Rev. Bob Klein UUCLR January 22, 2012 ILLUUMINATION: CELEBRATING UNITARIAN UNIVERSALISM This is the 17 th Annual Celebration of IllUUmination at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Little Rock. Though it has changed in many ways over the years, it has remained a very special tradition at UUCLR. A few other UU congregations have celebrated this holiday that was created here, but it remains to be seen whether it will catch on across the UU universe! The Holiday began when Sheriann Lovelace-Chandler asked her religious education leaders, who happened to be her parents, why UUs didn t have their own holiday to celebrate. Since that time, we have celebrated IllUUmination, sometimes in December and sometimes in January. There have been several recent requests to move it back to December, which the Worship Team will consider, but for this winter we are celebrating IllUUmination this weekend. Last night at the IllUUmination Banquet, we had the chance to toast UUs who have been important to each of us, both living and dead who shaped this religious movement and our congregation, and influenced our lives. I spent most of the past week at the annual retreat of the UU Ministers of the Southwest Conference, at Camp Allen, a beautiful Episcopal retreat and conference center in Navasota, TX. Though the drive each way took 8 hours, it was energizing to hear the stories of colleagues new and old who lead and have led our congregations and facilitated the work of the district and UUA. It was good to check-in with each other, to share our stories, to worship together, to talk and study together and to sing together. (We also talked politics and our churches, had a few beers, and learned about chocolate cake shots.) In several places Unitarian Universalism is thriving, in others it is declining, while in yet others it is stuck on some plateau. At the national level decisions are being made to restructure to de-emphasize districts and strengthen regions, so that soon there may be 5 regional executives and the rest of the staff more specialized. It is of course uncertain what impact this will have on the current District organization and on congregations. 1
Historically, Unitarian Universalism has been re-organized to greater or lesser extent by every President of the UUA, often due to budgetary shortfall, but this seems to be one of the larger reorganizations. Our current UUA President, the Rev. Peter Morales has just put out a new white paper calling us to think of ourselves even more as a Religious Movement while embracing more social networking and other technological advances, and encouraging those who claim Unitarian Universalism without belonging to congregations. As a religious movement, Unitarian Universalism really is unique. Only eastern Bahai matches UUism in covering such a broad a swath of the religious spectrum while welcoming multiple individual beliefs. Though our roots are clearly in western Judeo-Christian religions, our possibilities lie in our willingness to embrace the wisdom of the many religious, philosophical, and humanistic beliefs that have been reshaping UUism throughout our history. Additionally, as a congregationally organized religious movement, we are somewhat different in each congregation, ranging from Christian to Humanist, Buddhist to Pagan, with a liberal seasoning of spiritual, atheist and agnostic influences. We are like the religion that a student kept trying to understand by describing it in one way when the teacher would say, not this, not that. There are many positive ways we can describe UUism, but the essence often seems amorphous, indescribable. For decades, it has been asked whether we are truly a unique religion or just a very liberal and inclusive manifestation of Christianity, or even a gathering place for the many living traditions without our own unique identity at all, or as a religious debating society or club. Whatever we are, we have some wonderful things to offer the nation and world in which we live, if we can just stop shooting ourselves in the foot. Too often we spend time fighting over our limitations rather than exploring our possibilities. As most of you know, Unitarians and Universalists helped to build this nation. It was not Christian Fundamentalists and Evangelicals that shaped the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, rather it was Deists and Unitarians, who at that time still thought of themselves as Christian. Thomas Jefferson was a deist who thought Unitarianism would become the predominant religion for the United States. John Adams and John Quincy 2
Adams were Unitarians, as were later US Presidents Millard Fillmore and William Howard Taft. Benjamin Franklin regularly attended the Unitarian Church when he was in London. A long list of prominent US leaders, thinkers, scientists, writers, doctors, social workers, nurses and entertainers have been Unitarians or Universalists or UUs. Though our numbers are small, our impact on this nation has been huge! We have made a significant impact on healthcare, political structure and action, civil rights, the sciences, religious and philosophical thought, and education! We have much to celebrate when we think of the history of Unitarian Universalism! Universalists were among the first to actively oppose slavery and work for civil rights for women and adequate healthcare and mental care. Unitarians often joined in those and other efforts for justice, health and compassion. 25 Women of UUCLR joined the Women s Emergency Committee to Re-Open the schools after the Central High integration crisis. At that time, I expect that that was pretty much all the women of the congregation which formed in 1950. Our UU Chalice is said also to remember the non-conformists, anti-trinitarians and freethinkers who gave their lives for freedom and liberty in religion. The Chalice is an old religious symbol re-purposed with a flame to symbolize the Unitarian Service Committee during World War II and later used to begin services and gatherings of UUs. Like IllUUmination, this relatively new use of the flaming chalice added a new dimension to the life of our religious community. It has become our unique religious symbol in its many manifestations! The flaming chalice reminds us of our Judeo-Christian roots and history, as well as hearth and spirit and pagan influences. As I was sharing a couple of weeks ago, the Standing on the Side of Love advocacy program has brought exciting new energy to the social justice efforts of Unitarian Universalism in the last few years. The yellow shirts with the big heart symbol are easy to recognize and pretty impressive when you see large gatherings of UUs standing for love and justice. This program will be in the lead in our special Justice General Assembly in Phoenix in June, as we gather to stand for justice for immigrants and an end to racial profiling! In the 50 years since the Unitarians and Universalists merged, the world has continued to change. UU congregations, ministers, and the association have 3
tried to keep pace with the changes in society, but change is always difficult. The movement today is not much larger than at the point of merger in 1961. Some congregations have grown, others have declined, some have closed, some have started. Some growth efforts have succeeded in individual congregations, while others have not. This congregation has cycled between 150 and 250 members for the last 3 or 4 decades, stuck at that mid-size church plateau that seems so hard to break through. But throughout those decades, this congregation has offered a religious community for those who could not find a spiritual or philosophical home anywhere else. We have offered a significant witness for peace, a safe haven for GLBT and Q persons, and have stood on the side of love whenever the rights of individuals or groups have been threatened. We also have made significant efforts to care for animals and the earth, regularly reminding ourselves of the need to eat and live lower on the food chain, re-cycling, reusing, and conserving. And we have reached out to those in need through our feeding program at Our House and our Literacy and Buddhism groups at the local men s prison. Beyond that, we care for each other, sharing friendship and fellowship, as we work out our own religious and spiritual explorations. Is there more that we can be doing? Of course there is. But we have continuously offered a significant witness to our faith by our presence here in Little Rock, and that is no small thing. We are known for our acceptance of others, and we are known for offering our facilities to groups and activities that have struggled to find a place. Is that enough? No, there is much more that we are called to do to live up to our Unitarian and especially Universalist name. Should we try to be all things to all people? No, there really are some boundaries that come with our principles, especially the expectation that we treat each other and all people with respect, that we seek justice, and that we express the love exemplified by Jesus and so many saints of every tradition. Those who will not respect others, and those who perpetuate injustice, and those who fail to love are not part of our community. Those who are striving to respect others, to do justice, and to love are most certainly welcome. None of us is perfect, but we seek leadership from those who have journeyed far along their path, who have learned love and justice and will share wisdom. It is such leaders we toast and celebrate this weekend. 4
Now I invite you each and all to share a word or two about what you have found to be the best or most important part of Unitarian Universalism. Feel free to mention those heroes in this congregation and throughout Unitarian Universalist history that have made a difference in your life. Let us celebrate together this religion that calls forth our commitment! So may it be! Amen and Blessed Be! 5