Rev

Chalice Art by Selma Blackburn

Rev. Bob Klein

UUCLR September 25, 2005

THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH AND MEANING: LIFESPAN RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

Thoughts from our 3^rd and 4^th Principles: Encouragement to Spiritual Growth and A Free And Responsible Search for Truth and Meaning

Unitarian Universalism is known for tolerance, acceptance, philosophical and religious diversity, and for our commitment to learning. Many of our members are educators, and most of our members are highly educated. Our commitment to growth and learning is readily apparent in our Principles, particularly in our commitment to encourage “spiritual growth,” and a “responsible search for truth and meaning.” We won’t all agree on what the most important areas of exploration and discovery are, but we almost certainly do agree that lifelong learning is an important goal within our liberal religious community. Within our community we include persons committed to learning in the sciences, medicine, literature, law, languages, religion and theology, music and art, to name just a few. We are quite diverse in our areas of interest, education, and experience. We share generally a passion for learning. It is on this basis that we support lifespan religious education in this congregation. Our search for truth, understanding, and wisdom also offers new levels of meaning to our lives as we continue to learn and grow.

As we look out upon a world with a continuously growing population, diminishing natural resources, increasing pollution, and consequences for which we are poorly prepared, such as global warming and storm intensification, it is easy to see the need for greater learning. To come together in classes and study groups within a setting such as this congregation offers is one important way that we can continue to learn throughout our lives.

On the basis of our principles, on the basis of all that binds us together, on the basis of the foundations of our movement, we are not really Unitarian Universalists if we are not committed to growth and learning. It is who we are and what we do. We seek to discuss, debate, study, ponder, research, and question almost everything. We are never finished, there are always more questions to ask, more things to consider. Our great symbol is the question mark, the chalice of course being helpful in giving light to our process.

Our program of religious growth and learning is for all ages. We do not stop growing or learning at the point when we complete a coming of age or membership class. We do not stop when we graduate from High School, college, or graduate school. Not only do we seek knowledge and spiritual growth all through our lives, we enjoy the opportunity to learn together, sharing our knowledge and our wisdom.

One of the biggest draws for many younger families is a religious education program which will not indoctrinate children with predetermined answers, but rather offers the opportunity for children to explore the universe, to discover what religion is about and what they each truly believe. Unitarian Universalist Religious Education Programs invite children to learn about our movement as well as other religions, themselves, relationships with others, and the world. Parents of young children today often want something different from what they experienced in church as children and youth.

In a society which is as consumer oriented as ours, many of us want a place where we will not hear messages telling us to acquire more stuff. We want our children to get a message that there is more to life than having all the latest toys. We want a place to learn about values and principles that are bigger than the day to day messages we all hear about how our life will be complete only if we buy the newest, latest, and best of whatever.

Unitarian Universalist congregations provide an alternative to both the corporate evening news and the omnipresent commercials on TV and radio. Our congregations offer a haven where deeper and more important matters may be discussed, where matters of principle may be considered. Our Sunday Services and our Religious Education programs for all ages offer venues for learning about, discussing, and forming new positions on the important issues of life. Our religious education programs offer the opportunity to explore spiritual, religious, and philosophical matters and interests.

Ours is not a one-size-fits-all religion. There are some beliefs and practices which are incongruent with our UUA Principles, particularly those which involve bigotry, oppression, and wanton violence, but there is a vast range of beliefs and practices which are perfectly acceptable. Unitarian Universalists believe many different things about what is or is not sacred or divine, and about people and the world. Though we all generally agree with our UUA Principles, and have many common opinions on social issues, there is no end of differences in some areas. That is part of what makes our tradition so interesting.

Because we are who we are, we offer a different kind of church than many people expect or want. We offer a kind of theological and philosophical variety and diversity that is quite unusual religiously. Only Bahai has a similar valuing of other religions. No other religious community is as open to agnostics, atheists and atheistic humanists, while also welcoming practitioners of most major religions and Pagans. We not only refrain from condemning others to hell, which few of us believe in anyway, but we actively try to understand and accept persons wherever they are at. Like most institutions we have our failings and we frequently do not live up to that which we promote in our Principles, yet we continue to strive to meet those principles and to make our religious communities stronger and healthier. Again, our religious education programs help to support that effort.

As a religious tradition, we also have a history which is well worthy of our study. The roots of both Unitarianism and Universalism are within Christianity, but the vision which has brought our movement into the 21^st century is far broader, though I believe, still compatible with much of the religion of Jesus. There are many fruitful areas for consideration in learning how this movement got to the current point, as well as much valuable discussion possible about where the future is leading.

Colleen M. McDonald, in an essay entitled “Our Unitarian Universalist Curriculum”, written for the 1995 UUMA Convocation on Ministry, raises questions for and sketches a program of Religious Education for the future. She says that:

The survival and vitality of our liberal religion demands that we continue to ask and to answer these questions: How can we continue to believe in and give witness to a theology of hope? How can we proclaim the power of love and affirm human potential in a world of ever-present hatred and violence? How can we sustain our faith in humanity when people act in ways damaging to themselves, to others, and to our planet?

Unitarian Universalist religious education in all its forms (including classes, worship, and social action, in age-specific and mixed-age groups) must teach the following (according to McDonald):

We need to teach our story as a people of faith, hope and commitment--our communal history, the history of our movement.

We need to teach the stories of particular and exemplary representatives of our faith.

We need to teach ourselves to take evil, people’s inhumanity, seriously.

We need to teach ourselves to use the arts as vehicles for self-expression and re-creation/transformation.

We need to teach ourselves to recognize and oppose threats to human empowerment: racism, sexism, heterosexism, classism, ageism, ableism.

We need to teach the skills of conflict resolution.

We need to teach an ethic of social action that reminds us of what we can and cannot do in addressing issues that can seem overwhelming.

(She concludes:) Sustaining faith in humanity, hope for the future, and a better world for us all, this is our Unitarian Universalist curriculum. This is our agenda now and into the twenty-first century. (from The Transient and Permanent in Liberal Religion, edited by O’Neal, Wesley, and Ford, Skinner House Books 1995)

What we are most deeply concerned with is not indoctrination, but encouraging individuals to find their own pathways. We seek always to encourage the spiritual, emotional, and intellectual journeys of our members and friends. We believe life is a journey of body, spirit, and mind. We encourage individuals to enter into the great mysteries of the universe without fear.

Most of us are not that interested in what may lie beyond this life, though we have a variety of expectations of heaven, future lives, living through our progeny, or oblivion. Most of us are interested in growing and learning all that we can, and in helping to create a healthier planet for ourselves and all current and future fellow beings. For some of us, mathematical and scientific formulas are the pinnacle of reality, for others beauty, music, or art reflect the height and depth of what is real. Nirvana may appear in different forms for each of us, but it is the quest and the journey through which we find our commonality.

As we journey we acquire wisdom to see that our spirits are nurtured by many experiences, our intellect increased by many kinds of education, our view of truth shaped by many realities. The journey of life is a rich tapestry whose colors and patterns are enhanced by our willingness to seek beyond the easy and conforming answers of other religious traditions and normative society. To question, seek truth and meaning, and journey are the highest expressions of the religious tradition we share. Wisdom, Spirit, Truth, and Education are all processes more than they are products. There is much more than we know, or have experienced. Spirituality and science both are ways of opening ourselves to learn, educational means to other levels of truth and insight. There is wisdom within each tradition and in every kind of learning, but there are many pathways to the pinnacle of scientific and spiritual truth.

May our journeys lead us to growth, may our growth lead us to beauty and happiness, may our happiness and wisdom inspire a healthier world.

Shalom, Salam, Amen, and Blessed Be!

The sermon in a Unitarian Universalist Congregation is never the final word on any subject, but always it is an invitation to discussion and continuing dialogue. I invite you to join in discussions starting this afternoon in studying our theological diversity, in Building Your Own Theology starting October 18^th, and in the various opportunities for learning at UUCLR such as Forum and RE Questors.