The Methodist Guest House is largely silent now, after a day of conversation and laughter and deep sharing with the participants in our Leadership Training for East African congregations. I spoke this morning about Unitarian and Universalist history and theology in the United States; what impressed me most was the rapt attention of the conferees, the copious notes they took, and the serious questions they asked–about God, about the Bible and what they felt they must accept or leave behind, about the Unitarian Universalist commitment to eliminating the extreme poverty that plagues our world.
I am especially moved by these questions and their earnestness. The women and men who have come to this training are leading small congregations with big issues. They are sheltering and caring for AIDS orphans, sometimes five and six orphans to a household. They are opening schools for these children in their living rooms. They are caring for the widows and widowers in their settlements. They are worried about whether their farms will produce enough to feed all those for whom they are responsible. Amid all this, I am most humbled by the fact that they are thanking God for bringing this group of us here, to teach them more about the good news of Unitarian Universalism. I cannot count how many times today I have heard this thankfulness from conference participants. So I have made it a point to let them know how thankful I am–for the privilege of seeing our liberal faith through new eyes, for the opportunity to share this faith that has changed my life so that other people, half a world away, might begin to change their lives and the lives of their communities.
Here in Kenya, I see something in myself I hadn’t yet acknowledged. In my secret heart of hearts, I think I have always wondered: what does Unitarian Universalism really have to say to people living on the margins of society? Before now, I think I had resigned myself to an uneasy truce between my own conscience and my non-negotiable desire for religious freedom. But I have learned, just in these past 36 hours, that it is only in our privileged congregations in the US where that truce must be maintained. Here in Kenya, Unitarian Universalism has heart and hands, and no false dichotomy between the two. Our students here are unabashedly connected to the Christian story, but not at all hypnotized by it. They are working hard to live the religion of Jesus, not the religion about Jesus. As for me, I’m honored just to be here.
