Spirituality and the Importance of Religious Community

SPIRITUALITY: Think about how you would define that word. It’s hard, isn’t it? For a long time, I struggled with that. When I was a member of the Church of the Larger Fellowship, we had an Email discussion about that topic, and people would go on and on trying to define what it meant to them. That made my brain hurt, and I gave up even trying to follow those threads. "Spirituality" is one of those words that can be very difficult to define, but has the quality of "I’ll know it when I see it". Perhaps it means many different things, or perhaps it means different things to different people. I have, however, finally come up with a very simple definition that works for me, and it can be summed up in one word: CONNECTION.

To me, connecting with God includes a feeling of becoming one with the Universe, or a feeling of being part of something larger than myself. Typical examples are that of a beautiful sunset, or the powerful ocean waves pounding the shoreline. But, it doesn’t have to be so grandiose. A few weeks ago, my husband and I took a vacation to the Adirondack Mountains in upper New York State. One afternoon, I had the luxury of wandering through the woods by myself. I picked out a log near a small stream and sat down quietly, letting my mind wander. After a while, my attention was drawn to a blue jay who was taking a bath in the stream. He (or she) would flap around for a while, fly up into a nearby tree, then come back down and flap around in the stream some more. This bird seemed to be really enjoying himself and it was such a peaceful scene. If I had come crashing through the woods, I would have been an intruder in his world. Instead, as I sat there, I was a part of it. For a short while, nothing else mattered and I felt honored to be sharing this bird’s world with him. And there was a sense of being a part of something larger than myself.

his is a fairly typical example of how "spirituality" may be described. But, I would like to broaden my definition of the concept to include connection with our selves and with others.Last Fall, I was very fortunate to have heard a talk given by Rebecca Parker, the President of Starr King School for the Ministry. Her speech was entitled "Our UU House" and she asserts that, contrary to what many may think, we Unitarian Universalists do, in fact, have a basic theology upon which we build. Part of that theology describes how we understand Humanity and our relationship to the Divine. According to Rebecca, although the Bible says that we are created in the image of God, that doesn’t mean that we look like God. Instead, the entire set of capacities within each one of us reveals the Holy, or the image of God. Humanity, in this view, is inherently good.

William Ellery Channing said "We must start in religion from our own souls. In these is the fountain of all Divine truth. The only God whom our thoughts can rest on, and our hearts can cling to, and our consciences can recognize is the God whose image dwells in our souls". He also said "the purpose of religion is to unfold our whole nature to become manifestations of the Holy." Connecting with ourselves makes it possible for us to experience and unfold our capacities. In doing so, we are connecting with the Divine and bringing out that which is Holy. We are connecting with our own Humanity. We learn about God, by learning about ourselves and by learning about what it means to be Human.

But we don’t live in the world all by ourselves. There are people all around us with whom we have contact. Probably most of us have had the experience of feeling a real special, intimate connection with another person, such as a romantic relationship or a close friendship. Sometimes we meet people to whom we are drawn as if it was "meant to be’. And even people who are relative strangers can suddenly experience a special or profound connection as a result of some kind of deep and meaningful conversation. At such times, there can be a wonderful sense of the sacred.

There is a Hindu greeting that describes this kind of spirituality – this connection between two people. The word is Namaste, and it is said while bringing both hands together in front of the heart and bowing one’s head to the other person. It essentially means "the Spirit in me greets the Spirit in you" and it recognizes the equality and sacredness of all. When we UUs say that we value the inherent worth and dignity of every person, aren’t we saying essentially the same thing?

If we think of Humanity in this way - that our capacities in their entirety describe that which is sacred or holy – then oppressive social, economic and political structures can be seen as being contrary to our view of the Divine. They inhibit and suppress the unfolding of the Holy for those who are their victims. Unitarian Universalists typically show up in a big way in the struggles for human rights. We have fought, and continue to fight, for women’s rights, civil rights, and gay rights. These, of course, are just some examples of the manifestation of our mission where "service is our prayer". We fight, not only for basic human rights, but also for the right for everyone to have the opportunity to realize their own potential – that is, to unfold the Holy that is within.

This work is clearly an example of putting our spirituality to practice – of living our faith.Some of us have just finished a book discussion of "The God We Never Knew" by Marcus Borg, a liberal Christian writer. In the chapter on salvation, he talks about the concept of alienation. He defines alienation as the "psychological synonym of exile". It is when one feels like a stranger to oneself, to others and to life itself. Salvation, Borg says, is to be reunited with these things. This concept of alienation is a perfect description of how I was feeling several years ago. I was just sort of floating through life and losing contact with who I am as a person. I was reacting to stresses on the job by starting to become someone I didn’t like. I was stuck in my own little world. I’d go to work, do my job, and go home – not really connecting with other people in any meaningful way. That is when I began my spiritual journey in earnest, which eventually led me here to First Jefferson.

I have discovered how important a religious community can be in recovering from that type of alienation. A religious community is a place where people of like mind can come together in community to celebrate life and to offer hope and support to one another in times of need and sorrow. It is a place where we can drop many of the barriers that we feel we must raise in our professional lives, and we can let our true selves shine through. We are encouraged to discover and develop our own gifts – to unfold the Holy that is within us. We are encouraged to find our own path, whatever that may be, and to respect the paths of others. We learn how to live and act compassionately with ourselves, with others and with the world. And, as a community, we can accomplish more in improving the human condition than any one person can do alone. Our religious community is a place where we get in touch with our Humanness and we can find ourselves. But, it is also a place where we can learn to be in relationship with others in a meaningful and sometimes profound manner. One cannot truly connect with the Holy within, without connecting with others. That is part of being Human. And that is why community is so very important.

Yesterday, I stopped at Chili’s for lunch and I was working on this sermon while waiting for my food. The young man who was waiting on me asked me what I was studying. I told him that I was preparing a sermon and he asked me what it was about. I said the title is "Spirituality, and the Importance of Religious Community". His reply was, "That’s important. We can’t do it alone". And, he’s right. We can’t do it alone! We may come into this life alone and leave this life alone, but in between, we make the journey together.