Laughing… just laughing a this!

Elizabeth, reacting to hatred and/or abuse without returning the same sentiment is a major challenge. I think it’s wonderful that you are your friends have chosen that particular challenge as an opportunity to live out Unitarian Universalist values.

Your story about the chair (and about what it means to you) made me smile.

Suzanne, you make an important point that unattainable ideals can be found in many different religious traditions. There’s a line between setting out an inspiring vision for living a more fulfilling and compassionate life (which most religious groups do), and holding out this vision as an unattainable ideal that engenders feelings of inadequacy and failure.

uuMomma, I definitely did NOT interpret your initial post as a diss. I read it as a healthy critique. I love having you at the UU table!

Thanks for the shout out (both of them!). I realized as I read this and the comments left at mine that what I didn’t want people to come away with is that I was dissing UUism. I realized that the inadequate way I feel is my own baggage; what I bring to the table. And it is definitely time to leave THAT somewhere else. Thanks for this.

Another right-on-target article from you — thank you so much! I have often felt less than committed? I guess because I feel I fall short of the UU mark. So it’s really affirming to read here that I’m not the only one who maybe has a set of ideals in my head that are virtually impossible to live up to.

Interestingly enough, at least, to me, is that I also felt this way when I participated in other, more traditional religious groups. Maybe it wasn’t about cooking from scratch for potlucks or not recycling every possible item in my household, but it was most definitely about not measuring up to some ideal. Ideal being the key word there, of course.

Thanks for making me think a little harder and reason a little better. :)

Suzanne
First UU Nashville

Loved your post! My friends and I sometimes discuss how challenging it is to be a UU. Mostly, we say it in the context of always striving to treat other people with kindness and respect — no matter what. So that no matter how verbally abusive someone is, we don’t take the bait and become abusive, too.
Instead, we attempt to muster up all our compassion and listening skills, our “I” statements , our focus on the breath of life, etc., etc. It’s exhausting!

And yes, it is difficult, on top of all this, to “always” walk or bike short distances instead of taking the car. On those rare occasions when I wander into a retail store rather than a secondhand one, I marvel at the cleanliness, the shininess of everything I see. Everything looks and smells so fresh. Aaaaah!

When I started working for for pay, I took my first month’s paycheck and bought a lovely chair and ottoman for the sunroom from a furniture store, not St. Vinnie’s. I love that chair and what it represents.