Message

In the preface to their mid-seventeenth century catechism, the Polish Unitarians stated humbly: “We do not think that we ought to be ashamed if in some respect our church improves.” This openness to self-transformation and self-transcendence represents one of the greatest strengths of our Living Faith, in my opinion.

Theodore Parker

This past Sunday, I leaned heavily into its spirit, taking up Theodore Parker's infamous distinction between the transient and the permanent. While Parker's Truth (Jesus' Great Commandment) has since withered in Unitarian Universalist circles, his Technique persists. Unitarian Universalism's method of enlightened individualism ("the oracle God places in the breast"), I argued, has become its message. And while this method saves us, we require something more: a message that saves us from ourselves. Else, as Eric Hoffer warns, we risk devolving into “homeless hitchhiker[s] on the highways of the world thumbing a ride on any eternal cause that rolls by.”

Our message, as rooted in the testimonies of our ancestors, is on my view this: 

We are all of One Source and destined to One Salvation.

You can listen to the sermon in full here.

I am curious to hear your response to my polemics. Would you agree that our method has become our message? If so, are we in need of a supplemental message? How would you describe our message?

Please continue the conversation.