I always like the secular aspect of Easter. Maybe I just like bunnies.

I'm writing a letter to a friend. It's not so much a letter as a list. I really hope that it is appreciated as much as I would appreciate it if I were on the receiving end.

I have a lot of things that are going on in my life. Most of them are frustrating, and most of them are too complicated to talk out. I have been thinking and thinking and thinking and it never gets any better. I used to have really spiritual talks with people but either those people faded, or my spirituality faded.

I've never been religious. But I have been spiritual since I was very young. My "code of conduct" if you will is about spirituality without religion. I am a Unitarian Universalist, and the general reaction I get when I tell people such is either "Pardon?" or "Gesundheit!"

The Unitarian Universalism Church is pretty loose as far as it's "requirements" for it's followers. We are taught the Seven Principles; it is our equivalent to the Ten Commandments.

1. The inherent worth and dignity of every person
2. Justice, equality and compassion in human relations
3. Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregation
4. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning
5. The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large
6. The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all
7. Respect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.

Seven has always been my favorite. I really do believe that everyone exists as a part of everything else. Even my starkly humanistic father stands firm behind that belief. Because of the tolerance that is built into the church, there are UUs of all different backgrounds, creeds, lifestyles, and opinions.

I find it very interesting and exciting, and I'm really proud to be a UU. I think a lot of us are misunderstood; our church has been called a Gay church because we recently became a "Welcoming Congregation", which happily allows people of ALL lifestyles (gays, straights, transgender, none of the above) to worship. I hate how we are looked down upon as liberal hippies or gay lovers. We are a church that does not judge anyone. We allow anyone in, no matter if they are liberal or conservative, gay or straight, Christian or Pagan, athiestic or monotheistic or polytheistic, black, white, blonde, brunette, pro-war, anti-war, pro-choice, pro-life, the only prerequisite for Unitarian Universalism is to be open minded.

I'm not trying to sell my church to anyone, or try and convert you to believe what I believe, but if you ever feel like checking this out, just contact me.

http://www.harboruu.org/ is the website for our church, and you're welcome any day. We're a small church, but we try hard to make visitors welcome.