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Monday, 18 October 04 ::
joining uu
i was not raised in any religion. i was raised being christian by culture-- re: we celebrated the family and gift giving part of christmas, but not the god part, we got easter baskets on easter.. but god.. no, in fact my mom rejected my grandmother's church.
i was one of the few kids i knew who didn't go to church, and so around 9 i began to realize how different i was, and i began to explore. i began to start going to church with my friends. i went to the baptist church, the newlife christian church... yeesh, i even went to a sleep away church camp one summer!
i continued this search through college. as an undergrad i started going to the episcopal church. that was the church of my father's family, the one that my father was raised in. i felt pretty at home there.. it felt pretty liberal.. but i always had a hard time with the 'one patriarchial god' thing. i was a raving feminist, and 'him' and 'he' just didn't jibe with my view of the world.
but then.. then i left the confines of my small college-- after growing up in the confines of a small college town-- and entered the city of atlanta and met a variety of people with a variety of beliefs. it was during the time between undergrad and grad school that i explored wicca, some. i also spent time meditating at a local newage bookstore every friday for many months.
what i knew along the way was that i was searching to belong, i wanted that part of community that my parents never provided me, a community that so many people i knew had and was an essiental part of their lives.. i wanted a religious community.
in the fall of 1997, nearing the end of my term in grad school, a friend in my program mentioned the unitarian universalist fellowship of athens. she invited me to come with her one day. and i did. after the first service i was hooked. after the second service a blessed woman named chip took me under her wing and guided me into the fellowship. i went to the 'new uu' meetings, i joined the women's group, i started going to the early morning lectures. the fellowship became an integral part of my life, and even though i knew i was going to be leaving soon, i became an official member.
i'll never forget my last service there. my minister, teri, made a big deal. she cried as she presented me with a beautiful certificate of membership and told me i would always have a home there. i still have it, and i still treasure it to this day.
i left athens and headed back to blacksburg and started going to the fellowship there. but i didn't feel like i belonged. it wasn't like what i had in athens. when i moved here to eugene.. i went to fellowship (well, this one is a church) occasionally.. but i didn't really know anyone, and there was no chip to grab me and take me into the fellowship.
but all along the way, whenever someone would ask me what i am, religious wise, i'd always proudly say 'i'm unitarian, even though i don't go to church'..
well.. the last 1.5 years in eugene have been wonderful for me, as far as community building. and what i've recently discovered is that i now know a bunch of wonderful people who go to the uu church here. when i walk in to the fellowship, i know folks from my activism work. when i walk in, i belong.
my friend e and i were talking about religion and spirituality one day. i told her i was uu, but didn't go, but that i was beginning to consider starting to go, because i've been feeling a need to belong to a spiritual community. for the past month now, fellowship has become important. i've been going.
yesterday my friend r was there as i arrived. we sat together during the service, i told her i was thinking about joining. she introduced me to our minister, and i told her i was finally ready to make a committment to this church as i had in athens 6 years ago. she was so kind, it felt nice.
so, sometime in the upcoming weeks i'm going to offically join the unitarian universalist church in eugene. i'm going to build myself yet another community. another reason to stick here in eugene with its crappy job market.
i'm excited. i can't wait. i'm thrilled to be continuing my path as a unitarian, and finally.. after all these years, so glad to have found the place i belong.
am i glad i wasn't raised in a church? i don't know. it would have been nice to have that community growing up.. but not being raised gave me the freedom to find my own path. i'm still going to explore, i've never been to a jewish temple, maybe i'll ask my friend c if i can go with her.. and there's a chuch out in the rurals i've been invited too. and then there are full moon circles that go on that i can always find one to attend. but no matter where i go, what i explore, i'll always have my home with the unitarians.. and goddess willing i have a child, my child will have a spirituality to grow up in, one where my child can explore as i did, but with the advantage of having what i didn't-- the community.
posted by brooke at October 18, 2004 05:38 AM
