If I am honest, the hook for me in Unitarian Universalism for the last 20 years has always been what we have called during that time the “seventh principle:” the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part. In that one phrase, all of the other principles were included in my understanding. Here’s what I mean.
To acknowledge that our existence is a web of interdependence:
- Requires the inherent worth and dignity of every person because very simply, I cannot deem your life worthless and then depend on you for some aspect of my actual existence at the same time.
- Establishes the very foundation for justice, equity, and compassion in human relations; without which justice, equity and compassion become arbitrary handouts.
- Deeply invites the acceptance of one another and the encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations, for to confess interdependence brings you and me and each other’s well-being face to face. How could anyone ever tell you you were anything less than wonderful?
- Sends us each on a free and responsible search for truth and meaning expanding what I imagine my life to be into the mystery that must be explored in our shared life.
- Challenges us as interdependent beings to the right use of conscience and the very messy but essential use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.
- Focuses us on the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all, a world that is still waking up to its own potential for coherence and unity.
Interdependence, for me, is the meandering thread that holds all of our Unitarian Universalist principles together. There has been something missing these 20 years, for me. And, we’ve now rectified that. It’s love. I think it’s always been there, but we needed to say it. Interdependence, finally, doesn’t just demand that a bunch of folks squeeze together ino the web of existence. It acknowledges that the deep existential reality of the cosmos is a loving reality, constantly calling us to its eternal flame.
Our work on how we express our values, our principles, has taken a new shape, is using some new words and letting go of some others, but when I see interdependent in that top loop of the image, I’m still hooked. This is a powerful human, spiritual and collective work that we are a part of, an interdependent web of all existence.
~Bob Patrick
These principles are a high bar to think and act on in a routine manner. They are not routine. For me, it takes constant diligence and an awareness of my better self to conjure even one of these principles to the foreground of relationships/events and use it to maintain connections and genuine belief. I guess that is why the interdependence web is something to latch onto, to share the love, to help us practice humanism, to stay strong. I think your description of each principle is Spot On !
OMG, Bob, I have been thinking so much about this very thing: the central place of Interdependence–of this spiritual and scientific truth that “we are connected with all that is”–in my love for Unitarian Universalism and in my call to the work of justice. In my own writing just last week–for my eNews “Notes from Rev. Nancy” and in the upcoming February GNUUS reflection–I tie it back to Dr. King’s “inescapable network of mutuality”(a LOT of syllables) and forward to my ongoing search for the Ground of Being that keeps me (and us) engaged and fueled for helping to heal the rips and tears in this beloved web. I agree–truly learning to live with Love at the center helps me face the toughest moments and still experience the beauty and joy of this Interdependence! Thanks!