Where I Stand

As might be expected, I don’t often agree with a lot of people. At least not 100%. I don’t think anyone truly agrees with someone else, just bits and pieces here and there.UU Giraffe But when our consulting minister, Danny Reed, delivered his sermon a few weeks ago I found myself agreeing with one section of it entirely. I can honestly say, and with all due respect, that I don’t agree with Danny on everything, but on this we are marching hand in hand. He has captured very neatly and poetically, why I am a Unitarian Universalist.

For whom is my church? It’s for anybody who’s ever wept at a sunrise and felt the need to thank the universe for starlight and sea breeze. It’s for anybody who’s ever had a broken heart and felt the need to pray but wasn’t sure how. It’s for anybody who ever wanted to raise a child with a faith that invites children to find their own way to God, lovingly guided by good and able teachers. It’s for anybody who needs a little room in church, or maybe a lot of room in church. For those who need to think things through and test ideas against their own experience. My church is for those who believe that science explains creation, phenomena, and behavior alongside scripture, myth, and poetry.

My church is for the people who are unwelcome elsewhere because they think the wrong thoughts, or pray the wrong prayer, or love the wrong person. It’s for anybody who’s ever had a hard time of it. My church is for anyone who wonders about the right way to be in this complex world, those who relish being alive yet who know that we must die. My church might not be right for everybody, but it’s surely right for me, and it might be right for you.

Delivered by Reverend Danny Reed at the Unitarian Church in Charleston, 10/10/10.