SERMONS 

Practicing Unitarian Universalism

There’s an old story about the tourists stopping a local in New York City to ask directions on how to get to Symphony Hall. The answer was not what they expected. The local told them there was only one way to get there and that was to “practice, practice, practice.” We hear the expression often: “She’s a practicing Jew, a practicing Christian, a practicing Buddhist.” But I’ve never heard anyone say they are a practicing Unitarian Universalist.

I’ve known some, though. I’ve known practicing Unitarian Universalists who are role models for me. Above all, they take their Unitarian Universalism seriously. It’s not only a convenience, a safety valve (for the inevitable “where do you go to church” question); it’s not only something for one day of the week or something just for the children. It’s a way of being in the world that I admire and aspire to.

Of course there are many ways to practice our faith. That’s the nature of it. There is always room for variation. To practice, though, requires a level of commitment. In his book, The Culture of Disbelief, Stephen Carter points out that many individuals in this country espouse religious belief but do not seem to take religious practice seriously.

Religions are more and more treated as just passing beliefs—almost as fads—rather than as the fundamentals upon which the devout build their lives. If religions become inconvenient, give them up! If you can’t remarry because you have the wrong religious belief, well, hey believe something else. If you must go to work on the Sabbath, it’s no big deal! It’s just a day off! If you can’t have a blood transfusion because you think God forbids it, no problem, get a new God! And through all of this trivializing rhetoric runs the subtle but unmistakable message: pray if you like, worship if you must, but whatever you do, do not on any account take your religion seriously. This attitude exerts pressure to treat religion as a hobby.

Carter goes further than I might. For some a new discovery in life might well lead to a new belief or even set of beliefs. But tossing beliefs aside when they become inconvenient—or more pertinent for us, tossing aside our commitment to a way of being religious—this makes religion a hobby. Take it or leave it. Practicing our faith requires a relationship with it that is different from the relationship we have with a hobby.

Many of you have heard me refer to statistics concerning membership numbers for faith groups in this country. Periodically the City University of New York compiles statistics on the many different faith groups found in this country. Consistently faith groups cry foul in response to the survey results—they almost always feel the results are low. In our case, for Unitarian Universalists, the numbers reported are always astonishingly high. The last numbers I saw were somewhere over 600,000. That is more than three times as many Unitarian Universalists as we have on our rolls.

I can see how this might happen. I’ve heard people say, if I were anything, I’d be a Unitarian Universalist. And in answer to a survey the answer might be yes. But to the question of whether or not one practices Unitarian Universalism, more than likely the answer would be no.

Here’s my list of necessary components to practicing Unitarian Universalism—for today. I reserve the right to change it. That’s part of my commitment to Unitarian Universalism, an openness to change, to grow. This is just a beginning. To practice Unitarian Universalism: One: Affirm Life’s Goodness; Two: Show up, pay attention, participate; Three: Learn and grow; and Four: Share, serve, and create.

One. Affirming Life’s Goodness is fundamental to our way of being religious. In temperament, by tradition, and theologically—we UUs tend to believe in a benevolent universe. Early Unitarians in this country embraced what was known as Arminianism—the belief that we humans are saved by our own will and ability. Early Universalists, by contrast, embraced the idea that God is Good (God is loving), so good (so loving), in fact, that God provides for the salvation of all souls. These early U’s and U’s affirmed the goodness of humanity and the goodness of God. They affirmed, in various ways, the presence and power of Love.

Many of us would say it differently today. Affirming Life’s Goodness, for me, doesn’t require that I define or even locate the goodness. I consider it all to be pretty much a mystery. I don’t feel the need for an intricate and definitive cosmology or explanation of human nature. I appreciate the roots of this affirmation from our tradition—and I appreciate the expanding vocabulary that has grown up in our movement that broadens my way of understanding the Source of Life, the Source of Goodness, Source of Love.

It is not always easy to affirm Life’s goodness. I’m deeply concerned these days about the damage that is done by our culture of consumerism and our government of seeming indifference to those who are marginalized and often struggling to survive. In the midst of my struggling I’ve had the gift of being in the presence of people who remind me. People who demonstrate hope with their activism; people who observe beauty unfailingly; people who live faithfully despite grief and suffering. They see beyond themselves and beyond circumstance and find goodness.

The latest issue of the Unitarian Universalist World magazine has an article in it about philosopher and theologian Charles Hartshorne. In the article Gary Kowalski recounts an experience Hartshorne has early in his life sitting alone in France during the First World War. He was sitting atop a cliff buried in his own thoughts when he heard the noise of children below him. He wrote, “Never since then have I allowed myself to identify unless briefly, the question, Is life good and beautiful? with the question, Is my life now good and beautiful.” Hartshorne learned to distinguish Life (with a capital “L”) from life. He learned to look beyond himself for meaning and goodness and Love.

Two. Show up, pay attention, participate. In part, at least, because of the wonderful sense of optimism about our potential to make a difference, Unitarians and Universalists have historically participated in our shared life—not just in the life of congregations, though that is a critical piece, but in the life we share with our fellow citizens. We could recall the life of Dorothea Dix, as just one example, who revolutionized the treatment of mentally ill and developmentally disabled people, in this country and in Europe. She paid attention, uncovered conditions which were deplorable and then participated in the process of improving those conditions. Many other Unitarians, Universalists, and Unitarian Universalists found ways to participate in our common life in ways that created compassion and justice.

Our very way of being organized is indicative of our foundational belief in the importance of participation. As I often say to folks who are becoming members of this congregation, our belief in the importance of democracy is not accidental. It’s theological. We affirm the worth and importance of every member of the community. We believe that equality of participation is a vital component for free congregations. All of this comes from our belief that authority for spiritual, political, and personal matters ought to rest as close to the individual as possible. This does not mean that we ignore the needs of community. It sometimes means that we forego majority rule for the sake of protecting those with less power. Above all, it means that ours is a free association governed by the will of those who gather together.

Participation, though, was the last of the three actions I list here. Meaningful participation requires showing up and paying attention. Being present may seem like a small thing—however, just about everything else depends on it. And as for paying attention: this is the real spiritual foundation of number two. To participate well requires mindfulness, awareness, an ability to see beyond ourselves.

Three. Learn and grow. This may define us to many outside Unitarian Universalism. We do not sit for very long in comfort with any belief. We turn it around, shake it up, stretch it. Furthermore we hope that our lives are characterized by growth—spiritual, emotional, and intellectual. This principle of practice comes from our understanding of how life works. We tend to believe Life is always changing; even that change is the most fundamental characteristic of life.

If we take a look at some of the different ways to conceive God, or the Source of Life, a traditional approach (and the approach that is foundational for Jewish and Christian theologies) is to understand God as Being. Another approach, though, and one many contemporary theologians and philosophers are embracing, is to understand God or Life (with a capital “L”) as process. Again, from Kowalski’s article about Hartshorne: “Thinking of the world as composed of verbs rather than nouns—of evanescent ‘events’ rather than enduring ‘substances’—involves a conceptual shift.”

That shift requires us to embrace growth and change as our natural state. It also places the burden of possibility on all of us. We become what we choose. How we live, what we learn, will determine what kind of change will occur. It is a bit of a danger, when embracing the inevitability of change, to suppose that all change is good. That all leads toward progress. We have to be careful to watch for the shadow side of change. Industrial and technological change, for instance, bring new challenges—and sometimes in our rush to what is new we stop paying attention and find that what is new is not so good for us.

In our personal journeys, I believe this part of our practice requires that we maintain a spiritual practice so that we are doing more than broadening our knowledge and understanding, but also finding depth. Taking the time, like Hartshorne did, to sit on the cliff and consider our relationship to the rocks, the water, and the children below. We have so much to learn, all of us, intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. Growing in these ways must surely be the lion’s share of the work we are called to do as human beings. Growing into the human beings we can be.

Finally, Four. Share, serve, create. While we learn and grow in response to the question what is Life? we share, serve, and create in response to the question: whose is Life? Is Life for those who rise to the top because of ability or privilege? Really, the question that precedes that is: “What do we deserve?” or “Whom do we have to thank for what we have?” If we conclude that we deserve it all, that we’ve earned it, that we’re entitled—then there is no need to share or serve—we can merely thank ourselves for our own ability and wisdom.

That’s not the conclusion I’ve come to. This gift of Life comes not because of what we are or what we’ve done—it comes as a gift. Freely given. Again, I don’t need a precise definition of the Source of this gift to understand it as gift. I accept the mystery. I do need, though, to answer the gift. In my life, I must find ways to respond that are appropriate to the gift. I can think of no better ways than sharing what I have, serving those in need, and contributing to the creation of a better world for all.

There it is: one approach to practicing Unitarian Universalism. Affirm Life’s goodness with faith, hope, and love; show up, pay attention, and participate; Learn and grow into more than what we are now; and share, serve, and contribute to the creation of that goodness we affirm.

There’s a question I forgot to answer, though. “Why did the Unitarian Universalist cross the road?” The tourist in the city who’s looking for symphony hall knows where she is trying to go. Where is it we are going? What are we practicing for? Few of us think much about what will happen to us when we die. This is not the motivation for practicing our faith. It’s not enough for us to say we want to be good.

What I would say is that our faith opens the door for our Living. (That’s Living with a capital “L.”) Being alive. Accepting this gift of Life and living well. As Thoreau has written, “I wish to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.” Some others might say there is religious content missing in this goal. I beg to differ. I know nothing more religious than facing Life and Living it well and fully.

It is said that soon after his enlightenment, the Buddha passed a man on the road who was struck by the extraordinary radiance and peacefulness of his presence. The man stopped and asked, “My friend, what are you? Are you a celestial being or a god?”

“ No,” said the Buddha. “Well, then, are you some kind of magician or wizard?” Again the Buddha answered, “No.” “Are you a man?” Again the answer was “No.”“Well, my friend, what then are you?” The Buddha replied, “I am awake.”

He might have said “I am alive.” May our faith and our practice bring us to Life.