The Bedrock of Deep Faith

Lately, I've been focused inward, reflecting on the Soul, what my own faith feels like and looks like. I came across this reading that I had used in my UU Covenant Group in 2007.  It sums up why I chose Unitarian Universalism, and provides a look at an inner stance that this religion promts.

Excerpt from Challenge of a Liberal Faith, George Marshall, Chapter 4, “The Religious Liberal Faces Life” UU Association, 1988

 "A person’s religion is not measured by the fervor of one’s Sunday devotions, one’s frequency at church meetings, or one’s pious expression of faith.  A genuine test of faith is how a person stands up in the face of some great grief, some unexpected tragedy, some harrowing experience, or some upsetting crisis.  The most devout often stumble, while the presumed backslider measures up.  During World War II some chaplains reported that religious faith was not measured by chapel attendance so much as by inner fortitude.

Too often the person whose faith depends on the dim religious light of a sanctuary or the soft tones of an organ gently soothing the harried emotions finds it is far removed from the actualities of the highways and byways, the dark street corners, the chill mortuary, or aseptic hospital bed.  Often the frenzied and harried parents facing the turbulence of adolescent strivings find this faith inadequate as they struggle with these pressures.  The modern adult at home and in business too often finds that constant demands of “decisions, decisions, decisions” wear down the resistance, so that one loses all sense of perspective, relationship, and serenity, thus acting impulsively without regard to values or primary concerns.

Religious liberalism can help.  Here is a faith that is not external, but internal.  The Unitarian Universalist church makes no other offer than this: to help a person develop a faith that is within.  Do not come to a Unitarian Universalist church to find religion, to learn beliefs, or to be given a faith.  Come only when you reach a point where all external faiths are rejected and you are ready to begin with the bedrock of your own being, experience, and character to construct the faith that is meaningful to you.”

What do you think about these words? Are you constructing a faith from within or without?

For a copy of Marshall's book Challenge of a Liberal Faith, CLICK HERE.

Blessings on your day!