Unitarian Universalists of Sterling

Every moment of our lives is full of choices where we have to decide which path to take. This morning I’m choosing to become a member of this church. I want to share with you some stories from my journey along the way, explain some reasons behind my decision, and tell you what I look forward to as I embark on this relationship.

It was a couple of Christmas’s ago that I found myself chatting with my brother in law, Robert, who attends the Unitarian Universalist church with my sister in Winchester, about construction surveying. You see, when a building is going to be constructed, it starts off as an idea, a vision inside the minds of people. The surveyors job is to take careful measurements so that the vision can be tailored to fit the actual dimensions of the land. This seems really cool to me, because it involves the process of transforming visions into realities. I told Robert about all this, and he looked at me and said, “Scott, you’re a Unitarian.”

I thought, “oh ya? I didn’t know that.” I went to my sister and asked her what she thought. She listened to me very studiously and said, “Yes, I think you’d fit in really well with the Unitarians.”

A few minutes later, my brother Dean asked me if I would say a few words at the start of the meal. I told him sure. So I went off for a few minutes and thought my hardest about what I might say at this Christmas Eve dinner. When we were all seated, my brother asked me to say grace. I opened my mouth and said something along the lines that celebrating Christmas on December 25th had a lot more to do with the ancient tradition of celebrating the Winter Solstice than it had to do with any information regarding the birth date of Jesus. In remembrance of these origins, I want to toast the Winter Solstice, the time when the days begin to get longer and the nights start to become shorter.

Well, I was met with decidedly mixed reviews. My oldest brother, Clyde, sent me an e-mail congratulating me for having the idea to toast the Winter Solstice. My other brother Dean later said to me, “You might even be right, but you’re a jerk for saying it.” I kind of knew what he meant. His family regularly says grace at the beginning of their meals, and it’s usually a very traditional Christian sounding grace. I was rocking the boat a little. Still, if I was going to be asked to say the grace, I was going give one that expressed the thoughts I had, and to the best of my thinking, at that point in time, my best idea really was to toast the Winter Solstice. Should I be scorned for sharing my thoughts with my family?

Naturally enough, my feelings were a little hurt, and so when I got home I did some checking. Did anyone know when Jesus was born? No. Did the origins of the Christmas celebration originate out of the ancient Winter Solstice celebration? Yes.

“What about these Unitarian Universalists my sister and brother in law had mentioned,” I wondered. I looked them up on the internet, and came to the Unitarian Universalists of Sterling website, which impressed me, because there’s this sermon archive, with sermons going back to 1997. I searched the archive, typing in “Winter Solstice.” Several sermons came up. One of them was a sermon by Becky Fockler, entitled, Modern Meaning from Winter Solstice Ancient Mythology and Ritual. She had an alternative title to the sermon, “How Earth Based Ancient Religion and Mythology Saved Christmas.” Well, after I saw this, I was pretty sure I wanted to check out this church.

So I did. My first impressions were positive. Everyone was nice and welcoming. I went to an Inquirers class to find out a little more about the church and it’s history, and although the class doesn’t dwell on it, it turns out that a lot of very impressive people have been Unitarians, like: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Paine, Albert Schweitzer, Clara Barton, Charles Dickens, Christopher Reeves, Bella Bartok, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Buck Minster Fuller, Longfellow, John Milton, Keats, Shelly, Thoreau, Kurt Vonnegut, Alexander Graham Bell, Charles Darwin, Samuel Morse, Isaac Newton, Joseph Priestly, Susan B. Anthony, Clarence Darrow, Florence Nightingale, and Bertrand Russell. Now I’m not familiar with the work of all those people, but after finding this out, I am more inclined to believe that Unitarian Universalism has a compelling foundation. I attended a couple of those Inquirer classes, and became convinced that this place, where spirituality and reason converge, is cool.

During those first few months I was also under the influence of Alfreda, this woman that lived in the basement who was studying to become a pastor, and Farouk, an Islamic co-worker of mine, who almost daily tried to convert me. How pleased I was, when I could tell them that the church I attend respects the spiritual journeys of both of them. I remember Farouk showing me a website that explained the faith of Islam. I listened, and enjoyed what he had to say, and then I asked him to go to the UUS website, where I did a search on the sermon archive and came up with a very knowledgeable sermon by Reverend Roberta on Islam. I printed it out and gave it to Farouk. He couldn’t argue with it. Later, I was even more delighted when I was able to tell Farouk that the church I attend invited Project Light, which stands for, “Learning Islamic Guidance for Human Tolerance” to give a presentation. Farouk could only look at me, smile, and say, “this is very good.” The same thing for Alfreda, who is a fundamentalist Christian. The church I attend respects Alfredas’ spiritual journey. In fact, as I explained to Alfreda, I consider myself to be Christian. Christians can be Unitarian Universalists. So can Jews. So can Buddhists. So can earth based religions, etc. The difference, I told Alfreda, is that after learning about the religions of other people, like the American Indians, who lived in complete harmony with nature, and after learning about spiritual leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, and the Dalai Llama, I just can’t bring myself to commit to the idea that they got it all wrong. “I’ve gotten a lot out of Christianity,” I told Alfreda. “I just don’t want the responsibility of saying that all these people got it wrong. I’m not qualified to make that judgment.” How happy I am that the church I attend is full of people who also feel they’re not qualified to make that judgment. The church I attend respects the spiritual journeys Alfreda and Farouk. In this time when Fundamentalism and Islam are in such a conflict with each other, what a great thing it is to find a church which honors the inherent dignity of all people, and proclaims universal salvation.

In the short time that I’ve been attending this church, I’ve heard sermons that validate all kinds of perspectives including: Paul Roches musings on the Matrix, the theology of Bob Dylan, Stevan Von Phal and the Hokey Pokey (That‘s What It‘s All About), the rock opera Tommy, the experiences of Veterans, Rosalee’s experiences in Transylvania, Chris Lees love of music, Susan Miller’s lessons from Mel Brooks and Chuckles the Clown, and Becky Focklers’ explorations into God as a verb. Reverend Roberta gave sermons on Emerson and Social Justice, we heard about a Great Slovenian adventure, a service dedicated to Jazz, sermons on the lessons of Jesus, Peace in the Middle East, the Winter Solstice, and that‘s just for starters.

This church also honors all kinds of artistic expression, and in particular, a wide range of music. The choir is great, we have jazz jam sessions twice a month, JustUUS is the official rock band, but not to be outdone by Paul Roche and friends. Hope plays the flute beautifully, and often. I got to play my clarinet. Barry plays the accordion. We have a couple piano players, and the woman’s earth based group just recently invited everyone to participate in a drum circle. Within these walls you’ll hear songs like “Love” by John Lennon, “Mr. Jones” by the Counting Crows, songs by the likes of Pink Floyd, the Little Rascals, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Robert Johnson, U2, and Elton John, as well as international folk music. Soon, as I’ve been told, the Jazz band will be giving a rendition of a Sonny Rollins tune, as well as some Duke Ellington. I’ve heard kids play here. The same day I played a Mozart piece on the clarinet, this little girl played the violin. It was great. Really, as far as music is concerned this church has got it! And, as you will see by my up-coming performance, you don’t have to be all that good to have a shot at sharing whatever talents you might have to offer. Just as with the sharing of stories, this church allows anyone that so desires to participate in sharing music.

One day, I was looking through the “What’s With UUS” newsletter and came upon an advertisement that said that if you feel like you have a sermon inside of you, you should call Reverend Roberta, and that she and the Worship Associates would help you to get it together. So I gave her a call and said, “Reverend Roberta, I have all these ideas. I feel I’m at the end of a long spiritual journey, and that according to Joseph Campbell, the journey isn’t over until it’s shared. I have to find a way to share my stories.”

She wasn’t phased at all. It was as if she’d been through this before, and she had some advise. She told me that it’s great that I have things to share. However, she cautioned, the pulpit may not always be the best forum. After I told her some of my ideas, she said I might even want to write a book. She also told me that one can often share some of these more personal stories at covenant group meetings, and that I should check that out. She also mentioned that the Unitarian Universalists of Sterling have a Building Your Own Theology Class which would provide me with opportunities to share. She told me that if I really did have a sermon in me that the Worship Associates would be more than happy to help me get it together, and she also told me that if I had any writings that I might want to be reviewed, that she would make that available to me as well.

How happy I was when I heard her say these things. You see, I’ve tried to share my stories in the past, and it’s often fallen on deaf ears, or has been met with disapproval. For that matter, I have a lot of music to share. When I was younger I made up a bunch of songs and instrumental pieces. I was able to share the good stuff way back when, but finding people to play with and people to listen to my less than world class music, post high school, has been problematic. This church, on the other hand, welcomes this sort of thing. Music really is very important to me, and I really am very happy that I‘ve found a place to share this part of my life.

Over the next couple of months I became involved with this church on a deeper level. I became a Worship Associate. I joined a covenant group which has been wonderful. I’ve become a member of the UUS rock group, JustUSS. Every second and fourth Monday of each month, the jazz band jams out, and I’ve been having a lot of fun doing that. The Building Your Own Theology class, where many of us have been working on our spiritual autobiographies, drawing pictures, and learning some of the commonalities of spiritual experience from the perspectives of a wide variety of people, ended just a couple weeks ago, and that’s been terrific. I’ll be participating in a service that draws from that class in April. Stream monitoring has been a long time interest of mine, and that group is definitely getting off the ground, which pleases me a great deal. We’ll be monitoring a stream, with the aid of the National Audubon Naturalist Society, and the Loudoun County Wildlife Watch, in April.

Honoring each others stories, giving voice to my own, and finding ways to help others express themselves is something I care about deeply. I am therefore intent to help this church set up a creative writing group, so people who want to share their stories can learn how to do it, in such a style as to command respect. There’s a Woodbridge Writing Club which has a lot of members and meets in the Borders Bookstore down there. I’m a member of that group, but it’s really too far. I’m going to see if I can get some organization tips from them to set up something similar up here.

All these activities help me to grow as a person, and connect with my community. I’m convinced that if I spent the rest of my life involved with these kind of activities, with friendly people such as yourselves, I’ll be a happy man. And that, my friends, is my intention. It is my vision.

The task for me now is to take this vision of personal growth, sharing, community, and mutual respect, and carefully tailor it to the realities of my life, make some decent plans, with consideration to the costs involved, and the work required, and do it. Visions can be turned into realities. It’s up to me, and I thank you for whatever support you might be able to offer.