Who Needs Us?

So… Here's a question I've been dancing with lately: Who needs us? Who needs Unitarian Universalism?

There are several things I don't mean by this question.  I don't mean -- who would enjoy our wit and our wisdom? I don't mean -- who would appreciate our grand ideas and are soaring songs? I don't mean -- who would enjoy our affable company? I mean, simply, who needs what it is we have to offer?

Of course, that raises the question, what is it that we have to offer? And that's a question that, no doubt, could engender much discussion. For now, though, let's leave that discussion aside. Let's agree that you may have your idea, and that I may have mine. They may not be the same, and that's okay.  You answer with your understanding of what our "good news" is, and I'll answer with mine, but let's each look at the question:  who needs Unitarian Universalism?

I'd answer:  lots of people!  Here's a partial list:

People who've been told that they're not enough -- not smart enough, successful enough, straight enough, white enough, neurotypical enough ... you get the idea.   Unitarian Universalism affirms that each of us has inherent worth and dignity, just by breathing air on the planet!  We don't have to be anything enough to earn it. 

People who think they are, or have, enough -- well-educated, made-in-the-(suburban)-shade, with the resources to remedy most any problem, and the confidence that comes from having "made it" (in some sense). Or, at least, thinking they have.  Confident. Comfortable. Complacent, even. To them Unitarian Universalism announces that none of us is, on our own, the be all and end all. Each of us is tied, as Dr. King said, in a single garment of destiny. We are interdependent, not just with our own species but with all that is. 

People who were taught to believe things they no longer can, people who don't know what to believe, and people who are so sure of what they believe that there's no room to grow and no ability to expand. Unitarian Universalism challenges us to keep both our heads and our hearts open sand to not only accept but embrace the changes that follow. 

People who see all too clearly -- and, so, hate or fear -- the Other, and people who've been "othered."  Unitarian Universalism teaches that "there is no 'us and them,' there is only us."

I could go on. (And probably will at some point.). Let's let this suffice for now.   So what is it that I think Unitarian Universalism has to offer?  This truth:

We are one human family, on one fragile planet, in one miraculous universe, bound by love.

Okay ... now it's your turn.  Who needs Unitarian Universalism?

Pax Tecum,

RevWik

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