Unitarian Universalism has a rich history, and many great thinkers to draw upon, both from within our tradition and outside it. In this sermon from April 6, 2008, the Rev. Dr. Jim Nelson explores several of these voices from the early parts of the 20th century and what they can tell us in today’s world, from Reinhold Niehbuhr to William Ellery Channing to Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Nelson serves the Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church of Pasadena, California as senior minister.

The Likeness to God

by Rev. Dr. Jim Nelson

Reinhold Niehbuhr was a Methodist minister, theologian, historian and social commentator in the middle part of the 20th Century, and, in his time, one of the more influential religious thinkers in America. He wrote a number of books, and as I mentioned some weeks ago about sermon titles, Niehbuhr was good at titles.

Here are a few:

Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic [about his time as a parish minister in Detroit]
Moral Man and Immoral Society
The Nature and Destiny of Man
The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness
The Irony of American History

He was a realist and warned about the use of power and how too often power combines with arrogance and becomes dangerous. He would have much to say about our times.

(Read on … )

It is quite impossible to summarize the importance of William Ellery Channing to the early Unitarian movement, so I encourage you to read the excellent biography on the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society’s Biographies pages for more information.

This small piece of writing, among all his wonderful sermons, essays and orations, has long resonated with me — I think I read it during my first year as a member of a Unitarian Universalist church, and it solidified to me that I was, indeed, in the right place.

UPDATE: Though I still highly recommend that you read about William Ellery Channing at the above link, I mistakenly attributed this poem to him instead of his nephew, William Henry Channing. Lot of talent in that family! You can read a little bit about William Henry at Wikipedia.

My Symphony

by Rev. William Henry Channing (1810-1884)

To live content with small means.
To seek elegance rather than luxury,
and refinement rather than fashion.
To be worthy not respectable,
and wealthy not rich.
To study hard, think quietly, talk gently,
act frankly, to listen to stars, birds, babes,
and sages with open heart, to bear all cheerfully,
do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never.
In a word, to let the spiritual,
unbidden and unconscious,
grow up through the common.
This is to be my symphony.

Source: Rev. William Henry Channing, “My Symphony,” quoted in numerous places including transcendentalists.com.