Is Unitarian Universalism really a religion? Let’s look at the etymology of the word “religion” and we will find that it refers to a binding together. It shares a common word history with the word “ligament”. Religion then is something that connects, connects a group of people or perhaps connects the various aspects of an individual person: his or her hopes, yearning, needs, doubts, fears, and joys. Religion is more than just faith in a higher power, more than just a spiritual sensibility for the holiness around us. It is a structure to contain and to educate and to secure a home for our wants, needs, and prayers.

Another word worth considering is “congregation”, which interestingly shares the same root as the word “congress”. A congregation is an assembly, a gathering together of people who mutually respect each others’ needs and hopes and fears. This is why our Sunday worship services contain a time for Joys and Concerns. We do that in lieu of a confessional apology for our shortcomings and moral failure. We do not, as freethinkers who accept the full range of our humanity, need to diminish our shame by a public humiliation. We instead simply share with our brothers and sisters that we have a worry for which we would appreciate their support. Or that we have reason to be happy, and that this happiness feels better when we can tell it to each other.

Religion is the spirit that binds together a congregation of people who have assembled together to share that which would be less if harbored alone. A religious community is a safe place in which to say to one another “Hello, out there. I am here and here’s what is happening. And how are you?” Don’t forget the “And how are you?” Sharing is a two-way street. And together we can make our world, and the world of others, better than if we only contemplated alone.               

 

                                       Yours in faith,                                                                  

                                                                 John