my boss

i have to say i have a very interesting relationship with my boss. no, not that kind of relationship. he is a very dynamic person. very intense. he can be extremely annoying yet amazingly understanding. his mind races so he speaks like he's on some kind of timer, trying to say as much as he can within a limit. on top of that, he really gets lost in these tangents and you end up forgetting what he was originally talking about. he does, too. in any case, him and i have a startling amount in common. he is very environmentally conscious, politically liberal, religiously liberal, and completely open about all of it. he does not hide very much. i really admire that. he talks to me about science, religion, politics, the environment, relationships, real estate, business, and everything in between. i think he knows more about me than my mother does at this point.

anyhow, he has introduced me to a whole new kind of church. its called unitarian universalist. i had never heard of it before, but the more he explained it to me, the more it sounded exactly like the kind of church i would actually want to go to. and believe me, i am the last person you would see voluntarily walking into a church. uua is a very open-minded organization. they are more about spirituality than preaching the word of any particular god or religion. before, the closest religion i identified myself to was pantheistic, of which i did not know of any physical church or anyone else who considered themself to be panthiestic also.

well, at uua i can be pantheistic, buddhist, christian, muslim, whatever and also have the sense of community that other religions share. and that's mostly what i want, to be a part of a community. to have someplace to go if i need a spiritual pick-me-up. i want a place to take my children to that will teach them tolerance and respect for nature. the congregation has these covenants to affirm and promote: the inherent worth and dignity of every person, justice, equity and compassion in human relations, acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth, a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, the right of conscience and the use of the democratic process, just to name a few... these are tenets i totally agree with, and they do not require worshipping a god.

an added bonus is that their church looks more like a hippie commune than a church. it's very welcoming and comfortable. my only problem is that it is in mt. vernon which is further away from my house than i normally venture. plus, i'm too lazy to go anywhere sundays, even though the service is at 10:30. but its an investment worth making because what if one day i really need the spiritual support that only a minister can provide and i have nobody to turn to? i have to build a relationship, not just knock on a door when i need it.

so, i'm really considering joining. i might be a "friend" of the congregation first, but i think this is as close as i am gonna get to having a religion.