THE MYTH OF UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM
4 December 2005
James Ishmael Ford

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Small as is our whole system compared with the infinitude of creation, brief as is our life compared with the cycles of time, we are so tethered to all by the beautiful dependencies of law, that not only the sparrow’s fall is felt to the uttermost boundary but the vibrations set in motion by the words that we utter reach through all of space and the tremor is felt through all time.
Maria Mitchell, Unitarian astronomer, writing 150 years ago

Today I want to talk about Unitarian Universalism as myth and religion. I want to investigate how we investigate ourselves. From that I want to explore the stories we tell about ourselves. Then from that, from the stories we do tell, from the myths within which we live and breathe, I want to hold up the possibility of a healing message, a path of wisdom, and a way to engage the hurt of the world in a healthful and healing manner. And, I’ll try to do it briefly.

Cynthia Snavely, minister of the Goodloe Memorial Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Bowie, Maryland compiled a list, in the spirit of Jeff Foxworthy’s “you might be a redneck.” Observations which I thought slightly edited might be worth repeating here. You might be a UU if you own six pairs of Birkenstocks and your favorite pair needs to be thrown away. You might be a UU if you get e-mail from committees you didn’t know you were on. You might be a UU if the money you sent to the Sierra Club last year was more than you spent on your mother at Christmas. You might be a UU if you think a holy day of obligation means it’s your turn to help Mike with the coffee. And you might be a UU if you think holy trinity means “reduce, reuse and recycle.”

For me there are a variety of thoughts such a thing as this little list evokes. Not the least of which is how we come to define ourselves. As a radically non-creedal body, that is as a denomination that resists formulas or creeds that people have to agree to in order to join us, you can imagine attempting to describe who and what we are is a difficult enterprise. Nonetheless there is an equally powerful impulse among us to try.

In the spirit of that occasional attempt to parse out our dynamic religious tradition, early on this church year I was asked if I’d be a respondent to a talk that Earl Holt would be giving at our upcoming Mass Bay District meeting. Earl, as you likely know, is minister of King’s Chapel up on Beacon Hill. He’s also the chair of the Commission on Appraisal, which put together the most recent attempt at observing and describing us, which is now published as Engaging Our Theological Diversity. So, when asked to give my opinions on the Report, or at least Earl’s comments on it, I said, sure. And then, of course, I had to quickly run down to the UUA bookstore and buy a copy of the Report. I’m glad I was forced to read it. In my opinion, it’s quite good. Has a lot to say about us.

As a document it isn’t without its flaws nor is it without its critics. UU minister and author Peter Richardson in a paper widely distributed among UU clergy takes the Report to task for several reasons, including what he perceived as a pervasive disdain for what I call “the hyphens,” those among us who’ve brought newer perspectives such as Buddhism and earth-centered traditions into the conversation. In particular he felt the Report gave too much attention to the highly controversial charge of “cultural appropriation” that is often used by those who are critical of our syncretistic inclinations.

As I mentioned in an earlier sermon this year when Earl gave his talk on the Report to which I was expected to respond, he opened by saying when he began to work on the project it was his fond hope that the team would come up with some common ground, that is discern and describe some theological commonalities we as UUs could all claim. Turned out, he said, that the nine of them couldn’t come up with anything they agreed on.

There are, you may know, four Unitarian Universalist sacraments, or as we come out of the Protestant tradition, perhaps its best said there are four Unitarian Universalist ordinances: Dedication, Marriage, Memorial Service and Argument. You just can’t get nine UUs to agree on anything. But I disagree.
In fact I think there are some things about us that are commonly held, even if in our contrarian way we will often say, no, that doesn’t describe me. This can be difficult. After that presentation up at Andover Newton I was sitting in a circle of UU minister colleagues when I asserted my opinion we actually do share some theological perspectives in common. They might be contrarians, but they were also polite and invited me to say what I thought. I said what I had to say, and was then met with an awkward silence. Let me tell you, there is little worse than trying to have a conversation with polite contrarians.

Well, I don’t feel done. So, here I am, back home, and I hope you’ll indulge a little further exploration of this quest for our common ground. I want to explore one part of that book Earl and his team put together. I was particularly taken with a section called “The Ground on Which We Meet.” Earl told me this section was largely based upon the research of Tom Owen-Towle, minister emeritus of the First Unitarian Universalist Church in San Diego, leader of the UU men’s movement, and author of many books on spirituality. Tom cites eleven points of general agreement among us. And I think he might be right.

These points are 1) Unitarian Universalism is “a grounded faith.” That is we are rooted in history as well as well as inheritors of a tradition of ideas. 2) Unitarian Universalism is “an ecological faith.” That is we see ourselves as profoundly interconnected. Indeed the single most compelling image of contemporary Unitarian Universalism is the “interdependent web.” 3) Unitarian Universalism is “a humanist faith.” That is we accept our spirituality must be focused in significant part on our relationships as human beings living in the world, and accepting both the wonder and the limitations of our being human. 4) Unitarian Universalism is “a responsible faith.” That is we see our spirituality calling us to act in the world. 5) Unitarian Universalism is “an experiential faith. That is we test our opinions against reality. 6) Unitarian Universalism is “a free faith.” We are free to choose, both as individuals and as congregations. And we consider this essential. 7) Unitarian Universalism is “an imaginative faith.” That is we try hard to engage story and image, allowing our full creativity to emerge. 8) Unitarian Universalism is “a relational faith.” That is we find relationship, conversation, covenant, to be the marks of our spirituality as well as our institutions. 9) Unitarian Universalism is “a curious faith.” That is we live with the possibility of being wrong, and see openness to possibility as a cardinal good. 10) Unitarian Universalism is “a reasonable faith.” More truly than any other religion I’ve ever encountered, we do not ask anyone to “check their brain” at the door. And 11) Unitarian Universalism is “a hopeful faith.” That is ours is a faith in possibility. We’re optimistic, and tend to believe somehow it will turn out right.

I find this a pretty good list; although I believe it can be further reduced. And so, I will. Elsewhere in the study is a remarkable assertion which I believe runs like a life-giving river through that list of eleven contemporary UU characteristics. Indeed, it is a thread running through our UU lives, profoundly informing nearly every Unitarian Universalist of whatever additional nomenclature from humanist to Jewish, to Christian to Buddhist.

“Of all the questions asked in the theological survey, (the statement) ‘The natural world is a web of interdependent connections, of which we are inescapably a part,’ is the largest piece of common ground for both ministers and laity. Over 90 percent of respondents, across all demographics, asserted that this understanding is highly important to their faith.” I think it’s important to underscore this. Over ninety-percent of the respondents, and I strongly suspect this reflects an accurate percentage of us across the continent, embrace that image of an interdependent web as highly important. I suggest, for many, maybe most, it is central.

Certainly, for many, this goes beyond being a good idea. For instance the study quotes a couple of people who commented on this intimate encounter with interdependency. One said “the experience of the presence of life within me, within the present moment, within all people and creatures, and intuition that we all share this life and are intimately interconnected in a fragile and durable network of love.” Another said, “When we have a felt connection to the interdependent web of existence, we trigger a natural inclination to become our best selves. I call the fact of interconnectedness and our inclination to be our best selves God.”

These words are speaking the language of faith. These words reveal the mystery of religion. These words inhabit the epic quality of myth. So, what do I make of this? It’s really quite simple, I think. Unitarian Universalism is a vital religious movement that offers a message of healing and reconciliation. Our core theological principle can be found in that amazing image of the interdependent web. It is further clarified in the reminder that each individual does indeed possess inherent worth and dignity. This is our healing message: We are one even as we are separate. And all this has the distinctive advantage among religious assertions of actually being true.

This brings me to the title of today’s sermon: the myth of Unitarian Universalism. My natural disposition is heavily rationalist. If something claims to be a true fact, I usually consider that to mean it can and will be tested, preferably through a rigorous double blind and repeated examination. But, here, in reflecting on how we engage the message of our intimate interconnection, I hope we’re moving toward something different than an assertion of observable fact. Don’t get me wrong. I love the apparent connections between this assertion of radical interdependency and the results of contemporary scientific research. But what I’m really interested in is what it means. And when we speak of meaning, we are entering the territory of faith.

The reason intelligent design does not belong in a biology classroom is not because it’s obviously untrue, but because it belongs to a different category of investigation than is the territory of science. Science has to do with what is observable and testable and therefore falsifiable. Without a doubt science is one of the most noble of pursuits, worthy of lifetimes of effort. If one looks at the complexity and mystery of the world and sees in that the hand of God, that’s something beautiful. And perhaps it might even inform how one relates to the world. I would hope so. It has to do with meaning. But this intuition of majesty can only inspire science; it cannot become a substitute for that specific work.

Likewise, as we come to our amazing intuition of interconnection, we should not let it become simply a description of what is. It is a story about the world and our relationship to the world. The web is a myth equal to the greatest stories ever told by human beings attempting to parse out meaning and direction. That image of the web is a call from the heart of the cosmos; it is a call from your heart and mine. The web of relationships is the secret to human meaning and purpose. To come to know how we really are, in all our differences, one; is to find a way to joy and peace. This is a mythic enterprise. This is a religious enterprise. This is a spiritual enterprise.

And it is one we explore in all our gatherings, from this sermon, to our taking a second collection to help parents helping parents, to supporting an AIDS orphanage in Zambia to fighting for marriage equality in the Commonwealth, to feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, standing up to every injustice we encounter. It informs how we treat our children and how we choose to educate them. It tells us how we can be in the world.

Words fail me. So, let me turn to an anonymous Navaho who sings to us from the center of the web. “I ask all beings,/I ask them with reverence,/of my mother the earth,/of the sky, moon, and sun my father./I am old age: the essence of life,/I am the source of all happiness./All is peaceful, all in beauty,/all in harmony, all in joy.”

Amen.