One Journey, Many Paths
Posted by admin on 12 Jun 2007 at 09:18 am | Tagged as: Dialogue
The fellowship recently voted on a new tagline for HUU to use as part of our identification. The majority voted for One Journey, Many Paths. What does that mean to you??
Before becoming a UU and before the rise of the religious fundamentalism, I used to believe “One Journey, Many Paths” could be applied to all religions and not just the folk attending HUU. (Perhaps the tagline is not meant to apply to just members and friends of our congregation; however, I did not attend the congregational meeting where this tagline was discussed and so I do not know what the congregation intended.) That is, I used to think that people of various religions were essentially after the same thing, wanting the same thing for themselves and others (e.g., peace on earth, the Golden Rule, charity, mercy, union with God–however one might define that–, etc.).
Now, the “One Journey, Many Paths” phrase only makes sense to me when I connect it to another phrase–”right relationship.” I believe most folk (religious or otherwise) are attempting to live in right relationship with their beliefs. However, I no longer believe that we are on different paths that represent one journey. Indeed, people of different faiths often have such disparate world views and “this world” goals–goals that are intended to keep them in right relationship with their religious beliefs–that I am concerned about the harms that might committed in defense of their respective religious beliefs.
However, the “One Journey, Many Paths” phrase makes sense to me if the journey we are talking about represents the journey toward death, the journey that begs the question, “What’s it all about?”
So if the “one” journey is about the right of individuals to find their own meaning, then I think our tagline truly reflects what we are about. However, I’d like to hear more about what others think the tagline means to them.
Also, I think we are about something more than the individual search for meaning, and I wonder if other members and friends read that something more into our new tagline.
Claire