"It was true that American Unitarianism had flowered in New England and was part of a proud heritage, but the situation was not unlike that of Christianity, which bloomed in the Holy Land, where it is now extinct except for a few shrines maintained for pilgrims. It is not beyond the realm of possibility that this might someday occur with American Unitarians." -- George Marshall, writing about A. Powell Davies
The Boy snapped a picture of a UU seminarian, doing a little light reading.
There were a few quotes that came out of GA about our "Yankee culture" so when I saw this pic, I had to laugh.
This isn't a serious post -- I'm still on vacation, y'all -- but if you think our UU culture is strictly Yankee, I'd request that you explore the research of the Rev. Dr. Barbara Coeyman, who has written about the time in our history when Texas was just lousy with Universalists.
As for the present, I think three of the most dynamic and potentially influential ministers of our religion are located in Albuquerque, Tulsa, and Atlanta.
Again, nothing serious about this post. The point of the two speakers who referenced our Yankee culture was not Southerners vs. Yanks, and I found both of their fuller talks to just light my fire.
As for me, I'm kicking back with some Christmas* enchiladas and contemplating what a cowboy UU church would look like.
*New Mexico term indicating that a person wants both red AND green sauce on their dish.
Sauce? No, no, my dear -- chile is not merely "sauce."
ReplyDelete:-p
But seriously, my hubby and I were just talking about this notion of "caucasion" or "white" culture and while we're both very Yankee, we have lots of other stuff going on, too.
And, both candidates for UUA Pres were not east-coasters, neither.
Stories for all ages drawing on Byrd Baylor's work, perhaps?
ReplyDeleteCowboy poetry.
Waal, you know, Jess ... gotta translate fer the Northerners. :)
ReplyDelete(What does "sauce" mean anyway? For Italians, "sauce" is called "gravy." NMers, "chile." Texans, "salsa" ...)
But seriously, and I'll post on this some time after vay-kay ... we all bring so many flavors. We need to explore those more.
Back to work on my "What Would Willie Do" sermon ...