by Merle Wenger
May 5 2025

 UU Minute

James Luther Adams (1901-1994) was a prominent Unitarian Universalist theologian and a significant figure in 20th-century liberal religious thought. Born in 1901 in a small Nebraska town, Adams faced a challenging youth that shaped his commitment to social justice and religious pluralism. He studied at several institutions, including Harvard Divinity School, where he was influenced by both Unitarianism and the pragmatism of philosophers like William James and John Dewey.

Adams is best known for his concept of “the ethics of responsibility,” emphasizing the need for individual and collective action in the pursuit of justice. He believed that personal faith must be expressed through social action, encouraging congregations to engage in meaningful community service and advocacy.

Adams defines ministry broadly, and that caught my attention: defining ministry as a means of engaging in the world to shape history through voluntary associations like church, promoting social justice and ethical action, and fostering dialogue and consensus across different groups. 

Adams argued for a faith grounded in shared human values rather than specific dogmas.

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by Ben Campbell
April 27, 2015

I want to begin by saying that you might not agree with everything I am about to say – and that’s OK. It’s OK in Unitarian Universalism far more than it is in any other faith I know of. If you look around on the HUU website, you’ll find a pamphlet titled 100 Questions That Non-Members Ask About Unitarian Universalism. One thing it says is “We do not believe that any religious precept or doctrine must be accepted as true simply because some religious organization, tradition or authority says it is. Neither do we believe that all UUs should have identical beliefs.” Regarding other, non-spiritual matters such as politics and social issues, it says, “Even though we make collective statements and urge specific action, it is the individual who must ultimately decide his or her position on every issue.”

Merle Wenger has approached me twice about giving a talk here. The first time, he asked me what about my spiritual journey and life led me here, to Unitarian Universalism. The second time, he had noticed my unease whenever political matters came up in our discussions here. Believe it or not, these two matters are related. After I shared my initial thoughts with him, he also asked if I would share some reflections on my time at HUU: what I think we do well, and what I think could be improved.

I’ll start with that last one by giving two compliments and one critique.

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By Rev. Kirk Ballin
February 23, 2025

Revolutionary Love
By Dayna Edwards

I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for my faith.
My faith that our collective love united
can drown out the evils
of empire and hate and greed;
Together we create
a love energy
more powerful than
any force of oppression.

Because
When two or more people are gathered
side by side, arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder
the force of love ignites liberation.

Revolutionary love calls us
to know ourselves deeply
see God in the stranger
find beauty in the imperfect.
Revolutionary love calls us to find
the divine in dirt
the holy in the heartache
and the sacred in the scars.

Revolutionary love calls us out and then back in;
Revolutionary love calls us to be better and do better;
Revolutionary love calls us to heal and hold each other;
because
None of us would be here if it weren’t for our faith
in each other.

UNISON READING – “A PERSON WILL WORSHIP SOMETHING” – R.W. EMERSON

“A person will worship something—have no doubt about that. We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our hearts – but it will out. That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives and character. Therefore, it behooves us to be careful what we worship, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.”

READING #1

JOHN 13:34  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Matthew 21:12-13
And making a whip …Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers…. / And He declared to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer.’ But you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’

READING #2

“…See, people forget that billionaires have political ideologies just like everyone else. And remember, most people’s political ideologies are generally tailored to improve the life of the person holding the ideology. Democracy sounds great if you’re a peasant living under a king and you have no say in how things are run. But in what way would democracy improve your life if you’re a multi-billionaire who can buy politicians ? Once you’re up that high in the food chain, democracy is no longer a step UP, it’s a step DOWN.” –  The Trumpland Diary

READING # 3 -The Limits of Tyrants Frederick Douglas

“Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation, are people who want crops without  plowing up the ground. This struggle may be a moral one; or it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand; it never did and it never will. Find out what people will submit to, and you have found out  the exact amount of injustice  which will be imposed upon them. The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”

SERMON: WHAT TO DO ABOUT JESUS : WHAT TO DO ABOUT BILLIONAIRES

 Jesus finally attends the National Prayer Breakfast

Jesus! OR I can say that name that way or I can say that name in a different way  — JUEEEZUSS! GEEZUS. JESUUUS CHRIST! JEESUS CHRIST! We can say the name profanely or divinely or academically or dispassionately. But every one of us, when we hear the name, goes to some kind of image, association, critique, reaction, judgement, belief system, opinion, you name it! None of us are lacking an opinion, a perspective about Jesus. Whether we like it or not, Jesus is embedded in our cultural makeup. Each of us has had to come up with some way to deal with the presence of Jesus in our culture. Jesus is a potent and ubiquitous meme. And by meme, I mean what Richard Dawkins the Evolutionary Biologist coined to mean “a unit of cultural information spread by imitation. A noun that “conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation”. Since the day he died (whether as an actual human being or in some story with a character named Jesus) Jesus has been an ever-circulating meme making its presence known in a profoundly influential way within human cultural manifestations worldwide. In present day jargon, Jesus was and still is in death, a serious influencer. And his role as a meme, as an influencer, like a gene, has gone through thousands of mutations to serve specific cultural manifestations; so what is called Jesus is whatever suits the cultural milieu that claims him. To me the person, the teaching of, the ministry of Jesus was co-opted, stolen early on for various political purposes.

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by Rev. Janet Onnie
February 16, 2025

The offertory this morning was the familiar song by The Beatles, “All You Need Is Love.” I have always been slightly uncomfortable with this sentiment.  It was the same sort of general discomfort – manifesting itself as annoyance – at the Hallmark sentiments on Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Grandparents Day, and all the other “days”.  Too often these Hallmark holidays excuse perfectly awful behavior toward the one being honored the rest of the year. 

But I generally exempt Valentine’s Day from my bashing of Hallmark holidays because it has a long history.  You former Catholics were taught that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of St. Valentine’s death or burial–which probably occurred around A.D. 270.  Others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia.  Lupercalia was a fertility festival, involving flaying with strips of sacrified male goats and dogs and random matching of men and women to encourage pregnancy.  Not exactly the same thing as our modern celebration of love via chocolates and flowers. 

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, though written Valentine’s didn’t begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.  Chaucer mentioned it, and Sam Weller in Dickens’ The Pickwick Papers bought a valentine for the object of his affection. All those loves are lovely, but there are lots of definitions of love.  What are we talking about?

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by Rev. Janet Onnie
February 6, 2025

In the Word for All Ages this morning you heard the story of a Taco falling apart and, with the help of friends, one in particular, pulling itself back together.  Then in the reading you heard the very abbreviated story of David & Goliath, found in the 17^th chapter of the first Book of Samuel in the Hebrew bible.  This is a familiar story to anyone who attended Sunday School, corporate motivational workshops, or psychological roundtables on bullying.  This morning I’m going to start by explaining how King Saul is like the Taco, and David, the Nacho.  Yes, I know it’s a stretch.  Here goes: 

Think of the Taco as King Saul.  Kings have a lot of stuff to hold, so it’s no wonder that they crack from time to time.  The King Taco fell apart with some regularity and was soothed and encouraged by the nacho, David.  How?  David played the harp and wrote and sang some songs.  It was through the power of David’s music that he came to be known to King Saul as someone to be trusted.  So when David Nacho approached the King Taco for permission to slay a giant, he had a lot of credibility.  Permission was given, the stuff that had fallen out when Taco cracked returned to their place,, and Nacho declared victory. 

I could – and probably should – sit down right now.  But I can’t ignore the fact that today – about 3 weeks into the new U.S. administration – might be a good day to talk about what we can learn about falling apart, encouragement, and bravery.

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By Bill Faw
January 26, 2025
Good morning. Merle asked me 2-3 months ago if I could speak on “evil” at HUU. So this is a “commissioned address.” For my 15th message at HUU, I will talk about how folks, who don’t believe in Satan or hell, can talk meaningfully about evil.

This talk draws upon research I did a few years ago for a conference lecture on psychopaths; also draws on philosopher Todd Calder’s article on “The Concept of Evil” in the on-line Stanford Philosophy Encyclopedia; and on a chapter titled “Confronting the Demonic” in a book on the theology of Unitarian theologian James Luther Adams, from a book brought to my attention by Les Grady.  

DOES ‘EVIL’ EVEN  EXIST?

If evil does not exist, then maybe the terms “very wrong” or “very bad” are sufficient, without getting into controversial terms like ‘evil’. Perhaps the concept of ‘evil’ is outdated, that is, maybe we have to believe in an actual “devil” or “dark spirits” to use the concept of “evil”. And, perhaps calling persons or situations “evil” stigmatizes and dismisses them unfairly.

There has been a definite tendency in progressive religions like UU to see human nature as being basically good – and not “depraved” — and to look for the good in even the most despicable person.

We see this in 3 of the 7 official UU principles, with phrases like “affirming the inherent worth and dignity of every person;” “acceptance of one another;”     and “respecting the interdependent web of all existence.” So, maybe UUs cannot think of any person as ‘evil’.

But, on the other hand, the official UU “living tradition” speaks of the challenge “to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love”. So, maybe UUs can talk about ‘evil’ – at least evil powers and structures.        

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By Rev. Janet Onnie
January 12, 2025          

  I want to talk with you today about transformation and the story we tell ourselves about it.  Along the way we’ll touch on process theology — the notion that we are co-creators in our lives with God (however you define that) and how relates to transformation.   And we’ll end with the idea that maybe what we in this religious community say what we’re about – transforming lives – maybe that story isn’t true.  Maybe what we’re about is something else.

Transformation is the extreme form of change.  The standard example of transformation is the process by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.  Transformation transcends individual worldview.  Change is an occurrence that happens in the context of our own worldview.  Everything – animal, vegetable, mineral — changes over time.  The wearing away of mountains into hills by wind and water, the decay of vegetable matter into the soil, and the human process of aging all speak to the inevitability of change.  When change occurs, the identity of the thing is left pretty much intact.  Slushy water changes into ice, which will then return to water.  But the basic chemical structure remains the same.  Whether it’s water or ice, it’s still H2O.  It hasn’t changed.

            So it is with us.  Consider physical appearances for instance. The message that seems to permeate our society is that – whatever shape or size or color your body parts are – you’re not alright.  In order to fit in socially you need to change your appearance.  This gets communicated very early in life, so many many people grow up with an identity that becomes part of their worldview.  In other words, a world viewed through the lens of someone whose appearance is out of sync with whatever the norm happens to be at the moment. A few cutting remarks in middle school, a few snubs in high school, a few missed jobs and/or jobs with lower pay and your self-image as less-than is fixed. You can make changes, but those external changes are competing with your internal identity.  You can change your appearance with surgery, but personal identity is stubbornly fixed and it takes tremendous force of will or event to transform it.

            I’m sure you have similar stories.  The aging process is about nothing as much as it’s about change.  The change in our bodies – from the maturation of our brain to the wearing out of our physical parts – affects our self-image.  Social institutions – schools, religious communities, groups of all sorts – serve to fashion our identities from birth onwards.  Retirement communities exist to help us retain and even enhance our identity as active, capable, and vibrant people.  These environments don’t ask us to change our worldview.  In fact, they do everything possible to avoid the discomfort of change.  Of losing our identity.  To avoid the fear and uncertainty of transformation.

            It might be a lot easier to transform if there were some assurance of exactly what we would change into, such as changing from a caterpillar to a butterfly. There is no way the caterpillar can imagine what is on the other side of the chrysalis.  It is the biological imperative that drives the caterpillar to risk everything, to go beyond its worldview.  We have no such mechanism.  We are the original DIY (Do It Yourself) project.  If we want to grow into our full humanity, we need to decide to make that leap.

Lately I’ve been thinking about the transgender community and how they might fit into the definition of transformation and the issue of identity.  A question – to which I have no answer – is Has a person transformed through surgery or other means to become a different person?  Or has the surgery simply brought the identity into alignment with the person’s perceived gender.  Unlike the caterpillar, an individual does have a sense of what’s on the other side of the change.  So is this really transformation?  I don’t know.  Nor do I much care to parse words.  What I do know is that those individuals who have made this profound change are as faced with the uncertainty of outcomes as is the caterpillar in the chrysalis.  In many cases, they face a hostile reception when it turns out they aren’t a beautiful butterfly.

“Metamorphosis” is a section in a poem by Rachael Hadas: Why does transformation/ sneak up on us so?/ In life, not just narration,/why does transformation/ creep up—yes, in slow motion,/inexorably, though?/ Why does transformation/ sneak up on us so?

I am indebted to my colleague, Rev. Sandra Lees, for helping me think through this question.  The simple answer is: because transformation is a creative process. Because it is a process of becoming more whole, more fully human, and none of us gets to be in total control of that. The creative process is not linear, and it is not predictable. It sneaks up on us, grabs us, and will not let us go.  A call to a vocation – ministry comes to mind — is exactly like that.  Once you give into it you no longer worry about conforming to someone else’s standard or judgment about anything.  Nothing matters except answering the call to full humanity; warts and all. 

Henry Nelson Wieman, one of the pioneers of process theology, called this process of transformation “creative interchange.” He wrote extensively about how the creative process transforms the heart.

One of the questions that drove Wieman’s philosophical pursuits was: what can transform us? What power or what force or what event can propel deep-seated change? He wanted to know, in his words: “What operates in human life with such character and power that it will transform [people] as [they] cannot transform [themselves], saving [them] from evil and leading [them] to the best that human life can ever reach? “ Creative interchange was Wieman’s God concept. He believed God is a natural creative process or structure. And that natural creative process increases human good. This happens when people or communities create new meaning and enrich human life.  This creative process is what transforms people, said Wieman. It does not shape the world to what a person desires, so much as it transforms a person’s desire.  According to Wieman: “The creative event cannot be used to shape the world closer to the heart’s desire because it transforms the heart’s desire so that one wants something very different from what one desired in the beginning.”  Let’s hear that again.  The creative process is what transforms people. Stated differently, transformation is the result of the creative process. 

Pedro Reyes is a Mexican artist who began he career studying architecture.  But he lives in a place that’s been shattered by decades of violence by drug cartels.  In 2013 he called for people to trade in their guns, and more than 6,700 weapons were exchanged for vouchers which could buy household appliances.  From these guns Reyes collaborated with six musicians to build from these weapons an entire orchestra of musical instruments.  He created lutes and violins, clarinets and harps, marimbas, drums, trumpets.  They’re beautiful and terrible,  In each instrument you can still see the shape of the weapon, the barrel, the trigger, the magazine, the place to fix a bayonet – but it has been utterly transformed. 

I don’t know the details of Reyes’ journey from architecture to making musical instruments from discarded and confiscated weapons.  He wrote “The transformation was more than physical.  It’s important to consider that many lives were taken with these weapons; as if a sort of exorcism was taking place, the music expels the demons they held, as well as being a requiem for lives lost.”

The story the religious community tells itself is that it’s in the business of transformation.  Or are we?  Rev. Douglas Taylor notes that the work of a faith community is to build a better world and to help each other become better people.  The HUU mission statement implies this: “”Our purpose is to support each other in our various inward journeys toward truth. We endeavor to do this in an atmosphere of mutual acceptance, openness, and friendship. Committed social action on behalf of the local and global communities will be a natural expression of this purpose.”  Is this a promise of transformation into a better, more patient, more generous, more involved person if you belong to the Harrisonburg Unitarian Univeralists?  Probably not.  It’s not just about getting involved at the Islamic Center or contributing to the food bank or hosting people like ourselves talking about issues that we care about.  It is not about taking a step toward self-improvement.  Transformation is the whole deal, total metamorphosis: caterpillar to butterfly, liquid to solid, guns into musical instruments.  When you are transformed you are a whole new person.  And that’s not something to step into lightly.  The call to become something totally new is why religious institutions everywhere are struggling to be relevant in the twenty-first century. 

But here’s thing.  It’s a paradox:  Our Unitarian Universalist theology calls us to meet each other where we are; it calls us to promote each other being who we are without the need to become something or someone else.  We can’t accept each other’s inherent worth and dignity – just as you are —  AND enter into the business of transforming you into something else.  We can’t play both sides with integrity.  The church doesn’t need to cleanse you or bless you or give you something to make you whole.  It is inherent.  You do not need to become something more or better to be welcomed here.  Come as you are and be blessed. 

You say that the Harrisonburg Unitarian Universalists is a place of acceptance.  That in itself is powerful and rare and allows you to be an amazing community of grace in your own unique and authentic style.  Being accepted is no small thing: As Carl Rogers said, “It wasn’t until I accepted myself just as I was in this moment, that I was free to change.”  A pre-condition to true transformation, then, is to accept ourselves in the moment.  Let me say that again: A pre-condition to true transformation is to accept ourselves in the moment.

One way Unitarian Universalism can find an authentic way into the idea of transformation is to start with acceptance.  Acceptance. Perhaps we can hear the call for transformation NOT as a hint that we are somehow not good enough as we are, that we are flawed and unacceptable.  Maybe instead we can hear it the way a Zen Buddhist master once put it: “You are perfect just the way you are…and you could use some improvement.”  Mr. Rogers, God rest his soul, said the same thing.  “I like you just the way you are.”  You are acceptable, even perfect.  You are who you are and it is beautiful.  But don’t stop!  Keep growing, keep improving, keep getting better.

Remember the fox in the word for all ages story?  The fox was who he was and was perfect just the way he was.  But it was his internal desire for change – for transformation – that led him to explore options.  But having seen those options, he decided to stay as a fox.  A fox who – for the first time — danced.  But he wasn’t transformed.  And that’s perfectly okay.

Maybe the call to transformation is a call to continue to grow, not because who you are now is not good enough, but rather because who you yet can be is still more amazing!  It is not static.  Nothing is.  Change is a constant, and what is transformation but the most extreme form of change? 

Perhaps the work of Unitarian Universalism is not to help anyone transform, but to get us through a transformation should one sneak up on us.  Our call may be to help build up community support and strength of spirit to sustain us through a transformation should we find ourselves in one.

Our work here is acceptance.  Acceptance is our first task.  And in accepting ourselves, may we provide the resources for each of us to also be more accepting of each other, and of the unfolding of life.  As we create this community of support and acceptance, may we also build the capacity for each of us to weather our storms, and, perhaps … should it sneak up on us … to be transformed.  May it be so.  Amen.