Spiritual Growth
Unitarian Universalism draws from many sources:
- Direct experience of that transcending mystery and wonder, affirmed in all cultures, which moves us to a renewal of the spirit and an openness to the forces which create and uphold life;
- Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;
- Wisdom from the world's religions which inspires us in our ethical and spiritual life;
- Jewish and Christian teachings which call us to respond to God's love by loving our neighbors as ourselves;
- Humanist teachs which counsel us to heed the guidance of reason and the results of science, and warn us against idolatries of the mind and spirit;
- Spiritual teachings of earth-centered traditions which celebrate the sacred circle of life and instruct us to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature.
"Transcending mystery and wonder" can mean so many things, espcially in such a theologically diverse religion as ours. We are held together not by a creed, but more by common values . . . My vision for "church" is that it creates and allows space for change and transformation. The institution of the liberal church charges us to be true to our individual personhood while at the same time challenges us to enter into a relationship with the larger entity of the community, and the higher power of the world and the universe.
Excerpt from a sermon delivered by Rev. Kent Hemmen Saleska on October 5, 2008