How are you, really?
Faced with severe financial hardship, Kathleen McGregor has trouble finding the energy to blog; it takes everything she has to not fall through a frayed safety net.
It is not that I cannot find something to write about. There are plenty of things that are important to me, not the least of which is living out my Unitarian Universalist faith in the green and the LGBTQ communities. I write the posts in my head, but am bogged down by the thoughts of more immediate concern.
If one were to look at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, I have hit bottom. (Both/And, April 4)
The Rev. Megan Lloyd Joiner has started answering honestly when asked the question, “How are you?”
Our family has had more than our fair share of bad news of late, and it has begun to take its toll. Add a new baby and my spouse finishing his graduate program and a dual job search and I had a lot to say to the question that has become a rote greeting. . . .
It’s got me thinking about how we all have the opportunity to minister to people in our lives. It starts so simply, with asking “How are you?” And really wanting to know. (Quest for Meaning, April 7)
Saying goodbye
“Plaidshoes” reminds us that the candidating season has another side.
While there is a lot of celebrating during candidating season, there is also a lot of mourning. My congregation received word this week that our Minister is leaving us for another congregation. To say I am upset is an understatement. It caught the majority of our congregation completely by surprise. . . . Do Ministers owe their congregations any sort of warning? I feel a bit betrayed. (Everyday Unitarian, April 9)
The Rev. Theresa Novak expresses sadness about leaving a congregation she loves.
How shall I say goodbye
How can I loosen
The heartstrings
That have held us so close
For the last seven years . . . .I won’t say goodbye
I won’t break my heart
The ties are so deep
The best I can do
Is offer with grace
A fond fare thee well . . . . (Sermons, Poetry and Other Musings, April 4)
Small congregations
The Rev. Dawn Cooley, after reading the materials for the upcoming UUA board meeting, writes that small congregations are “our present, and our future.”
I hope that these numbers mean that there will be more discussion about how the UUA can more effectively support these smaller congregations (who often feel overlooked) and other emerging covenanted communities. (Speaking of, April 9)
The Rev. Mary Wellemeyer recently taught a growth workshop for small congregations during the annual conference of the Mountain Desert District.
It was gratifying that thirty or so hardy souls packed into our little room AFTER the annual meeting to talk about this touchy and tender subject. We were alone—no big congregations were represented! So we could let our hair down. (Open Road, April 6)
The Noah stories
The Rev. Dr. Carl Gregg reviews the new movie, Noah, using his knowledge of biblical scholarship.
[Although] I think the film (though strong in parts) ultimately falls short in significant ways, Aronofsky does fascinatingly translate scripture into screenplay using a very Jewish method of interpretation called midrash,which fills in the gaps of the biblical text with elaborate details and speculation about what might have been the case. (Pluralism, Pragmatism, Progressivism, April 8)
For Andrew Hidas, the Noah stories lose their power when literalists try to make them history.
On virtually every major human rights issue of recent centuries—whether involving race, gender, sexual orientation or religious freedom—literalists of every persuasion have fought bitterly to maintain ancient prejudices.
But beyond even that is the tragedy of essentially devaluing the sweeping power of story and legend to transform lives. By attempting to shoehorn a label of “history” onto fable, the true redemptive power of metaphor is lost. (traversing, April 4)
Religion, right and wrong
The Rev. Robin Bartlett responds to a reader’s question: is our UU sense of superiority part of our youth retention problem?
[If] if we say we are a liberal religion that honors all paths to Truth, and then a visitor comes in and asks for a prayer, and we scoff and say “we don’t do that supernatural mumbo jumbo here” . . . we are falsely advertising. . . . We need to recognize, with humility, that we are not better than any other church, nor are we less orthodox. . . .
I think retaining our youth starts with being honest about who we are. And our beautiful, fallible human enterprise of a religion blossoms with that honesty, as well. Now go and be good humans. (Living Faithfully/Parenting Faithfully, April 8)
John Beckett unpacks an earlier blog post about doing religion wrong.
If the primary focus of your religion is on how bad other people are, then you’re doing it wrong. . . . If the primary focus of your religion is pointing out how wrong other people’s religion is, you’re doing it wrong. . . . If your religion tells you human society is fine just the way it is, you’re doing it wrong. . . . If your religion tells you it’s all about you, you’re doing it wrong. (Under the Ancient Oaks, April 6)
The Rev. Scott Wells hopes that within UUism there can be “Room for everyone, and resources for all,” but notes that it doesn’t always feel that way.
There’s the insinuation that anyone who’s a Christian is being obstinate, or that our presence is indulged as some sort of polite inheritance. The same goes for anyone who insists that the processes within our religious institution should be held to a higher standard of democratic and spiritual accountability, using historic models of how Unitarian and Universalists organize. What better way to sideline people than to tell them they don’t belong, or that they belong to another era. (Boy in the Bands, April 7)
Diana McLean objects to a Christian minister’s reference to “believers, nonbelievers, and those whose beliefs are in flux.”
It was clear to me from the context that, like many Christians, this author says “believers” and “nonbelievers” when she means “Christians” and “non-Christians” . . . .
When people who mean “believers in Christ as Lord and Savior” say instead “believers”, it isn’t just shorthand, it’s an implication that one particular belief is belief. That one way is the right way. (Poetic Justice, April 5)
The Rev. Dr. Victoria Weinstein invites us to join her journey through Holy Week.
I love all kinds of communities and treasure their sacred stories. I’m not interested in making people Christian at all. I’m REALLY interested in helping groups of people become communities. I don’t care who or what we are or what we believe: communities save. (PeaceBang, April 9)
For the Rev. Dr. Fred Muir, the UUA headquarters’ move from Beacon Hill is a promising sign that Unitarian Universalism is becoming less of an elitist, reason-only religion.
What I’m seeking—what the future awaits—is a balanced complete religion. I want us to share what we think and what we feel; I love knowing that you are led by your head and your spirit; I am deepened knowing that we feed the mind and nourish the soul. I want a faith that brings all of me/us together, binds life as one, binds us as a community. In short, I seek a way of faith that is not elitist; I want to share a religion that honors the whole person and welcomes all people. (Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis, April 1)