I want and need to feel God and to worship how God is moving in my life on a Sunday morning. For the past couple of years I haven't felt that at a UU church. Even the mention of God often gets gasps or eyerolls (which, to be honest, may have been part of the problem with the minister, but no one admits that). Church often feels dry. I mean, I am very much a believer in environmental issues and social justice issues and I believe those things are exactly what we are called to do. However, I can attend a lecture on carbon emissions or the life of Martin Luther King Jr. at one of the local college campuses. On Sunday mornings I'd rather be moved and feel closer to God.
And so I don't feel compelled to stay at our church or even to seek out another UU church. I still feel very strongly that I support the 7 UU principles and in theory I will always be a UU. But in practice, I need more.
-from Mom to the Left
Another example of how the rush to give the appearance of inclusiveness has lead some UU congregations to have an amnesia about their roots by excluding... (you know). I know bloggers such as Peacebang have written a lot about this issue, but even if you are not sad at some congregations excluding (significant) references to the Divine, it does smack of spiritual confusion or possibly even emptiness (and not the cool Buddhist kind of emptiness). After all, both Unitarianism and Universalism were based on the idea of a Source that gave light, life, and love to all and that various traditions were all valid paths to knowing/recognizing this Source, which the old timers of a few decades ago still called... (you know). I'm still hungry. And apparently I'm not the only one.
We want to worship a living God. I have not seen anything but God all my life, nor have you. To see this chair you first see God, and then the chair in and through Him. He is everywhere, saying, "I am." The moment you feel "I am," you are conscious of Existence. Where shall we go to find God if we cannot see Him in our own hearts and in every living being?
-Vivekananda
Jogging at dawn? Just a thought. I did that for about fourteen years, three days a week. Sunday AMs I'd "sleep in" and usually not get out till seven or eight AM - although once in a while, earlier.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful, early. And on Sundays especially, if you're up that early and live in a small town, it's like you're alone on the planet.
Actually, the best church I've attended - planet earth.
I haven't tried jogging at dawn, but I agree with the premise. For some reason I like being out in storms, particularly at the moment when the clouds part and the rays of light begin to filter through.
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