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https://www.uua.org/worship/words/time-all-ages/honoring-fallen-soldiers

By Erika A. Hewitt, Paul S Sawyer

Think of where you feel safe and at peace. What’s the signal that tells you it’s okay to be at peace?

For people in the United States military, there’s a special signal that says “you’re okay, and you’re at peace.” It's a melody called "Taps," and it's only 24 notes long. It was composed by a general in the Civil War and his bugler.

It’s hard to remember how important bugle calls were in the military once upon a time. In the days before radio, bugle calls were the only way military units could communicate to groups over a large area.

In the 1860s, the end of the day was important. If there was time and peace enough to play Taps, that was a signal that the camp was relatively safe. It meant that you were not under attack. It meant that there were no enemy soldiers to worry about.

To a camp of soldiers, the notes of Taps meant that, unless you were on duty, you could close your eyes and sleep in peace.

They say that the first time Taps was played at a service for fallen soldiers also took place during the Civil War. In those days, the traditional military salute was, as it still is, the firing of a three-round volley of rifles. But this one time, they say, was after a long battle, when finally a cease-fire had been called, and both sides had stopped to bury their dead.
In one camp, as the work ended and the memorial service began to take shape, the soldiers knew that sounding the artillery salute might be taken as a return to fighting, and not as a sacred memorial. Someone had the idea of sounding a bugle, and that sound would never be taken as an aggressive act of war.

Taps came to mean the same thing. It meant the safe and quiet end to the day, time to rest, time to turn the lights out, to let their eyes close, and as best they could, to be at peace.

That’s what Taps means: it's like a powerful prayer.

We try to make our congregations places where people can feel safe and at peace. We work outside of these walls to create a community like that, too: a world where everyone feels at peace in their neighborhoods and towns.

This week, many people in the U.S. are remembering and honoring all those who have died while serving in our military... so you might hear Taps again. If you do, maybe you can stop what you're doing and think of every soldier who might have been afraid, and then let Taps remind you that they're now at peace.

Jesus loves you, come chat with us! we are friendly, We have Bible Studies, and if you suffer from anything and need to talk or just wanna talk about Jesus or the word come say hi!

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Peace be upon you,

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I was raised Unitarian Universalist by my traumatized-by-Christianity mother, which I loved, because Sunday school consisted of learning about other cultures and religions, and I was NEVER told what to believe. It was SO COOL! No surprises that I ended up atheist for most of my life. 🤣 Respect to all UUs (I'm sure there are plenty of them here)... it always felt like a group to belong to rather than a religion. I'm CERTAIN several UUs would agree, but maybe just as many would also disagree. I would love to hear your thoughts on a few things. This stuff fascinates me, and I don't feel comfortable talking about it with people who are going to spout religious shit to me. This is such a gigantic community from people of all walks of life. I feel like it would be awesome to hear so many varied responses and ideas.

My brother died of a heroin overdose almost a decade ago. It fucking sucked. I miss him. That said, it didn't really change my beliefs. I know when people die, lots of their loved ones experience changes in beliefs, and often times I think it's due to WANTING SO BADLY to not have lost that person forever. Makes total logical sense. It's sad.

A year ago, my mom died. However, this time, it REALLY changed things for me. I feel her visiting me a LOT. I feel I get weird signs from her. I am 100% convinced I've had 3 or 4 visitation dreams from her, though I dream of her almost every night. You don't have to explain to me how all of this has completely non-religious, common sense explanations. That's pretty obvious to me. My mom and I were so fucking close. We had that weird telepathy thing going on that only very close people have. If you have a spouse, twin, or loved one you're close to, you know what I'm talking about! Finishing sentences, calling at the same time, knowing what the other will say when you've both been silent for a long time, etc. Of course even if there's absolutely nothing more than BOOM you're dead, I'd feel that way due to our closeness. She is always with me, regardless of what happens after death, because she was a foundational part of my life.

For my whole life, I've always been very sensitive, and I do feel I have a way with connecting to certain things, especially nature/animals. I think I'd be considered an empath maybe since I'm very tuned into people's feelings and my environment? I nurture lots of stuff and teach little kids. Like I said, I am sensitive. Lots of childhood trauma and bullying pretty much made me that way.

I don't believe in heaven and hell or anything like that, but I really wonder if it's possible something else happens when you die. Are we over? Yeah, maybe. But maybe not. I also wonder if there's a scientific explanation that would explain whatever else could happen. For lack of better language, I'd think there'd be evidence for "god" (and of course evolution but I don't feel I need to explicitly state that here 🤣. Also don't really know what else to call god... The universe? Energy? I dunno!). I've read about crazy physics studies where cells react weirdly when one is given stimulation somewhere and the other, that used to be with to the first cell, is miles and miles away. All of this stuff fascinates me and it is overwhelming to consider all the shit we just don't understand. Makes you really wonder about the things that aren't even on our radar or within our realm of understanding.

Do you guys ever think about this stuff? Ever wonder about wtf started the big bang? Most mediums and ghost sightings are COMPLETE bs, I'm sure... But what if a few are real?? Is it a weird glitch in time rather than a true "ghost?" Or let's say Astral projection... I am sad to say that I think most people who believe they can do that are likely mentally ill (or hopefully dreaming!), but the CIA did try to study that shit!

Do you guys think about this stuff a lot? Any cool wonderings you have or crazy facts you know/experiences you have? There's no where else I'd want to post this, because I just don't want to hear about God this and God that. If "god" exists, it's not like anyone living could understand it. This is the one place I'd feel safe discussing things. Please do let me know if there's a better place to post this. As I said, I have no interest in pushing belief systems on anyone, nor do I think that is OK. Plus, I don't even know what I would call myself. I do kind of feel like I'm atheist... AND agnostic.... AND curious AF. (Yes, I know that's a little bit oxymoronic.) I'm so scientifically minded, that if there's anything weird going on, I KNOW it would be able to be explained by science. Ultimately, I know we are a bunch of peons who don't know shit about the universe. 🤣 I like to remain open minded. There's always more to learn.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure my rambling has gotten my point across. I guess I'd just love to hear what keeps you guys up late at night when you're pondering. What are all your thoughts about this shit? Hope you're all well! 💜💜💜💜

Hi there! I grew up Protestant Christian, but fell away from the church nearly a decade ago for a variety of reasons. Now I’m looking to rejoin a spiritual community but am having trouble finding one that feels right. I attended a UU service last week and it was very close to what I was looking for, and really refreshing compared to my previous church experiences. But I feel that I personally might need a community that collectively believes in and worships God.

This isn’t to say anything wrong about those who don’t believe in God, so please don’t take it that way. I LOVE the acceptance UU has for everyone regardless of belief, and one of the reasons I stopped attending Protestant Christian churches is I felt they didn’t respect those of different beliefs enough. I basically believe that no human can really know the truth and that everyone should believe and do whatever is best for them.

If there is something that’s basically Christian UU, I think that’s what I’m looking for. I understand that there are many Christians who are part of UU, but I’m hoping to find a congregation that places more focus on prayer/worship of God, which is important to me personally.

Sorry to be long-winded. Thanks so much in advance for any guidance you can provide!

No words, really. Just wanting to put this down somewhere.

I have been a member of a UU congregation since January. Today, after a full week with the candidate and a whole one year process of identifying candidates, my congregation held a vote on a motion to call a new Sr Minister, the vote did not meet the threshold.

Has your congregation gone through something similar? What ended up happening? My concern is the reputation of the congregation will be impacted and our pool of candidates will shrink drastically.

I've been attending a local UU's services via zoom for the last few months and yesterday they held a newcomers class. It was my first time going there in-person and as a socially anxious person I was...well socially anxious. But everyone there was super sweet and inclusive (I mean...of course, that's a staple of UU). It was nice hearing stories from other who had left Christianity for various reasons and found UU. There was a lot of overlap with my own story, and for once in my life I didn't feel like an outsider.

This is a very rural, Christian conservative area and in a lot of ways it's very lonely being a liberal agnostic. But there I was in a tiny chapel with a bunch of other like-minded folks. I could refer to myself freely as an agnostic without feeling like I was being judged or misunderstood. It meant a lot to me.

Within an hour I was invited to join the tech committee, to help with Zoom stuff, so I guess I'm part of that now :D Not even a full-blown member yet, and they want me to get involved. I'm happy to. Growing up, my dad was very involved in our Christian church and helped run the soundboard during service. Glad to be able to carry on that familial tradition :)

I'm a practicing Jew (Reform). I have attended a UU congregation for a number of years where I have taught an adult education course on antisemitism. I’d written the following two essays explaining how the UUA’s new racial essentialism, illiberalism, dogmatism and attempts to politicize the religion make UU increasingly unwelcoming to most Jews. The first essay was used in the course and is included in my congregation's racial justice resources.

Two Jewish friends with similar feelings and complaints about the national UU left their UU congregations in the last year. I've stayed because my congregation still champions liberal religion and congregations as independent entities, and allows and respects the expression of the diversity of views of its members.

Is the UUA’s Anti-Racism Model Anti-Semitic?

How Intolerance, Censorship and Dogmatism Make Unitarian Universalism Increasingly Unwelcoming to Jews

I am interested in listening to more humanist focused services and talks from the UU community. I wanted to see if people in this group could point to some communities and UU leaders that have recordings available.

Any good audio / podcasts to subscribe too? Or video channels?

Thanks!

This is a throwaway account

So without giving too much away. I (27M) recently started attending a UU church in my area about 7-8 months ago. I quickly learned they were in a transitional period and felt like it would be a good time to join. It was apparent that the congregation was significantly older, 70+, but I had no qualms with that; however, my consistent presence I think has upset some of the members.

I am the kind of person who needs to be involved in order to feel a since of belonging. I desperately tried to find more info about events, get togethers, etc., but quickly learned the only way to really get that information was talking with people. So I did and I got involved helping plan activities just so I could know what was happening. This was fine for awhile, but then I kept constantly hear about how there were only a few leaders doing a lot and people, both from the church and the broader community, weren't showing up to things.

I think more than anything these comments really frustrated me because I really try to help and be there.

Recently there was a meeting which involved all those who were doing things within the church. Yet again there was this overarching tone of lack of leadership or outreach/ marketing for events. This also included statements about how we want the congregation to grow, especially with families, and I sat in that meeting thinking about all the ways I have offered to help, yet there was hardly ever any follow through.

I understand I am a gung-ho kind of person, but when all these people fail to utilize me, continue to complain, and then talk about how they want growth near my demographic I'm left utterly frustrated. I understand that it may sound like I'm being overbearing, but really try to understand and respect that I am fairly new to the church. I am not trying to implement really any change. I just want to be involved and help, and for some reason it feels like that is a bad thing or there is this imaginary line I have to cross before I am fully allowed to contribute.

There is another church in town, but it is significantly bigger and that really deters me as I have only really gone to smaller churches. I just feel like if I am going to continue going to this church I am going to have to pull back significantly and that really defeats the point of going for me.

I know younger people in general seem to have a hard time with this religion, but I really like it and I want other people to like it. However, if they are going to continue this pattern of behavior why on earth would I invite others?

I don't know if anyone else has gone through this before or how they handled it, but I would really appreciate different perspectives.