"Survival means reconstructing from the ruins a world of hospitality and peace. It means living as one of those who, as Adrienne Rich says, 'with not extraordinary power, reconstitutes the world.'"
Rebecca Ann Parker, Blessing The World, p. 24
Are you one of those with no extraordinary power who can work to reconstitute the world? I'll bet you are. You probably do it evey day helping those you love and care about and people you encounter in your daily routines. Could you do it for people who scare you, who anger you, who disgust you, who are strangers to you?
Unitarian Universalism says that there is inherent worth and dignity in every person. Do you just intellectually agree with this value and/or do you act on it?
Unitarian Universalism says that there should be justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. If this is true why is the world so screwed up?
Unitarian Universalism says that there should be a free and responsible search for truth and meaning and yet our airwaves is full of blather and bloviating which is anything but responsible and certainly is not a search for truth but an attempt to emotionally incite for the sake of entertainment.
It is easy to get discouraged as we witness the unethical behavior around us and yet there are things we can do; we can live our faith which is not the way of the world, but operating on a whole new level.
Emerson says in his essay, Self-Reliance,
"The virtue most in request is conformity. Self-reliance is its aversion. It loves not realities and creators, but names and customs. Whoso would be a man, must be a nonconformist."
Those of us with no extraordinary power can reconstitute the world for the better. To do so, we will surely be nonconformist. It takes courage, guts, perserverence, integrity, virtues in very short supply in our materialistic culture.
However our Unitarian Universalist faith gives us the power as not extraordinary people to reconstitute the world. This is my faith. I hope it is your faith too.
No comments:
Post a Comment