“Be kinder to people than you think they deserve.
Everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.”
– Unknown
Embracing Our Heritage
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The Unity Transcending our Diversity
UUs are justly proud of our diversity and of the work we have done – and continue to do – to open our doors to all people of goodwill who share the aspirations of our Principles and Purposes. But a celebration of diversity alone will never be enough to build the world we hope for! We must have a clear sense of what unifies us. The oft repeated “we are all free to believe as we choose” is neither enough nor the whole story. Our Principles and Purposes uphold a clear set of values not agreed to by everyone everywhere! Can we, as Unitarian Univesalists, come together to offer the world a unified and transformative vision of reality with the power to call people to work for its fulfillment? This is the religious vision that is the only long term answer to the future of our faith! Discover processes for full inclusion and for creating a unified and empowering presence in our communities and beyond.
“The mission of a religion is to transform the society in which it exists into the image of its own answers to the questions of mystery.” – Rev. Robert Latham
Beyond Theological Diversity – The Heart of Unitarianism
Is there a center to Unitarianism that transcends and unifies the wide diversity of theological positions found among us? Yes! At the heart of Unitarianism is an essential affirmation that “All is One” and a fearless search for the most all-encompassing truths to live by in light of that reality. Two core beliefs weave through Unitarian history:
First: “All is One.” This is the natural, life-embracing evolution of the original defining Unitarian theology which affirmed that “God is One.” The Unitarian call today is to inspire and nurture a religious vision which embraces all people and the entire web of life in its care.
Second: “Revelation Is Not Sealed.” These words were first spoken by Francis David, founder of Unitarianism in Transylvania. David names the fundamental Unitarian commitment to living at the ever unfolding edge of truth. For 450 years, Unitarians have stood for the “free and responsible search for truth and meaning” – unafraid of any question and unwilling to create any answer that can’t be questioned! Explore what it could mean to claim these core beliefs as central to our own lived faith in community.
“We can hardly conceive of a plainer obligation…than to abstain from condemning men (sic) of apparent conscientiousness and sincerity who are chargeable with no crime but that of differing from us….” – William Ellery Channing, Unitarian Christianity.
Beyond Theological Differences – The Heart of Universalism
Is there a center to Universalism that transcends and unifies the wide diversity of theological positions found among UUs today?
Two core Universalist beliefs have stood the test of time.
First: the life-affirming, life-celebrating affirmation that “Being is Good.” This is the natural evolution of the original Universalist theology, “God is Love” which saw human beings as naturally inclined to manifest their inherent worth and dignity and rejected belief in hell or “original sin.” This is a belief that, today, calls us to engagement with the world. Universalism counsels confidence that we can find, both within and beyond our selves, those deep wells of renewal from which the life force springs and which carry us past “impossible” obstacles to become all that we are meant to be.
Second: “Love Trumps Fear.” This is a stance that invites us into confronting the limitations and consequences of a fear-based way of living. Universalism has always held that people do not become “better” through punitive, fear-based approaches to human development, but only through the realization that joy and freedom happen naturally when we live – and model – lives grounded in love. Universalism invites us to question thinking that keeps us from trust in essential human goodness as a force that is always seeking to break into the light.
“I went on my way, grateful that the inveterate enemy, with whom I had just parted on the road, was included in the redemption it was my business to proclaim.” – John Murray, founder of Universalism in America
“There is no greater illusion than fear.” – Tao Te Ching, trans. Stephen Mitchell
The Once and Future Goddess: Earth-Centered Traditions
The archeological and mythological evidence is clear: for some 25,000 to 40,000 years, the divine was imaged world-wide primarily as an all-giving Goddess. Early Goddess cultures modeled their societies, and their image of the Divine, on the reliable and abundant cycles of plant life: fertility, fruition, harvest and fallow time. Evidence points to greater gender equality than at any subsequent epoch in history in these cultures, a time of “the partnership way.” Today, the Goddess /Earth-centered tradition is reemerging in Western consciousness – and is recognized by the UUA as one of our sources of wisdom. Still this potentially life-giving resurgence of the Goddess tradition is uncomfortable for many and raises important questions. Explore how we can integrate these rich symbols and vibrant energy into our worship life, our language and our congregational culture in ways that liberate us all.
“The Creation Mother is always also the Death Mother and vice versa…the great work is to learn to understand what around us and about us and within us must live and what must die.” – Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Women Who Run with the Wolves
Jesus – the UU You Never Knew
What does it mean to be a UU Christian? There’s a widespread belief (even among UUs today) that the name “Christian” means only one thing: the “Trinitarian” belief in the unique divinity of Jesus as part of a “three person” God. Not so! Unitarianism, emerging in the Protestant Reformation, revived a view of what it means to be Christian that has its roots in many of the earliest Christian communities. That is the “Unitarian view” that God is indivisible, that Jesus was fully human, and that being a follower of ”the way” of Jesus – that is, living as a Christian – means following the teachings of Jesus rather than worshipping him. In this view, Jesus is our brother and our teacher, an exemplar of what we all could become! Leading New Testament scholarship today affirms that Jesus’ own theology was classically Unitarian: “God is One” and classically Universalist: “God is Love.” This is a crucial perspective on what it means to be Christian in the volatile and influential conversations about faith so central to today’s world.
“Jesus…wasn’t interested in leading people to believe in him. He was doing something else.” – Marcus Borg, The Meaning of Jesus