Several years ago, after I had already been a minister for several years, I had a woman in my congregation who was both a member of my Unitarian Universalist church and also a member of a Buddhist community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She would come to church on Sunday morning for our Unitarian Universalist worship.\u00a0 And then, during the week she would attend a meditation service and dharma talk at the Buddhist temple.\u00a0 She was a full member of both communities, participating in worship and study, and also active in leadership roles and fellowship opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I appreciated that this woman felt connected to both religious paths and that she found Unitarian Universalism and Buddhism to be compatible and complementary.\u00a0 That affirmed what I also have always loved about our Unitarian Universalism:\u00a0 that we are open to wisdom from diverse sources, and that we also add something of our own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But truthfully, I also felt a little protective of my Unitarian Universalism whenever I spoke with this woman.\u00a0 This is a story about my own insecurities not a reflection on her.\u00a0 I liked her.\u00a0 I admired her.\u00a0 But I couldn\u2019t help thinking as I spoke with her, \u201cWhy isn\u2019t Unitarian Universalism enough?\u201d\u00a0 Am I missing something in my faith, a need that you feel can only be satisfied beyond Unitarian Universalism?\u00a0 It was clear to me what this woman was getting at a Unitarian Universalist church that she wouldn\u2019t get at a Buddhist temple, but what was she getting there that we couldn\u2019t give her here?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well I never asked her that question directly. But I eventually did get my answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After this woman had been attending both the UU church and the Buddhist temple for a year or more, she told me that she had signed up to take a class at the Temple, a study group, where the group was going to read a book written by the founder of the sect she was involved in.\u00a0 The class would read a single book.\u00a0 And they planned to take at least one year on the project of thoroughly reading this one normal-sized book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The class would meet once a week and read together.\u00a0 They would read a paragraph.\u00a0 Then they would stop.\u00a0 They would meditate.\u00a0 They would discuss.\u00a0 They would read the paragraph a second time, stop, meditate, discuss.\u00a0 Then read the paragraph a third time.\u00a0 And so on, until, by intention, they completely understood every concept in the paragraph down to the level of each word.\u00a0 Their aim was not only to grasp the meaning intellectually, but to hold the precepts in their bodies and the language in their memories.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Each class session they could read only two or three pages with this level of attention, so it would take a year-or-so to read the entire book.\u00a0 The homework was to continuing reviewing what they had read together in class.\u00a0 They were not encouraged to read ahead.\u00a0 They would allow each section of writing to change them before moving on.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My unspoken response to this, and perhaps yours, too, as I tell you this story was, \u201cthat sounds a little cult-y.\u201d\u00a0 Who was the founder of this sect, and are his words really worthy of this obsessive attention?\u00a0 I actually did a little research on the Temple she was involved in to make sure my friend wasn\u2019t getting into something dangerous.\u00a0 But what I found wasn\u2019t troubling.\u00a0 It all seemed a perfectly benign form of Buddhism directed at a Western population.\u00a0 So mostly I turned my thoughts back to myself, thinking, \u201cWow.\u00a0 I would never do that.\u00a0 Wow.\u00a0 There isn\u2019t any book out there, by anyone, that I would be willing to give that kind of attention, to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And so I realized what this woman was getting from her Buddhist practice that we weren\u2019t offering through her Unitarian Universalist practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She was about to embark on a year-long course of study, where the intention wasn\u2019t just to understand some religious idea, but to actually change herself.\u00a0 The point of the class was that at the end of the year of reading she would be a different person.\u00a0 And she was willing to devote herself to this work.\u00a0 It was important to her, in a way, I realized, that religion just hadn\u2019t been that important to me, at least not judged by what I actually did with my spiritual life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She wasn\u2019t going to read a book just to be able to say, \u201chere is what this book is about.\u201d\u00a0 Summarized in a sentence or two, and isn\u2019t that interesting.\u00a0 She intended to actually incorporate the teaching into her life.\u00a0 To end the year in a different spiritual place than she started.\u00a0 To embark on a year of her spiritual life as an adventure, with some, unknown destination at the end, and to get there by intentionally stepping away from here, leaving her old self behind.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs we leave this friendly place\u2026;\u00a0 May the kindness which we learn\u2026\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To learn.\u00a0 To grow, which means to change.\u00a0 To deepen, which requires more than surface, fleeting attention.\u00a0 To mature in her spiritual life.\u00a0 To progress, instead of marking time.\u00a0 She was going to take her spiritual life seriously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We don\u2019t do that in Unitarian Universalism.\u00a0 Or at least, I didn\u2019t, in my spiritual life.\u00a0 And as a minister I realized I didn\u2019t really offer much of an experience like that to my congregation.\u00a0 That troubled me.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t Unitarian Universalism worthy of that kind of focused experience and learning?\u00a0 Couldn\u2019t our spiritual lives also benefit from an invitation to grow and deepen year by year?\u00a0 Shouldn\u2019t it be the job of the church to help people change their lives and achieve their spiritual goals?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wasn\u2019t interested in following the model of reading a single book for a year.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t fit with the Unitarian Universalist value of exploring broadly and encouraging the congregation to follow diverse paths.\u00a0 The gift of Unitarian Universalism is our unsettling questions about religion rather than settled answers.\u00a0 So we didn\u2019t need a guru, or a text, but I did like the model of considering a year in your spiritual community as a chunk of time, with a beginning and an end, and a journey in between, with the intention that we would arrive at the end of the year somewhere else in our spiritual life than we were when we began.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So since then, several years ago now, every year, I\u2019ve used my summers to think about the church year coming in September through June, as an opportunity to plan a journey that I and the congregation could take together.\u00a0 Focused on some important core of our lives as Unitarian Universalists and as spiritual beings generally.\u00a0 The large theme gives shape to weekly themes that become steps on the journey.\u00a0 As much as possible the large theme in worship might be reflected in the RE curriculum, and the Social Justice work and other programs of the church.\u00a0 And, of course, we stay flexible and make room for all the other things that churches need to do, the fixed holidays, and special traditions, and remaining responsive to the news of the world and the needs of our community.\u00a0 And, of course, guest ministers can bring whatever message they want to give to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t think of it as a cult.\u00a0 Here is an invitation you can accept or decline.\u00a0 But do think of this year-long plan as though you were signing up for a year-long course at a community college.\u00a0 Or perhaps, you were signing up to start a training program with the intention of running a marathon next spring.\u00a0 Or perhaps you wanted to learn to play an instrument and signed up for private lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In all these examples you start the year with an intention to know something, or be able to do something, or simply to be someone, different, at the end of the year, than you are now.\u00a0 You could make the same kind of intention in your spiritual life.\u00a0 And today, the first Sunday of our new church year is a good time to make that kind of intention.\u00a0 And I offer this church year as a help to you to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you signed up for a community college course you would have to spend the next year studying.\u00a0 If you hope to run a marathon next spring, you will need to spend several days a week running and gradually increasing your strength and endurance.\u00a0 If you want to play the saxophone reasonably well a year from now, you will have to get a saxophone, and a teacher, and you will have to practice, practice, practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s how we get better.\u00a0 That\u2019s how we gain a skill.\u00a0 That\u2019s how we grow and change.\u00a0 We study.\u00a0 We work.\u00a0 We train.\u00a0 We practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So for this church year, I\u2019ve chosen a theme that begins with spiritual practice, and then, after the first of the year, switches to talking about the goals of religion.\u00a0 First the personal goals of religion, that is, what we hope to get for ourselves, personally by doing this work.\u00a0 And second, for next spring, the social goals of religion, that is, what we hope as religious people to get for everyone, for the world we share, by doing our religious work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So first, for the fall, we\u2019re going to look at the \u201cwhat\u201d of religion.\u00a0 What do people actually do, to work on their faith?\u00a0 What are the actions we take to move us forward in our faith, to deepen and grow in our spiritual lives?\u00a0 Generally, we\u2019re going to call the \u201cwhat\u201d of religion \u201cspiritual practice,\u201d and there are dozens of spiritual practices to match every personality and interest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then in the winter and spring we will look at the \u201cwhy\u201d of religion.\u00a0 Why do people bother with their spiritual practice?\u00a0 What are they hoping to achieve?\u00a0 What\u2019s the point?\u00a0 Spiritual goals are as diverse as spiritual practice.\u00a0 So we will look at several possible personal goals in January, February, March, and then we\u2019ll look at the social goals of various religious paths in April, May, and June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So that\u2019s our year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, I realize that all of this talk about faith, spiritual goals, spiritual practice, even religion, is probably making some of you squirm in your seat.\u00a0 You\u2019re probably wondering whether a course in spiritual practice and spiritual goals is something you really want to sign up for.\u00a0 So let me begin by giving some definitions that I hope will make everyone feel included in this project and welcomed on this journey, even if the language I\u2019m using isn\u2019t the language you would choose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when I say spiritual, I mean spiritual in a sense where I sincerely believe that every person in this room, and indeed every person everywhere is spiritual.\u00a0 I don\u2019t mean spiritual in the sense of spirits or spiritualism.\u00a0 It\u2019s not about believing in supernatural beings, or complicated theologies about the afterlife, although those beliefs are certainly welcome here.\u00a0 Remember it\u2019s our values that unite us as Unitarian Universalists not our beliefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I mean spiritual, in the sense that the root of the word spirit is the same as the root of the word inspire, which itself just means to breathe.\u00a0 If you are alive and breathing you are spiritual, in my opinion.\u00a0 Human beings are spiritual beings because all of us in one way or another engages with the three questions of conscious existence that are the concerns of spirituality:\u00a0 Identity.\u00a0 Purpose.\u00a0 And Meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWho am I?\u201d\u00a0 \u201cWhat should I do?\u201d\u00a0 and \u201cWhy does it matter?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How you answer those questions defines your theology.\u00a0 And you can answer those questions in an atheist or a theistic way.\u00a0 But everyone asks those questions because they are essential to charting our way through life.\u00a0 And those are spiritual questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Identity.\u00a0 Who am I?\u00a0 What is essential about me?\u00a0 What is unique and different about me?\u00a0 What does it even mean to talk about a self?\u00a0 Do I have a soul separate from my body?\u00a0 And generally, who are we?\u00a0 What does it mean to be human?\u00a0 Are we kin to all animal life or is there something different about human existence?\u00a0 Are we immortal?\u00a0 Responsible?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Purpose.\u00a0 What Should I do?\u00a0 Should I go to school?\u00a0 Should I get married?\u00a0 Should I follow my dream?\u00a0 Should I be more practical?\u00a0 Should I live for my own pleasure?\u00a0 Should I be of service to others?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Why does it matter?\u00a0 Which is the question of meaning.\u00a0 Who cares?\u00a0 Or perhaps, \u201cwhat\u201d cares?\u00a0 Are there universal values, or only human values, or only cultural values, or only personal preferences?\u00a0 Why should we be \u201cgood\u201d?\u00a0 And is there even an objective way to judge between good and bad, or better and worse?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Again, how you answer those questions is your theology.\u00a0 As Unitarian Universalists we create our own theologies from the six sources that are listed in the front of your hymnal:\u00a0 your personal experience, people you respect, insights from the world\u2019s religions, the Judeo-Christian tradition, humanist teachings, reason, and science, and our relationship with the earth itself as our natural common home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But that you ask those questions makes you spiritual.\u00a0 Who am I the same and different from others?\u00a0 What should I do, among all the options of life?\u00a0 And why does it matter?\u00a0 Engaging with those questions in a deliberate way makes you religious.\u00a0 And what you do to engage with those question, plus your answers, constitutes your faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I hope those definitions will make it possible for everyone to join in to the work this year without getting bogged down in a discussion about language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spiritual practice, for me, is simply the work that we do to regularly engage with and return to the spiritual questions of Identity, Purpose, and Meaning.\u00a0 Who am I?\u00a0 What Should I do?\u00a0 And Why does it Matter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And finally, I bet, that most of you already do something like a spiritual practice, even if you don\u2019t call it that, or consider it as such.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In fact, I know that all of us have a spiritual practice, because the first one I want to talk about, the one I\u2019ll talk about next week, is the one we\u2019re all doing right now:\u00a0 gathering together regularly with our spiritual community in the act of worship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After that the categories of spiritual practice will broaden widely:\u00a0 communal practices like singing, music-making, studying. Personal practices like paying attention to what we eat or don\u2019t eat, movement practices and physical exercise, prayer and meditation, communing with nature.\u00a0 And in December public spiritual practices like taking your faith into the larger community to Side With Love through activism, volunteer work, public witness and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And lastly, an invitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you have a spiritual practice that you already engage in, I would love to have you share your practice from the pulpit on a Sunday.\u00a0 I would love for your community to hear what we all are doing and get to know each other better.\u00a0 I\u2019m happy to give you a few minutes on a Sunday to explain what you do, tell us how you got started, share what makes it easy or difficult to keep up with your practice, and describe what effect your spiritual practice has had on your life.\u00a0 I\u2019d love to have a testimonial every week so there\u2019s plenty of opportunity.\u00a0 Come and talk to me and I\u2019ll sign you up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are you ready for a year together?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are you ready to step off from where we are and with excitement and mystery see who we can be at the end of the year?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are you ready to do the work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OK then. Let\u2019s go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"