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This I Believe ... This I Believe by
Thank you for the opportunity to reflect on my beliefs. As one who does not routinely engage in introspection, this has been an interesting, even enjoyable, experience. I want to express my beliefs in terms of 6 categories: luck, service, friendship, future, theology and community. Luck—I believe that I am lucky in so many ways:
In sum, to have been born, as former governor Anne Richards said about George Bush "with a silver spoon in my mouth." All of which is not to say that my life has been easy. The product of a charming, ethical, smart but self-centered, narcissistic, aggressive father and a kind, timid, ethical mother, I grew up with my share of neuroses, self doubt and depression. But with some therapy, "better living through chemistry" and the passage of time my life which was always pretty good, has gotten better. Service—I believe that all of us, especially those who are financially better off, should care for those in need. For me that means reaching out to individuals, and advocating for the under privileged in society. For me the biblical admonition that we should "love our neighbors as ourselves" rings true. However, as I look around this church I see so many that provide a greater level of service that do I. The struggle between relaxing and enjoying myself and engaging in more outreach and service is ongoing. Increasingly I worry about the inequities in this country. Like you I value our liberty and freedom. But I wonder. Would we not be better if as a society we were more like Denmark? Denmark and other Scandinavian countries pay much more in taxes than the United States, but they have universal health care, child care, generous unemployment benefits, and other government services that have hardly damaged their economy. The Danish economy runs a budget surplus, has an unemployment rate less than that of our country, and a poverty rate that is reported to be 4.3 percent versus 17 percent in the USA. Friendship—At least four of my friends died last year. One was a friend from work who fell while hiking in the mountains; another was a fellow who I had known for years who didn't wake up. The other two were members of our community: S.J. Williamson who inspired me with his insight, optimism and humor as he experienced the difficulties of old age, and Steve Ahlf who as he struggled with his cancer, maintained an upbeat, positive view of life. Like many men, I don't have many close friends. But I do value friendship. Being a member of the First Unitarian Church for the last thirty years has given me a chance to become friends with a lot of interesting and eccentric people. Future—I teach a course about Technology and Public Policy, and as such have come to appreciate the exponential pace at which science and technology advances. The combination of more powerful computing speeds, artificial intelligence, robotics, nanotechnology, and insight into the brain is altering the pattern of our evolution. Increasingly experts think that in a matter of a relatively few decades, humans and machines will become one, and that just as John Henry was replaced by the steam engine, traditional humans (that is to say those of us not enhanced with bionic brain power) will be quaint but somewhat irrelevant. Referred to as the Singularity, this is a prospect that is at once tremendously enticing and terrifying. I believe that many of the younger individuals in this room may live to see traditional suffering associated with disease, hunger and poverty dramatically alleviated. And yet, we recently saw that the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists increased their "doomsday" clock from 7 to 5 minutes before midnight. They did this is recognition of the potential for nuclear war, for catastrophic global warming and for uncontrollable, runaway nanotechnology. What a fascinating time in which to live. Theology—This gets hard. The Episcopal Church of my youth had a ritual and music that still appeals but over time the Nicene Creed became harder to say. Could Jesus really have risen on the third day? And how could a personal God allow so much suffering in the world. I have often prayed, but that is more of a familiar pattern than a belief in a personal God. In that respect I guess I am more a deist than a theist. More a believer in a God that started things, and maybe monitors things, but that does little or nothing in the way of intervention. I think it was Carl Sagan that observed that the number of galaxies is as great at the number of stars in the Milky Way. How could something that vast be the creation of randomness? There must be a god or gods. I choose to think that there is also an afterlife. Community—I grew up in a town where people knew and enjoyed their neighbors. Where, at least through my young eyes, it didn't seem to matter which side of the tracks on which you were born. Now we live in a region and a country where there are such huge differences in opportunity, health, material possessions and interaction. In some ways the First Unitarian Church recreates many of the positive aspects of my home town. The Church is a place where I get my recycled magazines from Bob Franklin (actually that happens at the tennis court), get my donut from Pat Henry, and where this past fall I made friends and experienced occasional exasperation working with Lynn and her 11:00 am Sunday school kids. The church is a source of musical and preaching inspiration, and a source for informal banter. It is an opportunity to be quiet and still, to sing, and to chat over coffee or sandwich making. Where else could I have my own library, book store; second hand store; local philanthropy (I'm thinking of the Community Action Endowment Fund); even my own cemetery. If you will have my ashes I can think of no better place than outside beneath that growing tree. In sum, the church is, like my home town, part of my extended family. It is an important part of me and my immediate family's life. I welcome the opportunity and the responsibility to contribute money in order to sustain it. |
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