The Rev. Krista Taves
Rev. Krista Taves
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Minister's Message
August 2010

A Spiritual Reckoning

On the day that I write this article, the news has come out that the BP oil spill has been officially capped. There is little celebration around what we have been waiting for since late April, only a deep sigh of a relief and the deep somberness regarding the monstrous tragedy. The real work has only begun. This disaster will cost billions, in money and lives. It has destroyed livelihoods, ecosystems, and so much more we can only dimly understand at this time. There is a grand reckoning to be done.

Much has been made of the irresponsible behavior of BP. It is good to have this come before us. BP needs to be held accountable for what it has done. But what the media and politicians are not talking about is that we are all responsible for what has happened. We are all BP at some level. BP was motivated in its mismanagement because of our unquenchable need for oil, a need that has not dropped one iota since the disaster began.

In Unitarian Universalism, we focus much of our attention on our responsibility in affirming, promoting, and respecting the interdependent web of all existence, of which we are a part. Some UUs see this as God, the Gods, the Goddess, or that which is greater than us, intuited but never fully understood. Some UUs see this in a naturalistic sense, as the universe, the earth, the natural world. Others see it as a web of right relationship to which we are accountable and to which we promise ourselves. These are all true and they all point to the same thing. Nothing is isolated from anything else. We are one in a deeper way than anyone can imagine. BP made foolish decisions motivated by greed. We all make foolish decisions motivated by greed. Our actions show that we assume that oil is a right, not a privilege, and this fuels the oil industry in making the kinds of decisions that we are paying for now. BP takes risks in where it drills, risks that include ecological and political risks. It drills for oil in some of the most inhospitable environments because we’re running out of safe oil. It makes deals with politically questionable countries because we’re running out of oil in stable political environments. Our assumption that oil is a right, not a privilege, makes these risks seem ordinary and understandable. And then, we only pay attention when the worst happen, and of course, it is very easy to look for a clear villain that allows us to externalize the blame and distance ourselves from it.

In some religions, being a person of faith means believing the right things. In Unitarian Universalism, being a person of faith means something quite different. What you believe is less important than what you do with your beliefs. How do you live them? Are you living in right relationship? Is your life in alignment with the god/s or teachings you profess to follow? This is what really matters.

The well is capped, hopefully for good. There is much work to do and it is not only the physical work of cleaning up the Gulf. We have a spiritual reckoning to engage, if we have the courage to engage it.

In faith,
Rev. Krista Taves


We invite you to read sermons delivered by Rev. Taves at Emerson, in particular, you may wish to learn more about Unitarian Universlist Theology through a series of sermons Rev. Taves delivered at Emerson Chapel during early 2009.

For more about Unitarian Universalism, check out this link: Visitors to UUism and if you like what you've seen here, and on our website, we hope that you will come be our guest this next Sunday morning.

For a concise summary of the Seven Principles of Unitarian Universalism, click here.