Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Emerald Coast
“Homes Along Life’s Journey”
Rev. Rod Debs
February 7, 2010
When our daughter was little, just learning to dress herself in the morning, we would set out on the bed several outfits for her to choose among. She was free to decide. But when it came to getting up, brushing her teeth, washing, going to school—these were not options for deliberation. Some things were determined—that’s just how we live. In our family culture, we never considered whether or not to get up, to brush her teeth, to get dressed and to go to school to be matters of individual choice.
My whole life, I have thought of myself as an individual. I have always felt free to choose among options. But a new idea has been sinking slowly into my understanding of the world: Perhaps culture chooses for me by accident of birth, determines who I will be by limiting my range of options. I think I am a free individual in my choices even though culture “sets out” limited options for me each day. Our culture promotes thinking in terms of individual choice. As one famous Unitarian penned it: “We are and ought to be free and independent.”
From a little book by Jack Weatherford entitled, Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World (1988), I learned that many of our American founders were influenced by Indians, among them Benjamin Franklin, an Indian agent, and Thomas Paine. Their sense of freedom, personal freedom, individualism was different from that of citizen-subjects in Europe’s nation-states. But in the wilds of America, personal freedom, individualism became a core of American identity.
Unitarian Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson articulated this American individualism in his essay, “Self-Reliance”: “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.” But then he went on to speak of what was given, what was determined. “Accept the place the divine providence has found for you, the society of your contemporaries, the connection of events. Great men have always done so, and confided themselves childlike to the genius of their age, betraying their perception that the absolutely trustworthy was seated at their heart, working through their hands, predominating in all their being.” Emerson’s words have shaped our culture and our sense of individual freedom: “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”
The democratic corollary to “Trust thyself,” is that we also allow others to trust their own personal genius as well. In our nation, government is established to protect our own AND OTHERS’ individual rights, our own AND OTHERS’ individual freedom to trust themselves. Democracy provides, not just for ourselves, but also for others to “Trust thyself” and govern in mutual trust and support.
This American way of individual freedom, freedom of conscience seems to run counter to the culture we brought from Europe. Statecraft in Europe was authoritarian not free; statecraft was the endless struggle for power to make the rules to force on everyone. Hierarchical religion was also authoritarian rather than free, declaring the authority of revealed Scripture and orthodox teachings. We’re told that the Bible, doctrines and creeds are absolute Truth, changeless, eternal. Truth does not allow individual freedom to choose. We see both democratic and authoritarian models in our national struggle between liberal and conservative camps. Both perspectives compete within the American psyche.
Dr. Lynn Brandt, a biology professor from the University of Northern Iowa—also a Unitarian Universalist—once said of science: “The truth exists until the next journal is published.”
We have within ourselves both of these competing cultural perspectives. Truth is very important. It’s changeless. Yet we need to be free to reject whatever we determine to be false truths in our own thinking as well as in others’.
When a neighbor asks you what you believe or says, “Don’t you believe in God?” or “Do you believe the Bible?” they are assuming that there are changeless, true beliefs. Truth according to their definition of it, is established for all time. Here’s a Unitarian Universalist response: “Tell me about your faith journey.”
It is not an accident that at every Unitarian Universalist Orientation for newcomers, we invite everyone, including presenters, to share our religious journeys. Some were evangelical Christians or Catholic or Methodist or nonreligious. Some grew up Unitarian Universalist. All of us have been on a journey, sometimes we felt at home where we were, often unsatisfied and looking for something more. Newcomers often say, “I feel at home here.”
You and I have had many homes along life’s journey. Our family by blood. Peer groups. Families of choice. Groups of shared interest. Workplace families, changing from job to job. We have felt relatively at home in various clubs and civic groups. Our media choices offer us an ideological virtual community within which we feel at home, though sometimes alienated from all the others who are not us. Are you visualizing the homes you have found on your life’s journey?
The difference between mere “beliefs” to which we give intellectual assent, and “faith” —a word that suggests to some of us non-scientific, even irrational truth claims—the difference I think, is this. “Faith” is that which we really act upon. Lived faith changes along life’s journey. We learn from our experiences, from others’, and we commit ourselves actively to our changed realizations of what is worthy of our commitment. Our life journey is a faith journey, a journey of life commitments.
It’s easy to have lofty beliefs. We say: “I believe in love!” or “I believe all are created equal and worthy of respect.” Lofty beliefs certainly merit intellectual assent. Faith, on the other hand, is lived. You can see faith by looking at behavior: Where do we invest our time, our talents, our treasures. We can identify lived faith by studying our check books, our time schedules.
I find it really humbling. There is a pretty big gap between the beliefs to which I give intellectual assent and my faith as evidenced in my commitment of time, talents and treasures. That’s one reason I feel at home here. On my faith journey, Unitarian Universalists who “covenant our mutual trust and support” affirm and promote our covenant Principles as our aspiration, a collective aspiration, not just an individual aspiration, but a “covenant of mutual trust and support,” supporting one another on our journey of living out our values in this precious global community.
We need something more than our individual efforts and our individual perspectives on how things ought to be. We are better together than alone. Buddhism recognizes and meets this need through the Sangha. In Judaism, there was no private salvation, only God’s mighty works with The People. For Christians, it is the faith community, the koinonia church that is identified as Christ in the flesh (Christ incarnate). In Islam, the practice of faith is within the Umma, the community.
Martin Luther declared, “Here I stand. I can do no other.” But look at his journey of faith: “Here I stand—now here—now here—now here.” I could have used the example of our sixteenth century forebear Francis David, whose journey led him from Catholic priest to Lutheran to Calvinist to Unitarian to martyrdom for further religious “innovations.” Faith is not about absolute truth claims, “Here I stand.” Faith is a journey of commitment, of action supported by a community of mutual trust.
Our faith journeys have taken us to many tables of sharing, sharing gifts of religious community. It is the same for those in our greater community. I was once an Evangelical Christian, once an anti-Christian with no religious beliefs, and once a dogmatic Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist. I needed respect for the various tables I shared on my faith journey. Our neighbors, our relatives, our co-workers and the strangers we meet day after day are on their own religious journeys as well and long for respect as do we. The challenge I embrace and invite you to embrace, is not to strive to disprove others’ truths, not to despoil the tables of others’ religious homes, but rather, to celebrate whatever good and healthy gifts we can find in the religious faiths of others on their religious journeys.
Our Unitarian Universalist covenant Principles of “mutual trust and support” are worthy of living, not just at our own Unitarian Universalist “tables”—at the various large and small groups that gather here at this Fellowship, committees, special events, one-on-one conversations. These Principles of mutual trust and support are worthy of being extended beyond our walls as our Principles declare: “Grateful for the religious pluralism that enriches and ennobles our faith, we are inspired to deepen our understanding and expand our vision.”
I feel that it is our Unitarian Universalist mission to celebrate the faith journeys of all our neighbors, to look and listen carefully and seek out the best in our neighbors’ faiths. It is our privilege to set a welcome table of mutual trust and support for our Evangelical parents, for our Methodist brother, our Hindu doctor, our Muslim or African Episcopal coworker, our non-religious motorcycle club or book group.
The covenant Principles are our UU “table manners”: Here we affirm the inherent worth and dignity of every person; acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth— wherever folks are on their faith journey; celebrating others’ “free and responsible search for truth and meaning,” their “right of conscience,” committing ourselves to democratic processes in society whether our perspectives prevail or not.
Today, our religious journeys have brought us to this table of sharing, this UU Fellowship. The choice I see before us is whether we entertain ourselves with beliefs, self-absorbed with intellectual debate and competing perspectives. Or whether we live our UU values, practicing the table manners of our Principles.
As we plan our fellowship’s finances for the budget year ahead, Shar, Judy, Brenda, Don, Karen, Denny and each of us here—we celebrate and welcome one another’s generous commitment of time and talents and treasures. In sharing this rich table hospitality, we are grateful for one another’s generosity, a generosity that bought down the mortgage during the economic free-fall, and dared to replace our facility air conditioning system, a generosity that began small groups Second Hour, Friendship Circles and now new covenant groups, building bonds of intimacy and ultimacy with one another , a generosity that cares so strongly that we are learning to collaborate and consult with one another better each year, a generosity that reaches out to those who are hungry and homeless and battered and afraid, a generosity of volunteers and paid staff that provides Children’s Religious Exploration that has blossomed with kids who beg their parents to bring them every Sunday. I do not exaggerate! This is a committed and generous congregation, committed to our shared mission of “service, spiritual growth and caring fellowship.”
May our commitment of mutual trust and support brighten and enrich our relationships here and spread beyond these doors to countless others who, like us, are on their own religious journeys. For this fleeting time we share together, it is our pleasure to set a healthy and delightful table of diverse spiritual and relational cuisines. In a society that is spiritually hungry and religiously homeless, may we embody, a warm “Welcome home!”