I simply can’t say enough good things about today’s Berry Street address by the Rev. Christine Robinson from Albuquerque, New Mexico, and that’s not just because I know her and already think she’s cool.

Her essay on spiritual risk-taking was simply exquisite. Honest, deep, and pulling no punches, inspiring and uplifting and prophetic.

Her basic premise is that Unitarian Universalism as a whole is crying out for a greater spiritual depth, a depth that has not been seen within living memory, a depth that begins with the personal spiritual life of the minister. She wants to see our denomination work to enable our ministers to be “Imagineers of the Soul,” able to teach our people, and help them heal from whatever spiritual shame and hurt they have experienced, and then to feed them what they need to grow as spiritual beings.

What struck me most in her descriptions of many of our members was the distinction she drew for those who come from past spiritual “trauma” — that it is not so much about “wounds” of the soul, or about guilt, but about the shame that many have experienced in other faiths. This is language that I have needed in my own struggles.

I usually turn to the word “guilt” to describe how I felt when I first realized that I just plain didn’t believe the teachings of my former churches, though I still felt an obligation that I should — but it is shame and not guilt that still rears its ugly head for me. Guilt stems from something that has been done or not done — shame stems from a feeling that there is something inherently or fundamentally wrong with a person, an existential state of being. And that’s much deeper and more powerful than guilt. But being able to name it — that’s healing, at least for me.

The other point Christine made today that resonates with me is how easy it is for those who have been deeply shamed about their spiritual experiences to do the exact same thing to those around them, but in the other direction — say if someone wants to talk about god or prayer in one of our congregations. And, “in the spiritual community,” she said, “scorn is deadly.”

We’re not going to talk about our personal spiritual experiences if we feel we will be ridiculed or scorned — these things are too fragile, too deep, and too scary to reveal.

And that’s where the minister comes in. If the leader of your religious community is intentionally taking spiritual risks, putting their own spiritual life out there as a model, the people are more likely to get the message that that’s what church is for.

There’s more, much more, and as soon as the essay is online, I’ll put a link here.

John’s response was a perfect compliment to the essay. Coming from the perspective of a brand new minister, faced with all of the challenges a congregation can throw at a person, he articulated the balance that is so necessary and so difficult between being that “Imagineer of the Soul” but also a manager, running all of the administrative “stuff.” What it comes down to, for him, is the act of praying with the congregation, in addition to preaching to them, and living the spiritual life out loud.

And he delivered what he had to say absolutely beautifully. I am so very proud.

uuaga 2008
uuaga08