Dr. John Young                                                                                                          4/5/09

Unitarian Universalist Church of Jacksonville

 

What Does It Mean to Be UU?

 

Often, people who know nothing about Unitarian Universalism tell me what a Unitarian Universalist is. For instance, that UUs are the people who have lost their faith but still need a religion, or are people who are spiritual but not religious, or are the folks that don’t believe in organized religion, but rather enjoy being participants in a dis-organized religion. Critics think that we are a cult or a conspiracy to turn America into a secular paradise, true believers without faith or tradition, unrealistic radicals, or liberals with big ideas but little staying power.

 

Perhaps even more upsetting is the tendency of many of our own members to periodically hold forth on the real Unitarian Universalists, without exception considering themselves and their friends to be the model UUs and usually accusing a fellow active member to be, in effect, a heretic, betraying by words and actions our central ideals.

 

No doubt, there are moments when most of the above critical statements and hundreds more have some truth value, and undoubtedly, each of us, at least occasionally, does betray our shared values and commitments. Unitarian Universalism has a magnificent history, great values, and wonderful people, but Unitarian Universalism, like every faith and ideology, has its stains, flaws, and glaring examples of hubris and egotism.

 

Part of our challenge as a faith, denomination, and congregation is that there are always a lot more people who are sort of Unitarian Universalists than are actually signed on, pledging, participating, and active congregational members, much less denominational activists. For millions of people, we are what they have been, intend to become, or sort of identify with without actually continuing to make any real institutional commitment. Thousands are only UU enough to be married or buried by a UU minister. Thousands more get involved to get themselves through a life crisis, and once they are healed, they leave us again. Thousands more basically join because of our programs for children and youth; like scouts or sports, our congregations are just another small portion of their children’s development. A good many are attracted to a particular minister or program, form of activism, or opportunity for spiritual growth, and they get their focused fix and move on, considering us simply another consumer choice in an endless supply. I could continue, but you get the idea. Because we are a non-dogmatic, inclusive, non-hierarchical and democratic form of spirituality, many people, including a good many of our own participants, define us negatively or not-at-all, and participate for years without much of a clue about what it really means to be a UU.

 

Many religions tend to condemn the world while they simultaneously try to worship the Creator of the world. Many spiritual practices are focused on preserving a holy hide-out within a wide secular world that they distrust and disdain. Unitarian Universalism instead reveres the Creator by celebrating Creation. Our central spiritual practices: love, the quest for truth, active service, social transformation, and embracing diversity treat evolving creation as sacred, lifting up the spiritual within reality, finding the holy as it is practiced in human community rather than acting as if the natural and human were enemies of what is holy and enduring.

 

So, a first answer for what it means to be UU is that we really are Unitarians, because God or the creative process and reality are one, a unity. We are all humanists and naturalists here in that we find the spiritual in the human and in the natural; we celebrate humanity, endeavoring to find the worth and dignity in every person and culture, and perceive ourselves to be responsible members of the interdependent web of an evolving natural world. We celebrate life and embrace the world.

 

So much of religion, as well as many modern ideologies, seem obsessed with the saved and the damned, and thrive on the condemnation and exclusion of others. Unitarian Universalism instead thrives on mutual respect, celebration, and inclusion. In a 21st century world that often seems to be divided between religious fundamentalists, that damn all but their own narrow sect and often even some of them, and secular fundamentalists, who seem to be striving to convince themselves and others that the world is a random accident without mystery or wonder, about to be saved by science, technology, capitalism, unchecked egotism, or secular Puritanism, instead of any of these battling ideological fundamentalisms, we strive to be Universalists.

 

A second answer, then, to what it means to be a UU is that we are Universalists. Our scriptures include the whole scope of human wisdom. We find worthy teachings in all of the historic religions and philosophies. Our congregations participate in panoply of religious and secular holidays, from pre-historic pagan rites through traditional Judeo-Christian holidays to celebrations created last week. For us, each religion and ideology, as well as each person, has part of the truth, and none has all of the truth. With Einstein, we think that religion without science is blind, and that science without religion is lame. For us, every idea needs to be tested by our own reason and experience. But we need to preserve the best of our Universalist ancestors’ spirit. This testing needs to be done in an atmosphere of acceptance, mutual respect, and love. Creation is good, but we need to be fair, just, loving, temperate, merciful and appropriately humble because we do not have all of the truth, and my way may not be right for you or yours.

 

UUs have and do represent the front of the tidal wave of individual freedom and personal liberation loose in the contemporary world. I chose this Sunday to speak on this topic because the heart of the lesson of the Jewish Passover is that liberation from oppression is only the beginning of freedom. This is a third answer to the question what does it mean to be a UU?

 

Genuine liberation is what you do with your freedom; it is your chosen dedications, your enduring commitments, the responsibilities that you embrace with all of your heart, mind, and spirit. The ancient Jews escaped the oppression of Egypt only to discover that freedom could be a hostile desert. Given the opportunity, they did not want to speak with God, and so they sent Moses instead, and then, while he was gone again after giving them 10 commandments for responsible relationships, they promptly fell into idolatrous ways of worship and self-destructive social policies. Freedom is a peltries dish where you nurture liberation by choosing and living out responsibilities and commitments. Freedom is a desert and a wasteland without dedication and staying power. UUs are committed to speaking directly with Creation, to having their own spiritual experiences, but dedicated UUs also realize that they cannot do this alone, they deserve a congregation and a denomination, and the congregation and denomination deserves their sustained dedication and commitment.

 

I hope, but I do not know whether Unitarian Universalism will endure and flourish in the future. It will do so if enough people really live as Unitarians and Universalists, and if enough of those realize that freedom must be nurtured into liberation, that individuality without community makes nothing and that identification without membership does not endure either as a healthy spiritual practice or as a flowering congregation or denomination.

 

I am glad when anyone expresses an interest in Unitarian Universalism, but I feel in fellowship with those who year in and year out attend even the services that they do not get excited about, who sign the book, participate, pay at least their fair share, and keep doing a little bit more than their fair share. Like a good family member, they are the UUs who remember what it felt like when they first discovered us, how healed they were through some life crisis years ago, how their children grew here, how their friendships blossomed here through the years, how proud they were that UUCJ was a voice for reason, love, and justice in a world that too often seems unreasonable, unloving, or unjust.

 

They are also the UUs who remember, when a fellow member touches their vulnerabilities, that none of us ever has all of the right answers, and that people inevitably see things differently. They remember that our relationships are more important than any particular issue. Unitarian Universalists are not optimists; we know that everything does not always come out right, but we are a hopeful faith; we believe in life, in humanity; we respect ourselves and other people and we realize that by so doing, we lift up Creation and help God to evolve and heal this world.