After giving whatever your elevator speech, anyone with time and interest still remaining is very likely to ask you, How do you have a church where people have different religions? Firstly, while we may have different beliefs and practices, we have one religion. It is a religion that allows us to worship together as well […]
Unitarian Universalism has no creed. We don’t have an oath to an outside power. There is no pledge to a single entity, concept, or ideal. What then does it mean to be a Unitarian Universalist? We do have Principles. But those still aren’t really what defines us as a movement. Our Principles are all phrased […]
We spend a lot of digital ink on words, both religious and not, and how they are used by, and how they sometimes divide Unitarian Universalists. A lot is said about which words get used and how people react to them. Words do matter, but how we hear them is on us as much as […]
Stewardship, according to Merriam-Webster, means 1: the office, duties, and obligations of a steward 2: the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially : the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care So, by taking responsibility for the heritage of Unitarianism and Universalism, by claiming to be UUs, we become stewards and […]
I spent last week teaching mindfulness, community, and The Force to middle schoolers at a UU family summer camp. The reception was mixed, but it definitely had an influence on my thinking this weekend. There are two emotions that are the most primal, the most essential, and the most powerful in humans: love and fear. […]
I have so much worry. I have so much trepidation and anxiety. I have so much hope. I have so much love. I have no idea how to turn those feelings, that energy, into solutions to the problems that we face. I know where I want us all to get to, but I have no […]
Unitarian Universalism is a liberal religion, meaning that we do not claim absolute truth or authority and admit that we are still learning things that we need to know about the universe. The word “liberal” means “not bound by authoritarianism, orthodoxy, or traditional forms” according the Merriam-Webster, and shares its root with Liberty, a Latin […]
Church can be people who trust one another. Church can be people who accept and encourage each other. Church can be a place where it’s ok to be imperfect, and the effort counts for something. Church can be a place where we ask the important questions and admit to one another that we don’t know. […]
Most of the people who will read this were born with some blessings; health, access to education, access to technology, and the mental capability to put them all to use are all blessings; many people lack one or more in their lives. Some of us have been given blessings we don’t even know to count. […]
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr was assassinated 50 years ago last Wednesday. Many people spent the week mourning his death and celebrating his life and his work. Or, for too many, celebrate a small part of it. It is almost like we’ve forgotten that he died in the service of his mission, not the completion […]