Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Reflection: Acting on my Faith is a Challenge

Phyllis Cassel
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Palo Alto, CA

In my reflection last January, I said that I consider my self Christian because my beliefs come from my culturally Christian background. I said that I do not concern myself with issues related to “Is there a god or a goddess or neither?’ For me if there is a supernatural being it is certainly not worried about weather I am praying to it.

There are three principles in the covenant of the Unitarian Universalist Association that keep me challenged. One, affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person, Two, affirm and promote justice, equity and compassion in human relations and three, respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. And it is the very first principle that challenges my daily living. Affirm and promote the dignity and worth of every person.

This week I was talking with a gentleman that I met at a meeting about immigration. I think he believed that there should be no immigration. There would be no Tuberculosis without immigration. He would not have to pay for someone else’s medical care. And by the way immigrants shouldn’t be driving on our roads because, although they pay tax on the gasoline they are buying today, they didn’t help to pay for the construction of those roads.

And did you know that the British colonists were not immigrants because the New England Colonies were English, and therefore as English subjects, they were just moving around within the British Empire. Moving around within a country’s boarders even if on a different continent is not immigration. This was a new paradigm to my interpretation of immigration. (So far, so good.) I’m hearing a different viewpoint than I customarily hear. We discussed immigration issues for a while. Then I needed to go home. But instead of saying Good-by, I thanked him for the conversation and congratulated him for being the most selfish person I had ever met. Did you just hear finger nails scratching the chalk board? Was I showing dignity and worth to this gentleman?

And that is why I belong to this community of people. You challenge me on a regular basis if I am not showing respect for other people’s viewpoints. I could disagree with this man but I had no right to add the nasty comment.

When I was about 16, I thought that when I finished college, I would know all I needed to know to earn a living, and I would have resolved all the issues around my personal religious faith. However, as a young senior and newly minted retiree, I find myself learning something new every day. One of the reasons I come here to this church is to be regularly challenged at being more compassionate with my fellow persons. I should be able to disagree with a person and still to show him or her dignity. Why is it so hard? I guess I’m still learning.

 

Sermon: Religion: Don’t End It, Mend It by Hershey Julien