Induction Address By Rev.Bridget Spain I think that it is appropriate that I begin this address by thanking a number of people. First to the members of the Dublin Unitarian Congregation I thank you all most sincerely for your fellowship during the past 11 years. I have found here in this Community room for my spirit. I am hououred by the trust that you have placed in me by appointing me as Assistant to our Minister and I promise that I will do my utmost always to be deserving of that trust. Thank you to Bill Darlison for his constant encouragement and help during my years of training. In all matters of Religion Bill is like a Computer Search engine ask him a question and he always knows the answer. He is a wonderful Minister and Mentor and he is totally generous with his knowledge. Thank you to the Management Committee for working to making my appointment possible. As there was a gap of 116 years since we had that last assistant Minister no one could remember how things were done so a good deal of effort was required to come up with a formula acceptable to all parties. To everyone who has worked towards organizing this beautiful service ,the refreshments and to everyone for coming along to share this celebration a big thank you. And last but not least a big thank you to Paul for his support all through our years together and for all the work of preparing invitations and the order of Service Sheet. I am told that it is appropriate that I say some words on my theological beliefs; but that I must not speak for too long!!!! a very difficult task indeed but I will do my best. Unitarians do not have a creed or required set of beliefs so when describing Unitarianism the description generally becomes a list of negatives and trails off with something like - “ we are encouraged to find our own spiritual path”. Taking a more positive approach we can say that Unitarians look to what unites different religions rather than concentrating on what divides them. When all religions are stripped of their man made rules they teach at their core that there is more to our existence that the physical world and when we are in this world that we should have compassion for one another. There is a plaque on the wall of this church with the words Freedom, Reason and Tolerence- Unitarians are Free and encouraged to seek our own spiritual path, we place no limits on the sources we use in our search; we use our Reason at all times and most importantly we must be Tolerant of those who differ from us. These are very broad brush strokes; I will try to articulate what this means in my life. I believe in the “Mysterious Source of life” “ the Divine” and I am reasonably happy in using the term God. This “Source of Life” that I intuit is beyond our human understanding; I believe that we should acknowledge the limitations of our understanding and we humans should not try to tailor God to our human design and ideas. I believe that God is not somewhere “in the heavens” but resides within every human being. I believe that my existence in this world is not the result of random events: we are born for a purpose and this precious human life gives us the opportunity to make progress in our spiritual journey. All the religious traditions address the question of what is the purpose of life -Jesus tells that we should “seek first the kingdom of God and that everything else will follow”. The Hindu tradition says that the object our existence is to attain unity with God they call this “Moksha”. Buddha tells us that our aim is to become “Enlightened”. These may sound like contradictions but I believe that they are different names for the same objective. We have the duty to live every moment fully aware of how precious every moment of our existence is; that we humans are not disjointed beings but connected one with another; and that we should care for one another. I believe that when I die that in some way that I will make an assessment of how I have spent my life- whether or not I have fulfilled the purpose for which I was born. I believe that no one religion has a monopoly on truth Revelation is not something that took place in the dim past in the preserve of some elect group God’s message is constantly renewed. All religious activity is humanities efforts in seeking answers to the mysteries of life and all religions are valid. As the Koran says “There is one way to God but many different means of following that way and God gives a different means according to people’s customs and needs. Gods light can be found in every place of worship in every nation; wherever people meditate on God, God’s light if found” I was drawn to this Church by an article written by Jennifer Flegg and in it she stated that we “Unitarians do not claim to have all the answers” this is something of which I am very proud. We Unitarians acknowledge the limits of our understanding and we are willing to take our inspiration form every available source. Finally while I personally enjoy discussing metaphysical matters, I have to admit that this is a waste of time. No matter how much we speculate about the nature of God, the existence or not of a soul, life after death we are never going to reach a conclusion that can be objectively proved or disproved. There are many paths to God we need to forget the discussions and to take at least one of these paths, acknowledging that our fellow travelers will find their own path and that this is perfectly acceptable because we will meet where the paths join. When I found this Church it was a coming home I realised that I had been a Unitarian all my life. This Church may be said to provide a feather bed for fallen Christians or a place for Atheists who like to sing hymns; that is fine we all need a place where we are accepted with all our human failing and talents; I am very proud of our dissenting Tradition. We have no Creed to set in stone but we do have some phrases and words that are well worth hearing. These words are printed in our Magazine “Love is the doctrine of this Church The Quest of truth is its sacrament And service is its prayer. To dwell together in peace, to seek knowledge in freedom To Serve mankind in fellowship To the end that all souls shall grown in harmony with the divine This do we covenant with each other and with God” Long may we continue with our work. Amen Rev.Bridget Spain 10th February 2007 Dublin Unitarian Church Cover