So, today I checked out the UU congregation that’s not too far from me.
The sermon was about dreams. And while he talked a little about the dreams that we have when we’re asleep, he spoke more of dreams as desires, goals and wants. He talked about dreams being reflections of what it is we see around us. He talked about dreams reflecting the input of “the multi-trillion dollar advertising industry”. He talked about Martin Luther King’s dream. He talked about good dreams and bad dreams. He suggested a prayer that went in essence “don’t give me a bloody thing, until you’ve changed my dreams to be good dreams.” And good dreams he says are about changing the world. Which he contrasts to consumerist dreams.
And I thought about my own dreams, my own goals. Whether it be the new job, or a particular sort of social circle that I’m trying to engineer. Are these good goals, good dreams? Maybe it’s a start in the right direction, but not all the way there. False hopes of happiness if I consume more education. Who knows. But we’ll see how it all goes.
Afterwards, there was a new member orientation session. Simultaneously there was a glbtq session for the congregation. I actually had to resist the glbtq thing as the pull of the familiar to go to the new member thing.
As a result, I now have a better sense of UU history and what they’re all about.
Unitarian is a distinction from Trinitarian. It’s the belief in a single God.
Universalist is the belief that everyone has a piece of the truth and no one has a monopoly on it. And there is a theism underlying it as well.
This is all in my words, obviously.
UU’s come from western, christian tradition. It’s part of what they are. I was a little surprised to hear God mentioned, repeatedly in the sermon. I suppose I shouldn’t have been. It was also surprising to me how many of the new people at the congregation were heterosexual couples with mixed religious backgrounds about which they had been very serious, who were trying to find some common path.
I was a little agressive and defensive about my agnosticism, I suppose. Afterwards, I walked up to the minister and asked him what he would say to a polytheist, atheist, or agnostic who was interested in their congregation. He bounced it back to me with a very reasonable question, which took it out of the general/hypothetical and applied it directly to me. Is this something that you want. You’ve seen the serice, that’s what you’re in for, can you live with that, and more importantly, does it help you in your own process of spiritual development? Give it a try for a month or so. If it feels right, stay. The UU church has a big umbrella. There are trinitarians, agnostics, probably even some atheists, and polytheists too.
I think I will give it the month. The sermon definitely spoke to me. More so than anything I can remember hearing in my Catholic days. So long as it provides good community, “spiritual” growth, or both.
I grew up Unitarian (alternating weekends with my father/step-bitch’s Southern Baptist church, but that’s another story).
A few years ago, the Unitarian Universalist Association removed a belief in a god from their charter… and formally acknowledged their athiest ministers.
UU churches are very different from congregation to congregation. I’m glad you had a good experience.
Back in the ’70’s, we had an openly gay minister. My mother hated him because of that, but that’s another story.
Very interesting.
I’ve wondered about checking out the UUs for a long time. Sometimes I feel like I’ve played out my Christian journey as far as it can go and that it’s time for me to start exploring some broader things. I’m certainly of the belief that all religions are valid paths and nobody has a corner on Truth (whatever that is). Keep us posted on how your experience goes — I’ll be interested to hear how it is for you.
I’ve always considered myself an apathetic agnostic. I don’t know and don’t really care if there is a god. I grew up non-religious, but my parents both had Christian upbringings and therefore I grew up with the morals that make sense, but without the dogma or Catholic Guilt(tm).
Many years ago, I attended a folk dance and music camp run by a unitarian church. I was there as the consort of the music director (but wound up doing some dance teaching along the way). At dinner on the first night, a woman asked about my religious identification. I didn’t want to be as abrupt as to call myself an atheist, so I blandly said, “I usually say I am an agnostic.”
Her response: “Oh! A lot of us say that. You might be UU, and just not know it!”
I asked her to clarify.
“Well, many of us feel that there is something spiritual out there that we would like to have a better connection to. And something that can give us a sense of community beyond our family. But we really don’t feel any need for all that dogma and stuff. UU provides these things for us.”
She concluded, “And besides that – we need something for the kids to reject when they grow up!”
I figure that I might just be a UU, after all.
Yeah, that’s about what I get from my UU church. It’s a “church community” feeling, with things that help feed the philosophical part of my soul, that I can take and leave as I choose.
One of the things I have often said about UU is that they emphasize learning as opposed to teaching. I.e., instead of saying, “Here is what is right, this is what God wants, this is true and this is false, here is how to live so you are fulfilled,” I hear much more of, “Here is what some people believe, this is what this religion teaches, now how can we draw from that and apply it to our lives so we are more fulfilled?” and leaves you to find your own answers. As someone who rejected almost all kinds of absolutism (particularly spiritual absolutes) when I took quantum physics, I greatly value the “find your own answers” part.
As mentioned earlier, how much God is mentioned varies from congregation to congregation. It is no longer a formal requirement. My choir includes (among other people) several pagan-leaning women, a couple Jews, and an atheist.
It’s great that you are giving UU church a try. I think your old roommate, Stephen S. is a UU. I’ve never been to any UU churches. I’m more a United Church of Christ person here, but I’ve been going to a Episcopal to make friends.
He is. And cool. Have we met?
I saw you once at you guy’s apartment on Division St. when Stephen and I hung out many years ago. Did that count? HAHA!