Sometimes insight can come from the most unexpected of sources, as the Rev. Joshua Pawelek found when he explored the work of Harvard professor and psychologist Tal Ben-Shahar, whose best-selling book is titled Happier. Rev. Pawelek discovered a resonance with his own vision of Unitarian Universalism in what he had dismissed as mere pop-psychology, exploring the idea of being joyfully determined in the way we live our spiritual lives.

You can also find an essay by Rev. Pawelek, who serves the Unitarian Universalist Society: East in Manchester, Connecticut, in the just-released Reverend X: How Generation X Ministers are Shaping Unitarian Universalism, from the Jenkin Lloyd Jones Press.

To Be Joyfully Determined

by the Rev. Joshua Mason Pawelek

Recall a time when things weren’t going well for you, when you didn’t feel quite right, didn’t feel quite like yourself; a time when you couldn’t hear the still, small voice, or when its song was faint; a time when there was some emotional or mental dissonance in your life; a time when you felt disconnected, depressed, anxious, weak, subdued, out-of-whack, broken; a time when your sense of purpose and meaning waned, and you sought help. You sought help from a therapist—a psychologist or a psychiatrist or some other mental health professional; or you talked to a social worker or school guidance counselor. Maybe you attended a twelve-step group, or an affinity group for bereavement, divorce, cancer. Maybe you talked to a minister, priest or rabbi; maybe your doctor. Maybe you turned to a self-help book or a friend you could trust to give good advice. I assume most of you have been in this situation at some point: you’ve sought help when something didn’t feel quite right.

Put that memory aside and recall a time when things were going great, when you felt exactly like yourself; a time when you could hear the beautiful, compelling still, small voice melody; a time when you felt emotionally and mentally healthy; a time when you felt joyful, happy, inspired, powerful, whole; a time when you had a potent sense of purpose and meaning, and you sought help. You said to yourself, “Wow, I feel so good I need help immediately! I need help to figure out what I’m doing right so I can keep doing it; so I can do it more, do it better.” We’ve all had that experience too, right? No, we haven’t. My guess is there are few people to whom that thought occurs. We don’t typically approach our lives this way. At least in the United States, it’s fair to say we spend an awful lot of time and energy looking at what’s wrong with us, what our diseases are, what our weaknesses are, how to overcome them. We don’t spend as much time and energy looking at what’s already right with us, what gives us joy and fulfillment, what our gifts are and how to use them well. To the extent I understand it, focusing on what’s right is the essence of Positive Psychology.

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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 … )