Most people, when asked to tell something about themselves, will begin with the facts of their lives, when and where they were born, perhaps mention the number of siblings they happen to have, and then move onto schools attended, jobs worked, partners, children, etc.  All well and good, nothing wrong with that.  That is exactly what most people want to hear, a relatively shallow overview, a cursory glance that allows others to make a superficial judgment.  It is all well and good provided we recognize that those things are merely a shallow and cursory glance, a superficial summary of who we are as individuals. 

The fact is, however, that we are each far more than our own individual history. I believe, for example, that I am more than the fact that I am the youngest of five children.  I am more than Parochial School survivor. I am more than a graduate of the Claremont School of Divinity.  I am more than the minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Lowcountry.  Truth be told, I am, just as you are, the culmination of all the hopes and dreams of countless generations.  Each of us is the direct and natural consequence of millions of years of evolutionary pressures and development. Each of us is part and parcel of the universal whole, made of stardust and starlight, the universe bearing witness to the universe.  Each of us the gateway to new possibilities on the forming edges of the universe, co-creators of the world yet to be, an integral link in the chain of being for countless future generations, intentionally or unintentionally, consciously or unconsciously effecting the evolution of the planet.

(Pause)

It is more than a little intimidating when one takes the time to consider the cosmic dimensions of our seemingly isolated lives.  Is it any wonder that so many people, when faced with such an expansive perspective of our shared existence and all the implications of that perspective, the perspective that modern science allows us, is it any wonder that so many people today choose to avoid daily contact with such a magnificent and potentially consuming truth.  Is it any wonder that so many people choose the comfort of familiar beliefs and practices or the myriad distractions that modern life has to offer instead of accepting the awe-inspiring and somewhat formidable responsibility that living with such a truth engenders. No doubt, to live in full cosmic awareness is exceptionally rare, only a few of our species have attained such awareness, but the potential is present in each of us, accessible at any moment and occasionally making its presence known in the most unexpected moments, but always waiting, waiting. 

Cosmic Awareness, Pure Consciousness, the Eternal Tao, Buddha Nature, Brahman, Yahweh, Allah, God, Emptiness, Ground of Being, Great Spirit, Gaia, Interdependent Web of All Existence:  Call it what you will or by no name at all, it exists and it is beyond any rational explanation.  I know it exists because what those words and phrases are intended to represent is the whole of reality itself, it is the reality in which we live, which is more than the mere sum of its parts, just as you and I are more than the sum of our parts; more than the elemental building blocks of the body, more than a collections of cells, more than a collection of memories. One could argue that the world’s religions are simply conditioned responses to our shared reality, an institutionalized response to humanity’s growing awareness of our shared reality.  It seems to me that any attempt to dismiss the religious impulse in our species, perhaps not always in every individual, but in our species in general, does not take into consideration the undeniable and overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Even in religious traditions almost completely corrupted by greed and the drive for worldly power have survived and still resonate with people because at their core is a fundamental grain of absolute truth, the truth of the immanent and transcendent nature of reality. To deny that grain of truth it is to deny reality itself; to deny, to reject an incomplete, a constraining, human-centric, fear-filled response to it is understandable, however, and is generally indicative of a expanding awareness of our reality.  

It is safe to say, I believe, that most of us are here today because our own individual experience of reality has lead us to believe, or feel, that there is something more, undefined and nebulous as it may be, but still something more, something that transcends common experience. Or perhaps I am completely wrong, perhaps you are here because this place, these people, provide a sense of community, or perhaps going to church evokes a sense of purpose and meaning in your life and all my talk of Cosmic Awareness, Brahman, and the Web of Life makes no sense especially given the title of today’s talk, or perhaps you were driving down Malphrus road to go to Alljoy beach and discovered that you can’t get there from here in spite of what mapquest and google may tell you, and so here you are.  

Regardless of why you are here, though, the fact is you are here, this building is here, this congregation exists, Unitarian Universalism exists, this is our response to the reality in which we find ourselves. And to begin to understand the complexity of our shared religious tradition one must have at least some basic understanding of the broader picture, the historical perspective of what we say and do each week. For instance, the Flame lit this morning can be understood to have evolved from the fires our ancestors gathered around, and told stories, created myth.  The chalice was and is an important symbol for Christians as it was important for the pre-christian pagans of Europe and remains so for many modern pagans and Wiccan.  Our music and singing, direct descendent of ancient drums and chants.  Have you ever wondered why Western churches, from Moscow to Madrid to Main Street, USA, in spite of all theological and cultural variations, almost all seem to have very similar floor plans, with the congregation sitting, facing what is ostensibly a stage, like watching a play.  I am standing up here, and you are sitting there because what we are doing here today evolved out of the tradition of ancient Greek drama. 

Your order of service is essentially a program listing the acts of a well rehearsed and very familiar play, designed to elicit a catharsis of sorts. I don’t say this to diminish what we do here each Sunday, but to put what we do in its full historical perspective.  

I’m going to be honest with you, when I first envisioned this morning’s talk and published the title, I imagined I would be sharing with you what would have been for all intents and purposes, a history lecture, highlighting significant events and personalities of early Unitarianism and Universalism.  My plan was to illustrate the links connecting Greek Philosophy, first century Judaism and Christianity,  the Hussites, 14^th Century predecessors to the Reformation, a few key Reformation figures such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, Michael Servetus, Francis David, and then conclude with the Puritans leaving England, thus planting the seeds of Unitarian Universalism in America.  To learn more about how those seeds sprouted and eventually bore fruit in America one would have to attend the upcoming Adult Religious Exploration classes on the subject, free of charge and open to everyone, by the way.  

That was my plan, but we all know how plans often change in response to changing conditions.  It seemed to me as I started to write, that to understand in full historical perspective the Unitarian Universalist tradition, one had to first recognize not only our clear Jewish and Christian heritage, but also their predecessors, and their predecessors, going all the way back to first human buried in ceremonial fashion in recognition of the sacredness of life, the first story teller creating the myths that continue to transcend the barriers of time and space and help us to connect our own experience with the immensely broader and deeper experience of our entire species. And finally, we cannot understand the full historical perspective of Unitarian Universalism if we do not recognize that what brings us here this morning, that impulse that caused us to seek out a religious community that resonates with our life experience, that drive to better understand ourselves and our universe, is fundamentally the same as those of our ancestors. Those ancestors, like you and I, were stardust and starlight, the universe bearing witness to itself. Those ancestor that had the same sense, the same feeling that life was more than mere survival as you and I but did not have the luxury of access to thousands of years of collected wisdom literature and modern technology. Where will we go from here?  That depends on the conditions we will leave for those that will follow us on the ongoing pursuit of truth and meaning,

So May it Be! Amen! Blessed Be!