(1) My friend often teases me for being a unitarian. He says that while his faith offers prayers and scriptures that have been established for two thousand years, I seem to have invented something new. He says that what his religion offers is certainty while I can say what I like.
I agree with him almost to a point. I was part of that faith once and to be truthful there is still a shadow of it somewhere in my mind. It was the tradition and certainty that eventually led me away from it.
When I was what he calls a believer, I was in the club. I could say that I knew all the answers to life because they were in the holy book. If I doubted then, the answer was in the book - or an interpretation of it by a learned scholar. Those who were not believers I should persuade to join this club. If they would not then I could only say, 'God help them!' My club, my religion was exclusive and correct. Lucky me.
But I left. I left the certainty and the authority of the holy book - and felt the freedom of being subject to no one but myself. I had experience of the world and found it to be chaotic. The world was cruel and really it paid no attention to people’s faith or their holy books.
People died in earthquakes and car crashes and the wrongdoings went on no matter what the prophets had said. The sins of the world were as rampant in my generation as they were in the last - and seemed to be getting worse as the centuries processed.
I loved the outdoors. This is my cathedral I said. I feel a oneness with nature. It is as red in tooth and claw just as my world human is. Life is a lottery in nature too.
I would climb my hill and gaze in wonder at all that was around me. I did watch the sunsets and often the sunrises too. I felt the enormity of time beneath my feet and how short and frail were my moments in it. I loved it and I felt an emotional connection to it.
Some chance within the chaos of that primordial first explosion had created this little jewel of a planet spinning round a sun that would burn for billions of years. And I have my moment in it. How wonderful.
My religion was to be in tune with this natural world. In quiet moments I could feel its energy. There seemed to be a purpose within it. Life was inexorably moving forward, developing. changing, improving to be able to survive better, but it was also ageing as I was ageing.
This earth needed protecting from the abuses humankind were inflicting on it. Money was the god they lived by and the world would literally end up in the hands of the wealthy but by then it would be useless and arid.
It was a depressing thought. But by nature I am an optimist as well as a free spirit.
There are people in the world whom I seem to get on with naturally. I call them my tribe. I don't know how it is - it must be some instinct carried in my genes from the days of the caves. We recognise each other straight away. I think of them as my brothers and sisters and sometimes cousins. And it has nothing to do with age or gender.
These are the ones I come across in all walks of life. I enjoy their company - so I thought there was something positive about the human race after all. There were people like myself - free spirits under the cathedral sky - and there were people like my friend, established in his religion of certainty. If humanity was a parasite consuming the earth's resources, then at least there was a mutation trying to save it. They are the Unitarians.
(2) I came across the Unitarians by accident - as most people do. I settled in because most of them were from my own tribe. They all seemed to have their own version of a religion like mine. Some leaned into Christianity, some to Buddhism, some to Hinduism and some to nothing in particular but they had this ingrown respect for life and the earth. They mostly respected each other but like all human groups there could still be likes and dislikes amongst them.
Most of them really cared about the present injustices of the world - the inequalities, the violence and intolerance that can exist between individuals or communities or nations or religions. They cared about the poverty and suffering caused by the uncaring humanity that was devoted to accumulating wealth.
Most of them recognise that there are mysteries that we cannot explain - the synchronicities and bits of good fortune that seemed rooted in something outside our understanding. I found myself belonging to them.
What I find difficult to explain to other people is that the freedom I enjoy; to think what I like and the freedom of uncertainty, actually means great responsibility - not less. I cannot shut people out who are not the same as me. They have the same right to exist as myself - I have to accept them and accept the differences between us. I cannot judge others and say they are wrong in their belief - because all beliefs are valid. To those who are not of my tribe I can influence them by letting them see that I am happy in my life and I have values care for the world. I will speak out against their unjust ways and demonstrate against them - but I will not join them.
I realise that I alone cannot change the world but I can try to influence the very small part of it in which I exist. Let my light shine as it says in those gospels that shadow my soul - and know that I am not the only light. I am one of a tribe of lights and they are all letting their lights shine wherever they are in the world. I feel encouraged by them and that is why I belong to them. The Unitarian path is not an easy path to follow. There is no safety in scriptures
We Unitarians meet together - some in Chapels and some in small groups. We meet for worship but what each one worships as the ritual moves along is a secret known only to them. It lies in the heart, within their spirits. Each is at a place discovered while on their journey to understanding. Yes there are often songs and reworded hymns - because people like singing; Prayer is seen as an energy to be added to the river of life.
Being together lifts our spirits. The energy of the individual is added to the group on these occasions. The energy of the group adds to the energy of the individual.
I like being a free spirit and I like being a free spirit within my tribe.
When people ask, well what do Unitarians believe, I can only say we believe in the freedom of the spirit trying to do good in the world. We are in a tribe and in our group because there is some mysterious invisible bond that connects us to one another. Firmly bound forever free it says in one of the hymns.
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