East Shore Friends,
I was talking with a ministry colleague about UUism. We were reflecting on the tradition and the impact we have on society – the UUA is involved in a lawsuit against the DOJ regarding ICE impacting the freedom of religion.
We were speculating on UU history: When Rev. Dr. Norbert Chapek was taken to prison – did Unitarians in the US know? When Rev. Charles Joy, Director of the Unitarian Service Committee, asked his friend Hans Deutsch to design a symbol to legitimize their work rescuing Jews from Germany in WWII – did Unitarians in the US know?
How many U/Us knew about the protest in Selma?
How many UU churches were involved in the Abolition work/Underground Railroad?
Looking through History, how much of the Justice work were parish level initiatives?
In the early 1800s, when Universalist preachers rode into towns and villages across Ohio, they preached a message of Divine Love, unconditional love and reconciliation – how much impact did that have on the issues of the day?
From the 1700s through today, U/U and UUs have been dreaming of a world that embodies that love through abolition, through temperance, through integration, and into today – with ecofeminist philosophies, anti-racism, anti-oppression work, and pluralistic interreligious process theology – all with aspiration of Beloved Community the hope that all souls may grow.
What Does the Universalist side of our faith Mean to You?
We might define it differently based on our spiritual and academic experiences. As a foundational source of our tradition, how does Universalism resonate with you?
The Pluralist – There are many trails leading to the mountain top.
The Restorationist – We can heal from our traumas and hardships and are loved through and beyond them.
The Ultra-Universalist – You are loved, no matter what, and that Love carries you to Heaven as you are.
We are still all of these, and more. Universalism is not a fixed point in history but a living, breathing tradition.
Universalism as a Rock and a Living Tradition
Some see our religion as a Rock – unchanging, absolute, a vertical connection between earth and heaven, between one’s heart and the sacred, and to another.
And, our tradition also sees faith as a Living Tradition – growing, evolving, adapting. It thrives in our horizontal connections: to one another, to justice work, to the ecosystems we inhabit. It acknowledges that theology must respond to the rising and receding tides of history, injustice, and progress.
Our tradition does not dictate what to believe but invites us into collective exploration. It calls us to reflect on Divine Love in ways that respond to the world around us.
Our evolution on issues can be seen still: Abolition wasn’t enough, so we pursued integration. Integration wasn’t enough, so we settled for tolerance. Tolerance wasn’t enough, so we moved toward anti-racism. And even now, the work continues as we aspire to Beloved Community.
This is the Universalism that inspires us to advocate for economic justice, and immigration reform. Caring for our neighbors and siblings regardless of their nationality. No child should go to bed hungry, starving from lack of food. No one should be denied medical care. Life is holy.
Universalism compels us to act against injustice – not out of fear of damnation, but from an awareness of the boundless love that embraces us all. If Love is truly infinite, then it reaches the oppressed, the marginalized, the incarcerated, and the forgotten. Affirming the worthiness of each of us – we can work to alleviate that suffering, to be the embodiment of that Love through service.
The only hell that exists is the one we create – the genocide governments create in Gaza, the slow death of Indigenous families through poverty here in North America and beyond. Transnational Corporations and their neocolonialism that forces families into cobalt mines in Africa, trapping the working class and the enslaved class in cycles of suffering for the wealth produced to be seized by others. The lives of the working poor – who toil in too many jobs for too many hours with too small of pay. Or, the radicalization and antisemitism we witness from hate groups and formation of para-militias that seek to divide, intimidate, and abuse our neighbors and siblings.
To believe in Universalism is to resist these hells and work toward liberation for all.
What are the hells in your life? How can we actively deconstruct those? Is it loneliness – let’s connect at coffee hour and potluck. Is it material poverty? Let’s share our things in mutual aid. Is it the purpose and making a difference in this world today – let’s brainstorm ways that we can serve our ecosystems, our siblings, and fight fascism and neocolonialism. We can pool our resources, pool our networks and we can make a difference.
Sometimes doing that work feels daunting and impossible. When it feels too daunting, remember–This is a church that brings atheists and christians and pagans and buddhists – into the same space. Some would regard that as an impossible task – an impossibility that we make real every Sunday.
The Divine Love emboldens us to accept its call: to dismantle systems of oppression, to fight against racism, economic inequality, and environmental destruction, and to build communities that reflect the inclusivity and care we believe in – to usher into radical inclusivity!
Love Without Exception
Universalism today is not merely about the afterlife. For me, the afterlife is an after thought – let’s free people from the hell they experience today, in the here and now: radical love – love that does not require conditions, purity tests, or theological uniformity.
Let’s work together for Peace – I’m excited to engage with you on this! Let’s get together and accomplish impossible things!
Rev Will