
February is the month in which we celebrate… and learn to practice INCLUSION!
Without looking very hard, we can always find people who are not like ourselves in many ways… and if we buy into how our society generally works, we will find it easy to exclude those people from our lives… kick them out of our inner circles… disregard them when we run into them on the streets or at social gatherings… But that is not what we are taught by the 8 principles that guide UU’s.
Some traditional religions are often good at excluding people. If you don’t follow their dogma, which excludes people who think or act differently, you get ostracized until you either voluntarily leave or give in and conform. That’s why most of us left those practices and came here.
UU, on the other hand, treasures individuality. We realize that Individuals who are dissimilar can share their differences, learn new things, and become happier,better people as a result. I believe it is the fear of change, and the fear of losing control of others that lies behind the need to have everyone think and act the same. That’s why inclusion is so important to us.
Have you ever wondered what it is that makes traditional religions exclude people who see validity to one’s ability to move from one gender to another? What is it that motivates organizations to drive people away because of national, ethnic or racial differences? And have you noticed how they tend to use religious texts to bolster their arguments?
I have spoken to some people who think we at UU are not a “real church” because we don’t take all of our teachings from the bible alone… and because we do not profess emissaries of ‘god’... That alone has often prompted me to ask which came first, god or human? Did God create man in his own image and likeness or did man create god in HIS own image and likeness? Why is God always a ‘HE’? And why is God always “up there” somewhere?
Isn’t it wonderful that we can include people who think god could also be a woman… and that SHE could be with us and around us no matter where we are?
One person told me a few days ago that she used to be a UU member but she left because we are too political… because we believe too strongly in social justice…. Yet all through the Christian bible are examples of Jesus Christ fighting for social justice in his time…Even going against the political leaders of that period to the point where they tortured and killed him because he would not conform. If one is to believe that Jesus was an historic person who actually lived on earth, how could they not see that he was a social and political activist?
That’s just one example of UU being inclusive because we are able to include the texts of all of the worlds great religious, philosophical and even poetic books… if they can make us better and more welcoming people.
I think we would find the same thing is we look at the teachings of Buddah, Muhammad, Nostradamus…they all changed society and the world in which they lived… the effect of which is still felt today. But still they are not included by a wide swath of society… however they are included here in UUism.
7 months ago when I accepted the task of being Spiritual Leader of our congregation, I was told that our congregation was dwindling. People were leaving…no new people were coming to take their place… and I remember one service where there were only 12 people attending. I asked around to learn what the problem was and I was told two things:
One, people felt there was no leadership… they felt as though they were just floundering around with no direction. That is to be expected if there is no one driving the bus… but the second point was brought to me when several people said they were missing a spiritual connection… and without a minister, there was no one to bring that element to them. They said coming here on Sundays was like going to a restaurant for dinner, sitting at the table and placing an order, then getting up and leaving because there was no waiter to bring the food.
I made a promise then to do all that I could to resolve both of those issues… and try to bring back the people who went home hungry. Now, thanks to you and me working together, we are seeing more people coming each month. From those 12 people who braved the drought, on the average we now have a renewed energy and all of us are including our friends and relatives them… inviting to join us on Sundays. That is inclusion. We are including those whom we care about… asking them to come here with us and share in what we have found… to share in what we are building… and on the average, we have doubled our attendance on some Sundays, and tripled it on others.
That is inclusion in the smaller sense. But there can also be inclusion in the larger sense as well. When we consider there are 400 thousand people in the city, some of whom are still fighting about sharing the same space and the same resources, I cannot believe they are here learning about the inherent worth of each and every person.
If people say we are missing a spiritual connection, what exactly does that mean in a UU Fellowship… where we have people who may not believe in souls and spirits? Where we have Wiccans, Athiests and Agnostics?... Buddhists and former Christians?
And how do we address the spiritual nature of people without offending anyone who may have come here in the beginning because we are not the traditional hellfire and brimstone, guilt slamming version so many people left because they don’t believe there is some old white guy sitting in the clouds judging everyone on earth?
Can we include those people AND the people who have spent their lives in traditional religions, but came here to enjoy a fellowship where they could have a covenant with their fellow congregants, but not a dogma telling them who they can love or what they can do with their own bodies?
Those may be just a couple of reasons that you might offer if people you speak to ask you…. “What’s in it for me?” Just tell them you want to ‘include’ them in something that you found to be a vehicle to change your life for the better.
They may have heard that UU’s do not see the christian bible as the only source of knowledge… and that UU’s are so involved in social justice that they do not connect with higher a consciousness such as what they know as “God”. They may think in UUism, we have forgotten about the Spiritual side of humankind but you may assure them that that is not the case… in fact… it’s quite the opposite.
While we do have, and welcome people who may not believe in a supreme source of power, or knowledge, many UU’s do, in fact, believe that humans do possess a "spiritual nature," meaning we have an intrinsic capacity for connection to something beyond the physical world, often interpreted as a higher power, a universal consciousness, or a higher plane of existence.
Perhaps it is a stronger sense of meaning that transcends our physical existence. Something that allows us to experience emotions like love, compassion, and a quest for deeper understanding, setting us apart from other animals solely driven by instinct. That’s UU Principle number 4… “A free and responsible search for truth and meaning…”
When I need direction, I always start with the 8 Principles of UU: so let’s look at what those principles say about my questions.
The very first principle tells us that “we must recognize the inherent worth and dignity of every person…” That means whether someone thinks there is a spiritual nature to people or not, we must honor and give dignity and respect to those who do not think as we do. That is another way to look at inclusion. It’s far more than just including people who think and act just like those of us here… but it allows us to provide a welcoming and loving environment for those who are yearning for something better than what they have.
As your Spiritual Leader, I must see to the Spiritual needs of everyone here… that life force that is so hard to define. We all have it, no matter what we may call it. That is part of the 4th Principle… the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. And my truth is… we do have a spiritual nature…. And as I search to define my truth… and my spiritual nature, I want to include you… and invite you to come with me on that journey.
Unitarian Universalism (UU) draws spiritual inspiration from various sources, including earth-centered traditions, the potential for good in all dimensions of our being, and the belief that all souls are of worth. UUism is highly individualistic. We have no dogma concerning the spiritual nature of the world, and that leads to diverse ideas about the divine and ethical decisions. That is what makes us different. A difference that we honor.
“Acceptance of One Another…those who are spiritual and those who are not,... and Encouragement in obtaining Spiritual Growth in Our Congregations”… is something we are told to do by our 3rd Principle.
We won’t tell you how to pray or what to pray to. We won’t even tell you that you should pray…but if you are searching for a connection to something greater than yourself, … someplace to go when no earthly power can sooth your concerns…our covenant to one another is to stand with you and to help you find solace in your own way and in your own time.
As UU’s, we don’t judge one another. We recognize that what is right for one person may not be the path for another… and that’s OK.
The Rev. Rob Hardies from All Souls Church Unitarian in Washington, DC wrote a book titled “The 7 Principles in Word and Worship” in which he says…”“Spiritual growth isn’t about a vertical ascent to heaven but about growth in every dimension at once. It’s spirituality in 3-D. Growth in spirit doesn’t measure one’s proximity to a God above, but rather the spaciousness of one’s own soul—its volume, its capacity, its size.
“We need souls that can take in the world in all its complexity and diversity, yet still maintain our integrity. And we need souls that can love and be in relationship with all of this complexity. Instead of fight or flight, we need a spiritual posture of embrace.”
Jan Richardson is another UU Lumniary in Milford, New Hampshire, and she wrote a poem about inclusion that starts by talking about hunger. She says “You hardly knew how hungry you were to be gathered in,” Just saying the word “inclusion” conjures it up: The primal hunger to belong; the longing to be let in. No one likes standing outside the circle. No one likes leaning against the locked door listening to everyone else laughing inside. From the time we are little, inclusion and belonging is the thing we seek. It’s the hoped for Holy Grail. The promised resting place.
But Richardson will have none of that. To belong to something is only the beginning. That’s what she wants us to know. One minute she’s wrapping us in comforting words about settling in and allowing ourselves to finally breathe. The next minute she’s shaking us awake and telling us to get up and go.
That is what I want to do today. I want to help you settle into that place of solace and comfort where you know you belong and you know you are cherished and loved. Then I want to shake you awake and encourage you to share this space of comfort with those YOU love. I want you to let them know that in this space we nurture ALL of you… the physical part of you AND the spiritual side of you. That’s just another way of saying we practice inclusion.
Diversity is yet a third way of looking at inclusion…. And we are a diversified community. It is that diversity that makes us strong. So when someone asks you what is UU all about… you can tell them: We are diversified and we are inclusive.
And as Walter Winchel used to say at the end of the stories he would tell on his radio shows….
”And now you know… the rest of the story.”!
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