Minister's Blog

Four AM wild thoughts time:

I am ruminating on the artificiality of Canadians/USA/Mexicans as “units” competing with each other to live – to have food, water, shelter, and comfort over the other, as if we are not all human beings in need. Governance and economic systems are artificial boundaries, flags and trade agreements are just stories made up to divide and conquer when the central narrative should be “how can we help each other.” Laws are made to legitimize stealing from some to enrich others. The bottom line is not human or humane, but about greed. 

I’m tired of the competitive bullshit, the monetizing of everything to take love and care out of the exchange between people. People compelled to measure themselves as success or failure by bank accounts instead of the art, music, care, thought, cooperation, and Love they bring to life. No wonder we are an addicted society, a broken culture… everyone’s worth and dignity is bought and sold, incarcerated and monitored, monetized and advertised as if it was never ours to begin with.

When did I sell myself/yourself into this? Probably long ago in childhood while watching tv, seduced by some ad for this or that, inculcated into the mother supremacy culture story. How do I/we buy ourselves back? Maybe by small acts of defiance – by acting as if there are no Mexicans, Canadians, US… just hold onto each other as human beings, as people of the planet – together. That should disturb someone. 

We will find ways to reclaim humanity, we have to. Vote for someone else’s worth and dignity before your own, and we will bend towards justice even a little bit more every time.

To Be Determined,
May 2018
Rev. Jim Parrish

Our Mission: As a diverse, accepting faith community, we promote justice and service while seeking personal and spiritual growth. (2014)

To accomplish our Mission we shall:

1. Serve as a welcoming religious community for all who practice a liberal religious life in agreement with our Principles and Covenant.

1. Open our hearts and doors for those in need; share laughter with those celebrating, and comfort those in sadness and grief.

1. Strive to be a center of excellence for intellectual, emotional, personal, and spiritual learning, and promote growth and dialogue between ours and other sources of religious and spiritual life.

1. Provide ourselves and the wider community with resources of venue, volunteers, programming, and leadership to make personal and societal changes towards love, happiness, equality, and justice.  

Recently several members of UUFF, and one from our Web of Life affinity group, participated in a University of Arkansas class at the invitation of their professor. The class was nine or so students of sociology, many working towards a counseling degree, and the subject was the attitudes and coping mechanisms of folks who are of a “minority” religion in a region where mainline Christianity was dominant. Mike McMullin, Sarah Faitak, and I would represent our different ways of being Unitarian Universalist, and Ethan Whiting would speak to being “Pagan,” an earth centered religious belief system. The class was run by Professor Mindy Bradley, who is also UU, and we spent a couple of hours having a wonderful conversation about religion, beliefs, spirituality, and dealing with work, social, and community prejudices.

Before we started, I invited the class to introduce themselves to us and tell of their own religious beliefs and journeys. We want to hear who they were religiously, so we could be comfortable when we shared our stories. What we heard was enlightening, and to me missional to UUFF. I would say two thirds of the class were open in their religious journey, and very much Unitarian Universalist in attitude and practice. There was acknowledgement of interest in Earth Spirituality as well. When we visitors began sharing our own backgrounds and journeys to UU and Paganism, we were among folks who could be us. They understood that we were proud to be liberal religionists, that we live our UU Principles and beliefs in our lives while at home, work, and as activists in the community. I felt these students were committed to doing good in the world, and our Principles are compatible with them. And yes, I did give them a copy of our Principles and Sources as reference materials, along with a bookmark with our UUFF address on it. UU evangelism!

So here is the tie into our Mission and its Goals – Many students are our people who just need to know we exist. We need to help them get into the wider world with Unitarian Universalism as their underlying religious community. Some of them may stay in Fayetteville, but many will leave… to go to other cities and towns to join UU churches, or at least help others find us (“Say, you sound as if you are UU, you should check them out!”). If we are going to get the “Nones,” (the religiously unaffiliated who need community but do not want to have their religion dictated to them), as UU, we need to be visible and relevant to them. Many of these Nones on campus are of diverse cultural backgrounds who need to know they have a place and people who accept them.

At the very least… maybe we can be a place that can care for and feed them regularly? Student hunger is a thing. There are many students who are on the edge financially, and soup kitchens for them is not beyond thought, or better yet, a night of food, coffee, study and relaxation in a UU setting. Other churches are hosting community meals at this time.

Here is another thought, if we become visible to the students, we are visible to the faculty who need us as well. We need them to see us too.

UUFF and our Y’ALL group, Young Adults Leading and Learning, have attracted a number of fantastic students these past few years, and we enjoy their time with us – even though we struggle to know what to do for and with them! They have such energy, but have to spend it studying and transitioning their lives from school to the world, and yes, work. Which brings up another point… on top of this student thing, there are Young Adults who WORK in our community! And they need to know we exist and have our support as well… our understanding of how to be a caring religious community for their needs as well!

I think we should ask YA students and workers what they need from a religious community like us, ask ourselves how might we do it, and do it well… so I’m asking. We have this building near campus that needs updating, but it can serve right now to introduce students and working YAs to UU, let them feel like there is a religious community who has their back. Our Y’ALL folks have been doing this for a couple of years now, by gathering to share in entertainment, food, and discussion. How can we support them, how can we do this better?

One of our mission goals is to serve as a welcoming community for liberal religionists. This takes advertising, being found, and providing a proper, consistent and appropriate venue for spiritual learning in community. We have this huge population of students and faculty right next to us to explore and welcome, as well as the cities full of working YAs all around us. I know it has been a tough sell in the past, but I see us as Y’ALL doing it right! The lessons Young Adults can teach us will help with outreach to the rest of Fayetteville as well, to those working YAs who need to know who we are.

This isn’t the only outreach we should consider, but I’m writing this so we start thinking about our mission and where it might take us. The University and Young Adults of all kinds are a possibility of mission focus, and I’d love for us to think of other goals so we can prioritize, marshal our resources, and move our mission forward! UUFF has lots of potential, really a lot that hasn’t been tapped, and I think having missional goals that we can see and feel will draw this potential out.

Like music! More music! A great missional goal… excellence in worship and spiritual development! And Young Adults love music! But that is another article and more discussion, right? Your Board in on it… looking to the future, let’s think about how wonderful it could be, and help it become.

Peace,
Jim

Rev. Jim Parrish

In late January I spent a week at an event called the “Center Institute for Excellence in Ministry” hosted by the Unitarian Universalist Ministerial Association (UUMA), to which I belong. The focus of the institute is just as its title says, “Excellence in Ministry,” and it goes about the work in unexpected ways. If there is something ministers do not typically get it is regular occasions to be in worship, to have other ministers hold onto us with their words, music, and liturgy, so we might be nourished in our religious lives. The week at the institute included, besides seminars and classes to learn and renew ministerial arts, a full worship and vespers every day to immerse oneself within. Being a retreat of ministers by ministers, our worship was full of exploration and revelation, and too many moments where a phrase or word made one pause in reflection, or tension, change, and renewal.

One of those phrases that held me was this: “worship and liturgy is not a “sit and soak” gathering.” I do not specifically remember what words came before or after except that it generated this phrase in my notebook as I reflected on the them:

Worship and liturgy is not a “sit and soak” gathering, but the work of the people to become and build what they wish for themselves and the world.

The work of the people to become. 

This means you, and me (and other worship leaders) working on a Sunday morning to make something new…  the work of the people to become. How does this happen in worship? Aren’t we just “sitting and soaking” in words and music?

Worship in UU is to raise up our highest ideals for examination and renewal – to bring the meanings of our Principles and Sources to our attention, and hold them up to our personal and public lives. It is a complex dance as well, because not all of us are in the same place at the same time. Among others, there are the social justice warriors who are carrying the fire of change in their heart, there are those hurt by life, by economics, by relationships, who needs to be held in community for strength and comfort, and those who look for communal inspiration for UUFF to be a place of change for themselves and the society around them. 

Our Mission Statement holds all of this: 

As a diverse, accepting faith community, we promote justice and service while seeking personal and spiritual growth.

At the Institute I witnessed worship that gathered us together as a people, raised us up in solidarity, called us into right relationship, and held us accountable for the ideals we hold. We sat and soaked, we stood and sang, we listened and thought, and most of all, we knew that we were Unitarian Universalists together on a mission to become something better, all the time, and drag the world along with us as we were able. 

One of my goals this year is to open Sunday worship to this kind of experience, to hold onto each other as UUs, to highlight our mission of Service for Justice, and open space to find personal and spiritual growth. What I gained from the Institute is that Sunday is not about one person dragging everyone along, but about us working together towards a “hot tub of UU,” soaking in the shared energy, to accomplish a goal. Our Chalice Team’s planning, Choir Accompanist and Director’s holding of musical/emotional space, and our Welcome Team’s (greeter/ushers/service coordinators) ability to integrate everyone to UUFF on a Sunday morning are vital to the shared story and message of the service. Your understanding of who you are as a UU, what our mission is as a Fellowship is and sharing it as a congregation is the soak that makes a difference. The service is a catalyst, the invitation to jump into the water, but you my dear congregation, you are the water, the energy that makes the work towards change happen. 

I, and others who minister to you on a Sunday, will invite you to the tub, will provide the bubbles, the jets of thought, music, and contemplation in worship. It is the work of the people to build community in worship, revitalize and energize each other with your presence, to go out into the world refreshed and renewed spiritually, ready to do the work and build what you dream of. Dreams of personal growth in a world that is about justice and peace, and worth and dignity.  

Peace, Rev. Jim Parrish

PS: I share with you one of the songs we sang constantly at institute… that tied the week together. Enjoy.

 Poem and Song “Breaths” 

Well, I’ll just say, it is a New Year and Happiness is ours to find in it… and I do hope you find yours!  (I’ll help if I can).

So let’s start the year with some religious thought in the vein of “what is this that we do” as liberal religionists.

I recently read an article that posited putting walls around the definition and sources of the word “Philosophy” defeats its usefulness. Definitions that hold philosophy to be strictly historic/academic versions like Stoicism, Euro-centric, or Greek, etc., without a dialogue between the many public versions humans create (Malcolm X, African Ubuntu, Wendell Berry, etc.), makes the practice of philosophy limited and incapable of being useful for ultimate human good. For example, if the philosophy of life found within Rumi’s poetry is rejected by academic “philosophy” because it is foreign and (shock!) poetry, then it is not a wholly useful definition, but an orthodoxy – an approved form that rejects all others. 

I’d replace the word “philosophy” with “religion” in the same argument. When a religious body claims ultimate truth by placing walls around it, then its capability of holding humanity in all its complexity, in all of its needs, is lost. This can be demonstrated by every “ultimate truth” Christian sect formed to replace the former “truth” sect that didn’t get it just right, so people go and form a “better” sect. The walls put up invite the need for continual “reformation.” This happens in other religious groups as well, even in Unitarian Universalism. For example, some UUs would reject some of our stated Sources of religious thought/truth as being irrational, even though the source has a historically long and successful meaning in human development, therefore has a rational reason for existing (and being reformed as well). Something in every source we name has social evolutionary meaning, so maybe the best thing to do is to learn from the thought so it is not lost, or help in the dialogue that makes it and us up to date with our personal and cultural needs. 

Want to have a robust and capable Religion or Philosophy? (Aside: I use these words interchangeably sometimes, defining them as instructives on “How We Live,” because both terms contain the effort to explain or define how we live our lives: some of the “how we live” coming from the instruction of a religion/philosophy, some coming from parental culture, some from education, some from experience, and some from many other sources, etc.) So, back to the question, how to have a robust Religion/Philosophy? Using the definition argument above, to have a robust religion/philosophy is to open it up to broad study of human thought and culture for the possibility of reformation. Open the definition so as to invite new revelations, and celebrate the many small truths humanity has discovered for living a peaceful, capable, interconnected, and full human life. Learn ways to live and be whole with instruction from wise individuals and a diversity of human experience. Glean wisdom from many cultures and societies, and from study and connection to our natural world, its plants and animals and how they live. When we become entrenched in labels and ideologies as our focus, from liberal to conservative, we’re probably as stuck as someone we are tut-tutting about. 

In Unitarian Universalism we tend to hang onto our Principles as our communal “golden rule” ideals that make us UU. We are fortunate that they are malleable, so as to not become “creedal,” but in the end, they are not enough to make us UU, or keep us from orthodoxy. This takes more, takes a place of tension that we learn in. I believe it is dialogue within our stated Sources that we UUs can be “saved” from orthodoxy, the very piece of our covenant that we tend to ignore. The UU Sources hold our richest mine of human endeavor for peace and justice, religious/philosophical instruction as well as freedom from definitions that wall us off from the rest of humanity. I also believe they are, like the Principles, not complete.

Our Sources range from recognizing that humanity has a spiritual side with a common sense of awe and wonder about the mystery of who and where we are in the cosmos, to recognizing various religious and rational stances in understanding life, to holding sacred our relationship with the universe, the earth, and the circle of life that we are interconnected within. I believe we can read into our Sources much of what I speak of above; permission to an open search of human, natural, and cosmic sources of wisdom and knowledge so we do not become entrenched in our walls of orthodoxy. But this is where I think we UUs are like many other religion/philosophers, we tend to be comfortable in our place of belief, our personal line of Source that we hold onto tightly. I can understand this, as a life story takes work, a consistent narrative to hold us together, and keeping an open edge to our Source(s) takes energy that our society does not afford us easily. It’s a wonder Unitarian Universalism exists (and that has brought on another thought about classism for another essay), but it thankfully does, so you and I, and hopefully many others, figure out that its Open Source way of religion is truly a salvation for humankind.

Our recent foray into #MeToo, and the underlying power structures of our society built on sexual violence, is an example of being able to step away from the orthodox narrative and recognize the reality we live within. UUs are free to formulate ways to change us and society for the better in ways other religions and philosophies are not. We listened to feminist philosophers beginning in the 60s, building on our Suffrage legacy out of the 1800’s, to grow and change. To be a bit self congratulatory, UU recognized the sexual power imbalance decades ago, and began reformations that are recognized today as cutting edge. We have more than 50% female identified clergy in our denomination, with a substantial percentage of LGBTQ clergy and leadership as well. We began advanced assessment and training for seminarians about appropriate sexual boundaries before it became a crisis with the Roman Catholic Church revelations. And we have (with UCC) Our Whole Lives sexuality and relationship programming along with advanced programs for multicultural training. All coming from listening to Sources outside the mainstream.

But I still see congregants divided by their Sources, and we need to work on this. As a longtime Humanist myself, I was pleasantly surprised by the scientists (evolutionary biologist Ursula Goodenough for one) who, in the last decade, joined with Humanist and Theist theologians to bring several sources together into Religious Naturalism (RN). Religious Naturalism is an old idea having a resurgence with the need for religion and science to find relevancy for generations who live in both worlds. RN is still finding its way, but the dialogue it brings between science, rationalism, earth spirituality, and an evolving theism is fascinating and full of boundary crossing potential. RN is the result of rejecting orthodoxy for synthesis, and has the potential to bring humanity closer together. I see a lot of growth that RN needs to do, but its potential is vast. (RN website)

So… here is our personal project as a Unitarian Universalists (Invitation to others too!): to review our Sources of being, and ask which you resonate with, then ask for our community UUFF, to help in exploring the sources in greater depth! I would love to have this conversation, this dialogue! It is how we’ll be even more free in our religious life. I would even like help developing a new Source… one that celebrates the individual in community, each one of us in our diverse glory, and what we bring to the dialogue that is life.

So goes my beginning of the year essay… let’s see where it leads.

On Remembering:

Human beings are odd creatures, but I think we come by it naturally, evolved into our oddness that is. I don’t believe we are the only animal that mourns our dead, but we may be the only ones who worry about it so much that we create myriads of interesting, imaginative places for them to reside until we join them. For myself, at one time, I decided that if after death there is a remnant of the pitiful being called by my name left in the quantum foundations of this universe, I would like to explore the galaxies and see if there are multi-universes. But as I age I find that this seems as lonely as being gathered to some super-being to sing its praises. I think I’ll not worry about it, live while I can, and take some time to remember and bring to life family and friends I treasure in my own mind and heart… universe enough, if someone will do this for me.  

Remembering our dead, our ancestors, can be a healthy (and emotional) exercise in being human, in holding onto the lessons they can teach us. As I think about it, for a robust religious (how we live) component of remembering our ancestors, we would examine the lessons taught by that life and be warmed by, warned of, or both, of living such a way. I think there would be stories of puzzling lives that we would not understand, exemplary lives with feet of clay, lives that frighten, lives of devotion, lives of pain, lives of love… all kinds of complex, ways of being human. None would be valueless, all giving us clues to our own life, even as we remember them.

If we grew up in a society that had a strong ancestor worship component of its religion(s), our life would be understood as a book to be examined by those coming after us, and a framework of ethics and morals from that culture of examination, a village of people including those long gone, would help raise us. It may be that our U.S. culture of individualism is why we never developed ancestor worship seriously, and that may be to our detriment. On the other hand, a society that holds its values as deep as death may not be able to examine itself seriously for prejudices, built in bigotry, and inequality held by its dead. This may be demonstrated in statues to commemorate confederate war dead that do not ask the present population to look at their sins, but hold onto a false glory. Our dead need to be held in the light of present and future ethics, morals, and Principles, and their stories told within that light, so we learn how to change for the better as well. Maybe a gentle remembrance is a good thing compared to a culture of ancestor worship… something to ponder.

“Remembering our Dead: Love Lives On” is how we’ll frame our memorial service Sunday morning, October 29th at UUFF. We have traditions from different European and American cultures that guide us in ritual around this time of year including All Souls, Samhain, Dia de los Muertos,  and African American Funerals. Especially informative for us are Unitarian Universalist Memorial Services, which recognize, celebrate, and grieve the whole life of the deceased, their shadows as well as their lights. We also know that for some the loss of an animal companion needs to be recognized as well, that love and loyalty is not just human.

This is not an easy service, it holds in it loss, grief, tears, and maybe some anger. But it also has laughter, love, caring, and lessons. Lessons of life lived and lost, of family and friends who hold onto the stories, the ups and downs, the joys, the grief, and mostly their love. This is a service for young and old, no one should be left out of this natural part of our “learning how to live with having to die.” Bring a picture, a memento, favorite food, something that reminds you of your loved one, and place it on our Remembrance Altar. We will speak the names of those to be remembered, and take time to honor them in poetry, music, story and silence.

Peace,

Rev. Jim Parrish

“Lunch With Jesus” is a story sermon written for the UU Fellowship of Fayetteville’s Easter service in 2015. Jesus is relevant to Unitarian Universalism in a way that continues to grow, mostly as one of our sources belonging to the “words and deeds of prophetic people.” If our religious ancestors had not reclaimed the historical Jesus – the transcendental, human, unitarian, universalist, and Liberationist Jesus, then UU would not be as it is today. I updated and reprised the sermon in 2017 as its message was still relevant, and even more urgent with the political and social changes surrounding us. Also, we had a number of new folks and children who had not heard it, and I love telling the story. This is the updated version from 2017, and a reminder: it is written more as a sermon, prose to be spoken.

“Lunch with Jesus”

Rev. Jim Parrish

The stories attributed to Jesus in the New Testament of the Christian Bible are known as the parables, and many of them are not so miraculous or supernatural, but of a human nature… a human nature that tells a story of how we should be and act on the side of love over separation, fear, and hate.

In our story for all ages this morning, “Jesus, The Carpenter’s Son,” author Sophia Lyon Fahs imagined the way Jesus learned what his religion, Judaism, meant to him ethically and morally. She wrote about how it influenced the way he wanted to live and teach, and why his religious life came to be one of peace and acceptance of others over violence and separation.

Jesus hung out with foreigners, tax collectors, prostitutes, and other people considered of common or “low stature,” but he also invited those with power or wealth into equity. He didn’t ask them for belief or loyalty, but by his actions and words demonstrated that they were all equal and loved in his heart, and that of his G-d. Jesus was open to people being people and finding love there.

Which, when you think about it, is really the best parenting model there is. How do we teach children? By yelling at them?

The Disciples would yell at Jesus that he was not “handing down the law!”

and I know that sometimes, as a parent, I would “hand down the law,”      and get nowhere…

But as I look back at my parenting years, I see that modeling what I believed to be “how we should live” (and this was not perfect) was the most effective thing my spouse and I could do as parents.

Jesus, in his sermons and parables, modeled a society that broke down barriers and lifted people up.

I was looking for a new story that illustrated this, a modern parable of Jesus, and not finding one, I wrote this about a Jesus of today…

~~~~

“The Parable of Lunch with Jesus”

Jesus was sleeping late in the back of our old Camp-More Recreational Vehicle. We’d pulled into the Indiana KOA in the wee hours of the morning, having gotten a late start the day before.

Somehow Lord Krishna and his biker gang had found us at our previous campsite, and of course, all heaven broke out. Krishna and Jesus played music into the wee hours of the morning, and us campers spent the night laughing, singing, and dancing along with them.

The next day, when we finally had enough sleep to be safe on the road, Krishna with his colorful entourage of bikers, and us in our old RV, waved goodbye and parted ways… a LOT later than we’d planned. So when we finally got to our next camp it was lunch we would be waking up to serve, which is typical these days.

Some background…

I’d met Jesus in New York City during an Occupy Wall Street event, he being a stockbroker, and I a protester… it’s another story altogether, kinda complicated…

suffice it to say he asked me and a couple of others to help him to his next gig, and after several doubting days (my name could have been Thomas), eventually we found his message compelling, so we joined up.

I’m Artie, and the other two disciples on this trip are Yolanda and Charles. I’m a natural born Unitarian and atheist, so some of this trip is a bit of a stretch for me. But my parents and UU church raised me good, open to questions and being curious, so I’m going to go with the experience as it is and see what it teaches me…   even though I just shake my head now and again and wonder what rabbit hole I’ve dropped into.

I’ve gotten more used to the idea of Krishna, Asase Ya, Buddha, or Artemis showing up on our trips to just to hang out, and from what I’ve seen it’s actually confirmed my non-theism, that the religion is not about being supernatural, but super-natural…

however what I’m left with will take some time to unpack and sort out… let alone explain or teach.

Getting back to the journey – Jesus has an appointment with fate, always has, always does, and we help him get to it, whatever or wherever it is.  

On the way his job is to spread the word of love and acceptance, what else? It’s up to Yolanda and Charles and me try to keep the old RV going, help with the crowds, and figure out what he’s talking about for the parables. Some days are better than others.

Today, like I said, we’re late waking up at the KOA campground, so we forget about breakfast and start getting our camp ready to serve lunch. I fire up the grill and we get chairs set up and the picnic table ready. I’m the cook, so I haul out our lunch staples; Jesus’s Bologna (the kind that is sliced with the wrapper still on it to peel in red rings), cheese, Wonder Bread, and Miracle Whip.  Jesus loves his fried bologna sandwiches, with American cheese and Miracle Whip.

So we set up and we wait for Jesus to wake up, not for long, Jesus has an uncanny timing to know when he’s on.

Though this time he is still brushing his teeth as he looks out of the RV, kinda foaming at the mouth, grinning, and looking a little sheepish. He gives us a look asking forgiveness, and goes to spit and rinse.

Just to let you know, when I met Jesus on Wall Street, he looked like a banker, an old white male banker, and now, well now he looks more like a Bob Marley.

This is one of those things we had to work through before I would sign on to be his RV driver… again, another story altogether.

Back to lunch.

Our campsite is next to the playground, so there are a number of kids swinging, running and laughing nearby… Jesus really likes this, the music of heaven he calls it. Jesus finally steps out of the RV with guitar in hand, he looks around, smiles, and settles into a chair.

And he begins playing, accompanied by the other disciples. Charles and Yolanda are talented with drums, guitar and other instruments, and can actually sing.

My job is driving and cooking, I do both pretty well, and I try not to get out of rhythm clapping.

But the music, that’s what it is about, the Jesus music. He plays Sesame Street and street music, he sings Dylan and Seeger, Klezmer tunes and Muddy Waters. He does gospel and blues, and sometimes a pop tune, but he never does what I call old white protestant hymns, which is fine by me.

He sings what someone needs to hear; calming, healing, uplifting, laughter, memories, hopes and dreams. Everyone is included, no one hears a sour note…

That is the music that happens.

As usual the kids nearby are fascinated and drift over, and with them their parents, to make sure they are safe.

I greet them quietly and let them know they’re welcome to listen, and they are welcome to lunch with us. They are taken in by the music, and we have lunch.

Lunch is… well, you know the stone soup story, or the fishes and loaves.

These modern parents look at Jesus’ bologna and white bread and say, “wait, I have some leftover chicken,” or these days “veggie” chicken strips, or a nice quinoa salad.  And maybe, seeing the grill going (I grill the bologna for Jesus, yes, I do) they’ll bring some extra burgers, veggie or otherwise, to fry up with buns and fixings… watermelon, slaw, and potato salad show up.

Pretty soon we’ve got a good crowd, everyone has plenty to eat, and they’re singing songs they’d thought they’d forgotten, or just knew from somewhere deep inside.

People will drift in and out of the circle, no one feels unwelcome, as we greet them when they arrive, and say goodbye with their names as they leave.

In between the singing Jesus will say a few words, talk about Love and Mercy and Justice, how it is a blessing to be together in peace, how bountiful the world is when we come together to care for each other.

He pays attention to the children and the music they want to hear, saying that they are the pure in heart, and closest to love. He notes how wonderful it is to be at peace, even for a short time.

RV campgrounds are usually pretty peaceful places, but they can have rough elements, and we’ve had some incidents with hard characters that have scared me… Them taking exception to whatever they wanted to, so as to be in control…

But the hardest people to deal with on this trip have been some of the police we’ve encountered, City or county authorities… On highways or in parks, or parking lots when we stop in a city or town. And this is where Jesus’ story goes, where we taken him…

Sometimes we disciples get to participate… we met up with Coyote and the Standing Rock Sioux to sing for the earth and its people…

But mostly we take him and wait at the gate…

Towns small and large, north and south, east and west… we will camp, and Jesus will walk into his next story.

We wait until he calls us to pick him up… and there is the weirdness for us, as time on this journey sometimes seems to stand still, or suddenly pass quickly, and we’ll be at another call, another place, and not remember having driven there… just being where he was needed…

We left Jesus in Ferguson, Missouri for a time, 

and in New Jersey.

Then Texas.

In Detroit.

In Chicago.

In New Orleans…

He was lost until I heard of a transgender woman killed in New Orleans… I had a suspicion.

And when she’d called to be picked up, I knew. We collected Jesus outside a morgue, and it took a while for the journey to begin again. She was silent and weeping for a day or two, keeping to herself and playing her guitar softly.

Do demi-deities age? Grow weary? I ache inside for all I have witnessed, and I don’t know if there is enough belief in love in the world to heal it…

I think Jesus believes there is, enough love that is…

She perked up eventually, and we had lunch at a campground with a lovely dance, and now we have a new direction, a new set of campsites to visit on the way to an intersection with fate.

He, sometimes She, or sometimes Ze – I believe has been doing this for thousands of years, passing through the world telling people that there is a better way to live.

A way of life that lays down fear for understanding,

To lay down creeds and dogmas for an open heart.

To give up power and authority for shared peace and plenty…

Jesus, or whoever it is, changes some hearts and minds along the way. 

But it is a long road, and it inevitably leads to death, somehow, some way…

Sometimes in jail,

sometimes she’s gassed,

sometimes he’s shot on a balcony,

sometimes they die of old age,

Sometimes she’s beaten to death,

Sometimes with witnesses,

Sometimes alone and neglected…

Male, female, queer, transgender, black, Latinex, European, African, Asian, Islander, rich, poor — too many descriptions of so many ways for humanity to be human.

Always a story where power and hate takes a life… Where he tries to make sure the story is told…

But there is always another story to tell, so many stories. And many don’t believe…

But we hope that someday there comes a time there is only one story… of love and acceptance. Someday…

The irony of Jesus is, that some folks told his story one time, put it in a book, and forgot to write the next story, and the next…

They got stuck on that one story and even changed it to meet their needs, made a power base out of it, out of his death…

lots of kingdoms and Pope-doms, and evangelical-doms (I made that word up) 

People have made a lots of money, fame, and fortune from his death… They even made a movie out of it… several in fact.

They never understood that his death wasn’t the point, that his life was.

The sermon on the mount and his parables are probably the only sure things left from the life of Jesus.

So he, or she or they – Jesus, keeps trying, and I’m serving lunch with Jesus until we get him to his latest destination…

somewhere where he will be a homeless man in an alley, Or a single mom on the edge of collapse,     Or someone asking for clemency before being put to death by the state.

Always telling their story, while preaching peace with songs, with some food, laughter, and community… or trying to, until someone in authority, with power and privilege puts an end to it…

another end to him and to us.

But there’s hope, always hope.

maybe someone will pay attention this time… try to change things for real.

Try to change our society towards love and acceptance once again…

Because of his death… again

and the death of others who are related to Jesus… And really, we all are

Then Jesus will look for whoever needs him next… and the story will start again…

~~~~

So today,

I ask that you and I work to re-write this story, this parable of constant love and death in the face of hate, of discrimination, racism, of love of power and money over life…

Jesus needs help!

And the only way to do this is to re-write our own lives as narratives of universal love as he did.

We may not look to the church, or to Jesus, or even to whatever you believe god might be, for our salvation. 

But we know our internal struggles to love ourselves, so we might love others as well.                         We try our best to recognize in another their inherent worth and dignity, as we would want from them. We learn how to be accepting of difference, because we really are all different, and all the same.

The words that we hold tight are words of love, of justice, of forgiveness,                                           They are the words of our story as Unitarian Universalists… Principled words.

They are words that Jesus would approve of… indeed, he spoke them in his lifetime… as the story goes.

And I think we’d help him serve lunch, work beside him in his latest quest… To tell the story of love.

Because like him, we’re out to change the world…

One lunch at a time.

Our Unitarian Universalist Sources vs White Supremacy

Foreword: Unitarian Universalism has no creed nor dogma, we (Unitarian Universalists) vote on central Principles and Sources that guide our individual and collective religious life. Whatever religious source motivates me, its outcome shall be towards fulfilling our Principles. Here are our present (June 2017) Principles and Sources:

We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote:

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person;

• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;

• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;

• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;

• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;

• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;

• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

The living tradition which we share draws from many sources:

• Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;

• Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;

• Wisdom from the world’s religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;

• Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God’s love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;

• Humanist teachings which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit.

• Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.

Grateful for the religious pluralism which enriches and ennobles our faith, we are inspired to deepen our understanding and expand our vision. As free congregations we enter into this covenant, promising to one another our mutual trust and support.

~~~~~~~

There is tension in our Unitarian Universalist world, and it comes from our lay folks and minister’s calling for reformation to the inherent racism within our internal culture. How can a religious movement that works so hard for social justice and equality still have structural racism as part of its own governance, policies and procedures you might ask? Well, like many things in life, we inherited it, and changing family systems is hard work.

A bit of background and set up… In late 2016 many Unitarian Universalist ministers and lay people went to the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota to participate in a clergy action in solidarity with the Lakota Sioux and other indigenous peoples against the DAPL oil pipeline. In that action, the president of the UUA, Peter Morales, was able to participate in a repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery ceremony because we UUs had renounced the doctrine at our 2012 General Assembly. The Doctrine of Discovery were Papal Bulls issued after Columbus opened the “new world” up to exploitation by Europe. The Bulls said that whatever and whoever was discovered in this new land could be claimed for ownership and exploitation since they were not “civilized.” It promoted a culture built on the belief that “white” Europeans were supreme in their power, in their right to rule, leading to massive genocides, land grabs and creation of “race” based slavery. It is this Doctrine of white supremacy, writ large into our laws and society, that allowed the pipeline company to take Indian land at will. This doctrine is in our UU DNA, since we grew up within the system, and we have said no to it. What made this ceremony significant to me was the underlying question of how the doctrine might actually be repudiated within Unitarian Universalism, what did this act really mean to us philosophically and theologically? What mechanisms and structures within UU could be identified as related to the Doctrine of Discovery and its relatives, Manifest Destiny, classism, and slavery, to be recognized and either dismantled, or reformed to a higher purpose? And who, when, and how might this work be done?

It was a timely question with the events that unfolded this spring within Unitarian Universalism. This is what I saw: Because of a disclosure about a UUA hiring that seemed discriminatory, a review of hiring practices was conducted that revealed a pattern of discrimination, of white male dominance. Fixes have been promised to this system, but were slow in coming, and the governance structures used to do the fixes are from the system, not made to dismantle the system. This led to resignations, and calls for immediate Anti White Supremacy work.

With the recent call for renewed anti racism/anti discrimination efforts, led by our BLUU and other Anti-Racism/Anti-Oppression groups, laity and clergy, we may have a launching pad for dismantling the Doctrine and its siblings. But I wonder how deep and how wide our reformation will go? And again, what are the tools for change? What in our institutional and educational structures do we need to pay attention to in this effort to change?

Unitarian Universalist formative history includes the European enlightenment, and Unitarian & Universalist progressive ideas around religious pluralism, biblical criticism, and rationalism in Christianity. Unitarian Christianity was formed, only to be reformed again with Transcendentalism, which arguably helped bring about another reformation with Religious Humanism. These large movements of reformation helped develop our empathy to difference, and instigated our social justice forays into suffrage, abolition, civil rights, feminism, LGBTQ equality, environmentalism, and more… work that continues to this day. Our Principles and Sources evolved from this work to become our communal expression of “ultimate concern.” They are our ideals, used to push back at the inequalities of life; racism, classism, discrimination, inequality, injustice: the “isms” and “phobias” in our society, and within Unitarian Universalism. We have not always been successful in our activism, and in fact, our record of reformation is that of continuing to try to “get it right,” because this is hard, complex work. Our history has (at least) one glaring failure, that of our inability to overcome our white superiority culture to support our Black UU member’s internal civil rights movement in the 1960’s, and the divisions of class embedded therein. We stepped onto the bridge with Martin Luther King Jr., but we couldn’t overcome our own whiteness to bridge the gap within UU polity and culture to our own Black UU brethren. We continued into other civil rights movements, and support Black civil rights, but have always wondered what might have been when we lost the trust of many Black members.

I believe this latest call to reformation is to renew and widen this civil rights movement in UU, to dismantle our inherent relationship to the Doctrine of Discovery, Manifest Destiny, and finally, economic and social slavery. These doctrines and institutions are the foundations of classism and white supremacy in Unitarian Universalism, and ultimately in the United States. A tall order, and I’ve been wondering, what have we learned from the past, what tools do we have to change?

Black Lives of UU (BLUU), has offered up an addition to our Principles as a tool for change, to make anti-discrimination a part of our ideals, and I appreciate the thinking behind this.

Their proposed Principle #8 is this:

“We, the member congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, covenant to affirm and promote: journeying toward spiritual wholeness by working to build a diverse multicultural Beloved Community by our actions that accountably dismantle racism and other oppressions in ourselves and our institutions.”

I see our Principles as the ultimate outcome of what our various individual religious sources would lead us to in our lives. Humanist, Christian, Buddhist, Earth Spirit, etc.- the Principles are our collective version of “ultimate concern, ultimate outcome,” or what God may want for us, if you will. But arguably, I also see the Principles as needing to be spare, sharp in their focus, with little wiggle room on definition or meaning. The concepts of Worth and Dignity presently need deep personal thought by anyone wanting to practice them, and maybe some honing would help, but when boiled down they are as succinct as a golden rule. I do not see the Principles as perfect, and when I read the proposed BLUU 8th Principle, I see seeds of change within, working to bring them into better focus. But for a broader anti-racism/anti-discrimination move, to dismantle our inherent racism, classism, intolerance, and ultimately end our relationship to the Doctrine of Discovery, I believe we need to change our relationship to our Sources of Being, learn the tools of Inter-religious, inter-ideological Dialogue, and further develop our underlying theology of reformation as tools for change.

Whenever I ask my ministerial colleagues about teaching the Sources, about how we navigate the differences in our supposedly collective communities, I rarely get an acknowledgement of their usefulness, or even limitations. They seem to be there to show folks that “they too can be Unitarian Universalist,” an advertising gimmick. But to me, this could be one of the most powerful pieces of community, of Unitarian Universalist theology, we have… it is a collection of our evolutionary history, it throws open our potential scriptures, and it widens the circle of our people; of who belongs. I believe we need to step into our Sources deliberately, examin and teach them as UU, hold them up in light of each other, and educate Unitarian Universalists how to dwell in community in their various Sources. This is necessary to continue our reformation, our religious evolutionary journey. And most of all, I believe we need to update our Sources to include what it means to be human, to break the bonds of exclusion, of racism, of all kinds of discrimination. This is where the Doctrine of Discovery and its minions will be broken, when we learn how to listen to, collaborate with, and truly respect each other at our individual and collective source of being.

With dialogue between our sources as the base of our religious work, we can begin the deep work of dismantling racism and discrimination. First, we update the Sources to acknowledge personal experiences and life realities of class, ethnicity (race), culture, sex, gender, ability, and family and national history as deeply informing to our religious being. Religion I believe, at its base, is our instruction and expression of how we are human and interconnected: how we live in relationship to ourselves, and how we engage the world given our Sources. Our Sources need to become an active place of inter-religious, inter-personal, and inter-ideological dialogue, of learning about ourselves and each other deeply, with integrity and love, so we may accomplish our Principles together as a whole people. I’m proposing an addition to the Sources, a work in progress that will take others input to complete:

Sources Proposal:

The living tradition which we share draws from many sources”…  [add new] that are part of our active religious fabric in understanding each other, and the world we live in.”

“We acknowledge and honor the personal journey of the individual and the community that they were formed within; the family (whether genetic or chosen), education, local and greater culture, sex, gender, abilities, personal and ancestral history, religious journey, and experiences in relationship to other peoples and cultures. We listen to and acknowledge the experience of all people as valuable, and measure our own against their experiences to open ourselves, our religion, and our community to change that makes all of us more free, more equal, more accepted, and moves our society towards justice and equity.”

I believe the Sources are the place where our circle of understanding should be widened and Interfaith Dialogue learned as our tool to make it so. A place of tension and learning where no one culture, history, religious source or experience of being is held as more important than another, but as part of the whole. We should only reject sources that would teach and act to promote evil, causing intended, unnecessary suffering and harm, or are incompatible with our Principles.

I acknowledge that this is not how the Sources have been used in Unitarian Universalism, as an active place of dialogue, and because of this I believe we still feel the resonance of source rifts in our history such as our Humanist/Theist tensions. We rarely address our tensions, to our continued detriment, and because we do not live in our Sources, we let our inherent racism, ties to patriarchy, and underlying white supremacy continue to occupy them and us. This is where the real work is done, in the trenches of difference, where the sources of our being should be shared with trust and vulnerability, so there is equality and equity built between us. Where a source is measured for its worth, and held accountable for its harm. Our curriculums of change, like “Welcoming Congregation,” and “Building The World We Dream Of,” are built out of this kind of dialogue, so why do we not make it part of our living tradition, part of our vision and goals.

We can tout the Principles as the ultimate goals for our religious life, but without tools to get there, without a theology of collective difference to draw upon, we’ll never get there. “Being UU” is about learning to accept each other with our human differences, and working to make sure that our differences are equal in worth, dignity, and acceptance… and that a dream of equality and equity can only come to being when we truly acknowledge and honor difference. May we learn to truly be in dialogue, to clearly see each other, to become the community that has the tools to continue to build the world we dream of.

In Love and Tension,

Rev. Jim Parrish

Spring, 2017

Example of inter religious/inter-ideological dialogue: http://dialogueinstitute.org 

Example of inter religious/inter ideological dialogue principles: http://dialogueinstitute.org/dialogue-principles/

After a summer like the one I had, I really don’t want to do a “what I did” report… let’s just say that it was a very active summer, with family and friends. Some interactions were unexpectedly interesting; some joyful, and some difficult. I have to say that the summer was rich, varied and energizing in ways I did not expect, and left me with profound questions that are part of our human experience; being born, living, and having to die. I found that when I got into UUFF’s pulpit in August, for the first time in weeks, I felt like I had come home. I missed being with you, and missed the focus sermons bring, even though I know it is good to recharge the batteries by being away. Balance in all things!

This year I hope our Mission is woven all through our services, our religious education, our stewardship and our social justice work. We began this integration at our Board and Ministry Council Retreat held in August, where we talked about how our Mission leads into a Long Range Plan, with roles, responsibilities and goals.

The Board and committee/team leaders explored creating goals from the Mission that match their roles and responsibilities to the Fellowship. Within this missional goal-setting there will be shared Themes to work with… so we have Services, RE curriculum, and Social Justice working together in an underlying framework.

Our Mission is this: As a diverse, accepting faith community, we promote justice and service while seeking personal and spiritual growth.

Our Mission compels us to: Work to understand what diversity means in our changing the world and become multi-culturally capable, to have clear justice works in progress through education and outreach, and to have meaningful religious exploration opportunities for youth and adults- including worship. It also compels us to be stewards of our Unitarian Universalist faith– to not just maintain, but to grow it for the future.

And when I say “faith,” because we do believe in things seemingly unproven and yet manifest in life, I mean that we believe in the innate oneness and goodness of humanity, in our interconnection to all. We believe that justice and peace can be attained in the long arc of the universe, no matter the present turmoil (which is part of change). Some of these beliefs are being proven in scientific ways. Empathy and altruism are part of our DNA; yet humanity has the ability to be cruel, divisive and deadly.

But with our continued work within UUFF, and with allies, we know life can get better.
I personally believe that the successful work done to promote the citizenship and equality of LGBTQ folks is proof of our beliefs… that the turmoil caused by lifting the veil of racism in our culture is proof that there is deep work still to be done. We have a mission, and it is not just to paint the building or keep the lights on (though we build community in this); it is to be a beacon of truth, freedom and liberal religion in NWA. It begins with us- learning how to be anti-racist, to be culturally capable, to be leaders and allies, to become deeply educated and spiritually motivated people that move the world by our modeling and works.

It was fun to talk with students at the University’s Razorbash in August, describing UU to them. Many times we’d talk and agree that religion should let an individual explore their inner being in a loving community, look for answers to the meaning of life that make sense, and find what will motivate them to be good people. We strive to do good works, to live in harmony with diversity, to understand what justice means, to continue to learn, teach what they learn, and be good stewards of life in its interconnections. Students at the U of A would look at me like, “There is a religion that does this?” I got to say, “Yes- it is us; it is UU.” And all I did was describe our Principles and Mission.

At our Blessing of the Backpacks Service in late August, we let our students, teachers and administrators know that they are held up by our community in their work to teach and learn, and that they represent us in their endeavors as well. All of us at UUFF are Unitarian Universalist in our lives and livelihood, and we have a mission that goes beyond our walls. We sang, “This Little Light of Mine, I’m Gonna Let It Shine,” to close the service, and that is what we’ll do. It’s what we’ve historically done in the arc of the universe, always have, and hopefully, always will.

So May it Be,
Rev. Jim