A Chosen Faith, by John Buehrens & Forrest Church

I bought this book when, to my surprise, a local Unitarian Universalist minister couldn't (or chose not to) explain much about the "theology" of her church during a purported orientation session. But Buehrens & Church answered my questions.

The story of the king who asks his blind subjects to describe an elephant, nets it out. After hearing each person describe the elephant from their own experience of it (a basket, a pot, four pillars, etc.), the Buddha comments: "How can you be so sure of what you cannot see? We all are like unsighted people in this world. We cannot see God. Nor can we know what is going to happen after we die. Each one of you may be partly right in your answers. Yet none of you is fully right. Let us not quarrel over what we cannot be sure of." [p95-96]

I'd feel remiss if I didn't write down the "real" principles of Unitarian Universalism:

• The inherent worth and dignity of every person;
• Justice, equity and compassion in human relations;
• Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations;
• A free and responsible search for truth and meaning;
• The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large;
• The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all;
• Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.