Month: August 2003

I was listening to one of the pop radio stations in town the other day, and one of their zany blurbs came on between songs that had some loony voice saying, “Remember, you can be replaced.” I commented to my kids in the back seat that that goes against our first UU principle. (We had been going over the UUA Principles at meal time.) It’s been weighing on me ever since.

A few months ago, as I was sharing lunch in the dining hall, I was telling some of the other students gathered at the table what UU’s believe. When I said that we believe that every life has worth and dignity, another student reached across the table to give me a high-five, saying “Now there’s a good Protestant belief for you!” I’m not quite sure if he was being sarcastic or not, but I really like this principle.

Holding human life in high esteem goes against not only depraved theology, but degrading materialism as well. Most UU’s who know the basics of our history can tell you that we reject the doctrine of original sin, but it’s a little more subtle to reject the notion that everybody is expendable. This materialistic culture of producers and consumers that we live in has that notion at its foundation. Everyone is replaceable and only the strong survive—no, we reject that as well. We believe that every life is inherently priceless and dignified. No person can truly be replaced and we all survive because we take care of each other. This is our faith.

You’ll note I’ve added another link under the side section “More” called simply “Links”. This will take you to a page where you can find links to other sites which I’ve found useful or which mean something to me. I thought it would be helpful to have a link to my home congregation and seminary, for those who might be interested. Accorningly, the title of my blogroll has changed to “Other Blogs” and links which belong on the Links page have been moved there.

Chutney at MyIrony.com asks, “Do UU’s do liturgy?” In response, I’ve just posted a UU Pentecost service I did for a class on worship and music. It includes the sermon I wrote much later, but I did the whole shebang at my home congregation just this past June. It includes a call to worship, collect, and benediction–all of which I had to write myself. And when I learned what a ‘collect’ is I said to myself, “so that’s what Grandma’s been using to bless meals ever since I was a kid!” I wonder if she knows the name of the form…

Anyway, I’ve also written hymns, but I’m sorely out of practice. I thoroughly enjoy creating multi-sensory and participatory, uplifting worship experiences. I’m all about poetry and metaphor, although my sermons may not reflect that so much. I hope my blog does…

Rev. Mark Belletini, the chairperson for the committee that produced our current hymnal, is still writing hymns. In fact, he wrote one for the ordination of Jim Bosveld, introduced just a few weeks ago.

Also, have you seen Boy in the Bands? He seems to be more high church, and has some archived posts on liturgy.

I think what we may be suffering from is a lack of good UU liturgists who also blog…