, the kind of answer a Unitarian Universalist can give, nor one, I might add, that a Buddhist or Hindu or Taoist can give, so we’re not alone, really, in this communication gap.

One could give any number of answers, based on our seven principles. A Unitarian Universalist could reply: “God Is One,” which is the phrase chiseled on the walls of Transylvania Unitarian churches that remain standing from the sixteenth century. Or one could say “There is unity within infinite diversity,” as a transcendentalist might say, observing nature as the key toward understanding. Another Unitarian Universalist might say “We must all work together for a fair and free world,” much like our Unitarian and Universalist forebears might have said as they helped draft the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights in this country. Or one might say, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” honoring our Judeo-Christian heritage, and add, “You are the light of the world.”

(Read on … )

Further exploring the ideas that come to mind when someone asks, “What is Unitarian Universalism, anyway?” I came across this snippet from a sermon by the Rev. Tony Johnson. Many people look to religion as a source of comfort, of solace, and even of escape from the “real” world. Rev. Johnson, I think, hits the nail on the head when he says that while our Unitarian Universalist churches do provide such comfort, the goal is not to draw people into our communities and keep them sheltered, but to prepare them to go back out into the world and do the work that must be done.

Rev. Johnson served the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Essex County, in Orange, NJ for nine years, and is now affiliated with the Community Church of New York, Unitarian Universalist.

Shelter from the Storm: Unitarian Universalism as a Safe Harbor

by Rev. Tony Johnson

I would suggest to you this morning that Unitarian Universalism is a religion for people who do not want too much safety in their religion. Maybe that’s not the best way to put it. How’s this? Unitarian Universalism is a religion for people who realize that life is just too complicated to make sense of with a single explanation, or that individuals and the world can be saved - whatever that means - by only one faith or path. We want shelter from the storm, but we know the truth of the words of the late mathematician and naval officer, Grace Murray Hopper: A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.

(Read on … )

Sometimes the best prayers come out of just sitting still, and you don’t have to be a minister, either. Blogger UUMomma wrote this in September:

Today, a prayer, I think

by blogger UUMomma

Okay, God. I’m listening. I sat in the sun and ate dumplings yesterday and the wind blew over and through me, much as it did that day I stood on a ridge near an old, old battlefield.

They are all old battlefieds, aren’t they God? All the spaces we inhabit hold the old and new battles, the seen and the unseen. Those battles between classes, between races, between lovers, between parents and children, bosses and workers, even between friends. Those interior battles, too, I see, within the shifting, temporary walls that hold me in and in place.

The wind is the same and it holds that which binds us one to another, when we look, when we listen, when we feel. The sun warm on my face, the wind lifting my hair, the taste of plum sauce sweet on my tongue–you have my attention. And I thank you for offering me this moment of sight and sense and grace.

Amen

Source: “Today, a prayer, I think” by blogger UUMomma, posted September 12, 2007, used with permission from the author.

The first question most people unfamiliar with Unitarian Universalism ask is usually, “What is Unitarian Universalism, anyway?”

Due to the free nature of this faith, there are many possible answers. The Unitarian Universalist Association says, “If you’re searching for a religious home that is guided by a quest for truth and meaning, not by a set creed or dogma, we invite you to discover Unitarian Universalism. We are a caring, open-minded religious community that encourages you to seek your own spiritual path. Unitarian Universalist congregations are places where people gather to nurture their spirits and put their faith into action by helping to make our communities—and the world—a better place.”

Peter Bowden, a fellow minister’s partner, has dedicated a lot of time and energy to answering this question in ways that speak to different kinds of people. He hosts the UUFAQ website, where he states, “You’ve probably heard we don’t make anyone believe anything specific. It is true that we have no creed we force everyone to believe. Now I know you’re saying, Peter, so what unifies you as a religion? Simple, we are unified by our values and how we should care for one another. While all of our congregations are independent democratically governed communities, the majority of UU congregations in the USA have joined together in an association of congregations. This association has a set of principles that member congregations agree to ‘affirm and promote’ - think of it as our UU glue.”

He has also made a couple of videos, one in tandem with his wife, Rev. Amy Freedman, speaking to a wider audience about Unitarian Universalism. About a year ago, a mysterious message from a purple alien speaking from the Pentagon surfaced on YouTube, and had these “Cosmic Principles” to share:

1. Respect sentient life: respect the inherent worth and dignity of all sentient life forms, even if it isn’t profitable.
2. Get along and be fair: be just, equitable, and fair in the way you relate with others in all aspects of your life
3. Wise up: accept one another and help each other grow in mind, body and other species-appropriate ways.
4. Seek greater understanding: engage in a lifelong search for truth, meaning and understanding, and let others do this their own way, too.
5. Sentient beings get a voice and a vote: give all sentient beings a voice and a vote in matters that concern them.
6. Build a happy planet: strive to build a peaceful planetary community with freedom and justice for all sentient beings.
7. It’s all connected: since everything is connected, we must work together to care for all beings, the planet and beyond!

Source: “How to Save the Planet,” a message from the great beyond, courtesy of Peter Bowden of UUFAQ.com

At first glance, this speech by Rod Serling (December 25, 1924–June 28, 1975), the television writer who brought The Twilight Zone into the world, is pure politics. But, if you read to the end, you’ll find a message of hope and truth that echoes, I think, far into the future.

Rod was a Unitarian Universalist, having converted from his childhood Judaism upon marrying Carol Kramer, a Protestant. The couple were active members of the Unitarian Community Church of Santa Monica, California, and Rod often spoke on behalf of the newly formed Unitarian Universalist Association. This speech, in 1968 at Moorpark College, took place in the height of the Vietnam War, a time when the echoes of Senator Joseph McCarthy still rang. At that time, it was not unusual for organizations to require speakers to sign oaths of loyalty to the United States, something Rod adamantly opposed, and refused to comply with:

Speech by Rod Serling

delivered December 3, 1968 at Moorpark College, Moorpark, California

There seem to have arisen some complications relevant to my appearance here this evening that should be clarified before I begin. Plainly and simply. I refused to sign a loyalty oath which was submitted to me as a prerequisite both for my appearance and my pay. I gather that your local newspaper and some of its readers read dire and menacing implications in this refusal of mine, and I broach the whole thing only by way of a kind of personal disclaimer.

Number one, I have no interest in overthrowing the government of the United States and number two, to the best of my knowledge I have not or am not now a member of a subversive organization whose aims are similar. I know there are many of you out there who’ve put me in a genetic classification of someplace between a misanthropic kook and an ungracious dope. Actually, I’m neither. I did not sign the loyalty oath and I waived my normal speaking fee, only because of a principle. I think a requirement that a man affix his signature to a document, reaffirming loyalty, in on one hand ludicrous—and on the other demeaning.

(Read on … )