Dear Ones,
What inspiration do you draw from as you seek to live out your Unitarian Universalist values and engage in a free and responsible search for truth and meaning? What language and ideas make sense to you and speak to your spirit as you think about your spiritual journey? Is it the same as the language and ideas that make sense to and speak to the soul of your loved ones, your friends, or the children in your life?
During my time as your interim minister one of the things I’ve loved is exploring with you is the many shapes of our Unitarian Universalist faith. We so often talk about the seven Principles that we as Unitarian Universalists covenant to affirm and promote. We hold these principles as our values and moral guides.
But did you know that these Principles are part of a “living tradition” of wisdom that we draw from? Unitarian Universalism has six Sources that give us our Principles, our inspiration, and guidance. These are the six Sources Unitarian Universalist congregations affirm and promote:
- Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
- Words and deeds of prophetic people, which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
- Wisdom from the world’s religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
- Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
- Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
- Spiritual teachings of Earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
In February, I’ll begin a series of worship services to help us reflect on our six Sources and how they inform our faith. Our series will begin on Feb. 16. Then though April we’ll explore the Sources, with a few breaks for other types of services.
I hope you’ll join us for this series and use it as an opportunity to deepen your understanding of how your religious background influences you, what religious language and ideas speak to you at this point, and what religious language and ideas speak to others in this congregation and in your life. As we explored recently, sometimes we sing your song, sometimes we sing my song, and sometimes we sing her song, his song, or their song. So, too, our songs draw from many places and change over time. Our Sources are an important part of our songs.
I hope to see you in the coming months as we explore our living tradition of wisdom and inspiration.
Love and Blessings,
Rev. Diana