Monday, September 16, 2013

"Belief is the enemy of faith"

I was struck, when I heard it recently, by remarks made by Unitarian Universalist Association President Peter Morales, that "Belief is the enemy of faith," or as he expounded, "I am now convinced that 'belief,' in the way we usually use the word, is actually the enemy of faith, religion, and spirituality."

I think this seems counter-intuitive to most of us--"faith" and especially "religion" seem to be all about belief, don't they? And yet, what he goes on to say strikes a resonant chord with me:

When the conversation shifts away from our beliefs to what we hold most dear, to what moves us at the depths of our being and what calls us, wondrous new possibilities emerge. We share and explore our deepest experiences. We discover what we have in common. Our attention turns naturally to how we want to live our lives and to the commitments we are willing to make. [...] Faith is about being faithful to what we hold sacred.
And so, I would ask you, friends: what do you hold sacred or--to use less loaded language--what do you hold most dear?

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