Growing Up Absorbed
Religious Education among the Unitarian Universalists
by
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What are the questions to which Unitarian Universalism is the answer?
Religion is about the ultimate questions and answers of life and death and what comes between: the questions that never wear out. These are the questions that empty the room; we don’t ask or don’t dare ask them casually. In traditional catechisms questions are put to the learner, but the answers are right there to be memorized, believed, internalized. In Unitarian Universalism, we have no catechism, no creed; no specific answers to specific questions. We are essentially left on our own to develop both questions and answers….we seek the courage to question.
Why is there something and not nothing? This question bewitches, bothers and bewilders me. I reject the idea of a Creator God who has personality or will. That just does not make sense, even though I grew up with a strong belief in a personal god and even preached a sermon at 14, bravely entitled “My Friend God.” The subsequent silence of that God has moved me from youthful theism to seminary atheism to ministerial agnosticism. I have become a fanatic agnostic who says, “I don’t know–and you don’t know either!”…
And yet. And yet. When I stand transfixed by a sunset over the west shore of Seneca Lake and enjoy the Great Blue Heron flyby while sitting on the beach; when I peer out over the multi-stratified Grand Canyon; when I observe a tiny baby become a human being who becomes my adult son; when I behold the heavens through even an amateur telescope or look at pictures of our blue-green earth ball from outer space, I am driven to wonder. I just can’t help myself….When I ask myself why is there something and not nothing, I am humbled by my ignorance. I haven’t a clue. I simply rejoice in this incredible mystery. Here the question is quite simply unanswerable…. The twin questions “why live?” and “so what?” and are utterly central to religious consciousness. To the question “why live?” we may ask a provisional “why not?” for it almost always beats the alternative of not having lived at all. To the question “so what?” I believe there are no inherent meanings in the universe for us to discover; we create our meanings in the day-to-day of our living.
How shall I live? When we read the famous words from the prophet Micah, “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God?” we note this quintessential religious statement was in the form, not of a mandate, a command or an obligation, but of a question, a question that demands an answer. While the question of why something and not nothing does not require, and probably does not have an answer; and while the second question of human meaning is one about which we can speculate and differ, we really do have to respond to what we are going to do with our lives. We really have no choice. The Jews have it right with their ethical mandate to repair the world–tikkun ha olam.
We cannot unravel the mysteries of the cosmos, we cannot do more than posit reasons for living, but we are sure that one of our missions on earth is to ease the lot of those who suffer; struggle against the growing and glaring gaps between rich and poor; place the stubborn ounces of our weight on the side of those who treat the earth as a garden, and not a mine, and speak truth to power….I am utterly convinced that I owe to succeeding generations a decent environment, some semblance of peace, and an approximation of justice. While I’m not sure how merciful I ought to be, and while I have my doubts about God, I do know that I must invest my life in doing justice for the sake of those who live after me.
These are the questions that empty the room. And it can get quite lonely on the creative edge of things, wrestling with questions that perhaps have no final answers, struggling with questions that have only tentative answers, dealing with questions that help shape the way we live our lives.
It is we who wonder about the worlds beyond us and the worlds within.
It is we, creatures of earth, who must ask why, The eternal question of why anything.
Why are we at all? By what miracle were we born and to what mystery do we go?
What is the meaning of our brief sojourn?
We fling our questions into the great beyond,
Hoping beyond hope that someone, something,
Somewhere will hear our cry and respond.
We wonder hopefully in the great cosmic silence.
Sometimes a still small voice responds–
Coming from without or within we do not know.
Sometimes we hear answers to our questions,
Some hint that our lives are worthwhile,
That it is good to ask even if we are not answered.
Sometimes we sense the great cosmic approval that we belong here,
That asking the questions is part of what it means to be human,
That we are part of the answer ourselves.
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About the Book
How long does it take to grow a soul, to love and to be loved, and to help repair the world? One lifetime, so it is best to be totally engaged in the process. Growing Up Absorbed follows the journey from cradle to grave through an education focus. There are no shortcuts in this spiritual pilgrimage. It can be hard, but we are companioned along the way. What happens is what Gilbert calls “spiritual osmosis,” absorbing what the world has to teach us and passing on what we have learned: an absorbing business. Within these covers lies a history of religious education in the Unitarian Universalist tradition, with reflections on faith development in the 21st century. Beginning with Walt Whitman’s poem “A Child Went Forth” as a metaphor, the author concludes with life questions that “empty the room.” He finds the journey has its valleys, plateaus and mountain peaks, and is no casual matter. Gilbert shares his excitement on making the journey.
About the Author
Richard S. Gilbert writes books of meditations while sharing his perspective on social justice and religious education. A retired Unitarian Universalist minister, he holds degrees from St. Lawrence University, Meadville/Lombard Theological School, Starr King School for Ministry and Colgate Rochester Divinity School. For over a half-century Gilbert has ministered to people of all ages. Here he shares life wisdom gained through experiences of growing values, meanings and convictions. The author views “retirement” as just one more opportunity to be absorbed in life. Richard and Joyce Gilbert live in Rochester, NY, where they enjoy time with their three grandchildren.