Do you know how to get to the promised land?

One of the problems with Unitarian Univeralism which hinders its growth and acceptance in a society to which it hopes to sanctify is a misunderstanding of the fourth principle which is the free and responsible search for truth and meaning. This is often interpreted as meaning that Unitarian Universalism is a creedless religion, that there is no doctrine, and that the seeker can seek whatever he/she wants. Not really. This is anarchy and nihilism which does not contribute to the creation of a cohesive covenant.

Francis David, the Unitarian pioneer in the sixteenth century famously said that we need not think alike to love alike and in his famous, and often quoted maxim, Francis David reframes the spiritual search from a cognitive activity to an experiential one.

As human beings we have a head and a heart. A well integrated personality uses both in alignment. The head and heart are working together in harmonious cooperation. There is no imbalance. Some people spend too much time in their head and not enough in their heart, and some people spend too much time in their heart and not enough in their head. Spiritual and psychological peace is realized when head and heart are in balance, what psychologists call "congruence."

In our search for sainthood, holiness, awakening, enlightenment, buddahood we are mis-served by the idea that anything goes and its every person for him/her self. The Unitarian Universalist church asks us to covenant together to affirm and promote seven principles. It is this covenant and these principles that provide the path to sainthood. The belief that this covenant and these principles will facilitate our spiritual growth is the basis of our faith. It is of concern that this faith in the covenant and principles is so often out of focus, disregarded, marginalized, ignored in our Sunday morning worship. The covenant and principles are rarely the topic of sermons and other elements of UU liturgies and therefore the people are mystified, oblivious to the key to the teachings of their purported faith.

If Unitarian Univeralism is to survive and grow it needs to be rejuvenated and revived. It has been on death support now for some time. It is time to uplift the path for the free and responsible search for truth and meaning which is the covenant  to affirm and promote the seven principles. This path is journeyed with both our heads and hearts and it is a path that will take us to the promised land. As W. Edwards Deming said, "If you don't know where you're going any road will take you there."

The abundant well of Unitarian Universalism lies in its covenant

"Spiritual longing is a sort of loneliness for an unknown yet deeply perceived presence. Some call the presence God; some call it peace; some call it consciousness; some call it love. Its source rests in the well of our hearts. When we slow down, quiet the mind, and allow ourselves to feel hungry for something we do not understand, we are dipping into the abundant well of spiritual longing."
-Elizabeth Lesser, The New American Spirituality, p. xiv

John Bradshaw called this longing the "hole in the soul." Clients go to psychotherapy complaining of depression and anxiety and they cannot identify the source of their anguish. In our materialistic society we have been conditioned to fill the hole in our souls with stuff, chemicals, compulsive behaviors, and special relationships. Some more mature souls recognize the anguish as a separation from the godhead, the ground of their being. This awareness sometimes is only a slight glimmer and comes sometimes only on the heals of tragedy.

Sometimes religion provides a path to greater spiritual awareness and sometimes it obstructs our awareness of Love's presence in our lives.

When have you felt that there is something bigger in life than what you had been aware of before? If you pursued it, how did you connect with it?

Many people come to Unitarian Universalism looking for something. That something is a connection which facilitates and enhances the sense of what Lesser calls the "abundant well. The abundant well is contained in the covenant to affirm and promote basic principles. Unitarian Universalism would flourish if a greater sense of focus and mission were placed on this mission.