TENDING OUR GARDEN: Or Whose Faith Is it Anyway?

Most people think that they come to church to get religion, but I believe that they come to church to grow a religion! I also believe that in a Unitarian Universalist congregation they will find fertile ground. However, the garden they will find is not the formal English Garden, with carefully pruned topiaries. It is more like one of those wild and bushy perennial gardens, crowded with plants of a wide variety of textures, shapes, colors and sizes, which just keep coming back year after year. The flowers in our garden go by names such as Humanism, Theism, Feminism, Paganism, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Agnosticism, to name but a few. And all of these "isms" are jostling and crowding one another seeking their place in the sun. "What we need is a good gardener," they cry. "A little snip here, a little snip there, where's the weed wacker when you need one!? I need room to breathe!" But, one person's weed may be another person's wild flower; and each flower seeks special attention. This is a do-it-yourself garden, and in a Unitarian Universalist congregation there should be plenty of room to grow.
 
We Unitarians and Universalists grew out of Judeo-Christian traditions. Early Unitarians read the Scriptures and taught that there was only One God, that the Trinity did not exist in the Bible. They taught that Jesus was the son of God as we are all the sons and daughters of God, and that his life was an example of how we too should live. The miraculous birth and resurrection meant far less to them than Jesus's urgings to feed the hungry, help the poor, care for the sick and visit those in prison. Theodore Parker, a 19th Century Unitarian, maintained that while the trappings of Christianity were transitory, the essence of Jewish and Christian teachings was immutable: "Love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great first commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets." Parker concluded that this teaching (Matthew 22:37-40) "allows perfect freedom. It does not demand all people to think alike, but to think uprightly, and get as near as possible to truth; it does not demand all people to live alike, but to live holy, and get as near as possible to life perfectly divine." *
 
Another 19th Century Unitarian, William Ellery Channing, described Unitarian views on the interpretation of scripture as follows: "We feel it our bounden duty to exercise our reason upon it perpetually; to compare, to infer, to look beyond the letter to the spirit, to seek in the nature of the subject, and the aim of the writer, his true meaning; and, in general, to make use of what is known for explaining what is difficult, and for discovering new truths." *
 
The Universalist side of our heritage also grew out of the Christian tradition. They also based their teachings on interpretations of the scriptures. Their primary tenet was that God was love. The 19th Century Universalist, Hosea Ballou, taught that just as Adam had sinned for all (hu)mankind, so Jesus had saved all (hu)mankind. Ballou preached that heaven and hell were here on earth and of our own making. He also preached that it was our duty to bring about the Kingdom of God here in this world and in this life. He taught that because sin was carnal, when we died and left our bodies behind, we were immediately welcomed into the loving arms of God. For this belief he was called an ultra Universalist. His predecessor, John Murray, and his nephew, Adin Ballou, felt that most of us probably deserved purgatory first. (They were called Restorationists because the believed that eventually everyone was restored to God.)
 
Today, Liberal Christians and Unitarian Universalist Christians continue to grow their faith right here in our pews. Some of them are direct descendants, sixth generation Unitarians or Universalists. Others have grown into these beliefs through their own experience, and have found our garden to be an encouraging place to bloom.
 
Another root system which feeds our congregations is the Transcendentalist movement. Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, Bronson Alcott, and their like, overtook the carefully planted 19th Century Unitarian garden like a horde of Dandelions swept in on the wind. They were themselves Unitarians who had outgrown the faith. Their contemporaries tried desperately to weed them out, but in the end their ideas took root. Today, many of us cherish their teachings of self reliance, their mystical understanding of the direct experience of soul with Oversoul, and their love of Nature. It was the Transcendentalists who freed us from the Scriptures, and made us our own authority. Emerson said that we could intuit what was right and good without the aid of intermediaries. He believed that our conscience should be our guide. He found the super-natural in the natural, God was in Nature and in the world around us, not in a book or a ritual. To experience the divine all we had to do was be open to it. He wrote: "I can believe a miracle because I can raise my own arm. I can believe a miracle because I can remember. I can believe a miracle because I can speak and be understood by you."*
 
Thoreau taught us about civil disobedience, and Margaret Fuller was a voice for feminism long before feminism was a word. Education was of prime importance to these people. Bronson Alcott was a beloved and esteemed educator, although it was the writings of his daughter Louisa May which kept the family solvent. Some Transcendentalists became involved with utopian societies, trusting in the goodness of human endeavor. While none of their utopias survived beyond the first generation, the Transcendentalist impact on literature, on art, and on our own religious movement continues to flourish today.
 
The legacy of Transcendentalism has freed us to experience God, and Truth, and Meaning for ourselves. To the rigor of reason, they added the wonder of the direct encounter with the divine in nature and in life. When people scoff and say, "Oh, You Unitarians can believe anything you want," I call on my Transcendentalist roots when I answer, "No, we believe what we must because that is what our experience tells us is so."

The budding Transcendentalists among us today are mystics who represent AT LEAST as many experiences of God as there are people in this room. They are activists, responding to the authority of experience and conscience. They are lovers of nature, readers, writers, artists, and intellects. They are free spirits who often march to a different drummer.
 
The philosophy of the Transcendentalists left us wide open to new ideas; the scientific and industrial revolutions changed the face of the Cosmos as it was known at that time. A group of religious humanists, many of them Unitarian (and one Universalist), wrote the Humanist Manifesto in 1933. In part they wrote: "The time has come for widespread recognition of the radical changes in religious beliefs throughout the modern world... The time is past for mere revision of traditional attitudes. Science and economic change have disrupted the old beliefs. Religions the world over are under the necessity of coming to terms with new conditions created by newly increased knowledge and experience..."*
 
Humanism calls us to responsibility for ourselves and the world we live in. Humanists will say that it was not God who created us in His image, but we who created God in our image. Like the Existentialists, Humanists saw us as totally free of absolute laws and totally responsible for our every action. In the manifesto they wrote, "Humanists demand a shared life in a shared world... We assert that Humanism will : {a} affirm life rather than deny it, {b} seek to elicit the possibilities of life, not flee from it, and {c} endeavor to establish the conditions of a satisfactory life for all, not merely for a few."* The manifesto also warned against "idolatries of the mind and spirit." They warned against making science, or even Humanism itself, an idol. They foresaw that abuses even as evil as Nazism could be an outgrowth of such idolatry. They stressed that compassion for the individual, as well as for humanity, must be coupled with reason, if we are to take full responsibility for our actions in this life.
 
The Humanist philosophy grew strong in our faith, but not without a struggle. The Unitarian and Universalist Christians and Theists fought hard to hold their places in the garden and to push the Humanists out; but in the end Humanism grew tall, and the Christians and Theists seemed to wither in their shade.
 
The Humanist movement influenced both Unitarianism and Universalism, but it grew stronger in many Unitarian congregations than it did in many Universalist churches. When the two denominations merged in 1961, the cliche was often heard, "Unitarians are the Head of the Association and Universalists are the Heart."
 
During the 1960's, Unitarianism seemed to dominate. I joined a Universalist church in the late sixties and I recall one of the older members saying that she felt that they had lost their identity. When we called a new minister, the acceptance of God language dwindled, and the gentle thoughtful sermons were replaced by a more pragmatic approach. But in the seventies rumblings began to be heard. "Had we thrown the baby out with the bath water?" A need for more ritual and spiritual uplift began to be expressed.
 
I believe that in part the cry for more spirituality is a re-emergence of our Universalist heritage. Remember that Universalism was grounded in a God of love who brought Universal Salvation. The early Universalists were evangelists bringing their good news to a population lashed by threats of hell. "Give them not hell, but hope!" preached John Murray. That evangelistic spirit is on the rise again today.
 
I also believe that the Feminist movement within our congregations has had an effect. While I hate stereotypes, and will argue that I can be as rational and logical as the best, and that I know many men who seek a stronger sense of spirit, I do think that as women gained acknowledged power in our congregational hierarchies, and as more women established a presence in the pulpit, our movement became more relational in content. The compassion that tempers reason grew stronger in the balance of things.
 
A third, and possibly the most telling, source of our shift toward a more spiritual expression of our religion, is, I believe, generational. In the sixties when I joined the church, most of those who joined with me were "come outers," coming out of some religious tradition which had burned them or made them feel guilty because they simply couldn't believe what they were being taught. They came to us angry and hurt . Rituals or language which reminded them of their painful experiences, were shunned. Today, I see new members as "come inners;" they are coming IN to our movement looking FOR something (not running from something). Many new members are in interfaith relationships and are seeking a place where they can both be comfortable. Each person is looking for some of the trappings which make them feel at home. Thus we celebrate Hanukkah as well as Christmas, Passover as well as Easter. We preach about the meaning of the High Holy Days. And, we invite guest speakers from a variety of faiths, not only to expand our experience, but also, to acknowledge and support the diverse religious backgrounds in our midst.
 
Other new members are coming in from a secular world looking for something more. They stay because of our message and because of our community, but if they only sought a rational message and social interchange, they could go to a lecture and join a social club. They also seek the cues which tell them that this is sacred space. Candles, bells, prayer (or meditation), silence, beautiful music, traditional hymns (and hymns from different traditions). They also need a warm welcome and rapid integration into our community, where they can find the support they need to cultivate a new faith, and to weather the storms of life.
 
One irony in this shift toward spirituality is that it is often assumed that Humanism is anti-spiritual. I know many Humanists who are among the most spiritual people I have encountered. Koren Arisian, who was a former leader of the Ethical Culture Society in New York City, and the now retired minister of the 1st Unitarian Society in Minneapolis, Minnesota, wrote, "Spirituality is a potential aspect of all of life. It's not a given quantum, nor is it to be found in exclusive places. We bring it into existence through the relational dimensions of our being. The spirit when it's unlocked moves us towards others (and) helps us feel responsible for the well being of the world."*
 
I think that it is important to note that Arisian states "WE bring it (spirituality) into existence..." Spirituality is not a reflection of the super-natural, nor is it a specific mind-set imposed upon us from outside. Spirituality is a function of being open to the direct experience of the Universe. The Transcendentalists understood spirituality. Spirituality comes from within. I call it the Celebration of Life. It is a willingness to touch and be touched on a deep level by the essence of another person, by the human condition, by pain, by joy, by the sound of a cello masterfully played, by the smell of a rose, by the loss of a friend. Spirituality is not something you get; it is something you grow.
 
Whether you are a Humanist, a Transcendentalist, a UU Christian, or a UU Jew, a Unitarian, a Universalist, a Feminist, a Pagan ... a "come outer," or a "come inner," you are a part of this garden, this wild and bushy perennial garden, crowded with plants of a wide variety of textures, shapes, colors and sizes, which just keep coming back year after year. Amidst the pushing and shoving and jostling for space, each of us is struggling to grow a faith. "Whose faith is this anyway," you cry! The answer is, it is yours! Our Transcendentalist roots tell us that we are our own authority, and our Humanist roots tells us that we are responsible. Our Unitarian roots suggest we be rational, and our Universalist roots suggest compassion. We are well rooted!
 
But it is up to us to take the traditions and experiences which inform us and create our own hybrid plant. A personal religion will grow, bloom, lie fallow, propagate, and blossom again and again. It may even mutate. However your religion develops, it will be because of the work you do. Do you practice loving Holy in Life (in whatever form you experience it)? Do you practice loving your neighbor and your enemy as yourself? Do you feed the hungry, comfort the sick, help the poor? Do you leave yourself open to the experience of beauty, to the recognition of miracles? Do you give yourself time to empty yourself, so that you may be filled with a refreshing spirit? Do you take the time to know yourself? Do you seek community and fellowship? None of these things can we do for you. We can only provide the garden plot, some germinal ideas, and good company to help you with your work. It is you who must first prepare the soil to accept the seeds we sow. Together we will tend our garden. May we bloom and grow forever. And, may we help cultivate one another.
 
* All quotations are taken from Our Chosen Faith, by The Rev. John Buehrens,
and The Rev. Forrester Church, Beacon Press, Boston, MA 1989