Who, me? No! UU!

[muscadine]

Love is the doctrine of this church,
The quest for truth is our sacrament and service is our prayer.
To dwell together in peace, to seek knowledge in freedom,
To serve human need, to the end that
all souls shall grow into harmony with the Divine,
Thus do we covenant with each other and with God.

I attended my first ever Unitarian Universalist church service this last Sunday at Neshoba UU Church in Cordova, TN. Yes, Cordova has a UU church, amazing but true! It was...interesting. I can't say it wasn't what I expected, but then I also kinda didn't know what to expect. For the first time in a long time I did feel that everything I said/recited/sang in the service, I could also say with integrity that I definitely meant and believed. That was a nice feeling.

I don't think Allen, who is not quite as liberal in his thinking as I am, was quite as keen on attending. He said the pastor seemed a bit "out there" for him, based on what he read on the web site. But during and after the service it seemed like he enjoyed it. And I noticed tonight he's been looking at some UUA stuff on the web that was linked from the Neshoba site. So we'll see.


We were told after the service, as I already suspected given that UUism draws from such a variety of traditions, that often the services vary greatly from week to week. This week, rather than a sermon format, the message part of the service was a guided meditation and a symbolic ceremony. We reflected on the events of the past year, and chose something to leave behind in the past/past year, and something to wish/hope for in the future/coming year (symbolized by a shooting star). A table had been set up in the front with a candle in the center, and little glass star-shaped stones all around it. We each had a piece of paper to write the thing(s) we wanted to leave behind, then we went up and burned the paper in the candle, then we chose a star to remind us of our wish/hope. Very neat. Our stars are sitting on our dresser to remind us.

I'm going to leave behind my perfectionist expectations of myself (something I'm already working on) and my tendencies towards procrastination (which I'll start on soon, I promise ;) ). My hope is that this year will be one in which I find my new path (especially career-wise, but in other ways as well) and have a more clear course of direction for at least the next couple of years.

Comments

[countrymouse.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you enjoyed the UU service. :-) I haven't been to one "live" in a long time, but I belong to the Church of the Larger Fellowship, for those who, one way and another, can't get to a UU congregation.

I like that the UU church gives one the freedom to explore various spiritual paths, and that it encourages one to follow one's own path, to create one's own set of beliefs. But the UUA is there as support and for sharing and caring. :-) Also, it's very into social justice, building bridges, seeking out the best, etc. (I left my brain somewhere....lemme see...also the dictionary, thesaurus, etc. ....) :-P

The UUA has GREAT online resources, as I'm sure Allen was discovering. :-)

Re:

[legolastn.livejournal.com]

I've been familiar with UUism for several years. I was a participant in the UUA at my undergrad school (mostly as a show of support at that time), which is where I first began to learn about it. I've been a member of the UU community on LJ pretty much since I got my account, though I have not been too active (but my <lj comm="jesusliberation" community is very UU friendly). The social justice aspect, and the respect for others' beliefs (where dialog and discussion rule the day rather than coercion and conversion), are what have especially drawn me to it (as well as other religions that share these values, such as liberal Quaker traditions).

[queerbychoice.livejournal.com]

Er, congratulations on having created one of the most interesting HTML coding errors I've ever seen in an LJ comment. ^^

[legolastn.livejournal.com]

That is interesting. What the...?

[legolastn.livejournal.com]

that's supposed to read:
community is very UU friendly). And something about how I like the social justice aspects and the respect of differing beliefs. And there was perhaps some other stuff but I forget. :P

[the-marionette.livejournal.com]

My therapist attends Unitarian Universalist services and has been urging me to do so as well. Sounds like an interesting service.