From the Minister

Daily Practice (6-20-23)

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Good morning friends — I’m reading a collection of poems titled “How To Love The World” (James Crews). The title itself has become my daily practice for now. It is one of the essential religious questions, at the edge of learning and growth. It seems that the more we know, or think we know, the harder it is to love the world. The “facts” are not very encouraging. 

Buddhist teachings have addressed this question for centuries. They teach that what we call the ego – a major part of how we interact with and interpret the world – is biased according to its own needs. The ego in each of us interprets information to satisfy its limited needs and ignores everything else. This “ignorance” is the source of our suffering, they say, and suffering makes it hard to love the world. It takes a courageous outlook to “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by ignorance.”  

I’m learning that daily practice is simply a way to try to love the world, every day, over and over again. It is a way to step aside from the ego, a little bit (though whether or not we are ever successful at that I do not know), and let ourselves be present to what is true and real in the moment, starting with breath, air, light, sky, earth, living and dying. Most days, I don’t have a good answer for how to love the world, but almost every day I am convinced that it is worth trying, worth the effort. And I’m pretty sure it can only be done by loving one thing at a time – one thing, and then another, and then perhaps another.  Here in this small part of earth, where clouds move over the hills and the air is cool, I begin again by sending love to you all —  Jill

Minister’s Welcome

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Welcome to the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis, a liberal religious congregation that has played an important part in this community for more than 60 years. Our religious tradition is more than 400 years old, dating back to the time of the protestant reformation in Europe.

Unitarianism and Universalism were two varieties of liberal Christianity, evolving over centuries, primarily in Europe and North America. By the time the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America merged in 1961 to become the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations of North America, (the UUA) our religious perspectives had expanded to include wisdom and teachings from all world religions, from science and humanism, art and mysticism, and much more. The UU Fellowship of Corvallis is still a member congregation of the UUA, and we still offer a broad and open approach to religious belief and practice.

Rev. Jill McAllister

The liberal tradition we uphold is best defined as an ongoing movement toward religious freedom, reason in religion, and the embrace of diversity in religious belief and practice.  We are a community held together not by beliefs or creeds, but by these shared values of freedom, reason, and tolerance. We are a caring community, helping each other navigate the realities of life. We are a community of seekers; knowing there is always more to learn and understand, we explore many ideas, philosophies, perspectives and modes of worship and spiritual growth.  We are a pluralistic congregation, dedicated to inclusivity and justice. Each individual is encouraged to aim toward these values and we are all called to live in right relations. We are a welcoming congregation, honoring the diversity of beliefs, practices and lifestyles among us. We are an active multi-generational congregation, working together in all the ways we can to increase justice and compassion in the world. We bring our whole lives, and together we face the realities of birth and death, sorrow and joy, sickness and health, knowing and not knowing. This is what it means to be religious. This is what it means to be Unitarian Universalists. We hope you’ll join us.