UU Carnival
A good and sincere UU blogger with the best of all possible intentions has started a UU Carnival of Blogs, or something along those lines, which I think is intended to pick up where Coffee Hour left off:
http://arbitrarymarks.com/wordpress/2006/06/11/uu-blog-carnival-announced/
I think the group conversation is a fine idea for those who have the time and energy to put into writing on the subject and/or compiling a digest of entries worth posting in the Carnival and writing about. It's a kind of on-line small group ministry with potentially hundreds of observers sitting in the same room, as it were.
The first topic, though, has me singing "Ole Man River" to myself:
"I gets weary
and sick of tryin'
I'm tired of livin'
but scared of dyin' ..."
The topic is (drum roll, please), "What is Our Purpose? Or specifically,
what is your purpose in belonging to a UU congregation?"
Can I please, with eyes at half-mast because I am so tired of hearing this question asked, just answer this question for myself and get it over with?
Our purpose as a religious movement is to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with the God or Sacred Purpose of our understanding.
My purpose in being part of a UU congregation is to have the opportunity within a covenanted religious community to love the Lord my God with all my heart, all my mind, all my soul and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself.
I'm guessing that if we weren't allergic to Biblical language, every single Unitarian Universalist could agree with me, making fairly simple adjustments to the theological orientation as needed . The first sentiment, in case you couldn't identify it, is from the Old Testament prophet Micah. The second is from the New Testament prophet Jesus.
With all due respect, can we PLEASE think about what we're doing before launching yet another discussion that encourages our sense of terminal uniqueness? Is Unitarian Universalist unity and strenght best served by convening forums for the expression of personal, individual opinion?
My questions for GA are:
How can we build stronger congregations through the power of our associational covenant?
How can you, personally, foster a loving and forebearing spirit of fellowship at GA?
What are some current resources for UU theological reflection that might yield some rich conversations among us?
http://arbitrarymarks.com/wordpress/2006/06/11/uu-blog-carnival-announced/
I think the group conversation is a fine idea for those who have the time and energy to put into writing on the subject and/or compiling a digest of entries worth posting in the Carnival and writing about. It's a kind of on-line small group ministry with potentially hundreds of observers sitting in the same room, as it were.
The first topic, though, has me singing "Ole Man River" to myself:
"I gets weary
and sick of tryin'
I'm tired of livin'
but scared of dyin' ..."
The topic is (drum roll, please), "What is Our Purpose? Or specifically,
what is your purpose in belonging to a UU congregation?"
Can I please, with eyes at half-mast because I am so tired of hearing this question asked, just answer this question for myself and get it over with?
Our purpose as a religious movement is to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with the God or Sacred Purpose of our understanding.
My purpose in being part of a UU congregation is to have the opportunity within a covenanted religious community to love the Lord my God with all my heart, all my mind, all my soul and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself.
I'm guessing that if we weren't allergic to Biblical language, every single Unitarian Universalist could agree with me, making fairly simple adjustments to the theological orientation as needed . The first sentiment, in case you couldn't identify it, is from the Old Testament prophet Micah. The second is from the New Testament prophet Jesus.
With all due respect, can we PLEASE think about what we're doing before launching yet another discussion that encourages our sense of terminal uniqueness? Is Unitarian Universalist unity and strenght best served by convening forums for the expression of personal, individual opinion?
My questions for GA are:
How can we build stronger congregations through the power of our associational covenant?
How can you, personally, foster a loving and forebearing spirit of fellowship at GA?
What are some current resources for UU theological reflection that might yield some rich conversations among us?
posted by PeaceBang at 11:47 AM
2 Comments:
I was going to post a comment here, but it turned into its own post. ;-)
http://home.uchicago.edu/~cullinan/blogger.html
To add on to what ck says here - the question of building stronger congregations is a good one, I think, but I also think it builds out of a sense of individual and denominational purpose. If we can get some good, deep reflection going, then I think the answers to this question will be much more interesting and valuable.
CK, thanks for graciously responding to my cranky self. I am glad to hear that you rolled your eyes at the first topic so I would say this to you: RESPECT THE ROLLING! FEEL the rolling. Roll with the rolling.
You're right, though, you sure won't have a shortage of posts!
As far as my topic goes, steal away with my blessing.
I think I'll have to decline your offer to convene the September Carnival, as that will be a madness month for me. I look forward to seeing how it all progresses. Thanks for putting yourself out there for Round #1.
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