One Size Will Never Fit All

The previous generation in my family stayed a lot closer to home.  The extent of their wanderings might be to marry someone who belonged to a different parish.  My parents and my aunts and uncles all married someone who was Catholic and set up their households within about 25 miles of where my grandparents lived in the city of Detroit.  The next generation, not so much.  We’ve planted ourselves in Texas and Florida, all over the state of Michigan and across the border into the Buckeye state of Ohio.

 Looking at my generation of “boomers” and beyond to Generation X,  and Generation  “wi-fi” I can clearly see a number of challenges to creating church services that satisfy this broad array of interests, experiences, and orientations.  Add to that the demographics of small “c” catholics, small “r” reformers, and small “e” evangelicals, and now you have yourself a smorgasbord of congregant criteria that is further influenced by the road they travelled to arrive at the seat they are in.  Are they a refugee, an emigrant, or a home-grown native?

I count myself in the emigrant camp.  My Catholic upbringing was not particularly intolerable and certainly not oppressive.  I just knew there was something better out there.  I did not actively seek alternatives by visiting other churches or pro-actively engaging those from other faiths.  I did, however, keep my eyes open for people who seemed to be living a life that worked, those that I would now call pragmatically  enlightened.

What I found was a handful of colleagues and acquaintances who were gracious and equitable in their dealings with others; effective and successful in their work; happy in their relationships; prosperous in their attitudes and actions; balanced and centered in their daily lives.  I observed them over time, talked with them on numerous occasions, and what they all had in common was Unity.  They were practicing and pursuing religious ideals that were producing good results in the real world, and I thought to myself – Gotta get me some of that!

And so it began – this road that I am on.

As I learned about the teachings of Unity, I found ideas that worked, and ideas that made sense in everyday life. (Check the box for the Existential test).   I found ideas that made sense intellectually and intuitively. (Check the box for the Comparative test).  I found ideas that promoted wholeness and growth.  (Check the box for the Holistic Test).  I found ideas that were worthy of the faith of Jesus Christ.  (Check the box for the Christology test).

I knew I was building a life that worked base on the teachings and principles I was applying.  What I didn’t know is that I had a theological walk off home run!  Unity!  Practical Christianity!!  Pragmatic Enlightment!!!