We're Not Done Yet

10 years ago, when  Jeff Briere was intern minister at UCH, we collaborated on a description of Unitarian Universalistm: 101 Reasons I'm a Unitarian Universalist.  (Jeff is now minister in Chattanooga.)  

Jeff and I each wrote 50, one-paragraph reasons, interesting and informative tidbits of UU practice, history, and lore. Originally produced on a photocopy machine, a few years ago, I turned it into a paperback book and self-published it on Lulu. This summer Lulu formatted it as an e-book and submitted it to Apple’s ibookstore. (It had languished as a paperback book, but as an e-book‒an iTune‒it immediately sold a dozen iPad downloads.) It's now available on Kindle, Amazon's e-bookstore.

A decade after its creation, I find 101 Reasons to be a cunning and effective portrayal of Unitarian Universalism, as good a brief introduction as there is, relative to being consumable and entertaining.  

At the time, Jeff and I compared our design to a pointillist painting. We wrote this introduction:

Dear Reader,

To explain how so many different people

could practice one religion

in so many different ways

is daunting.

Perhaps the difficulty lies

in attempting a verbal explanation,

when painting a picture

would better communicate

the nuances of Unitarian Universalism..

Think of this collection

as a pointillist canvas

upon which are 101 spots of color.

In turning the pages,

you can see each little dot.

Stand a few feet back

and the dots blend in monumental images.

Then you can begin to see

larger shapes and forms

that create the tableau

of the living tradition of

Unitarian Universalism.

Wishing you meaning and purpose.

Jeff wrote the conclusion, the one hundred, first reason and arguably the most compelling reason for being a UU:

101

We aren’t done yet. That’s a phrase you hear now and again. We aren’t done yet. But when have you heard that in reference to religion? Unitarian Universalism isn’t done yet. We talk about a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. A search. An on-going organized plan to find something true and meaningful. And when we find that true and meaningful something, there will be another search, because there isn’t only one true and meaningful thing out there to find. We aren’t done yet. [JB]

As I think of Unitarian Universalism at age 50, remembering the hopes voiced in 1961 for a new and improved liberal religion, Jeff's conclusion resonates for me, "We aren't done yet."