Sunday, April 5, 2009

Introduction

I am a Unitarian Universalist Christian. It's taken me many years, a lot of prayers and a few twisty roads to get here. More on the twisty roads in a later post. As a Christian, the Way of Jesus draws me to seek God, and his teachings as related in the Bible provide my moral compass and a vision of what life on earth might be if only we could bring the Kingdom of God to it. As a Unitarian Universalist (UU), I acknowledge that there is a Truth, Divine Light, Sacredness, Higher Power, God, but I do not profess that I have exclusive, complete knowledge of its existence or characteristics. The Face of God is seen through many windows--sacred scriptures, nature, television, the cosmos, people, books, movies, Facebook--and only by being aware and open can we see even a glimpse of Divinity's expanse and nature. I foster an attitude of gratitude for Life, its blessings, joys and sorrows. As a UU, I'm very interested in outcomes. You may have very different beliefs from me, but how do you put those beliefs into practice? Do you respect and listen to others? Do you care for nature and Mother Earth? Do you seek justice for all people or do you feel that only a few deserve it? Do you love your neighbor as the Samaritan did? Do you support other people in their spiritual walk even if it's different from yours? Outcomes.

What does your faith look like?

9 comments:

  1. Hi LaVerne--have you read Eliz. Gilbert's, _Eat, Pray, Love_ or any of Anne Lamott's nonfiction? Your comments made me think of those works....

    Nice blog!
    Deb

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  2. Thank you, LaVerne for this beautiful site - I know I will find treasures and it will be a blessing to me.

    I hope my faith looks like a smile, a hug, and useful hands. May all people see Jesus's compassion and God's unconditional love through my life. When I fall short, may I find "I'm sorry" easy words to say without shame. Mariel

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  3. What my faith look like? To love G-d and our neighbors, as Jesus said. Like him I am simply a Unitarian :-) Your blog looks promising. Thanks for sharing. Yours, Knut in Norway

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  4. I've heard a lot about Anne Lamott's writing, Deb, but have not yet dug in. Thanks for reminding me and for the suggestion of Elizabeth Gilbert. I think a list of "good books" would be a valuable addition to this blog.

    Hi, Mariel, good to hear from you. I agree. I need a little (big) Spirit Push to say "I'm sorry". May it be so.

    Welcome, Knut. I'll look forward to your perspective from Norway. I love blogs for the wide view we can get. Very Universalist!

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  5. Hey LaVerne,
    I am in the process of completing "Just Faith", a social concerns course focused on Catholic social teachings. Through this group I have been introduced to many local social issues through border crossing experiences such as walking with the homeless, visiting in the prison, meeting with immigrates and community restoration. I have found these experience eye opening. I have also become an active voice of political advocacy. As a group, we have explored ways to get involved in organizations such as Catholic Relief Services to help fight global poverty/hunger/economical oppression. I have made minor changes in my everyday life to foster the growth of a stronger moral conscience by increasing my awareness of how I spend my own money such as seeking out fair trade, local and organic products. I will be co-leading the group next year if we are able to recruit enough new interested people from the local Churches in this area. For myself, my beliefs are Jesus centered but God focused and very controversial to the organized religion to which I belong. However I enjoy raising the eyebrows of my fellow group members by challenging them to come out of their comfort zones and identify the injustices that occur everyday within our own religious structure against gays, women and other groups oppressed under the patriarchy power umbrella. I believe Jesus was not concerned with the future of the "institutional church" but the people. I have found Albert Nolan's, Jesus Today, to be very inspirational. One quote that I have reflected repeatedly upon is "it is illegal for poor people to steal a loaf of bread but perfectly legal for a rich man to hoard more food and other resources than he or she can ever make use of". For the present time, my spiritual journey has begun and continues in the Catholic Church. Here is where God placed me, I first met God and have grown to know and love him. I believe God creates through tension/chaos so I will remain in this state of tension. I know God as "father" who loves all people unconditionally and the "Kingdom" can be fully experienced in a truly egalitarian society that respect creation and differences using the legal system to serve the well being of all human persons.

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  6. Hi LaVerne,

    I admired your ability to put this down on paper. I have always found faith issues difficult to verbalize. But happy you include action which I feel the strongest about, words without actions can be empty. Happy other people are adding their comments and from around the world WOW!. Keep up the good work, Many Hugs, Janet

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  7. Hey, Lynda,
    You go, girl! That's what we're talking about. Stretching who you are, trying new ways to get out in the world and serve. God resides in Missouri, no doubt, because He says, "Show me!" We'll talk about this more on Friday, when I share the idea of "Useful Righteousness". See you then.

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  8. Thanks for the hugs, Janet. It's a little scary being out here in the blog-o-sphere for the first time, so I'm grateful for hugs, prayers, positive ripples, whatever support comes my way. A kind word is just another way to show our love. Love is not just an emotion, it's an action verb. So go and DO love today!

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  9. LaVerne,

    I concur with Deb, above, about Anne Lamott. I think you'd like her books a lot. And sticking out my neck even more into the controversial, the books by Bishop John Shelby Spong truly speak to me. Many people think that he is trying to tear down Christianity, but for me, it's the opposite; he's trying to reconcile Biblical teachings with modern scientific thought. He does it remarkably well and with an obvious love for it.

    I'm looking forward to taking this journey with you. As always, you make me think! :-)

    Cheers! Suzi

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