This morning my father and I attended service at the Unitarian Church of Harrisburg led by Reverand Howard Dana. I’d been there many years ago on the recommendation of a high school English teacher, and toyed with the idea of returning, but didn’t until I got an email from my dad asking if I’d like to go with him to check it out. When we sat down he whispered, “If they start talking about Jesus, we can leave.”
But Jesus was mentioned only once, and then it was in reference to him as a teacher, rather than him as God. This was balanced by the pastor’s use of words like “mazeltov” and “oy vey”. Instead, most of today’s sermon — entitled “The President of the United States” — focused on the election, dealing with disappointment, not being discouraged into inaction, and remembering that “this too shall pass”. It was a little startling to hear a pastor so strongly anti-Bush, and so unapologetic about it, but the sermon was well done. While Dana was clearly coming from a place of disappointment, his words were gentle and sometimes funny, recognizing the general feeling of despair in the congregation, and offering encouragement and hope. He seemed to be a man talking about what he felt, what he believed. But what surprised me most was that I wasn’t bored.
I’ve made fun of the Unitarian Church because they have no one creed, no core tenets, but I do admire their ideals, and it was heartwarming to hear the pastor lovingly call his congregation “godless intellectuals”. Waking up early enough on Sundays to make it to even the 11 AM service is not something that’s likely to happen with any regularity, it was a good experience and if I ever happen to be up early and have nothing to do…I might just go to church.