January 2003

Budget cuts prevented CLF from publishing and mailing a full version of Quest this month. This issue consists of only the REsources for Living column by Interim Religious Education Director, Dan Harper.

• REsources for Living, by Dan Harper

REsources for Living
by Dan Harper, Interim Director of Religious Education, CLF

The last three "REsources of Living" columns have been about Unitarian Universalism (UUism) and Unitarian Universalist (UU) identity. For the next three months, I'd like to turn to another broad topic area: our Jewish and Christian heritage. In my February column, I'll give an outline for approaching the Bible from a UU point of view. In my March column, I'll take on the subject of Jesus, and what we UUs today might think and feel about Jesus. This month, I want to talk about contemporary UUs who think of themselves as Christian and Jewish.

Let's start with UU Christians. If you came to Unitarian Universalism to get away from Christianity, you may wonder why any Unitarian Universalist would want to remain a Christian. Typical of UUism, there are as many different reasons why this might the case as there are UU Christians. Some UU Christians have escaped conventional Christian denominations whose doctrines they find unacceptable or even stifling. They value the lack of doctrine and cherish the freedom of thought that UUism allows, while still remaining Christian. Other UU Christians are firmly within the UU tradition of using reason in religion. They might argue that in spite of the faults of Christianity, Jesus remains the great moral and ethical teacher at the center of Western civilization. Still other UU Christians come from old Unitarian or Universalist families. They remember that Unitarianism and Universalism meant Christianity not so many years ago, and UU Christianity remains a cherished religious tradition. You can read other responses to the question "Why am I a Christian among the UUs?" at: http://www.uua.org/uucf/whyiam.htm

UU Jews are as diverse a group as UU Christians. Many UU Jews grew up in a Jewish family, but as they grew older found a spiritual home in UUism. Like some UU Christians, they find family traditions to be a powerful force in religion. There are UU Jews who have reasoned their way to Judaism. If religion serves as a source for moral and ethical teaching, the Jewish emphasis on correct practice can appear more reasonable than the Christian emphasis on correct belief. There are other UU Jews who have married Jewish spouses and integrated Jewish ritual and practice into their lives, but who still make their spiritual home in UUism. For one person's experience of being a "Jew-U," see: http://www.uuja.org/jewuism/ess-ref/essay_problem-absolutist-religion.html

One way for your family to explore Judaism is to try a simple Seder ceremony. Joan Goodwin, former director of religious education at CLF, wrote a simple seder-type service for families to use at home. It's best to hold a Seder at Passover time (in 2003, Passover begins after sunset on April 26), but if you wanted you could use this simple worship service at other times of the year:
http://www.uua.org/clf/betweensundays/middlechildhood/SpringHaggadah.html

If you would like to explore contemporary UU Christianity with your family, one good way to do so is to have a UU communion service with your family. Below is a communion service from the "Congregation of Abraxas," a group of UUs who got together in the 1970s to experiment with new forms of worship, which I have adapted and simplified for families to use at home.

As you explore UU Jewish and UU Christian traditions with your family, you will want to talk about what you like and dislike about these traditions. As adults, we explore with children. We help them to find their own religious and spiritual path, while we continue to grow and change ourselves. As a family and as individuals, ask: What is meaningful to you from these traditions? What do you find hard to stomach? Is there anything you want to use regularly, or adapt for regular use, in your family? -- for personal use?

Have everyone sit at a table so there are clear left and right sides.
Before you start, you may want to explain to younger children what you are going to do, and how they will participate. Print a copy of the service for each participant who can read.
Near the table, place a loaf of bread, a carafe of grape juice, and any other food you may choose to share. (Note: early Christian communities might have included cheese, olives, and other food, and had a filling meal -- for the poorer members of these communities, this might be the best meal they got all week.)

PRELUDE:
Silence, or meditative music, ending with the ringing of a meditation bell.
The chalice is lit.

OPENING WORDS:
A hungry people listen not to reason, nor care for justice, nor is bent by any prayers.
(Seneca)

SONG:
All stand.
Sing together "Gathered Here," song no. 389 in the current UU hymnal, "Singing the Living Tradition."
Or use any suitable song or music.

INVOCATION:
All remain standing.

Right side of the table:
Spirit of Justice, Way of Love,

Left side of the table:
We come to this table
to partake of your presence
through the fruits of the earth.

Right:
Spirit of Justice, Way of Love,

Left:
Fill our emptiness when we hunger,
and by your grace, let us be servants of one another,
bringers of peace to all the earth.

All:
Amen.

All are seated.

The meditation bell is rung.

PRAYER:
All may say this together:
Search me, O Eternal, help me know my heart.
Test me, help me know my thoughts.
Let me see if there be mistaken ways in me,
And guide me in the Truth everlasting.
(freely adapted from Psalm 139)

SILENCE FOR A TIME.

HEALING PRAYER:
The leader of the service may say this:
The rabbi Jesus of Nazareth once said:
"You have heard it said:
"'Love your friends and hate your enemies.'
"But I tell you instead,
"Love your friends and your enemies,
"pray for those who persecute you."
(freely adapted from Matthew 5.43-44)

PEACE GREETING:
A time to greet those at the table in peace, with a handclasp, words, or a hug, as appropriate.

The meditation bell is rung again.

OFFERTORY:
Leader:
Let us give together that we may rejoice in the common life our gifts sustain.
Here everyone brings the bread, the grape juice (and other food) to the table.

THANKSGIVING:
Leader:
We gather at this table to celebrate our community, and our communion with sacred sun and soil, and the spirit which sustains us all.
We share this food and drink as a sign of our covenant with all humanity, as a symbol of our commitment to live in peace with all beings.
We give thanks for sun and moon, dark night and day, rain and clouds, fertile field and sky, springtime and harvest, growth and rest.

Leader raises up the loaf of bread and the carafe of grape juice.
We give thanks for the fruits of the earth; and for the grains which has come from the earth, with the help of human hands. May the spirit which blesses us with this food and this drink move in us that we may give of ourselves to the world.
The gifts of the earth for the people of the earth!

All:
Amen!

The bread is passed around the table, and everyone breaks off a piece. The leader pours the grape juice as someone else reads:
We break this bread and share this juice together.
We are all one bread, all one body, with all humanity.
The blood of life flows through all of us, through all humanity.
When the bodies of others are broken, we are broken.
When the blood of others is spilled, our blood is spilled.

When the food has been shared equally, all say together:
The gifts of the earth for the people of the earth!
Therefore we covenant with one another
To practice peace, so that no blood is spilled, no bodies are broken,
And all the people of the world can dance on this earth beneath the sun, eating their bread with joy,
And drinking with as merry a heart as we do now.
One day there shall be peace!
One day all shall rejoice!

All partake of the food together.

CLOSING WORDS:
All:
The feast is ended, we depart in peace.
Remember the words we have said and the meal we have shared.
The work of the world lies before us.
Accomplish justice, with grace.
Amen.

The meditation bell is rung for the last time.

The flame is extinguished.

POSTLUDE:
There may be quiet music while all help clear the table.

Quest January 2003 Contents

Last updated June 12, 2005