Boots and Blessings

It's pretty much like that Board Game Othello , whose tag line is "a minute to learn, a lifetime to master." If I choose to have faith that humankind is good, and there is a force of good in the universe , then how does my life change? It is tempting to stay in the hypothesis-testing stage forever. That, after all, requires no real action on my part, just weighing and measuring the evidence. At this point in my life, however, I feel that I have sufficient evidence to justify my optimism, and so I put the measuring cups and scales away. That doesn't mean I might not change my mind at some later point, but I have a limited amount of time and energy, and I want to spend it now on living out the faith that I have chosen. To have faith that humankind is good means that I must look at others not with suspicion or cynicism, but instead, with an expectation of the goodness in them. Some often call it "assuming good intentions." It's hard. This is a c...

It is my belief that the core of Unitarian Universalism is about ontology. What is the nature of being, of existence? This is where I place my faith. Unitarianism tells me that humankind is, in the big sum and tally, good. That doesn't mean there aren't aberrations, it doesn't mean individually we don't mess up and make mistakes. But in the great aggregate mode, humankind is good. We reject the idea of Original Sin, that we were all born bad, and that we need a mediating influence of a supernatural being to make us acceptable. Universalism tells me that there is a force at work in the world, an "arc of the universe" to use Unitarian Theodore Parker's term, that is, in the big sum and tally, good. Bad things happen, evil and pain exist, but there is a force that persuades us to goodness, that draws us together so that we may act, and by our actions, put "good" into form. Some call this force "God"; Universalism asserts that it is n...

"I think it would be very nice if we really tried to examine what it is we are up to and try to clarify what it is we are doing or what we’re trying to do." -- Rev. Gordon McKeeman I am not a Unitarian. I am not a Universalist. Born in 1969, I am a Unitarian Universalist. What is at the core of what we do? I have struggled with this. What is the theological center of our religion? It was the Rev. Mark Edmiston-Lange who helped focus my thoughts. "I don't think it's theological. I think it's ontological." I mused on that for several days, thinking him wrong, until I traced back why we are so different, and realized ... Eureka! Mark is right, again! We often get confused, thinking one of the elements of our religion is the core. It happened with Humanism. The core was that humans have both the capability and the responsibility to make the world better. One of the elements coming off that was "God is not necessary." It wasn't the co...

I know, I know. J.K. Rowling says that really, Harry and Hermione should have ended up together . And in Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe, it's generally acknowledged that Idgy and Ruth were lovers, not just best friends. " Just  best friends?" Hmph. The first story makes me a little grumpy, because there's this great scene in the penultimate movie where Harry and Hermione dance together that makes me think of one of my best friends. He is my brother, spiritually and relationally. He has been there for me in the depth of my sorrow, as well as my joy. He is uncle to my children, friend to my husband, brother to me, though we have different parents. Yes, that would be us, dancing platonically during a time of pain. Probably agreeing to the song, too. (It would indubitably be a song by Leonard Cohen. Or maybe Willie Nelson.) The second really hit my mom. She's not anti-gay, in fact, as she was telling me about her social plans one holiday season...