Conclusion to the Theological Reflection on UU Shared Values

There is no doubt that our theological heritage, as our present, is filled with paradox, contradiction, failures, successes, short-comings, and brilliant aspirations. The patchwork quilt of our theological heritage is torn and fraying in places, and it is stunningly vibrant in others. Some sections have been mended or wholly replaced. Articulating theology as well as living in religious community is a messy business. As we mature spiritually as a tradition and as people, we develop our capacities to be with the broken and the beautiful, the contradictions and the complexities.

As the Unitarian Universalist Association’s current president, Rev. Dr. Sofia Betancourt said in the 2018 Service of the Living Tradition and reprinted at the beginning of the chapter on theology in Widening the Circle of Concern, “We are on a journey toward redemption … with the strength of generations, the failure of the everyday, and the deep-down gritty messiness that is the promise of our salvation. There is inherent goodness that exists between and among us. I want to honor the weary, ragged miracle that is our living tradition.” With love stitched in from the beginning and sewn throughout the piecing and the mending across the decades, even a worn and ragged quilt provides strength, inspiration, courage, and solace through the long night.