Atlanta Unitarian

The great thing about being a UU is the freedom; the horrible thing about being a UU is the freedom. Unitarian Universalism has developed satisfactory answers for certain ills. The moral and intellectual oppressiveness of hidebound religious dogma. The need for a continually renewing spiritual awareness and spiritual understanding. The importance of radical inclusiveness and human-centered values. A balance between the life of the intellect and the spirit. And yet I find in the area of religious practice it is lacking in depth and structure. I do not feel a lack of theological grounding, but I do find a void on guidance for how to be a "practicing" UU. Perhaps my keen awareness of this fact comes from my own Jewish background. In Judiasm, there is a prayer for every situation; a holiday for every season; a rich palette of rituals and practices interwoven with meaning. The grounding in literature, community, and spiritual practice is manifold and deep. In Unitarian Univ...

Life is short, art long, opportunity fleeting, experience treacherous, judgment difficult. -Hippocrates ... or in modern terms... Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans. -John Lennon

The title of this posting, " The Paradox of Choice ," is actually the title of an interesting book I've read in the past couple of years about the negative psychological impacts of too many choices. It's a frequent theme in my thoughts, a problem that is particularly acute in modern western society. The other day I was visiting a book store and I was overwhelmed by my choices. So many books to read, so many appeared to be interesting, I had no idea how I should go about selecting one. On top of that, I feel like I 'should' be reading certain books in order to keep up with current events. On a whim I went to the religion section. I browsed the sections on Christian spirituality, which included any number of subsections I can't think of now (devotionals, fiction, Catholic theology, inspirational, bibles...). Each section seemed compelling, and I browsed the titles with a pang of guilt. I skipped over Islam, Judiasm, and Sufism (all the time wondering ho...