I am a Jewish Unitarian Universalist, who usually identifies as a humanist. I am in favor of any religious or spiritual practice that orients us toward wonder, awe, gratitude, and kindness. Here’s what that means to me, at this point in my religious journey.
While I’m comfortable using the word “God” in song and prayer, I am more interested in how we treat each other and the earth than whether or not there is a God. I am inspired by process theology, in that I believe there is a creative force at work in the universe that is calling us to grow and become all that we might be.
My soul is rooted in Judaism, and I feel most grounded and uplifted when I’m connected to the language, liturgy, holidays, and wisdom teachings of Judaism. I love Unitarian Universalist worship, community, and theology, and yet I also know that I need to tend to my Jewish soul to feel filled up.
The very fact that our congregations hold multiple theologies and religious identities is what drew me to Unitarian Universalism in the first place. In worship leading and in faith formation, I strive to bring a balance of secular and religious sources, so that everyone who’s seeking can find something that they need. I would always rather someone who holds a particular identity help give input into how a holiday or tradition is observed (if they’d like) than try to guess on my own — this helps make it less likely I would veer into cultural misappropriation. (I learned a lot about this as an interfaith college chaplain.)
In short, I want to be a part of and nurture spiritual communities where, as the hymn “We Laugh, We Cry” puts it, “We seek elusive answers to the questions of this life… and then we come together here to make sense of what we find.”
