Is This Your Religion? (continued)

Rev. Abhi Janamanchi

October 15, 2006

Do we believe in God?

I was asked this question recently by someone who has been attending our services regularly and is trying to figure out if she fits here. My response was - “Some of us do, some of us don't, and others are not sure. We believe more in engaging with the 'question' of god than with the 'existence' of god. Many of us believe in a creating, sustaining, and transforming power - a cosmic force which is “the power behind the natural world of planets and flowers, pine cones and photons.”^[1] This force, many of us believe, sustains our very existence, but it does not play favorites. Some among us personalize this power in prayer; others do not.

Where do we stand with regard to Jesus?

I told our visitor that most of us believe that Jesus was a moral and spiritual teacher, a radical human being, who sought to reform the Judaism of his day by emphasizing its moral and spiritual dimensions rather than its ceremonies. We UUs see the significance of Jesus, not in his paying for our salvation, but as an example of the heights to which human beings may aspire in their own lives. Here we see revealed the summit of love and forgiveness, devotion and commitment, of the power of the human spirit to oppose evil and to stand by justice; and the sublime possibilities of human life. We believe more in the religion of Jesus - love of God and love of neighbor - than the religion about Jesus (his miraculous conception, his ability to perform miracles, and his physical resurrection).

Do we believe in the after-life?

We believe in life before death. We are focused on the here and now of this world. Our faith has never been overly concerned with what happens after death. Even the Universalists, who got their name from their belief in universal salvation, weren't inordinately focused on the afterlife. If everybody goes to heaven, as the Universalists believed, then there's not much point in worrying about an afterlife! We believe in making as much sense as we can out of the mysteries of human life on earth and in making the world a better, more just place.

What else do we believe in?

We believe in keeping an open mind regarding the religious questions people have struggled with in all times and places. We believe that personal experience, conscience and reason should be the final authorities in religion, and that in the end, religious authority lies, not in a book or person or institution, but in ourselves, in our own intuitions and powers of reasoning. We are a "non-creedal" religion: we do not ask anyone to ascribe to a creed. And, we believe in doing all this, not in isolation, but in community.

What does it mean to be a Unitarian Universalist?

Being a UU means that I am committed to celebrating and promoting the inherent dignity and worth of all people. It means that I must live this principle in my daily life by expressing the Golden Rule embraced by Jesus and other great religious leaders, that I must strive to love my neighbor as myself.

Being a UU means that I affirm that all of existence is related and interdependent, that the choices I make matter because in some small but real way, they impact the entire web of existence. This ethic of interdependence guides me in all that I do. Therefore, my faith must not be just an occasional hobby, but an everyday reality.

Being a UU entails believing in freedom - freedom from ignorance and false belief; freedom from spurious claims and bitter prejudices; freedom to seek and to follow the truth, both old and new, freedom from the hates and greeds that divide humankind and spill the blood of every generation; freedom for honest thought and for equal justice, freedom to seek the true, the good, and the beautiful with minds unimpaired by cramping dogmas and spirits uncrippled by abject dependence. Our religion says that humankind is not divided except by ignorance and prejudice and hate; it proclaims an end to all exclusions and declares a brotherhood and sisterhood unbounded!

But more importantly, we are here for something else. For love. Being a UU is not about being politically correct or culturally savvy or globally connected. Nor is it just about being committed to freedom, reason, and tolerance. All of this is for naught if there is no love. So, it's about love. It's all about love, really.

The most important thing is not what we believe nor what we say nor even what we do. The most important thing is how we love. Bound by no creed, we instead bind ourselves in sacred community by affection, understanding, and generosity. We stumble and fall. We injure one another in our fear and thoughtlessness. But we remain connected in covenant. We listen and learn. We apologize and forgive. Love means that we accept you for who you are: whatever your background, beliefs, or life choices. We are not immune from prejudice and ignorance. But we are dedicated to welcoming all and affirming the inherent worth and dignity of every person. This is a place where we invite our whole selves to come in the door, foibles, frailties, fractiousness and all, and expect to be transformed with love, with reason, with acceptance for the wholeness of us, while also understanding that each of us could use a little improvement.

This is some of what it means to me to be a UU. I have tried to frame it in positive terms because we’ve had a tendency to describe our faith in terms of what we reject rather than what we embrace. If we get stuck in that spot, our faith is merely a negation. The question to ask is not what I don't believe any more, but what I give my heart to now. I conclude with these words by Richard Gilbert: “We can't give you everything. We cannot possibly meet all your grandest fantasies or aspirations, nor will we try. But we can promise you an accepting, open home in which to grow your spirit and spread your gifts in a beloved community and outward to the larger creation. We can promise you a place where, when the warranty on your spirit expires from time to time, it receives an extension. And, moreover, we will never take away your mind or compromise your soul in the process of doing religion!” Many of you have made this your spiritual home. Others of you will too, I hope. Everyone is welcome. Blessed be.

References:

James Luther Adams, The Prophethood of All Believers

John Buehrens & Forrest Church, editors, Our Chosen Faith

Excerpts from Sermons by Richard Gilbert & Fred Small