| About Us | For Visitors | Living Our Faith | Getting Involved | News/Events | Religious Exploration | Members & Friends | Wiki | Home |
 |
Calendar
Making Meanings Wed 7 Oct 2009 12:00am When I was listening to Prairie Home Companion the other night, Garrison Keillor told one of his Unitarian jokes. I don’t laugh out loud. They are funny – and often right on the money – if you’re an insider, but they offer up a stereotype of our religion that, to anyone but an insider, is quite misleading. Every time he tells one, we have a lively conversation at our dinner table. “What about the Lutherans,” Jonas asks, “he does the same to them.” Well, some Lutherans may feel about Keillor’s Lutheran jokes as I do about the Unitarian ones. What bothers me is the shadow side of insider jokes – they leave others out. Like my next door neighbor who is curious about Unitarian Universalism, though he is a practicing Catholic. And my Jewish friend who wants to know why it makes my heart sing. Or my cousin who wants to know where she can find a nearby UU congregation. Think about it. If all they know about my religion are the jokes that have us sitting in a circle in heaven, drinking coffee, and arguing about where we are – what does that tell the world about who we are? I want them to know why I came… and why I stay. Which brings me to my point: tell the world who we are! I am not trying to evangelize my neighbor or pressure my cousin; I just want them to know why I love being a Unitarian Universalist. I want them to know that it isn’t easy, but I find it exhilarating and challenging to forge my own spiritual path. That’s when a friend will note, “sure, but I can do that walking the beach.” She’s right. But I like doing my spiritual exploring in the company of others. Nobody told me I HAD to be a Unitarian Universalist; I chose to be one. I joined voluntarily and, like other kinds of intentional communities, when I joined, I agreed to affirm certain principals and I commit to a way of being in community together. I like that about Unitarian Universalism. I like it a lot! Imagine telling your favorite things to someone who asks, or to someone who is curious. (Remember: if you’re just telling them about something that matters to you, they won’t perceive you as pushy; they’ll feel your energy.) Invite them to join you for worship. Reach out to some folks who’ve lost loved one and invite them to our service of healing and comfort on November 1st. Bring the families in your play group to a Village Worship or a gaggle of children to TempoTime. Tell about some of your peak experiences. Tell them how we help our children grow into this faith of ours, how we see ourselves as explorers. There are guides everywhere – some have titles, some sit next to us in the pews. Even our littlest explorers begin to learn from stories rooted in many of the worlds’ religions. From a very young age, we help children find their place in our community. We encourage them to make meanings for themselves – and, believe me, we have some very young theologians around here! And the rest of us are no slouches either. Give it try. Tell people what it means to you to be part of this UU congregation. They’ll be honored. And they’ll have more than just Unitarian jokes to understand who we are and what we care about. Katie Lee |
|
Gary will lead a book discussion group starting January 8 from 7:00-8:30 pm in the Brackett Room using Huston Smith's classic The World's Religions, an eight week tour of Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Primal Traditions. The class is free and open to the public, but you might want to add this book to your Christmas list if you want to participate. Please note: we will be using the non-illustrated version of Smith's book. The pictures are nice, but the text is much abbreviated in the illustrated edition.