A Fitting Poem for the Title of my Blog

I'll admit it. I'm not a huge fan of poetry. If someone wants to discuss poetry (actually happened to me recently, believe it or not), I cannot contribute to the conversation at all. Does Dr. Seuss count as poetry? I can talk about Dr. Seuss...

At any rate, my sister sent me this poem the other day and it really spoke to me I think it's really awesome.

It was published in 1917. Enjoy.


Deep in the Quiet Wood
James Weldon Johnson 1871-1928

Are you bowed down in heart?
Do you but hear the clashing discords and the din of life?
Then come away, come to the peaceful wood,
Here bathe your soul in silence. Listen! Now,
From out the palpitating solitude
Do you not catch, yet faint, elusive strains?
They are above, around, within you, everywhere.
Silently listen! Clear, and still more clear, they come.
They bubble up in rippling notes, and swell in singing tones.
Not let your soul run the whole gamut of the wondrous scale
Until, responsive to the tonic chord,
It touches the diapason of God's grand cathedral organ,
Filling earth for you with heavenly peace
And holy harmonies.



Much Love,

What is Unitarian Universalism?

So when I mentioned the other day that I started going to a UU church and love it, it didn't occur to me that I might should expand on what Unitarian Universalism is.  I find it a tad funny that that didn't occur to me since I didn't even know what it was until my first year of graduate school.

Now, I'm new to the UU thing so I'll try my best to discuss it based on their website and the general feel I've gotten from attending services.

Basically, UU congregations share seven principles but individuals may hold different beliefs.  On their website they list the following beliefs: Atheism and Agnosticism, Buddhism, Christianity, Humanism, Judaism, Paganism, and "others" (Islam and Hinduism).  Apparently these last two haven't historically been part of their tradition but there's been growing interest.

The seven principles are:

• 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.

As for me, I went to church with my family pretty much every week (sometimes more) from when I was a baby (I'm assuming since I don't remember back that far) until I was in college.  Even then, since we lived in the same city, I went with them fairly often.  I grew more and more distant from the church in college and especially during graduate school when I became more and more liberal.  I longed to go to church (my sister says out of habit) but I couldn't sit through services anymore knowing their views didn't mesh with mine. 

And what are my views?  If you want to put a label on it, I guess I'd be agnostic.  I neither believe nor disbelieve.  It sounds like such a cop-out.  Haha!  All I know is that I believe in those seven principles above.  I believe my homosexual friends should have the right to be married.  In fact, it's shocking to me that this inequality exists.  And I also believe that not one of those beliefs listed above are better or more right than any of the others.  I don't think any one of them should convert anyone else to their belief system. 

That's what led me to the UU church.  I really enjoy it because it's still in a traditional service format.  I guess for some reason I was under the assumption that it wouldn't be.  There's the opening stuff, offertory, sermon, and closing stuff.  There isn't prayer (at least where I go) and the "hymns" and recitations don't mention a specific God but rather, reflect the principles.  I've thought about stealing one of the hymnals to take home and play on the piano so I can learn the music--I even looked it up on Amazon...$35.  It's been disconcerting going from knowing the majority of hymns (from my years in the church) to not knowing any.  Though, when we went the last time we sang 'This Little Light of Mine' at the end of the service...I knew that one!  They also do this 'closing circle' thing where they recite something I haven't learned yet so I just stand there looking like an idiot.  I'm sure they don't think that but I sure do feel like it!  The Hubs recited it a couple of Sundays ago and I stared at him in shock.  Turns out he memorized it right before we stood up to do the closing circle! 

Also, the UU church I attend doesn't have a minister; either because it's too small or because they don't want one.  I haven't determined the reason yet.  I gather that some congregations don't like having a minister because it lessens the members' ability to have open discussions/input on various topics.  What we have instead are speakers and a retired UU minister who comes up every couple of weeks from Atlanta to do a sermon for us.  I didn't think I'd like not having a minister but honestly, I think I like it better.  Different views...different information...it's a good thing. 

So yep, that's where I stand.  I'm glad I let it all out because I haven't been able to do that with very many people while living here in the conservative South.  Feel free to comment or ask questions.  Also, here's the UU website if you're interested:  http://www.uua.org/

And no, I didn't drink any kool-aid.

Separation of Church & State

There's really nothing behind this post title other than I'm going to talk about church and school.  I'm not hugely creative and definitely not a writer but I figured I should probably title it something other than, "Church and the Class I'm Taking".

I'm not sure if I've mentioned this on my blog yet but I seem to go through crises of sorts when I graduate from school.  I think it's because even though I'm done with school I feel like I should still be in school for some reason.  Or maybe it's that I don't have a "career" lined up.  I don't know but it drives me to jump into things without thinking them through.

This time it was vet school.  Something I've always thought about but didn't act on because of my grades and confidence.  I also was turned off after working at an animal hospital for 3 years.  It wasn't until recently that I realized it wasn't because I didn't want to be a vet, it was because I didn't want to go into small animal private practice.  I want to focus on zoological medicine.

Recently I drove out to NC State to attend an informational session.  Good news is that with my graduate work my GPA now meets the minimum requirements.  I don't meet the requirements in "Veterinary Experience" nor do I have all of the required classes under my belt.  Which brings me to the point of this post.  I am officially an NC State non-degree student enrolled in Comparative Nutrition (online class).

I'm excited about this class because:
1.  It's not Organic Chem (this is another required course I don't have)
2.  The subject matter is animal nutrition which will give me some sort of an idea if this is the path I'd like to continue down.

In researching vet school I realized I should've majored in Animal Science rather than Biology.  C'est la vie.

SUBJECT CHANGE

I started going to a Unitarian Universalist church in Franklin.  I LOVE IT.  I've been a handful of times but I already feel more at home there than I have in any other church in a looooong time.  It's such a good feeling.  The service today was awesome.  The speaker (the church is lay-led; meaning we don't have a full-time minister so we have speakers every Sunday) today was HILARIOUS.  I cried with laughter and he even got tickled himself after describing explaining Easter to children: Jesus had a bad weekend, so....a magical rabbit left this chocolate bunny for you in the yard.  Yeah, doesn't have the same effect in a blog post. 

The funny thing about this going to church thing is that it's kind of like working out...you (actually, my husband and I) grumble about going, but once we get there we have such a good time and are glad we went.  It doesn't hurt that we get to listen to NPR's Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me! on the way there.  It's also nice making friends outside of work.  Ya know, that separation and church and state thing.  :)