UUs Reflect: “I am passionate about…Unitarian Universalism.”
I am passionate about Unitarian Universalism. I attended my first UU service in 1983, but it took me almost four years to join the church. I felt hurt and betrayed by the religion of my youth; I was slow to trust a new faith tradition. But gradually, Sunday by Sunday, I found Unitarian Universalism and Unitarian Universalists to be expansive, heart-warming, and committed to a set of values that matched my own.
“the interconnected web of all existence.”
Unitarian Universalism is an empowering religion. Rather than giving me a list of rules, and the guilt that ensues when I don’t follow the rules, I am empowered to be my best self. Our principles, grounded in the first, the inherent worth and dignity of everyone, and the last, the interconnected web of all existence, have become the foundations of my day-to-day living. Reflection, forgiveness, and finding grace in small acts and ways have become my spiritual tools.
The first source of our faith is our own personal experience. Living as a UU, I must trust myself to maintain my innermost world, so that living rightly, and finding the best in all, is how I give back.
Unitarian Universalism has also allowed me to accept life as a gift, and to find heaven here in this world rather than in the next. I’ve also learned that being a good human is hard work. We live rightly; we live wrongly. We must forgive and be forgiven regularly. We must learn to accept the grace of life, give thanks for our blessings, work for justice today…then get up tomorrow and do it all again, each and every day.
And finally, our mantra of “deeds not creeds” urges me to accept that each act I do has meaning and consequences. Working for a fair and just world is integral to being a Unitarian Universalist. Belief in the rightness of a fair and just world keeps me taking one more step, again and again.
I am so grateful that I found our religion, that I was able to raise my daughters in this faith, and that I found meaningful and fulfilling work as one of its ministers. I pray that you, too, will find what you need in our church community.
