The Light for Everyone Who Comes into the World
By Elizabeth M Strong
Reverently I offer this symbol of our hope and high intent.
Reverently I bequeath this flame to you.
This is the light that is lit for everyone who comes into the world.
Bear this light to others, one by one.
Let the flame go from life to life till all is lit with its warmth.
Tell that the light means wisdom
Tell that the light means kindness
Tell that the light means understanding
Tell that the light means tolerance
Tell that the light means sacrifice
Tell that the light is a vision of a fairer world.
Tell that this is the light that is lit for everyone who comes into the world.
Welcome to A World of Religions!
One of the favorite programs in UU Religious Education is always our study of World's Religions. With the magic of the internet, we don't have to sacrifice this program even this year --and adults can join some of the adventures with our youth!
The Youth Program: Crossing Paths
This year with our youth ages 12+ we are offering a program called "Crossing Paths." It is rooted in religious pluralism. Instead of claiming that one religion is better than others or that all religions are really different ways to the same end, religious pluralism treats religions as separate systems of belief that address distinct human challenges. Rather than seeing all religions as different paths leading to the same mountaintop, this view sees each religion as its own uniquely beautiful mountain. Crossing Paths is about exploring a new “mountain” each month, thus our tagline “Many Mountains; Many Paths.”
For instance, Buddhism sees the problem in the world as suffering and the solution is Nirvana or enlightenment. Christians see the problem in the world as sin and the solution as salvation. We UUs have our own unique understanding of the problem and solution. Put simply, we have tended to see “separation” as the problem and “reconnection” as the solution. What grabs our attention and breaks our hearts as UUs is seeing how the world separates or disconnects people from their deepest selves, life’s gifts and each other.
How does this reflect UU Values?
This approach is distinctly Unitarian Universalist. Ones sees it most clearly in the “Six Sources” we covenant to affirm and promote. These are listed in the front of our UU hymnal. From our beginning, we’ve honored the way our sibling faith traditions each notice a different aspect of the human condition and human struggle. There is no single struggle. There are many struggles of the human condition. We see each religion as focusing on a different one of these challenges and then developing spiritual practices or “spiritual technologies” to deal with that. So depending on which struggle you are experiencing, you might turn to that particular tradition (source) for guidance.
And so UUs respond by helping people restore those three sacred connections. Another way to put this is to say we offer people three “lifelines” that help people reconnect to:
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their deepest self (self)
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life’s gifts and joy (life)
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and needs greater than our own (others)
What about Us Adults?
For our youth, the program will involve 3 Sundays of learning and exploring a faith tradition. The last Sunday of the series will be a time to watch a "service" from that faith or to interview a practitioner of the tradition. At this point, our adult program will involve independent study (see below) and then joining for the final "Watch Party" and discussion. See Schedule here.
Self Study
Where do I begin?
1. Consider reading an overview of the world's religions such as Huston Smith's book
2. Below you'll see an evolving list of resources for our worlds religions. Read, study, investigate and come ready to discuss!
World Religion Resources
Unitarian Universalism
For more details and the schedule, click here