From 1836 to 1840, a group of New England activists, scholars, educators, and nonconforming ministers, later to be called the Transcendentalists, met regularly for conversations that led to a revolution within Unitarianism. These interactions among Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margaret Fuller, Henry David Thoreau, Elizabeth Peabody, Bronson Alcott, and more than 40 others, united them into … Continue reading Unitarian Troublemakers [#52]
Some people separate religion and science, and believe that to live authentically one must choose between them. In contrast, Unitarians tend to agree with Albert Einstein, who said, “Science without religion is lame, and religion without science is blind.” This statement may seem puzzling, until one considers a wise folktale from Uganda, about two elderly … Continue reading Science and Religion [#51]
Unitarian Universalists are not conventionally religious. They don’t believe any single scripture comes from God. They find the Divine everywhere in everyday life. One UU leader, Don Southworth, sees God in the people he meets. He thinks of them as “God with skin on.” He also ends all of his emails with the salutation, “Blessings.” … Continue reading Blessings [#50]
Unitarian Universalists don’t have a uniform view of what happens to us after we die. But they can’t help wanting to know, anyway. So a congregant, who had just lost a beloved partner to HIV, couldn’t resist asking his clergy, “Where is Stephen now?” She sighed, and then slowly replied, “May I ask you a … Continue reading On Grief [#49]
Unitarian Universalists distinguish between sacred time and fleeting time. We’re in fleeting time when we’re hurrying, rushing to get things done, trying to multi-task, focusing on speed and efficiency. Sacred time is when we’re paying full attention in the moment, when we’re present enough, for example, to notice a shift of tone in a person’s … Continue reading Timeshifting at UU [#48]
Sophia Lyon Fahs, born in 1876, was an innovator in Unitarian religious education. Her contribution was to focus on exploring big questions with her students rather than providing answers. And she felt that lived experience should be the source of their beliefs, rather than written scriptures. As she put it: “My own children asked very interesting questions, like … Continue reading Questions at UU [#47]
Love is the core of Unitarian Universalism, as it is of other faith traditions. UUs are distinguished, however, by the space they put between their caring heart and their thoughts about it. In other words, when UUs have a profound heart-opening experience, they separate what they emotionally feel from how they explain it. Into that … Continue reading Love Beyond Belief [#46]
In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus described nine beatitudes (theological principles beginning with the initial words, beati sunt, “blessed are” and naming deeply valued human qualities and experiences). Recently, Unitarian Universalist minister, Lindi Ramsden, developed her own set of beatitudes, using that same sentence format, but intended for people who are “justice builders”—a fundamental commitment of … Continue reading Our Beatitudes [#45]
Great blessings and great harms may emerge from religious teachings. How might one assess a religion’s value? Methodist minister Howard Clinebell suggested posing several questions. He asked whether the particular religious thought and practice: Builds bridges or barriers between people? Strengthens or weakens basic trust in the universe? Stimulates or hampers inner freedom and personal … Continue reading Test of a Healthy Religion [#44]
Unitarian Universalists prefer that personal experiences, rather than scriptural texts, determine one’s core values. One prominent example is Dr. George de Benneville (1703-1793), a physician and friend of Benjamin Franklin, who brought Universalism to America. George was raised by his godmother, Queen Anne of England. His parents were French aristocrats, who fled to England’s Royal Court … Continue reading First UU Teacher in America [#43]
