I thought it would be quite appropriate to end my hiatus with a discussion about the Water Gathering/Water Communion/Ingathering of Water service. Last Sunday my church put on a pretty good one incorporating four bowls at each of the cardinal directions to symbolize the direction from which their water (or most of it, anyway) comes. I actually was told ahead of time how this would work by the minister during a discussion about starting a campus ministry at my school, but that’s a topic for entry. He told me that he was glad that four people of very diverse theological backgrounds would be helping at each of the four directional bowls.

Elseblog there has been thoughtful discussion of class tension within UUism and how they are demonstrated at Water Communion, but on my mind during the service were the theological rifts. During our talk, the minister noted that part of the reason he was called to our congregation was because of his mystical leanings, and that our congregation has more of a humanist bent to it. I think that was a good idea on the part of the Search Committee. I remember hearing now, I don’t recall if it was our minister that said it, but for whatever reason someone recounted one Sunday about a UU minister that was asked his/her personal theology. (S)He said something to the effect of, ‘If you’re mostly Christian, then I’m a humanist. If you’re mostly humanist, then I’m Pagan.’ OK, I think I greatly reinterpreted whatever the original statement was, but I believe that’s true to the spirit of the statement.

I haven’t yet read the Commission on Appraisal’s Engaging our Theological Diversity but at the outset it seems to me like we are too reserved in general about our individual beliefs. One might think that if people were more vocal about their beliefs that it might cause an even greater rift within UUism, but I don’t think it would, if we go about it the right way. I think that in our culture we have been conditioned to be wary of those whose worldviews differ significantly from our own. Many UUs, perhaps most, have grown up with people shoving their beliefs down their throat. We are all aware how unhelpful, and even destructive this is. So it is out of genuine compassion that we keep our religiousity hidden, even in at church. The problem is that this isn’t really a genuine approach either.

Right now I think that the best approach is two-fold: We must give others the benefit of the doubt, and assume that their expression of their religiousity (or lack thereof) is not intended as a challenege to ours. We must also be upfront about who we are and what we believe and do not believe, but to do so in a way which is not intended to be threatening to challenge others. This is not to say that we should not have our assumptions challenged at all. On the contrary, I think that is one of the most important things about liberal religion. But there are those that are not comfortable with this, and church is the last place one should have to feel defensive. Whatever one’s theological position, church should be a place were we can lower our defenses and rejoice.