Toyota and Faith

My goodness we are obsessed with covering the Toyota recall. Why? we have had lots of recalls in our lives. General Motors, children's cribs, toys...why so much interest in Toyota? Maybe it has to do with where we place our trust...and faith. My dad was a body and fender man. He worked on a lot of American made cars. He was comfortable with them. Then our country started filling up with Toyotas and Hondas. Why? we believed in them. We knew they got better gas mileage, and they were of very high quality. Consumer reports (another of our generation's inventions) proved it!

This was a generational thing. We took a risk to break away from our parent's generation in our choice of foreign made (or foreign owned and made on American soil as it is now). To have such a massive recall is to shake our faith in our trusted idol. My fear is that Honda will be next...I always trusted Honda first, Toyota next. So I can handle this recall, as my top idol is still standing...but what if it too falls?

It happened to me when I realized the faults in the Catholic church dogma. For a while I wandered around without any focus for my faith, until a friend introduced me to Unitarian Unviersalism. It is not a perfect faith, we stumble now and then, but we have built into us a tradition of heresy, to keep us getting better and to keep us current with new wisdom. Heresy is a good thing. New wisdom starts as a minority opinion. Heresy only exists in a faith that is alive and well. So if some fracture happens in UU, my faith won't be shaken, I'll just know that we are changing as we should, and "All will be well." I hope Toyota finds the same thing, as they have served us well. But I hope Honda is making a list and checking it twice.

UU Association of Uganda "Standing on the Side of Love"

Many of us have no idea that Unitarian Universalists have congregations in Africa. Today there was a courageous protest and advocacy by the UUs in Uganda. They had a conference to protest the proposed Unganda government's "Anti-homosexuality Bill of 2009" which is introduced into the Ugandan parliament. This bill would criminalize homosexuality with punishments including life in prison and capital punishment. The bill would also threaten GLBT allies.

I am enormously proud of the Ugandan UUs, and for our UUA President Rev. Peter Morales, for lending them his support and encouragement.

It's Ground Hog Day! What is it that sustains the seasons of the earth and of our lives? What is this amazing force that operates with cyclical rhythms? Perhaps Lynn Unger has found the critter:

Ground Hog Day

Celebrate this unlikely oracle,
this ball of fat and fur.
whom we so mysteriously endow
with the power to predict spring.
Let's hear it for the improbable heros who,
frightened at their own shadows
nonetheless unwittingly work miracles.
Why shouldn't we believe this pecular rodent
holds power over sun and seasons in his stubby paw?
Who says that God is all grandeur and glory?

Unnoticed in the earth, worms
are busily, brainlessly tilling the soil.
Field mice, all unthinking, have scattered
seeds that will take root and grow.
Grape hyacyths, against all reason
have been holding up green shoots against the snow.

How do you think spring arrives?
There is nothing quieter, nothing
more secret, miraculous, mundane.
Do you want to play your part
in bringing it to birth?
Nothing simpler.
Find a spot
not too far from the ground.
And wait.

Lynn Ungar "Blessing the Bread"