what DO we UUs believe

They’re coming in oneseis and twoseis… tweets and posts and articles from different people putting their two cents into the cart before the horse debate of doing good works (i.e. social justice) vs faith/religion (theology).

The question makes one run in circles as Lo Williams pointed out as she responded to a post Kinsi had put on his blog last week.

It’s hard.

It’s a hard question for UUs to answer, even those who have been lifelong UUs or those who wear the cleric’s collar of our clergy. And I think part of the reason it’s such a hard question to answer is because we’ve become so damn afraid of actually saying “We believe ______ and if you don’t believe ______ then you’re probably not a UU.”

We have drifted so far away from a belief system toward inclusivity that we have no idea any longer what we believe. We are desperate not to diminish any individual’s belief system and so our mantra of “we will support your search for truth and meaning” has become the demise of a central religious belief.

If you ask most UUs to describe their religion, it will come off sounding as though members of this tradition define their own theology, that UUism pretty much lets you believe whatever you want and that UUs love coffee on Sunday mornings after they meet for service. That would be about it.

I think it is a common misconception that Unitarian Universalism is one big stew pot of all the world religions lumped together. I can see how people might think that but I simply don’t believe that idea of UUism to be true… at least not anymore. If I am being honest, I’m sure there was a time where I did think that of UUism.

But now… not so much. In fact, not at all.

I think Unitarian Universalism should be a religion based on two ideas. Ideas that stem from our religious roots of Unitarianism and Universalism.

1) that there is but only one God… Only one Higher Power in the universe.  One Truth. But there is the caveat that people view that Higher Power by way of different lenses. So for some this Higher Power or Truth is Brahma, one of the gods of the Hindu trinity. For some their view of the Higher Power is the teachings of the Buddha. For some it is a goddess that moves the wind. For some their Higher Power is sacred community, more powerful and forgiving than the individual can be. And for some their Higher Power is their concept of God.

and 2): That salvation is universal. Transformation is universal. And this salvation/transformation can be had by anyone. Again there is the caveat that this salvation is viewed from different lenses. Salvation can be had from Sacred Community when someone says, “hi my name is John Doe and I’m an alcoholic.” And the salvific response is “Hi John.”  Salvation/Transformation can be had when you say to yourself, “I forgive myself for my shortcomings. I am after all only human. And I will do better” Or perhaps one’s salvation comes from the teachings of the son of carpenter who died 2000 years ago.

My friends THIS is what we UUs believe and should get back to preaching from our pulpits. THIS is the salvation message we have. THIS is our Good News and when we get this in our hearts, our heart will lead us to transform injustice in this world into right… not the other way around.

challenge to the UUA – reinvent UU ministry

There was a tweet I saw come across my time line last week from @Rev_Mother who stated to fellow UU blogger and tweeter @mattkinsi that she wanted to be put in charge of Faith Development. Kins was appointed to the UUA committee on appointments. Or the committee on creating appointments to appointing committees. I don’t know… irony and name aside, Kins has been noticed by some higher-ups in the UUA and it’s pretty cool that I can say I knew him when. In fact, Kinsi is the only one of my blog peeps who I have actually met in person.

Anyway… so a few days ago I woke up with a fuzz of ideas swimming through my head as I meandered from almost awake to drifting back into a dream state. I began thinking about her statement about a ministry on faith development.

Her statement was a tangent off a bigger discussion that had occurred (actually it’s still happening) which was debating the idea of the UUA focusing on it’s cause de jour coupled with the recent Social Justice General Assembly vice focusing on our salvific message. (i learned that word from Rev Mother. I use it all the time now. )

I’m assuming this is what brought on this subconscious/dreamlike thinking the other day. So I began thinking what if there was a ministry on Marriage and Family so that we could not only focus on pushing for legalizing same-sex marriage but also from the pulpit deliver a message that strengthened families and those who are married AFTER they have walked down the aisle whether they are gay or straight.  It may seem like semantics but the thing is we work pretty diligently at getting gay people to the alter but do NOTHING for them or other UUs who are married for that matter, AFTER they are married.

I challenge the UUA to develop a broad set of ministries, such as a  Ministry on Marriage and Family, Ministry on the Holy and Sacred, Ministry on Human Dignity, Ministry on the Holistic Human, Ministry on Stewardship  of the Earth. I challenge the UUA to reinvigorate the move Rev. Sinkford had in reclaiming our religious language and pull away from living by-gone days of being a hippy in the 60s.

These are just ideas for names but the concept is to create a small number of core of ministries where our actions and witnessing are sacred, holy work.  And the culture of our congregations would view it as such because that’s what we would hear and learn while sitting in the pews.  Those who are concerned with inhumane conditions at Joe Arpaio’s tent city would be doing holy work… UNDER the auspices of church/religious inspired language such as “ministry” “dignity” “sacred” instead of simply attending a protest to bring attention to a cause of injustice.

There are a million injustices in the world that should be righted simply because we know as a species what is right and wrong. The thing is when we as a religious people take up that cause to right a wrong it should be because we believe in our heart of hearts, it to be a sacred calling. UUism is a religion with a message of salvation… NOT a social club that meets on Sundays for coffee after protesting inhumane conditions the night before.

Five year blogiversary!

The activity has slowed but there’s still some movement here at the blog o’ Jules. That’s weird sounds Irish huh.

Anyway, I drafted the title the day of my blogiversary (June 22) as a reminder but then got caught up with other things and here I am two days late. Story of my life.

So what was I caught up with? Still working on house stuff. Had to cut the jungle that is (was) my backyard. And I was watching all the GA stuff.

I mentioned the UU General Assembly in my last post and I’ve been following the association’s Livestream channel to watch the worship services and other activities that have been videoed. Couple that with a bunch of UU ministers, attendees and off-site UUs who have been Tweeting on the #UUAGA hashtag and it’s been a pretty cool experience.

Nothing like actually being there. General Assembly was held in Fort Worth back in 2005 and with it being a mere four hours away from Houston, a couple of friends of mine and I went. It was a pretty amazing experience. So I know what it’s like to actually be there. The video, tweeting and live blogging is pretty cool but not quite like being there.

So back to the blogiversary… I’ve been working on going self hosted. I had actually hoped to be there by the time June 22 hit. Oh well, maybe in a month or two. Sept 11 anniversary? In time for the election? The Mayan prophecy?

Meh. Soon.

Cart before the horse

I can’t remember the last time I posted anything UU (unitarian universalist) related. Maybe a year or so ago when I wrote something titled my UU church must change?  I don’t know but I feel compelled as our national conference, known to UUs as General Assembly or GA, is underway in Phoenix.

So GA started yesterday and with Twitter, Facebook and blogging platforms being used in official and unofficial capacities, it’s almost as if I’m there. Almost.

One of the biggest problems I’ve had with UUism since I attended my first service 10 years ago has been the fact there is always some cause du jour and for the most part, those causes usually feeds the caricature that the Everyday Joe has of left-leaning, liberal-minded people.

• Please help the eight toed children of Burma have free-trade coffee!
• We must be the voice of the disenfranchised in equatorial Guinea who don’t have access to clean sinks and toilets!
• Save the three-legged, blue-spotted ninny muggins of Gila Island!
• What would a world with dignity and a fair wage for food chain workers look like?!??!!!

Believe it or not… that last one is a real cause the UUA is pushing at General Assembly this year. Some of the other causes I’ve seen are something about ethical eating and voicing the unfairness of server wages. I wish I knew who to talk to about trying to raise awareness about pushing for laws that raise the wage of waiters and waitresses because the UUA is going to embarrass itself if it goes full tilt on this. By law, food servers make at least minimum wage. It is federal law. Just because a food server is making $2.13 an hour… you know what, I’m not gonna get into it. But I work for a payroll company. I do it every single day. They are NOT being short changed. No pun intended. : )

Back to the social justice thing though… I mean, history is replete with examples of religious people taking up the banner of justice and heading to the front lines to make a wrong a right. Often times that is how change happens. But the UUA and my church I believe have it wrong.

It seems as though they are moving further and further in the direction of social activism as the means toward spiritual fulfillment when it should be the other way around. It’s the cart before the horse.

I delivered a sermon at  my congregation on Easter that touched on the point. I acknowledged it being a holy day for Christians and that although it is their holiday, we can learn from this narrative. I ended by emphasizing the idea that it is from spiritual transformation and the UU Good News of universal salvation that we are moved beyond the walls of our church and into the larger community to do good works. NOT the other way around.

It is apparent that the trendy missional theology bandwagon has its horse trailing the back end and many UUs are hopping on board, including my own congregation.  I am afraid there is only a nail or two left before the coffin is sealed for me and I am no longer willing to call any UU church my sangha.

it’s on the verge of flat lining

Last week The Deistette and I were winding down from the day and she came to my blog and said, “I think it’s dead.”
I’m starting to concede that idea.

I mean I’ve only put up two posts in five months not including this one.

I think part of the trouble I have is a lack of time but also this blog is more of a personal blog, vice being about a cause or product. I think the title insinuates religion and/or politics but I don’t really have the desire to enter the UU blogging community again… it’s become too… I don’t know. Too… silly. There is a contingency who have taken the Red Pill and I have other things I need to tend to right now rather than argue an unarguable debate.  And politics is more of a hobby which is basically me yelling at the AM radio hate-mongers of right-wing talk shows.

                                                    (part of why I have little time. I’m taking baby steps replacing all the siding on my house.)

And although this is pretty much a personal blog, I don’t really like the idea of posting stuff about my daughter, stepsons or wife. I have now and again posted about them and offered a picture here and there but it’s been few and far between. So not wanting to post things about the people who are most involved with my personal life, kinda turns the ol’ blog a little stagnant.

                                        a pic of the wife waaayyyy off in the distance watering some of our veggies in the elevated bed I built.

Not sure what I’m afraid of in that regard. I mean, I’m not a celebrity. I don’t have any stalkers. Hell, I barely have any active readers of this blog any longer. Amazing what happens when you stop writing how far the stat numbers go done huh.

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(I guess I could have kept my numbers up by writing about the super cool garden we have going on.)

Near the end of June, I’ll be at the five-year mark of this blog. To be honest, it feels like I’ve been at this so much longer. It feels like a lifetime since I first started writing down my thoughts and “met” some of my favorite people in the blogosphere. They’re not around much anymore and I miss them.

I bring up the time frame because five years is kind of a marker of sorts I guess and I’ve been thinking of starting over and letting go of this one. I don’t know.  If I do (which I’m really leaning to) I’ll be pulling away from WP.com and doing the self-hosted thing. I’m still looking into it. The thing is, blogging here on WP doesn’t feel the same as it did four or five years ago but it has been so important to me that I don’t want to just abandon it.

I guess we’ll see.
For now, know I’m still alive and kicking despite having posted anything in a while.

My UU church must change

I stumbled over a post by WordPress blogger Wondertwisted yesterday.
I thought of adding this comment to her post, “Dear John letter to UUism” but it began to run so long I figured I’d just use it as a post here for my readers as well.  Her post describes her painful decision to leave UUism and why. I think she is spot on.

***

You know, Cindy I thought of your post all day and much of this morning. And like I said in an earlier comment, I agree with what you say but what I’ve thought most of is the bigger question, that is: where has Unitarian Universalism failed you and others who feel like you do.

Full disclosure: I am a lay leader in my congregation and have been one of those who have side-stepped so many issues for fear of upsetting someone’s delicate sensitivities that I have not stood up against what I believe is a wrong direction for UUism in my congregation and as a whole.

I think there is a systemic problem with UUism.  Its current incarnation is flawed.  In my opinion, it comes down to at least these three things.

1) We have no dogma.  We have nothing that we all collectively say, “we believe  (this)  . And to be part of this religion you must believe    (this)   .”  Sure we have the seven principles but it is not the same as what the Abrahamic religions have in this regard.
Our lack of dogma is what we embrace and vocalize to the mountains, yet just as much as it is a medicine; it is also a poison.  We MUST change our mindset about not having a shared, common belief that we find so sacred that we would die for it, were it trampled or defamed.  If we do not, we are not bound. I believe there will eventually be a schism or at least a significant drop in membership and this faith will fade into nothingness.

2), We have placed social justice / political liberal activism above religion, worship and salvation. The tail is wagging the dog!
Because a person believes gay people should marry doesn’t mean they should be a UU. Because you believe people should earn a fair wage doesn’t mean you should be a UU.  The list could go on.
It should be the other way around. It should be I am a UU and because of that I believe   (this)   about   (this)   social/political issue.

3) We have no identity.  We don’t know what UUism or being a UU is. We have drifted so far from our roots and painted with such a broad stroke the idea of inclusiveness that we have muddied our identity to the point we can’t see who we should or used to be.
Calling the goddess, Buddhist singing bowls, washing of feet.
Really?  [insert eye roll here]
If that’s a personal practice and you feel it is important… that’s awesome. That’s great if it makes you a better person. Leave it at home though.
Spinning dradles or painting ourselves for Diwali is not a UU thing.  Fasting during Ramadan… not a UU thing.  Pick your favorite other-religion-ritual and place it here → [  ___  ]  It isn’t a UU thing.
Let’s be UUs in our sanctuary and leave the snake handling for home practice.

Amen to what the Preacher Man said

My UU congregation has gone through a few ministers in its 15 year history.  I can think of four right off the top of my head but I think there has been seven including our current minister.

We share him with another congregation in San Antonio because we only had enough money to hire him part time.  Rough gig for the preacher man as he drives the three hours from San Antone to us once a month… sometimes twice. Don’t tell his boss though cuz he’s only supposed to come over once.  He likes us.

Anyway, apparently my powers of sway and persuasion

Would you rather: go to church or the football game

My little UU congregation is pretty small, so when our fund raising honcho brought up the idea that we could make some pretty good coin by working at the Houston Texans’ football games we were a little hesitant.  She did some research and said we needed at least 25 people to volunteer to work our stand. Ouch.

Amazingly 25 people signed up and  I was one of them.  I mean, through her research she said we could earn anywhere from ten to twelve thousand dollars over the course of the season.  We’d be fools to pass up the chance.

Well, it didn’t really happen like we planned because like most things at my church, people didn’t show up. We need at a minimum 11 people to be there and most times we’re barely scraping up eight or nine of the 25 volunteers who originally signed up.  It really sucks.  And I hate to admit it but I was one of them who wasn’t showing up.  Seemed like every Sunday we were supposed to be there something was going on with me.  Hell, one time I was scheduled to teach Sunday school.  It’s kinda hard to tell the preacher man I can’t teach our little ones about our UU principles because I have to go pour beer at the Texans game. Ugh. Looks worse to see that actually written out.

So, I finally made it out to the stadium about a month or so ago and have worked two games so far. I was supposed to be there a few nights ago for Monday Night Football against the Ravens.

I couldn’t get off work as early as I needed to be able to get there at 4:30.  With a 45 minute drive from my office, I wound up at the lot where we normally park at 5:15 which was still about 15 minutes until check-in ended. I think I could have made it but

a vivid memory made

I have three friends from church who play in a band with me. The whole thing is kinda surreal. I mean we started out thinking we’d just play a little music, if we got good enough maybe… MAYBE play for a church service now and again.

Three years later we’ve put out a CD, got it placed on iTunes!… gigged around a little and made some people happy with our music. And yes… now and again we play for our church during a Sunday service.

It’s pretty amazing when I think about that and all we’ve done with this band of ours.

Well, a couple of weeks ago we had gig… another outside gig.  Seems like the only place we play is outside.  It was a benefit for three girls whose families needed financial help after their daughters got into an ATV accident.  It was the furthest we’d ever traveled to play a show.  About 50 miles away from our homes.

Little Fawn (my 16 year old daughter for any new readers) came along with us just to kinda be there, plus I handed her my camera so she could get some pics of us.

There was a lot going on. It was held at a restaurant that sits right against the banks of a lake.  There were hot girls in bikinis and fellas with ripped abs coming in off the lake.  There was a silent auction going on inside as well as a garage sale happening in the parking lot.  A fishing tournament had started earlier in the morning and people were tracking that.

Anyway, I say all this to let you know we weren’t the only thing being given any attention.  So as we were playing we could tell there were only a handfull of people really listening to us so we thought we’d drag out a song that is kind of a favorite of ours although most certainly unknown to anyone outside a UU church.

And so here’s the memory, that I pray lasts me till my dying day.

The song we decided to pull out is a popular UU hymn that uses words by the Sufi mystic, Rumi.

We play it as a round and as we got into the singing part… particularly MY singing part, Little Fawn was singing along to herself.  I could see her, as she peered into the camera’s monitor to see the most recent  picture she had taken, singing along.  She was busy… somewhat distracted as she pressed the buttons, moved back and forth through the pics… deleting one, saving another… and singing… with her daddy.

She knows all the words. She knows the melody.  And it means more than I can describe that she likes it enough that she couldn’t “keep from singing”. (part of the title of another popular UU hymn)

I am forever grateful for that moment when I looked up at just the right time to see my baby girl singing this song with me in a place where it probably never has been heard or ever will be heard, again.

in the pulpit

This was supposed to go out last Friday. I got so nervous I forgot to post it. I’ll follow up, coincidentally with the Honest Scrap Award post in response to Lazy Buddhist, who bestowed it upon me.

~~~~~

I’m a little nervous about this weekend at church. Nervous because I’ll be giving the sermon. The title of it is: “The semantics of religious language”

The description of it reads like this in our newsletter:

You say tomato, I say tomahto… should we call the whole thing off? Of course not.

Although we may see the same thing, we might call it by different names. For instance, some languages such as Spanish use the word Dios for God, Arabic uses the word Allah for God and others to describe The Divine or Supreme Being might call it by another name.

Unfortunately it isn’t always as easy in one’s own language. It is our abstract concepts of faith and our attempt to attach words to describe them that can often times create tension, misunderstanding and dismissal of growth opportunities.

Join us as we delve into the different aspects of religious speak and how honing our ability to transcribe the faith language of others will help us grow as UUs.

I’ve given a few sermons before at my church so