The Five Pillars of UU
Unitarian Universalist Church of Muncie
October 26, 2008, Association Sunday
© 2008 Rev. Thomas M. Perchlik
Readings
Vexed Questions in Theology, published in 1886 by James Freeman Clarke, included an essay "The Five Points of Calvinism and the Five Points of the New Theology." This reading is created from excerpts. I have maintained his gender-exclusive wording:
"The number five has acquired as great significance in theology as it has in nature. The largest family of plants is that of which the flowers have five petals; and the most popular theology of modern times is that of Calvin with its five points of doctrine. These five points of Calvin relate to Absolute Decrees, Atonement by Christ for the Elect only, Original Sin, Effectual Calling, and the Perseverance of Saints.
"The main and essential doctrines of Orthodoxy in the past, have revolved around the ideas of sin and salvation. These creeds are as remarkable for what they omit as for what they assert. They hardly touch upon those truths which Jesus makes the main focus of his teaching, -- love to God, love to man, forgiveness of enemies, purity of heart and life, faith, hope, peace, patience, self-control, and goodness. It is certain that the theology of the future must dwell on something more than the five points of Calvinism. I have tried to consider what will be the five main parts of the coming theology, and have listed them below.
1. I believe the first point of doctrine in the theology of the future will be the Fatherhood of God. 2. The second point of doctrine in the new theology will be, I think, the Brotherhood of Man. 3. The third point of doctrine in the new theology will be the Leadership of Jesus. 4. The fourth point of the new theology will be a richer definition for "Salvation." A new motive will be added to increase the goodness of the world... the formation of character will be the fruit of Christian faith to an extent never before realized. 5. The fifth point of doctrine in the new theology will, as I believe, be the Continuity of Human Development in all worlds, or the Progress of Mankind onward and upward forever."
In 1954 the "Introduction" of A History of Unitarianism, by Earl Morse Wilbur, included these words: "I have spoken of [Unitarianism] as of a single movement in religious history. For although its developments in the countries with which it has been chiefly associated... have been so loosely connected or so little dependent upon each other that they might indeed easily be treated as distinct movements, yet they are in fact all joined together by very clear, even if sometimes slender, threads of historical sequence; and it will be shown that throughout their course they exhibit in common certain distinctive marks and principles which fundamentally characterize the movement as a whole...first, complete mental freedom in religion rather than bondage to creeds or confessions; second, the unrestricted use of reason in religion, rather than reliance upon external authority or past tradition; third, generous tolerance of differing religious views and usages rather than insistence upon uniformity in doctrine, worship or polity."
Sermon
Carpe Diem, is the saying in Latin: "Seize the day," make the best of it you can. This is the goal of our religion, to help each person live fully, to the fullest of our ability, to take what we are given and make something better of it. As the Rabbi said, centuries ago, "I come not that you might live, but that you might live abundantly!" We want to seize the day for we know that it can be taken over by pain and sorrow and anxiety. We know for a fact that there are abused and neglected children, even here in Muncie. We know that there are people who go hungry, or who's hunger has been taken over by addictions. In this town are lonely and people who are isolated by ideology, people who are unable to see their connectedness with others, or how they hurt others, or how others make them richer. This world, as the political season makes us very aware, is divided by fighting, misunderstanding and fear. The neo-Calvinism of our day needs to be replaced by the New Theology of today and theology is meaningful only in how it changes our behavior. So we try to claim the day, each day, for something good. We cannot do it alone, thus we join with and encourage all people who will put principle and vision above petty desire. We want people who will practice this religion, which is the distillation of all religion, and which produces the essence of faith: enduring hope.{mospagebreak}
A central affirmation of our religion is "deeds above creeds." Thus I want to propose five duties, five actions or practices, that are expected of everyone who is part of our movement. For 1400 years now Muslims have had a simple structure to their faith. If Islam is a temple, the singular roof of that temple is held up by five pillars, those basic duties incumbent on every Muslim. The metaphor of pillars is not mentioned in the Koran, but these essentials of Muslim religious duty are enumerated in the earliest Hadith and Muslim commentaries. There are many other fixed elements of that faith that are part of the interior of the temple, (belief in the Day of Judgment, angels and djinn, etc,) but the pillars of the life of faith for each Muslim are five. On the other hand the furniture of our faith is quite diverse, and can be moved around and changed, just as the chairs in this room. The architecture is also variable, and this leads to great diversity and creativity and also chaos and confusion. Today I note that it is not all chaos. In fact our religious UU roof is also held up by five pillars: Seek, Nurture, Work, Join, Embrace. There are many things that are generally expected of Unitarian Universalists, some are attitudes, but I wanted to choose standard actions that I have come to expect from UUs.
The first for the Muslim is shahada - speaking the statement of belief that there is one God, and Mohammad is his prophet. We UU s have no creeds and are bound by covenant not statement of belief. So for the UU the first duty is to seek the Truth as a way of life. We seek in freedom, guided by reason, and with tolerance, but these are not ends. Those three are requisites for seeking truth. Without them we fall back to doctrine and authoritarianism, with them we find the truth more confidently, more fully. We bid the soul in search of truth, adventure boldly and explore.
I was speaking with some of our teenagers last week and Nick Stidham spoke of an encounter with close-minded religion when other kids in school said to him that "atheists worship the devil." Nick's words were classic UU. He could have said that one who said this was an idiot, or evil, or just wrong. But instead he said, "Those people are ignorant, they need an education." We know that atheists can't worship that in which they don't believe. They worship human potential and the possibilities of the human spirit, as do all UUs. What is more we have faith in education, in learning and growing. The people of this congregation affirm that we are all more secure and healthy when we understand one another and we understand the world around us.
We say, theologically, that revelation is not sealed, that reality continues to unfold and our knowledge of reality continues to develop, and so there is no one statement of faith that will endure in all times and places. So many religious people cling to historic statements so much that they hold to the language in which they were formulated, even when the daily language of the people has changed, as with Latin or Arabic for example. We say that any one statement of faith, no matter how enduring and universal, will not be perfect for all times and people. We are life-long learners, we affirm the ongoing search for truth, using reason, in freedom, with tolerance of diversity and ambiguity.
But truth can be hard, there are some very difficult truths. So the second duty of each UU is to nurture your spirit. The spirit is our inner core, the place of deep peace and courage, Emotional resilience, and integrity. It must be nurtured daily. The daily requirement of Muslims is salah – the five daily prayers. For us each person must find what is connects us to what is most good, most sustaining, most inspiring; so some of us light candles, others take walks, and others watch birds. I know of one colleague who's daily round begins and ends with a chalice and a couple simple poems or songs. I was struck by the words of a member of this church who said that he reads the NY Times to be reminded of the beauty of a well crafted sentence, and the power of intelligent informed thought. One of my friends, years ago, told me that the daily chore of changing diapers had become a mere task to be done with as quickly as possible. She realized that she was not sending her baby on down a conveyor belt or assembly line, but that she was communicating something about human relationships to her child every moment. She was given a chance to connect with her baby instead of getting it out of the way; to slow down the process of changing rather than rush through infancy and miss it all together.{mospagebreak}
To nurture your spirit is not just to seek peace and well-being, but wholeness and courage. Another member of our congregation had a friend years before coming here. When the person, who would one day find our church, was explaining her doubts about Christian doctrine her friend became so shocked that she up and slapped her. Now the standard response, would have been to hit back or to say "You can't reject me, I reject you." But religion to her was not faithful clinging to doctrine but nurturing the spirit to express the greatest Love in the way she treated others and the way she responded to difficulty. The person who would someday become a UU told her friend she would forgive the slap. She wasn't going stop revising her beliefs but she was still willing to be friends. To this day they remain friends. They probably don't talk about religion much, but the UU is a living testament of forgiveness and love and courage.
To live well you must nurture your spirit, but religion is not all about you. Naturally we do think of ourselves, "what has the church done to nurture my spirit lately?" But part of how we gain a sense of value and significance, a way we know we are living fully, is by what we do for others, how we are important to others. Thus the third Muslim pillar is zakah - the giving of alms for the needy. Certainly we also affirm the importance of good stewardship of our resources, and we encourage a generous spirit in helping others, but we also know that money is not enough. It is not enough to give to those who are poor, but one must address the root causes of poverty, which sometimes are deeply systemic. So it is that the third pillar of being a UU is working for justice, for equal and fair treatment under law and social systems. Since our saying is "Deeds above Creeds" we must not just pay others to do something, we must do something to make the world a better place. "If you want peace," as one Catholic Pope said, "work for justice." And there is much injustice all around us. For instance the health care system is a mess; and the price of basic health care is out of control.
Once, there was a woman who had a duck as a pet. She loved this duck and it lived with her but then one day it became very ill. She did everything she could, but to no effect, so as it was dying she rushed to her doctor's office. Wrapped in a blanket, and proclaiming she had an emergency, she took the duck into a room and when the doctor came in she placed the duck on the table and said, "Do something." The doctor could see that the duck had already died, so he listened with his stethoscope and said, "I am sorry but this is a dead duck." "I did not come her for you to tell me that," she protested, "he could be in a coma; you could revive him. Do something!" So the doctor went out and after a few moments came in with a calico cat in his arms. He held it over the duck, but the cat only turned up its nose. With a sad face the doctor shook his head, but the woman was still upset. He went out and a few minutes he came back with a beautiful dog on a leash. The dog put his paws up on the examining table and sniffed up and down, but finally got a very sad look on his face and shook his head. The doctor gave him a biscuit and they left. After a few more minutes the doctor came back and said, "I am sorry but your duck has died and there is nothing I can do about it." Handing her a sheet of paper he said, "Here is my bill." It was for eight hundred dollars. The woman was furious. "How dare you charge me this much just to tell me that my beloved friend has died!" The doctor replied, "Well, I only charged you fifty for the office visit, but the remaining charges are for a cat scan and a lab report."
This silly story echoes real needs in this nation. We must work to make sure that people are not being charged for the most expensive medicine when affordable treatment is available. We must make sure that people do not have to forgo treatment until it is too late. We must make sure that people do not die just because they lack money for the most basic care and that all receive preventative care. If not we will all pay the price one way or the other. And so UU people work for justice in the health care system. At our General Assembly in 2008 one of the Actions of Immediate Witness was about problems in the health care and health insurance systems.
I expect to see UUs involved in making the world a place that is more fair. Some of us simply work to make sure our children fight and play fairly. Others make sure our work places offer everyone, not favoritism and racism, but equal opportunity and open information. All who are able in our church are registered voters, some of us work for the League of Voters, and some of us even get elected to government office and work to make Indiana a more just, equitable and compassionate state. This is what I have come to expect through years of involvement in UU churches, that UUs will work for Justice.{mospagebreak}
Justice and fairness take constant effort to maintain. Justice requires work and sacrifice. For Muslims the fourth pillar is swam or fasting, especially during the month of Ramadan. It is seen as a form of sacrifice; giving up something essential to be reminded of the source of blessings and the ultimate focus of the good life. I don't think we expect much material sacrifice. I've already noted that we do encourage one another to generosity of spirit and stewardship of our resources. We are also generally, health conscious and we try to eat well, though we embrace those who don't. Yet there is one thing that requires giving, if not sacrifice: that every UU join and support a UU congregation. Just the other day a man came by our church office to pick up a check for his company. While he was waiting for me to find it he said, "You know, I am a member of this church." I looked at him and, sensing that this was someone I had never seen before, the first thing that flashed through my mind was "How would I know that?" It turned out that he had joined the church back in the 1980s, had drifted away about ten years later and had not made any contribution to this church since. He was not even on our newsletter mailing list. As the old saying goes, "if practicing UU-ism was illegal would there be enough evidence to convict you?"
We know that regular participation in a religious community is good for you. In national studies there is a consistent correlation of regular religious activity with improved health and longer life. Our theology extends this truth. Though each of us is responsible for our own beliefs, we know that the truth is only found in community. Others in a free religious congregation compliment and extend our personal beliefs and insights. "The religious community is essential, for alone our vision is too narrow to see all that must be seen, and our strength too limited to do all that must be done. Together, our vision widens and our strength is renewed," as Rev. Mark Morrison-Reed wrote.
Back in 1967, Robert Tapp and UUA Committee on Goals, said the central element in the UU experience is a conversion experience, though a conversion quite different from that of "revivalist Protestantism." It came in three phases, including a rejection of the limits of other faiths and a claiming of UU values, such as being open-minded, having a tolerance of religious diversity, and a commitment to fairness and compassion in human relations. The third phase of the UU conversion, the most essential for its completion, is a strong identification with UU congregations and other UU persons.
Today, hard-edged Fundamentalists are organizing, like the Calvinists of the nineteenth century did, and they are being quite effective at changing the world. Authoritarian and repressive fundamentalism is countered by liberal religion and one form of liberal religion is UUism. We have a particular story and style, ever open, ever growing, yet rooted in a specific history and heritage. To be a UU is not just to be part of the "free church" in general, or tolerant and liberal in spirit, or vaguely progressive in religious orientation. To be a UU is to be an active member of a UU congregation.
This church is very important because it is part of what makes this world wonderful and helps us live more fully, seeking the truth, working for justice, nurturing our spirits, and helping us embrace this life. The final duty of every Muslim is hajj – making a pilgrimage to the holy Kaaba in Mecca. For the UU there is no one holy place, except for here and now, or the parts of here and now that are beautiful, good, and full. Thus our final duty is to embrace the world. In the words of Where is our holy Church?: "Where is our holy land? Within the human soul, wherever free minds truly seek with character the goal." We are always coming home if everywhere is the holy land. This is the life you have been given. This is the world you have to work with. Embrace life, uncover its wonder and beauty and hopeful potential. Embrace this world, knowing that your reward is to see its beauty and goodness blossoming in our own heart, at our own hearth, and all around.
This I expect of y'all: to affirm and embrace what is, to always seek the truth, to nurture your spirit, to always work for justice, and above all, to join and support a UU congregation and support today all in the UUA. These are the five pillars of UU practice. Uphold them every day, and they will uphold the temple of our faith.
