Articulating my UU Faith

The Faith Articulation Covenant Group that I'm in is leading the service at church tomorrow, and I am one of the people who will talk about my faith for a couple of minutes. It's always been sort of nebulous for me (that's why I joined the group!) so the assignment was a little daunting, but I've finally written it out. Here's what I'm going to say, and afterwards I'll play a piece of music that means a lot to me.

Articulating My UU Faith

I didn't grow up Unitarian Universalist. When I was a child, my family were active members of the Episcopal, then the Lutheran church. We would follow a liturgy, reciting our prayers, creed, and confession of sin from the book. There were Bible readings and communion with homemade bread and real wine. My favorite parts of the service were the Passing of the Peace, a time to greet your neighbor that involved lots of hand-shaking and hugging, and of course, the music. By 5th grade I was singing alto in the adult choir and in the Folk Group. I always felt enriched by the community aspects of church; the fellowship hour, the church camps, the church musicals, the early morning trips to the birthday girl or boy's home where we would serenade them and throw fresh flowers on their bed.

My parents always encouraged us to think and ask questions about anything, including religion. As I became an adolescent, everthing in life seemed to be about hating being told what to do or losing the Power Game in any way. The idea of humility before God seemed so off-putting to me. The prayers we recited didn't make me feel connected to anything, they were just the same words we repeated over and over every week. The 2000-year-old, Middle Eastern, agrarian frame of reference just had no relevance to my life.

Our whole family dropped out when I was about 17, and for the next 15 years the only time I went to church I was getting paid to play the piano. I spent a lot of time out in nature, at the piano, or nurturing a relationship. Sometimes I would have brief moments of feeling fully present and connected to the universe doing these things. But I still felt kind of isolated and missed that sense of community I got from church as a kid. I felt really at home here when I joined this church. Here was a place I could have real conversations and feel part of a group of like-minded people.

For me, my spiritual path is something that grows organically from my experience, as opposed to an external creed or ritual. Nature, love and especially music are my ways of being connected to the universe. Ask me to pray or meditate and I'm not very good at it, but sit me down at a piano and I can reach that "flow state" right away.