Reflections about beliefs and the examined life

I was finishing a meal one day at Grace Su’s China Gorge restaurant when I got the fortune in my fortune cookie that said, “People willingly believe what they wish." Well, that was quite a fortune to open and read for someone who holds the views that I do. Because in the first place, I would love to think that’s true – that we willingly believe what we wish. But in my observation and self-examination, quite the opposite is often true…. we all hold beliefs that, first of all, we don’t even recognize as beliefs…we like to call them something else …. And secondly, if some of these beliefs could be brought up into the light of day or we would hold them in front of us and examine them with some care, we’d realize we don’t wish to hold those beliefs at all. In fact, we inherited or absorbed or adopted those beliefs in any number of ways, but rarely with care, willingness, mindfulness, intentionality. And most of the time, once we’ve adopted our beliefs, it’s fairly rare that we ever re-examine them and reconsider whether they’re still worth holding, or if it’s time to put them aside and believe something different, something that might serve us better or serve our values and our fellow living creatures better.

Now, before diving into that, which is my purpose in these reflections, I need to make disclaimers or two. I’m very aware that what humans regard and define as “beliefs” is a big and controversial subject. I was a philosophy major, and I still study philosophy. People have been arguing for many centuries about what is belief, what is knowledge, what is truth, what is fact, what is reality, what is phenomenon, what is experience, what is revelation, what is feeling, what is thought, what is faith, what is perception, and so on. I love that stuff and I can definitely get engaged in it. But I’m going to intentionally sidestep it today, and ask that you do that, too. For this morning, I’m going to ask us specifically not to make argument in our minds about the working definitions I’d like to propose, but rather accept them, even if they’re not perfect and even though we can all think of interesting alternatives. Read the full homily here

Teen Trip to Portland Jan. 2010...See more in our photo album.

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Meeting and Greeting at a UU Sunday service