expose' on the lint of my naval

We've been working on developing our personal "spiritual credos" on Sunday mornings with my YRUU teens this winter. We're talking about the "big questions" (Is there a god? Why are we here/what is my purpose?) and identifying the values we hold most important. It's a lot of naval contemplation, and I'm getting a little tired of it, but the kids seem to like it. They enjoy playing with ideas and searching a little bit. They're pretty sure what they believe, but I see that they're also willing to rethink. They're alright.

As for my own credo, I have reached a place where I think it's less important to spend time contemplating the "big issues" such as finding the purpose for my life, than to just simply "be." I've convinced myself that these big questions are not only mostly unknowable to my little mind, but are probably not even close to the "right" questions to be asking. I think about the gradient between our minds and that of an earthworm and realize there is no reason to believe that intelligence peaks with us. We are as earthworms to something out there. We're not even on the playing field to some portion of life out there. Awesome to contemplate (and to them, I'm not even comtemplating!)

Further, many people have a tough time realizing that it is entirely possible to be spiritual without being religious, much less that it is entirely possible to be spiritual without having any belief in anything supernatural. There's a component out there - a wall, if you will, that we all reach, when we come to the point of no longer understanding. Many people ascribe the unknowable at that point to "god", or to something "supernatural". What we don't understand is that which is explained by god, or by something else "super"natural. I ascribe the unknowable at that point simply to the natural universe - to things that occur naturally which we just can't comprehend with our brains. My spirituality lives in the warmth of realizing that I am a *part* of the universe. That it is teeming with life and wonder and mystery (to the human mind) and my molecules are part of that. I feel the same reverence and "worship" that those who believe in a supernatural do. I do not see that it is all that different, actually. None of us are capable of understanding and we all have found explanations for the unknowable that best suit our minds. Your supernatural is my unknowable is her god is his physics equation.

This is why I love UU, despite all its faults (elitist sometimes, lots of talk, not so much action sometimes, etc., etc.). Despite all that, it is the only place I've found where people don't assume I'm in denial or am close-minded or too cerebral or non-spiritual simply because I don't belive in a supernatural life. My brand of spirituality is accepted as just as geniune and meaningful as any of those that ascribe to an afterlife or supernatural existence.

And that we even have to have this discussion, I think, shows how uncomfortable most of us are. The fact that someone believes differently than I do is not a comment on my own beliefs. I don't think less of A for believing in god than I do of B who thinks just like I do. We're all writing our own stories and developing our personal credos on our spirituality. We don't have to agree. And we can still be valid.

We're just all so damned unsure of ourselves. I think the hallmark of insecurity is bigotry. When you resort to damning someone else in order to validate yourself, then you expose your own uncertainties.

So there you are. we find ourselves all on this bouncing ball of a planet and we can spend our time contemplating our navals or looking out for the well being of each other or simply enjoying the warmth of the sun when we lie in it. So many ways to live, and just one life (that I know of). What an awesome place this is.