Universalism

My meeting, or at least people in it, are struggling recently with Universalism.

We have lost (or, some of us feel that we are losing) some valued Friends, who find that they want to worship with others who share more of their concept of the divine than those in our larger meeting do.

I really cherish my meeting, and specifically where we 'stand' on the question of universalism. This is why I was drawn there, this is why I've been able to grow there.

I recently attended a Unitarian Universalist church for the first time, with my girlfriend. I was saddened to find myself asked to recite what felt to me like a "creed" - it did not say "I believe that Jesus was the only son of the father almighty" (excuse me, I don't remember the words) - the words I choked on as a child, but it DID say, with what felt like EXACTLY the same certainty, "I believe that Jesus was a good man who lived and died like anyone else" (or something to that effect)

What I cherish about Universalist Quakers (not that it is universally true of us) is true universalism - that whatever is spiritually true to a cherished member of our community, is true. It does not have to be personally experientially true for every member of our community for us to worship together.

for me that creates a richness that I cannot imagine in another setting. I believe that people who I love have a relationship with Jesus. I can see it shining through them often. I do not have a relationship with Jesus (or perhaps it is only distant) - God is revealed to me most often in water, in wind, in sunlight. Sometimes I suspect, and hope, one can see it shining through me.