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Building
your own Theology
Delivered by
the participants of Building your own Theology, August 20, 2006
At the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, New Bern, NC
The program Building Your Own Theology was developed back in the 1980's by Richard Gilbert, now the minister emeritus at Rochester, New York, who felt it would help Unitarians in their “free and responsible search for truth and meaning.”
BYOT is about an exploration of what we believe and what our beliefs mean for each of us. As Unitarians, we don't believe whatever we want to, we believe what we HAVE to.
We start with the questions. It is all about the questions. What is “religion?” What does it matter what you believe? What does it mean to be human? Where do your moral values come from? What are good and evil? Is there a soul? Is this all there is?
And all this leads to the final question, the question we must all spend a lifetime answering, “How, then, are we to live?” How then, are we to live.
The participants have done an eight-week exploration of their own beliefs, finding their own answers to the questions. I hope they have found these eight weeks stimulating. I hope they have been enticed to think about some important questions they may have been avoiding and that they are glad they thought about them. I hope they enjoyed our far-ranging discussions around and about those questions.
We will be running another BYOT series beginning in November. Should you think about devoting eight Wednesday evenings to religion?
Well, here are some more questions.
Do you find yourself agreeing with and enjoying some sermons here, and rejecting others? Do you know why?
Do you have some role models that you particularly appreciate? Do you know why? What does that mean for how you should live, yourself?
Did your former religion give you all the answers, and now you are left with too many questions?
Do you feel it is time to begin to find some answers?
There might just be a place for you in Building Your Own Theology.
Building Your Own Theology is not really what we do. Theology predicates that there is a god, but God is not what we are about. What we are about is Building your own meaning. What do you believe, why, and what does that mean to your life.
In the third century the Church Father, Origen said your beliefs should be useful to you and worthy of god. Davidson Loehr says, “Your beliefs should be useful to you, worthy of the very highest ideals you are capable of, and should make you a blessing to yourself and others.” “Useful to you, worthy of the very highest ideals you are capable of, and should make you a blessing to yourself and others.”
I hope the participants in this, the second UUFNB Building Your Own Theology, have found something that is useful to them and worthy of their highest ideals. We must leave it to them to be a blessing to themselves and others.
As part of the program, participants are encouraged to develop their own credos, their “I believe” statements. Bonnie Compton and Bethanne and Jake Jacobson have agreed to share their credos with you all this morning. Enjoy.
Poem
Debbie Whitney
Now,
I know how Japanese feel about their forebears.
Mine cared for me when I was young, and those before me, too.
Now, I still feel their caring opening doors that no one else can see
The help I felt I did not need is there for all eternity.
It engulfs me when I'm near the Bay or on a mountain top
Or when a cheek is near my face, it's near me almost any place.
And if I forget and let it stray, my calm's no longer there.
My life is only half a life and fears are almost squared.
Now, they are gone and I am me.
Or, am I they? I cannot say.
Credo
Bonnie Compton
My spiritual journey has been quite an adventure that has affected every aspect of my life. In fact, has become my life. I have spent time in many foreign places that I would not have visited without my intense spiritual curiosity. I have spent time in Egypt, Peru, India, Africa, Mexico, Easter Island, South and Central America visiting power places and working with vortexes. I have done vision quests, spent time in ashrams and taken months driving in my RV in what I called my “drive abouts.” I have lived long periods of time in silence exploring my inner self. I was fortunate to have attended a five-year program in a spiritual school and to have lived in a spiritual community for six years. There have been many teachers both in physical body and in spiritual form that have added to my spiritual life.
The main aspect of my spiritual work is with energy. I know that Calen explained energy at Stan’s house so you have an idea of what I am talking about. My work differs from Calen’s in that he works primarily with earth energies and I channel cosmic energies. What’s the difference? Earth energies are those grounded here on the physical earth including energies left behind at buildings, cemeteries, battle grounds. I like work with vortexes and energies from spiritual bodies including angels, higher evolved beings, other dimensions and even extraterrestrials. How do I do this? I feel the energy in my body and consciousness, I am able to communicate through ideas. I even feel your energies and when I am with you I am more in tune with your energy field than what you are wearing or how you look. So never worry about being around me on a bad hair day because I probably won’t notice it anyway.
Through all of this, I have developed a hodge podge of spiritual beliefs and what I call “knowings.” I can look back at my life and so easily see it divided into chapters or segments. I have been a practicing Buddhist, Taoist, New Ager. I have delved into Ancient cultures, extraterrestrial teachings, shamanism, gnosticism and Kabbalah. You name it. I have explored it. I have studied the various world religions, mythology and channeled information that comes in constantly. Through all of this, my credo has remained pretty constant.
I believe that we are all part of the Universal Whole or God. It is as if we are all parts of a giant puzzle with our own unique traits and characteristics. We are each pieces of this puzzle having our own journey. Each of us makes up the whole and without our piece, the puzzle is incomplete. I was shown a vision many years ago, that God is like a Great Light and we are each pin points of that light. The light, which is God, shines through each of us in our special
individualness.
We are not what you see. I don’t believe in that old saying, “what you see is what you get.” Our bodies are our vehicles allowing us to experience life at this time and place. Who we are is the essence inside that remains the same no matter what life we are living and even in between lives. Yes, I believe in life after death and before birth. I feel that we are immortal—only our bodies age, disintegrate and die. Our essence, or soul remains, even after the body is buried or cremated. I believe we have each had many lives including lives in other universes, solar systems and planets. We store all of our knowledge and experiences in our soul or Higher Self, for a better word, and have access to it if we will only ask and listen. This can be done through meditation, quiet contemplation and prayer. Somehow we have to block out the external noise and distractions to be able to visit our inner self.
I believe that we are all made of love and this is the aspect of humanity that I attribute to God. I feel there is only truth, which is the recognition of God, and anything else is illusion. We have been instilled with so many misconceptions since birth that we frequently operate automatically without even considering the real truth within ourselves.
I believe that before birth, we decide what we will do in this lifetime. We decide crucial interactions between one another and form contracts with each other to help us grow and remember what we are here to do. All of this is out of love for one another. I believe that the most hurtful experiences are those that we learn the most from and therefore are the ones that I feel are part of our contracts with each other to help us evolve. These experiences are actually the greatest gifts and provide the paths to seeking our own divinity. That is what we are here to do. To discover our divinity while in these physical bodies.
I believe that we are guided every step of the way if we will only listen and pay attention. There are angels and spiritual guides walking this life with us; and if we ask, they will help us with their wisdom. If we go inside ourselves, past our ego, we will be guided to the right decisions in any situation. I believe we are first guided by hearing a faint whisper or a twinge that we should do or not do something. If we don’t act on this, we will have a stronger urge to do it. Our inaction will bring about an even stronger urge until we pay attention—or not. Many times, I feel them as nudges or whispers until I get the 2 by 4 when I don’t pay attention.
I believe that we are only responsible for ourselves. That we can only change ourselves. I can give advice but unless a person is ready to change, the advice will go on closed ears. To me, I am much more effective by praying and meditating for peace, love and harmony than demonstrating against something I feel is wrong. To me, that is just adding my energy to the negative energy already growing bigger and bigger. Better to just be quiet, visualize world peace
beginning with peace within me. I believe that we can make a difference.
I believe that I create my own reality. That by my words, actions and thoughts I bring situations to my life. I am like a magnet and I attract like action to me. If I am negative or in fear or judgment, that is what I will attract to my life. The challenge is to stay in Love at all times to create the best life that I can representing God in this physical form.
I believe that times are changing—and that contrary to what we see on the news, mankind can and is evolving to a higher state of being. What we see reported is our illusion of separation. What we don’t see are many individual people that are each walking their own individual journey. At any point, love and raised consciousness can be the turning point of mass consciousness. This is what keeps me going and keeps me praying.
Credo
John Jacobson
To put it simply: I am a pantheist, for I find all the forces and laws of nature sublime. In nature those forces can mostly be understood by rigorous reasoning, scientific reasoning being the most reliable, but the sublime in nature can be seen the moment we step back from that same reasoning, without the noise and egoism of reason. In some cases, reason leads us to the sublime by revealing stunning complexity, such as found through theories of relativity, evolution and uncertainty, while in letting go of reason, an aesthetic perception allows us to be filled with awe and smallness
Are these forces many gods, a god, or no gods? I only know the effects, not the source, though the notion of a holistic, creative, causal origin is satisfying. But, a holistic god may be satisfying only because I can and do think holistically; so I must caution myself in making gods out of human projections. The sublime remains.
What about the natural forces within me? Clearly the most dominant is self-preservation, ego, seen more clearly as the force to procreate and dominate. Yet, like turning a switch, because we evolved as social beings, care, altruism and love can emerge as dominant forces. Ethics and religion are about these inner forces, none evil, nor inherently good, yet recognizing that the latter, care, altruism and love need to be nourished and excessive egoism suppressed or harnessed to create civility, justice, friendship and love.
Lastly, I am amazed to be alive to dance the creative now, the ever emerging challenge of being, not only of who or what, but also fullness, enthusiasm—which literally means in Greek: full of
god(s) within.
I am a most efficient Christian, without the absurd trapping of deductive reasoning. There are three, if you will, Trinitarian, moments of the revealing of the sublime, or gods: first, the creation and sustaining force of the universe, known as God the Father; second, the ethical and social demand of the moderation of egoism by love, sharing and community, known as God the Son; and third the amazing resources of being now, seeing or revealing THESE truths now, afresh in demands of life, known as the Holy Spirit. On another level it is about the rich traditions of western thought that can be demythologized and self revealing. Rich, intelligent, deep, balanced Christian theology is a place to mine spiritual truths, and it can also be a power for cultural centering to deny fundamentalists, TV evangelists and self proclaimed prophets the center stage in spirituality and social power. The problem: we live in an age where reason is not about truth seeking, but it is rather a tool for egotistical excess and achieving personal and social power, the opposite of the Christ message of community, justice and love.
Traditional theology, the study of or reasoning about god or gods on one level is absurd, ridiculous: to study god? Traditional theology has created another problem on a spiritual level: it has presented god with a persona, a character, qualities made in our image achieved through deductive reasoning. With these gods in man’s image, Western religions crystallize certain of god’s acts as exclusive to each faith with ensuing demands on how to live a life pleasing to that faith’s god, with the illusion of being God’s chosen people. And, as we see and have seen, warfare continually becomes the perceived solution as to whose god is supreme. In contrast, some Eastern religions offer wisdom about how life is to be lived. Western and Eastern religions, many gods, all with a small “g”, each a glimpse into the interior trappings of our psyche.
Some pretend they are looking into the face of god, because they fear to understand themselves. I am satisfied that I am seeing myself. We are each thrown into the world to navigate an incredibly complex path called happiness. Spiritual “ology”—study—is the way we sift through outward impressions and inward needs to sail on a heading personally constructive, while being encouraging and uplifting to others, and aware of our responsibility to the biosphere. Reflective reason, humility, and self-honesty are our best guides. Sometimes we must live large, but mostly it requires the discipline to live small.
Credo
Bethanne Jacobson
My “theology” centers on human behavior and the need to live each day in the search for answers that will lead to the appropriate treatment of myself and others. I am first drawn to the question of God, being most comfortable using the term Creator or Higher Power. I do not see this Creator as residing in either human or spiritual form. And, for me, it is difficult to determine what form this higher power assumes. But, whatever the form, I do believe that “something” far greater than myself created this world. But this creator is not “something” that is meant to be worshiped or is to be seen as all empowering. When I hear most other religious denominations talk about God, the Father, or the Creator, it is conceptualized as something or someone to be worshiped. Their God or Gods are something you pray to, blame, fear, praise, or look to for guidance. I believe we, each one of us, not God or the Devil, guide our own behavior. And, we can look inside ourselves and to each other, rather than through prayer, to find answers. It is my belief that praying, in the religious sense, does not result in good or bad things happening. Rather, It is the actions I take that shapes my world.
The most important aspect of my theology is indeed my need for spirituality and those awe inspiring moments that occur throughout daily life. I believe that spirituality occurs when we find others of like minds or with similar objectives to work together to bring about change. Spirituality can be also be found by interacting with nature, through experiences of awe, or merely by experiencing a moment of silent meditation. It is that sense of empowerment, energy, fulfillment, unity, or satisfaction that something great can be accomplished. Spirituality may be achieved through a connection with others, a connection with the natural, and a connection with the self. The Creator or Higher Power is the energy that created this world, but Spirituality occurs through connection. It is achieved through introspection and through a connection with those living around us, both human and natural.
Meditation, rather than prayer, is the means I employ to facilitate this connection, self-exploration, introspection, and search for meaning. Meditation is a means for resolving inner conflict, a way to search for answers to problems, and a way of seeking the strength to go on. Mediation allows for a calming of the psyche so that we can act in thoughtful and mindful ways.
I believe that when we die we simply cease to be. Thus, we need to make the most of this life and not contemplate the next. That is not to say we have no meaning after we die. Quite the contrary, as we move through this life we leave our imprint and it is through our actions that allow us to leave this world a better place than when we arrived.
My theology is practiced daily (24 hours a day, seven days a week). It is not something that I practice on a Sunday morning and then forget about for the rest of the week. Sunday mornings allow for a recharging and revitalization of the spirit in order to go through the next week with a positive and hopeful attitude. That certainly is not to say that I cannot gain the spirit or energy from other places or on other days. It can occur on a beach, in the forests, paddling down a river, sailing in the sound, or in my own backyard. It is just important to find a time and place to meditate on life circumstances and reflect upon the results of your actions and interactions with those around you. It is through this meditation and spirituality that we can act with moral behaviors and thoughtful actions.
My theology reflects the spirit that I carry within me, the spirit of life that allows me to do the best for myself and for others with whom I interact. It is about acting morally, responding honestly and with gratitude, and it is about working toward personal growth. It is about giving back to the world as a means of saying thank you and as a means of encouragement to others.
Lastly, I believe in the power of Forgiveness in achieving of spiritual peace, for without forgiveness there can be no tolerance, understanding, or acceptance of self and others.
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