SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING: The Fundamental Yes – News – Wicked Local

What is the center of your personal theology? What is the one thing that you believe in most deeply? What is the one truth you hold to, when all else is taken away, that is still there to sustain you and give your life meaning?

What is the center of your personal theology? What is the one thing that you believe in most deeply? What is the one truth you hold to, when all else is taken away, that is still there to sustain you and give your life meaning?

The answer can be somewhat different for each of us. Perhaps, its the Beatitudes or the great commandment, love of God and love of neighbor. Some of us might consider that it is some version of the Golden Rule that is life-sustaining, doing unto others as we would have them do unto us. Maybe some would say that love of family and community is what remains when all else is taken away. Some would turn to the natural world and see themselves rooted in all of life in its beauty and complexity. And there are others that would see compassion and selflessness, working for a just a peaceful world as that which gives their lives meaning.

These are all fairly lofty ideals. They are wonderful things to speak of and to contemplate and can serve us well at the center of what is most sacred. But, perhaps a more difficult question I would pose is, When other people observe us, what would they see as the center of our theology, our personal vision? Would the things we say we believe in be evident by how we live?

This is where it gets more tricky, for the ideals we speak of are not always the values we live by. To what degree would people see our ideals, lofty as they might be, and how much would they see the shadow side of our personality; a little self-centeredness and greed perhaps, a lack of openness and caring, a tendency toward violence in thought, speech or action, a disregard for others who are different in appearance or ideas, more regard for possessions and financial resources that care for ourselves or others? How much would some of those more negative traits show through?

A colleague and friend of mine, the Rev. Victor Carpenter, was once asked what was at the center of his theology. He responded with the words, The Fundamental Yes. These words grabbed me. An affirmative and affirming vision, a theology of Yes, has inspired and called me for a long time.

It can be easy sometimes to see our faith rooted in a theology of No, a theology of an angry god, a theology framed more around judgement and punishment. The Fundamental Yes, for me, is a theology that faces the world with open eyes, an open mind and an open heart; a vision that looks for goodness and wholeness with a vital focus on who and what we can be, It is a way of looking at ourselves and the world that mostly lifts up accomplishment while also acknowledges failing.

This is a courageous theology and one fraught with vulnerability as we allow ourselves to be stretched by new ideas, to be broken open by new experiences and to be transformed by our actions in the world.

Our God, our faith, can hold and support us as we look at the world with open eyes with courage and hope in our hearts. The Fundamental Yes calls us to face our fears about people who are different from us and listen to their stories, recognizing that we are not so different after all. The Fundamental Yes asks us to work diligently for justice, fairness and equity, stepping boldly, bravely, out of our own complacency, out of our own safety sometimes, to make a difference in the lives of other people and this fragile planet we call home. The Fundamental Yes calls us to be truthtellers, lovingly and with compassion, without glossing over or hiding, or minimizing what we observe, risking, reflecting back what we see with open eyes.

And, perhaps most importantly, the Fundamental Yes expects us to be peacemakers, those who strive to reject violence in all of its forms, first in our own hearts and then letting our light shine in wider and wider circles, promoting cooperation and the free exchange of ideas. Imagine what the world would be like if this was how we lived?

Spiritually Speaking is presented by members of the Plymouth Area Interfaith Community Alliance. The Rev. Arthur Lavoie is the minister at First Parish in Plymouth, Unitarian Universalist.

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SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING: The Fundamental Yes - News - Wicked Local