“Power, Purpose and Process,” another Unitarian Universalist talk I gave on November 14th, about how the aims of liberal faith are a lot like utopian dreaming.
I have a cold, but I’m still pretty coherent. Let me know what you think!
4 thoughts on “Dang, I’m talking about Utopia again”
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LOLS! You sound like Jodie Foster! Too bad they don’t have sound-alike contests!!! You could make like $100.
Thanks (I think)! I was still recovering from a cold that morphed into bronchitis at World Fantasy Con, so my voice was a little scratchy. I only coughed a couple of times!
Tracie, this was really a powerful talk. Thanks for pointing us all to it. It takes courage to challenge the members of your congregation in such a bold manner (to trust each other, to step up to the plate, to stop gossiping, etc.), your delivery was strong and you spoke with authority (but not in any overbearing way), and I loved your themes of Power, Purpose, and Process.
I think that power and purpose used to be more important to me in the past, but in the past couple of years, largely due to my professional life (and maybe a little due to my Quakerism), I’ve become aware of the importance of process. I’d love to hear you go deeper into it some time, especially as it relates to the struggle for utopia.
Thank you for the high praise. I felt very positive about offering this to the congregation, and I’ve received good feedback from several individuals. I anticipate that some listeners may not share those opinions, and that may actually be a beneficial thing. I’ve heard it said that the task of spiritual community is to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable,” or something similar.
I am also intrigued by process and have seen what it can do in my own life, in terms of striving for authenticity, right livelihood, and right relationship. I’ll plan to explore that further here.