Dozens, if not hundreds, of Unitarian Universalist congregations have a covenant that begins with words to the effect of “Love is the Doctrine of this Church”. These words appear all across UUA.org in handouts and discussions. They even appear in our hymnal, Singing the Living Tradition (#471). Love: a word with too many meanings We […]
It is not true that a Unitarian Universalist can simply believe anything at all. In fact, there is nothing that a Unitarian Universalist can believe which is not subject to examination and doubt. Our covenant calls us to hold each other responsible in our search for truth and meaning and to encourage spiritual growth, without […]
Life is not fair. From a human perspective, the universe isn’t fair; if there is a karmic force in the Universe that balances things out, it is unintelligible to the human mind. One very important side effect of this is that one can try hard, learn well, and achieve all that is within their control […]
I let this sit a couple of days so that I could try to edit it with more calm, but it hasn’t been completely successful. I wrote this in the hours after the most recent mass shooting in the United States; the most deadly ever, a record that stood for just over 14 months. This […]
This is not the post that I had scheduled for this morning. This is not the first thing that I wrote this morning, either. I hope this post is what is needed right now, while I sort through the words I most want to share; words that are to raw, too blunt, to be exposed […]
In religions with creeds and dogma, there have always been heretics who believe something outside the boundaries of their faith. There are Catholics who believe that abortion can be an appropriate remedy to one or more situations. Some Jews like eating shrimp or bacon. There are Mormons who accept LGBTAQ people as full members of […]
Labor day is a very secular holiday, but it should hold a special place for Unitarian Universalists as part of the ongoing development of our faith. Labor day is fundamentally tied to our values and the Principles of the UUA. Just last week, we passed the 54th anniversary of the MLK-led “March on Washington for […]
In his Ware lecture, Bryan Stevenson warned us that we could not have the impact on the world that we aspire to unless we were willing to be uncomfortable. We must get close to the people who are suffering, we must change how we think and talk about the circumstances and conditions that create injustice, […]
I want to start at the end of this story, because it really does set the mood for what I want you to take away from this post. We have to start, not from where we were or where we wish to be, but from where we are. I spent last week in New Orleans. […]
Religion is an outgrowth of culture. Religion is an expression of culture; it can give form to hopes, fears, taboos, and aspirations. Religion can be a force for good, expressing and guiding us to our best selves. Given that many (if not most) people feel drawn to religion in some form, it needs to be […]