Pledging Our Troth
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As a religious heritage bonded not by creed, confession or common prayer, but by covenant, Unitarian Universalists vow to stay at the table long enough to understand one another and mold a viable community.
Ours is a fellowship united not by law but by loyalty, by faithfulness of vows rather than sameness of beliefs. We promise to hold and be held by one another. We pledge our troth or trust. Fidelity, internal discipline, and mutual responsibility are required in a covenantal faith in order to work out our differences together.
As a youngster I joined nearly everything. I managed to say no to membership campaigns so seldom that my yes was rendered nearly meaningless. In the second half of life, my attitude has altered drastically. I relate to, and certainly support, various enterprises, but I join few of them. Joining literally means “yoking oneself” in serious, abiding commitment, and I have become more discriminating. I prefer to travel my life’s final laps lightly, with but a handful of solid devotions.
So, joining a Unitarian Universalist community is no idle matter; it has become one of my primary life allegiances. Freethinkers generally identify with this reluctance to pledge our troth to people or institutions, but, once given, such commitments carry immense power in our lives.
From Freethinking Mystics With Hands: Exploring the Heart of Unitarian Universalism by Rev. Tom Owen-Towle. Published by Skinner House Books in 1998, this book is available from the UUA bookstore or 800-215-9076.
- Pilgrims Always - November 1, 2015
- Pledging Our Troth - October 1, 2012
- Hands - May 1, 2012
