Unitarian Universalism is unique among religions because we tolerate an unusually wide variety of beliefs and ideas. Among us are Christians and atheists, Buddhists, Muslims and pagans, ‘none-of-the-above’s, and more. We are “the faith of the wide path.”  But without a common set of beliefs, what keeps us together?  We have been able to stay unified as a faith movement because we cherish the value of relationship, which we express with the word ‘covenant’.

Now covenant may seem to be one of those stuffy Old Testament sounding words, and I’ve wondered if maybe some other word might work better.  Maybe contract? But contracts are specific, legally binding,  with penalties for breach of contract. Contracts are about law, not love. Maybe a better word might be agreement? But an agreement generally implies that we agree on viewpoints, understandings and beliefs. Covenant allows for that special case where we “agree to disagree”, and we disagree while remaining in a relationship of love and mutual respect.

So we stay with the word covenant as our theme of the month of September, where we explore the question, “what does it mean to be a community of covenant?” We’ll explore the kinds of promises we make each other, how we hold one another accountable, how we stay in relationship, with love, even when we fail, and have to begin again.

Many UU churches include the reading of a covenant as part of their worship services. Such covenants are often similar to this version written by Unitarian minister Rev. James V. Blake in 1894:

Love is the Spirit of this church and service is its prayer

This is our great covenant.  To dwell together in peace

To seek the truth in love and

To help one another.

I believe UUYO may have used such a covenant in the distant past — some of you recalled reading such a covenant on Sunday mornings. I hope part of our work in exploring our history would be to recover the covenant we used, and see if it might be a helpful touchstone as we live — covenantally — into our shared future. For learning to live in covenant is increasingly important.

We live in difficult, polarized times. As a nation, we are more divided on topics of politics and religion than we’ve been in many decades. The level of discourse between opposing sides grows ever more strident and hostile. Friendships are frayed, and families are fractured.

As Unitarian Universalists, we may have something to offer in these dark times. Through our covenantal understanding of relationship, we may be able to help people bridge their differences, hold civil conversations, and uncover the deeper aspects of being that transcend views and beliefs.  We may be able to help people relate with each other in respect, curiosity and trust, and ultimately help them dwell together in peace.

 

See you in church!

Matt