Coming out as UU
UU World editor Chris Walton—who blogged at Philocrites from 2003 to 2008—joins The VUU’s regular panelists for a discussion about UU blogging, challenging UU bloggers to return to the public conversation that once characterized the UU blogosphere (this part of the conversation starts at about 49 minutes into the video, but the whole video is good!).
Long-time UU blogger “Matt Kinsi” is now able to write under his real name, Tim Atkins.
[T]he initial reasons for writing this blog under a penname have vanished. I originally wrote under a penname for the sole reason of my old job—I couldn’t be out and loud about pretty much anything back then, but now I can. . . . I want to try and live my life with a little more vulnerability and a little less compartmentalization. (Spirituality and Sunflowers, December 10)
The Rev. Joanna Fontaine Crawford, who blogged anonymously as “Lizard Eater” as a seminarian, practices being UU in public by wearing a clerical collar—and a rainbow flag pin.
There is a Starbucks across the street from my kids’ high school, where they often congregate after school. I decided I’d collar up with a rainbow flag pin on my shirt. I didn’t expect any teen would talk to me—I’m still an adult, after all. But I figured I could sit by the door, just taking care of some work on my computer, and maybe, just maybe, the juxtaposition of the collar and the pin might introduce the idea into some teen’s head that “Hey, maybe religion and gay aren’t enemies.” Maybe even, “Hey. Maybe God doesn’t hate me.” (Boots and Blessings, December 12)
Trauma and grace
Some UU bloggers write about non-UU topics. One such blogger was Chris Keith, a member of two UU congregations in Michigan; along with her oldest son, she was murdered last week by her estranged husband.
One week ago today the blogging community lost one of their own. You may not have known her, but Chris Keith was part of our community. She blogged at Adventures of a Thrifty Mama, where she was much loved.
But not so nearly loved as she was by her four children. (Adventures of the Family Pants, December 12)
The Rev. Dr. Cynthia Landrum serves as the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of East Liberty, where Chris Keith was formerly a member; one of Landrum’s blog posts this week offers pastoral advice to those dealing with trauma.
People naturally search for meaning—what could’ve gone differently, who is to blame. That’s also normal. But it’s not necessarily helpful—trying to make sense out of senselessness is what keeps our minds going in circles and leads to some of those symptoms of sleeplessness, stress, and more. . . . The bottom line right now is take care of yourselves. (Rev. Cyn, December 11)
In another post, Landrum shares “a moment of grace”—encountering photographs from The Real MEN’s Project at a local hospital; each photograph shows a father who has signed a pledge of nonviolence. (Rev. Cyn, December 10)
Thinking about UUism
The Rev. Tom Schade suggests that modern Unitarian Universalism emerged from the collision of Liberal Protestantism and Humanism; he calls the latter a purifying fire, and the remnants of the former an “infinite demand.”
Somehow the purifying fire of humanism has left that subjective commitment to living in response to an infinite demand whole, brighter and shinier than ever. If Unitarian Universalism is to respond well to the crises ahead for our communities, our nation and our world, we will have to define ourselves more by what was revealed by the purifying fire, and less by the fire itself. (The Lively Tradition, December 9)
Christine Slocum’s new role as a parent causes a crisis of faith—she cannot embrace a too-sunny view of human nature.
My patience for self-delusion disappeared when my child was born. If I am to teach and protect her, I need to see the world with the sharpest clarity possible by my perception, and filter accordingly for my daughter. . . .
I fear that our teachings of human nature are hyperbolically good. . . . Too many times I have read or heard the first principle being treated as though it means we must tolerate all things and ways of being. (Christine Slocum, December 11)
The Rev. Dan Harper thinks about changes in the meaning of membership.
More and more people care less and less about the meaning of “membership,” and the younger they are the less they care. It’s like a century ago, when gradually people didn’t want to own pews any more, and they came up with this idea of congregational membership instead. Well, just as pew ownership once disappeared, I suspect we’re seeing a time when “membership” is slowly disappearing. (Yet Another Unitarian Universalist, December 9)
The rigors of congregational membership
When the Rev. Jake Morrill tells his congregation that he plans to learn to swim, they hold him to that commitment.
Maybe how things are for you matches precisely how you intended them to be. All I know is that, when it comes down to me, for a long time, I was only floating. And it was a congregation that finally required me to apply myself to practice, and keep in the struggle of effort, which as it turns out, is what it takes to swim. (Quest for Meaning, December 8)
Becoming a member of a UU congregation helps Angel move beyond armchair activism.
I have traditionally been a classic Hamlet, who reflects and analyzes but does not act. . . . Since I joined my local congregation and started honestly reflecting on what my part can be in improving the world. . . . I finally have the tools to fight the injustices I learn about every day. And for once, I’m not sitting back in my armchair and just watching things happen. I’m acting on my outrage. And it’s wonderful. (Thoughtful Pauses, December 11)
Remembering Mandela
Nelson Mandela’s death reminds Karen Johnston of her involvement in anti-Apartheid activism during her college years.
Through this engagement in activism around South Africa and Apartheid, many of us white students began to seriously encounter and engage activism around racism, both institutional and personal, often for the first time in our lives. Not all of us, perhaps not so many of us white students, were so adept at being able to confront our own white privilege and complicity with racism’s oppressive structures and legacies—it was (and is) so much easier when the racism is far away, rather than here at home. But some of us tried and steadily got better at it. (irrevspeckay, December 9)
The Rev. Bill Sinkford notes that Mandela’s death coincided with the 65th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
It is natural, I think, to look at South Africa today where reality for most still falls so far short of its constitutional promises of “freedom from want,” it can be easy to stay in criticism or even move toward despair.
I think of the activists I met in South Africa, however, who used that vision as a standard and held that vision up as the goal would disagree. In the midst of on-going need and politics which reach the lowest common denominator with such difficulty, we need a vision to keep our aspirations high. (Rev. Sinkford’s Blog, December 12)
The Rev. Peter Boullata challenges us to be “bearers of dangerous memory,” when prophetic leaders are “domesticated and drained of [their] radical power.”
This white washing of individuals who spoke out boldly for social justice, economic equity, and an end to war, colonialism, and imperialism dulls our senses and lulls us into accepting the status quo. They become domesticated saints, nonthreatening figures who stood for good things we all believe in. This revisionism is meant to keep us from catching their vision of the world made right. (Held in the Light, December 10)
Just for fun
If you’d like a ukelele for Christmas, the Rev. Adam Eliot provides a buyer’s guide. (The Burbania Posts, December 9)
If you’ve got a sweet tooth, Jacqueline Wolven offers a recipe for “Maple Glazed Goodness of Nuts.” (Jacqueline Wolven, December 8)
And the Rev. Dr. Carl Gregg has compiled several “Best of 2013” lists, including podcasts, books, albums and Netflix selections. (Pluralism, Pragmatism, Progressivism, December 8)