What historical UUs do get the most inspiration from?

[dbakerman76]

What historical UUs do you get the most inspiration from?

I find myself constantly going back to the works of Channing, Emerson and Thoreau for inspiration. I find new insights everytime I go back and re-read any of their works.

 

[Green Gaia]

Oh wow.... people living out their UU faith always inspires me, from the famous thinkers to the unknown person organizing a food bank drive at any random UU congregation.

But I will name one who inspires me because he put his faith in action, not just words, even though it put him in great danger and ultimately cost him his life - the Rev. James Reeb.

 

[lilithu]

What historical UUs do you get the most inspiration from?

I find myself constantly going back to the works of Channing, Emerson and Thoreau for inspiration. I find new insights everytime I go back and re-read any of their works.

Are we talking about people who were known for being UUs (or Unitarians or Universalists) or are we talking about people who are historical figures who happen to also be UU?

Definately, I draw a lot of inspiration from the three you mention, Ralph Waldo Emerson in particular. :bow:

Having come from a science background, I'd say I get a lot of inspiration from Linus Pauling. Pauling won the Nobel prize in chemistry. And then won it again for Peace. He was both a brilliant mind and a compassionate heart. Too often in science, wrapped up in the pursuit of knowledge, people forget about our connectedness and responsibility to the rest of the world. Pauling never forgot, and he paid for following his conscience, getting fired from my alma mater over his peace activism.

http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/pauling.html

Linus, dude you rock! :jam:

 

[dbakerman76]

Are we talking about people who were known for being UUs (or Unitarians or Universalists) or are we talking about people who are historical figures who happen to also be UU?

Definately, I draw a lot of inspiration from the three you mention, Ralph Waldo Emerson in particular. :bow:

Having come from a science background, I'd say I get a lot of inspiration from Linus Pauling. Pauling won the Nobel prize in chemistry. And then won it again for Peace. He was both a brilliant mind and a compassionate heart. Too often in science, wrapped up in the pursuit of knowledge, people forget about our connectedness and responsibility to the rest of the world. Pauling never forgot, and he paid for following his conscience, getting fired from my alma mater over his peace activism.

http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/pauling.html

Linus, dude you rock! :jam:

You can take the question either way.
Linus Pauling is a saint to my family. My father (and grandfather )are chemists and anytime we're discussing chemistry or science in general his name always comes up.

 

[dbakerman76]

Oh wow.... people living out their UU faith always inspires me, from the famous thinkers to the unknown person organizing a food bank drive at any random UU congregation.

But I will name one who inspires me because he put his faith in action, not just words, even though it put him in great danger and ultimately cost him his life - the Rev. James Reeb.

I never tire of hearing the tale of James Reeb's death for the cause of civil rights. He was an amazing man who lived a life of love (which for me is the ultimate goal of the religious life).

 

[lilithu]

I never tire of hearing the tale of James Reeb's death for the cause of civil rights. He was an amazing man who lived a life of love (which for me is the ultimate goal of the religious life).

He didn't always live a life of love. That's the coolest thing about his story. He at one time had a very conservative theology, because that's what he'd been raised in. But he had a crisis of conscience while working with the poor in Philadelphia. After getting to know them, he couldn't reconcile the belief that these people, many who turned to alcohol, etc out of pain, deserved the punishment that his childhood faith had taught him. He could only feel God's love for them. That's when he became a UU.

In his journal he wrote: 'When the moralist in you dies, then life begins.'

He truly lived before he died.

There's a plaque on the wall of my church dedicated to James Reeb. (He was an associate minister with us for a short time.) The plaque is located outside of the senior minister's office, so that when you are waiting to speak with Rob, you're looking at the plaque. Humbling.

 

[uumckk16]

Are we talking about people who were known for being UUs (or Unitarians or Universalists) or are we talking about people who are historical figures who happen to also be UU?

Definately, I draw a lot of inspiration from the three you mention, Ralph Waldo Emerson in particular. :bow:

Having come from a science background, I'd say I get a lot of inspiration from Linus Pauling. Pauling won the Nobel prize in chemistry. And then won it again for Peace. He was both a brilliant mind and a compassionate heart. Too often in science, wrapped up in the pursuit of knowledge, people forget about our connectedness and responsibility to the rest of the world. Pauling never forgot, and he paid for following his conscience, getting fired from my alma mater over his peace activism.

http://www.harvardsquarelibrary.org/unitarians/pauling.html

Linus, dude you rock!

I could be wrong, but wasn't Emerson only a Unitarian for a short time? If he counts anyway though, then I'd put him on my list

I didn't know Pauling was a Unitarian. Go figure. I knew he was an important figure in chemistry but had no idea he won the Nobel Peace Prize. That's interesting, thanks Lilithu!

I know this might sound like a cop-out (and it is, because I'm too tired to think right now ), but I truly find inspiration in every historical UU's story. Many of them strike me as people concerned with others' well-being, and many times people ahead of their time.

 

[dbakerman76]

He didn't always live a life of love. That's the coolest thing about his story. He at one time had a very conservative theology, because that's what he'd been raised in. But he had a crisis of conscience while working with the poor in Philadelphia. After getting to know them, he couldn't reconcile the belief that these people, many who turned to alcohol, etc out of pain, deserved the punishment that his childhood faith had taught him. He could only feel God's love for them. That's when he became a UU.

In his journal he wrote: 'When the moralist in you dies, then life begins.'

He truly lived before he died.

There's a plaque on the wall of my church dedicated to James Reeb. (He was an associate minister with us for a short time.) The plaque is located outside of the senior minister's office, so that when you are waiting to speak with Rob, you're looking at the plaque. Humbling.

All Souls has an amazing track record of ministers who went above and beyond their call. You're quite fortunate to be a part of such a great congregation.

 

[lilithu]

I could be wrong, but wasn't Emerson only a Unitarian for a short time? If he counts anyway though, then I'd put him on my list

Emerson was raised a Unitarian. It's a little complicated, tho. Emerson was born in 1803, to a Congregationalist minister, and the Unitarians didn't split from the Congregationalists until somewhere abouts 1820. So one could say that he didn't become a Unitarian until his late teens. But I think that would be misleading too because the tensions that led up to the split had been brewing for some time. That is the differences in beliefs between the liberal Congregationalists (who became Unitarians) and the more conservative Congregationalists (who eventually became UCC). It's not like the split caused the Unitarian beliefs; rather the Unitarian beliefs caused the split.

Anyway, Emerson was raised Congregationalist and then Unitarian, and all his life he was friends with other Unitarians like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Henry David Thoreau and Theodore Parker and others. They formed a group called the Transcendenalists.

At some point later in his life Emerson left the ministry (he had been a Unitarian minister). Perhaps that's what you're thinking about. Part of the reason why he left (not all of it) was because he couldn't abide the ritual of communion - consuming the blood and body of Christ. But the rest of the Unitarians were just a few years behind him because we dropped that ritual soon enough.

Emerson has had a HUGE impact on our theology. There's probably no one more influential. So yeah, I would say he's a U(U) through and through.

 

[uumckk16]

Emerson was raised a Unitarian. It's a little complicated, tho. Emerson was born in 1803, to a Congregationalist minister, and the Unitarians didn't split from the Congregationalists until somewhere abouts 1820. So one could say that he didn't become a Unitarian until his late teens. But I think that would be misleading too because the tensions that led up to the split had been brewing for some time. That is the differences in beliefs between the liberal Congregationalists (who became Unitarians) and the more conservative Congregationalists (who eventually became UCC). It's not like the split caused the Unitarian beliefs; rather the Unitarian beliefs caused the split.

Anyway, Emerson was raised Congregationalist and then Unitarian, and all his life he was friends with other Unitarians like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Henry David Thoreau and Theodore Parker and others. They formed a group called the Transcendenalists.

At some point later in his life Emerson left the ministry (he had been a Unitarian minister). Perhaps that's what you're thinking about. Part of the reason why he left (not all of it) was because he couldn't abide the ritual of communion - consuming the blood and body of Christ. But the rest of the Unitarians were just a few years behind him because we dropped that ritual soon enough.

Emerson has had a HUGE impact on our theology. There's probably no one more influential. So yeah, I would say he's a U(U) through and through.

Thanks for the clarification! Yes, I was thinking of when he left the ministry. I knew he was a transcendentalist (that word is impossibly long). I didn't know he had such an impact on UUism though, that's fascinating

I also didn't know Unitarianism even had a ritual of communion to begin with. Though I guess that makes sense, in their early years when they had just split from the Christ-believing Christians

I like our flower communions :flower: :foryou: