Why I Am A Unitarian-Universalist

[On 12-12-2010, at the Unitarian-Universalist Congregation in Blacksburg Virginia, the writer was one of three members who spoke on our spiritual journey to Unitarian-Universalism. Below is a slightly modified version of that presentation]

Good Morning!

My name is George Lally.
I became a full-fledged UU for the first time in 2003 at Bell Street Chapel in Providence R.I.

That wasn't my first experience of being a UU, however. When I was about eight I attended a Unitarian Church in Brockton Massachusetts.

In fact, that was so long ago that I wasn't really a UU then, but a 'U'! as the merger with Universalists had not yet occurred!

In any case, my siblings and I attended for about one year.- I guess you'd say that that was my mother's ... 'Unitarian year'.
You see, mom had a history of ....'transient religious enthusiasms'. We Lally kids used to say that our mom, 'collected churches.' In fact, before we went to the Unitarian church, we had already been Catholic, Baptist, Congregationalist, and Lutheran!

Later on mom would try-on Reformed Judaism, return to Catholicism again, and then go on to Seventh Day Adventism and Mormonism.

I was in my forties when mom took instructions with the Seventh day Adventists. I remember going dutifully, with my teenage daughter, on a hot Summer day, to watch mom get the full-immersion baptism she so ardently craved.... and, I remember a certain discomfort after the service, looking into the smiling faces and accepting the out-thrust hands, of those Adventists, who congratulated me on "Sister Genevieve's" embrace of their faith.

Well, no surprise. Not long after achieving her cherished full-immersion baptism, mom cheerfully dumped the Seventh day Adventists for a ham sandwich. She said: "Do you think I'm going to go my whole life without meat?"

Through all this changing of churches, there were constants: Mother always read her Bible, said her prayers daily, and for sixty years -until she died- she was a Rosicrucian and a believer in reincarnation.

I know, I know! This is supposed to be about ME and why I am a UU. So, here goes:

I was in and out of the Catholic Church from adolescence until about age fifty. I sort of had one foot in, and one foot out.
That reflected an ambivalence stemming from an uneasy coexistence of skepticism and spiritual craving.

In the 1970's and 80's I was increasingly dismayed as the Church remained stubbornly frozen in old doctrines and dogma. Nevertheless, I continued, as a so-called "Cafeteria Catholic" -selecting the parts I liked, and ignoring the rest.

The parts that WERE most important to me were the focus on purifying or nourishing one's soul, the wisdom and inspiration in many scriptures, and the fellowship.

Church was also something I shared with my late fiancee Jo-Ann; but when she died in 1994, the balance of my ambivalence was somehow tilted, and I gave up on Catholicism.

After half a dozen years of drift I began looking for a new spiritual home. A UU friend encouraged me to visit both of the local Providence UU congregations, I tried the large, 500 member, First Unitarian -aka 'Big Uni'- which is near Brown Universty, but in the end I got 'hooked' on small, spirited, Bell Street Chapel on the other side of town, and, hooked on Unitarian-Universalism.

For the first time I felt un-ambivalent about religious worship. I felt that I could enter into a faith community without having to leave my knowledge and intelligence, at the door like a pair of shoes.

Attending religious services has always been to me a sort of weekly 'spiritual tune-up' -to use an awkward metaphor- or more awkward yet, a sort of 'spiritual carwash'.

I've always been aware of the gap between who I aspire to be, and who I am. It is humbling to take ones' own inventory, contemplate our shortcomings, and to consider the ways one falls short during the week.

For me, our U.U. services, our fellowship - our beloved community, as Chris calls it, strengthens me to be a better me.

Sometimes a beloved community can surpass expectations. I recall once some years ago in Providence, during a very good sermon, experiencing a communal feeling that was almost tangible. Afterwards, a friend said: 'Wasn't that a special service!' .
I agreed that it was indeed special but said I had no Unitarian-Universalist vocabulary to describe it. I remember saying that the closest thing I could find was my old Catholic vocabulary which didn't really fit... but...
The old Catholic words I had for that feeling of something larger than the sum of its parts, -that feeling of beloved community- were that it seemed like the Holy Spirit moved in us. Well, I hope I don't offend anyone with that reference.

Anyway, that sort of special communal feeling is, admittedly not a weekly occurrence but it still happens some of the time...like sometimes when we sing 'Spirit of Life'.

in any case, I am, 'stuck on Unitarian-Universalism'! ...and unlike my dear late mother, I plan to stick around as a UU for the duration! Thank you.