"The Ties That Bind"

Rev. Joan Schneider
June 27, 2010

A CARTOON WHICH MADE THE NEWSLETTERS ROUND A WHILE BACK DEPICTS THREE MEN ENGAGED IN CONVERSATION AT WHAT APPEARS TO BE A COCKTAIL PARTY. 
            ONE OF THEM -- POSSIBLY CLERGY --  IS SAYING:
"BUT I SEE NO HARM IN LIVING A LIE.  THAT'S WHERE THE UNITARIANS AND I PART COMPANY."
            THAT CARTOON PROMPTED ME TO RECALL AND REFLECT UPON A QUESTION ONCE POSED BY A THOUGHTFUL MAN QUITE NEW TO OUR MOVEMENT.
            "I'VE NOTICED," HE SAID, "THAT UU'S HAVE A SIMILAR MORAL CODE THAT MOST ALL SEEM TO BELIEVE IN.  YET, THEY HAVE DIVERSE THEOLOGIES, I.E., ATHEIST, AGNOSTIC, DEISTS, AND THEISTS."
            HE SAID IT SEEMS THAT IN MOST RELIGIONS PEOPLE BEGIN WITH A SINGLE THEOLOGY AND BRANCH OUT FROM THERE. 
            WE, ON THE OTHER HAND, BEGIN WITH A DIVERSITY AND COME TOGETHER FROM THERE.  "WHY?" HE ASKED,
"WHAT BINDS US TOGETHER?"
THE QUESTION IS A BASIC AND PROFOUND ONE --
IF RELIGION IS THE BASIS FOR OUR ETHICS AND OUR MORALITY
            (AND IF IT ISN'T, WHAT GOOD IS IT?)
            THEN CERTAINLY, IT WOULD SEEM THAT A SINGLE COMMON THEOLOGY WOULD INSPIRE A SINGLE COMMON MORAL CODE, AND VICE VERSA.
            HOW THEN DO THEISTS, ATHEISTS
            AND ALL SHADINGS INBETWEEN
               COME TOGETHER IN RESPECT
                                    IN TRUTH  -- IN LOVE
WHAT IS THE GLUE?
            THE COMMON BOND?
                        THE TIE THAT BINDS?
            MANY -- IF NOT MOST - RELIGIONS FIND A COMMONALTY IN THEIR VIEW OF GOD. 
            THIS IS NOT THE CASE FOR US.
AND WITHOUT A COMMON THEOLOGY, WE DO NOT SHARE A COMMON BELIEF OF LIFE AFTER DEATH.
            ADHERENTS OF OTHER RELIGIONS MIGHT SAY THAT THEY STAY BECAUSE THEY WANT SALVATION -            
TO GO TO HEAVEN --
                        OR MEET GOD --
OR WHAT EVER THEIR COMMON BELIEF MIGHT BE ABOUT THE END TIME.
            WE DO NOT MAKE SUCH CLAIMS. 
            NO.  THEOLOGY IS NOT THE TIE THAT BINDS US.
            WHAT IS IT ABOUT OUR PARTICULAR RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY THAT RESONATES WITH OUR OWN HIGHEST AND BEST – THAT IMPLORES US TO BE FAITHFUL?
            AFTER DECADES OF STRUGGLING WITH THAT QUESTION, I HAVE CONCLUDED THAT
IT IS INTEGRITY
            THEOLOGICAL INTEGRITY
            I DO NOT SUGGEST THAT WE ARE THE ONLY RELIGIOUS PEOPLE WITH  INTEGRITY. 
            I DO SUGGEST THAT WHILE OTHER RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES ARE BOUND BY THEIR CREEDS -- THEIR COMMON THEOLOGIES -- INTEGRITY IS THAT ONE UNIQUE INGREDIENT THAT BRINGS US TOGETHER AND BINDS US TOGETHER.
            RELIGIOUS AND THEOLOGICAL INTEGRITY.

            WHEN THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES WAS FORMED  AT THE TURN OF THE LAST CENTURY THE THREE UNITARIAN DELEGATES TO THE ORGANIZATION WERE DENIED ADMISSION.THEY WERE CALLED HERETICS BECAUSE THEY WOULD NOT RECOGNIZE JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOR.
THESE THREE HERETICS WERE; GOVERNOR OF MASSACHUSETTS, JOHN LONG, PRESIDENT OF HARVARD, CHARLES W. ELIOT AND EDWARD EVERETT HALE, AUTHOR OF 'THE MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY' AND THEN CHAPLAIN OF THE U.S. SENATE.
            THESE UNITARIANS HAD INTEGRITY -- AND THEY LIVED IT.  THEY WOULD NOT SAY THEY BELIEVED WHAT THEY DID NOT -- EVEN FOR A PRESTIGIOUS SEAT ON THE COUNCIL.

            EACH TIME I TEACH A UU HISTORY COURSE, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT JUMPS OUT FOR ALL PARTICIPANTS IS THAT THE COMMON THREAD IN BOTH UNITARIANISM AND UNIVERSALISM HAS BEEN OUR UNWILLINGNESS TO MAKE STATEMENTS OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF THAT ARE NOT TRUE FOR US.     
            MANY YEARS AGO I HAD A BRIEF ENCOUNTER WITH METHODISM.            IT WAS A DIFFICULT TIME IN MY LIFE, AND I HAD BEEN WARMLY BEFRIENDED BY A METHODIST MINISTER.  HIS MINISTRY HAD MEANT SO MUCH TO ME THAT I SERIOUSLY CONSIDERED JOINING HIS CHURCH.
HOWEVER WHEN I LEARNED THAT I WOULD HAVE TO AFFIRM BELIEF IN THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT I KNEW I COULDN’T DO THAT. 
WHEN I TOLD THIS TO THE MEMBERSHIP CHAIR SHE RESPONDED, "DON'T WORRY, HONEY, MANY OF US DON'T BELIEVE IT EITHER."
            THAT WAS THE END OF MY METHODIST DAYS.
            I CAN’T FAULT HER.  SHE FOUND METHODISM SUFFICIENTLY NOURISHING TO BE ABLE TO SIDE STEP THE THEOLOGICAL INCONSISTENCY.
              I COULDN’T.
            THE POINT OF UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM IS THAT IT DOES NOT REQUIRE AFFIRMATION OF ANYTHING WE DO NOT BELIEVE.
 IT ASKS ONLY THAT WE TRUST OUR HEART.          
AT THE SAME TIME, IT DEMANDS THAT WE LIVE OUR RELIGION
LIVE OUR RELIGION EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY OF OUR LIVES.
            AND THAT LIVING REQUIRES THEOLOGICAL INTEGRITY.
            THE QUESTION DEALS WITH THE PRIMAL NATURE OF RELIGION. 
            RELIGION - FROM THE LATIN RELIGARE - TO BIND TOGETHER
            THE ROOT OF ALL RELIGION IS ---  OR SHOULD BE THE BINDING TOGETHER OF THOSE WHO ADHERE TO THAT PARTICULAR FAITH.
            WE ARE BOUND TOGETHER BY AN ETHIC THAT DOESN’T ENDORSE INSINCERE STATEMENTS OF BELIEF.
            WE TAKE RELIGION SO VERY SERIOUSLY, WE CANNOT BE WHERE WE FEEL FRAUDULENT.
            I ONCE SPENT A WEEK OF RETREAT AND RENEWAL IN A LUTHERAN MONASTERY.  WORSHIP WAS AT SPECIFIED TIMES OF THE DAY, AND VISITORS WERE INVITED (PERHAPS EXPECTED) TO ATTEND.
            I SOON REALIZED I WOULD HAVE TO ABSENT MYSELF FROM SOME OF THE WORSHIP, ESPECIALLY THE EUCHARIST WHEN WE WERE INVITED TO PARTAKE OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST.
            THE GROUP WAS SO SMALL IT WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE TO SLIP OUT UNNOTICED.  I WOULD HAVE TO TELL THEM MY REASON FOR NOT ATTENDING.
            I PRACTICED MY SPEECH.
                        I WORRIED A LOT! 
WHAT WOULD THEY THINK OF ME?
            WHEN I FINALLY FOUND THE NERVE TO SHARE MY FEELINGS WITH THEM THEY THANKED ME FOR MY HONESTY, AND SOME EVEN SAID THEY FELT MUCH THE SAME WAY.  THAT PARTICULAR STYLE OF EUCHARIST WAS NOT THEIRS  AND THEY WERE UNCOMFORTABLE.
                      BUT THEY CONTINUED TO GO AND TO PARTAKE.
            I WAS SURPRISED.
            MOST UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISTS  ATTEND OTHER WORSHIP SERVICES -- VISIT OTHER FAITH GROUPS. 
            WE  LISTEN -- AND RESPECT -- BUT WE ARE CAUTIOUS ABOUT WHAT WE AFFIRM.
            IN NEIL SIMON'S BILOXI BLUES ONE OF THE CHARACTERS REMARKS, "ONCE YOU START COMPROMISING YOUR THOUGHTS, YOU ARE A CANDIDATE FOR MEDIOCRITY."
            I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THE FIRST TIME I CAME HERE I WAS MISSING A PIECE.
            AND,  I HAD TRIED – REALLY TRIED TO FIT INTO OTHERS WAYS OF BEING RELIGIOUSLY, IT JUST DIDN’T WORK FOR ME. 
 AND, LIKE MANY OF YOU I MADE THE SACRIFICES THAT MUST BE MADE WHEN WE LEAVE THE RELIGION OF OUR CHILDHOOD.
IT ISN’T THAT WE DON’T LONG FOR ANSWERS TO LIFE’S PROFOUND QUESTIONS –
IT IS SIMPLY THAT AS ROBERT KILLIAM HAS SUGGESTED, WE BRING WITH US UNUSUAL EQUIPMENT
            DOUBT AND SKEPTICISM FOR THEOLOGIES,
            SCORN FOR EMPTY FORMS AND RITUAL OF RELIGION,
            RESPECT FOR OUR OWN REASON,
            HATRED FOR EVERY FORM OF INJUSTICE AND OPPRESSION,
            ABHORRENCE OF FALSEHOOD WHEREVER WE FIND IT
EVEN IN ESTABLISHED AND RESPECTED RELIGIONS –
AND A REAL LOVE OF TRUTH.
IN OUR ACHIEVEMENT OF A FREE FAITH
 AND IN THE FULFILLING OF ITS INESCAPABLE RESPONSIBILITIES WE LEARN TO DEVELOP OUR OWN RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY, AND WE WORK OUT OUR OWN SALVATION. 
    AND WE DO IT THE HARD WAY --
                        THE ONLY WAY OPEN TO THOSE
                                    WHO WOULD BE FREE."
            ONE OF THE VERY FIRST THINGS I NOTICED WHEN I CAME TO NORTHERN HILLS FOR THE FIRST TIME WAS THE STATEMENT ON THE BACK OF THE ORDER OF SERVICE.
            IN THOSE DAYS IT SPOKE OF THE FREE AND “DISCIPLINED” SEARCH FOR TRUTH AND MEANING.
            THAT NEARLY KNOCKED ME OFF MY SEAT.
                        I GET TO SEARCH AND DECIDE ON MY OWN TRUTH – MY OWN MEANING – WOW!!
            THAT IS WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE ARE ABOUT  AND WE DON’T SIDESTEP THE TOUGH QUESTIONS.
            TO REMAIN – LIKE MY METHODIST FRIEND – WHERE WE DON’T FIND OUR TRUTH IS INDEED EASIER – AT THE SAME TIME I BELIEVE KILLS SOMETHING DEEP WITH IN,
            DURING MY TENURE AT UUA,  I WORKED WITH CANDIDATES FOR OUR MINISTRY
            CANDIDATES WHO HAD GROWN UP AS METHODISTS, PRESBYTERIANS, BAPTISTS, CATHOLICS, JEWS
            ALL HAD MADE A LIFE-LONG COMMITMENT TO UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM AND ITS MINISTRY.  EVERY STORY BORE THE ELEMENT OF PAIN AS THE STUDENT WRESTLED WITH BELIEFS FROM THEIR YOUTH THAT NO LONGER WORK FOR THEM.
            IT HAS BEEN SAID A UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST SOCIETY IS NOT ONE WHERE PERSONS COME TO LEARN A FAITH, BUT RATHER TO DEVELOP A FAITH OF THEIR OWN.
            THAT FAITH MAY DIFFER FROM THOSE OF OTHER WORSHIPERS, BUT ALL WILL HOLD IN COMMON SOMETHING INFINITELY PRECIOUS.
            EACH WILL HOLD A FAITH CLEARLY SEEN AND INTENSELY FELT - A FAITH BASED ON INDIVIDUAL EXPERIENCES ---
            NOT THE HANDED-DOWN CLOTHING OF OTHERS' THEOLOGICAL VESTMENTS.
            THIS FAITH WILL NOT NECESSARILY OFFER REPOSE
            ALTHOUGH IT CAN BRING PEACE OF MIND, BASED AS IT IS ON OUR OWN VERY REAL EXPERIENCES –
      AND OUR OWN DECISIONS ABOUT THOSE EXPERIENCES.
SOUND SIMPLE?  IT ISN'T
IT IS A DIFFICULT RELIGION FOR OTHERS TO UNDERSTAND.  (SOMETIMES IT IS EVEN A CHALLENGE FOR US TO UNDERSTAND.) 
AND IT IS A SAD FACT OF HUMAN NATURE THAT WE VIEW THAT WHICH IS DIFFERENT WITH SOME DEGREE OF SUSPICION – EVEN FEAR.
            THEREFORE, MANY UNITARIANS AND UNIVERSALIST HAVE KNOWN THE PAIN OF FEELING LIKE  OUTCASTS. 
SOME FEEL CUT-OFF FROM THEIR OWN FAMILY.
            BEING A UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST IS DEFINITELY NOT THE EASIEST PATH.
BUT IT IS ONE WE HAVE CHOSEN TO TAKE BECAUSE THEOLOGICAL INTEGRITY IS OUR HIGHEST VALUE.
            WE  NEED A SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY WHERE WE CAN TRUST OUR HEART.
            WE NEED A SPIRITUAL COMMUNITY WHERE WE ARE SUPPORTED AS WE EXPLORE AND REACH INDIVIDUAL RESPONSES TO OUR SPIRITUAL. QUESTING.
WE NEED COMMUNITIES LIKE THIS, WHERE WE LEARN HOW TO SWIM – BUT NOT ALONE.
            OUR COMMUNITIES SUSTAIN US AS WE SEEK TO ARRIVE -- AT  THOUGHTFUL ANSWERS TO THE ULTIMATE QUESTIONS IN OUR SEARCH FOR TRUTH AND MENAING.
A LONG TIME UU (MICHAEL MORDECAI) WROTE:
            "OUR STRENGTH, AND SOME WOULD SAY WEAKNESS - LIES IN KNOWING THERE ARE OTHERS WITH UNANSWERED RELIGIOUS QUESTIONS.
            "NOT ARROGANT, DOGMATIC, SELF-RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE, BUT EMPHATIC, LISTENING, UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE WHO ARE ENDURING THE SAME RELIGIOUS STRUGGLE -
HAVE BEEN THROUGH THE SAME CIRCUITOUS PATHS -- HAVE WONDERED THE SAME WONDERINGS.,
… WE OFFER A CLIMATE TO GROW OUR OWN … ARRIVED AT BELIEF SYSTEM –
AND THAT IS A STRENGTH I HAVE FOUND NOWHERE ELSE."
IN HIS LETTER TO THE PHILLIPPIANS PAUL WROTE: 
WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE TRUE, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE HONEST, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE JUST, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE PURE, WHATSOEVER THINGS LOVELY, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE OF GOOD REPORT.  IF THERE IS ANY VIRTUE, IF THERE BE ANY PRAISE, THINK ON THESE THINGS.
            I CONTINUE TO APPRECIATE THE QUESTION THAT PROMPTED ME TO ARTICULATE OUR UNIQUENESS.
A UNIQUENESS THAT CAUSES US TO ASK THE HARD QUESTIONS
            AND MAKES US UNAFRAID TO TRUST OUR HEARTS
                        AND CHANGE OUR MINDS
            WE ARE A PEOPLE OF A MOST PROFOUND FAITH.
            AND SO WE SING:
            FAITH OF THE LARGER LIBERTY
            SOURCE OF THE LIGHT EXPANDING
            LAW OF THE CHURCH THAT IS TO BE
            OLD BONDAGE NOT WITHSTANDING
            FAITH OF THE FREE!
            BY THEE WE LIVE
            BY ALL THOU GIVEST
            AND SHALL GIVE.
            OUR LOYALTY COMMANDING!!
                                    THINK ON THESE THINGS.
                                                            AMEN