Original Objectives for Luminescence Holiday
(January 2009)
Purpose – A holiday for rejoicing in our unique Unitarian Universalist identity. Celebrating peace, justice and compassion through the illumination provided to us by our wonderful Unitarian Universalist faith.
(January 2009)
Purpose – A holiday for rejoicing in our unique Unitarian Universalist identity. Celebrating peace, justice and compassion through the illumination provided to us by our wonderful Unitarian Universalist faith.
- It’s something that exists on both the personal level (making ourselves the best people we can be – peace and compassion) and on the broader level (social justice; making this world a better place – peace and justice).
- It is quintessentially UU in outlook, yet it is something those outside the faith can also celebrate.
- It makes it clear that we are not limiting ourselves to celebration of a single source (ie, the Bible) or a single story (the foundational story of Christianity).
- If placed during the Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwansa season, then for those who want to celebrate only this holiday, it is broad enough where it can be the full holiday of the season, yet it allows for celebration of the other seasonal holidays for those who want to do so.
- It allows for growth and expansion by exploring aspects of each of the items being celebrated as well as delving into many inspirational sources (for example, justice can be seen as encompassing fairness in the world), and can even celebrate the fact that we have many inspirational sources.
- If it turns out that it’s too broad for celebrating in a single service, then it can be divided into multiple days, each celebrating one aspect and/or one category of sources.
- It celebrates principles that are “important”. In some ways, it’s more universally important than either Christmas or Hannukah, (which are both inseparably founded on the history of one religion).
- It turns the holiday into a celebration of principles, which is also quintessentially UU. It is based on principles, not beliefs, and on many sources, not on a single infallible holy text. This is the core of UU’ism.
- It does not rely on metaphors, rather it directly celebrates universal principles that almost all people can agree upon.
- It is uniting.
- It is something we can celebrate without misappropriating the culture and religious practice of other religions, ie, without trying to change the meaning of their holiday to meet our sensibilities.
- It allows us to celebrate in a manner that’s consistent with the traditions of the season, utilizing lighting, giving to charities, appreciating goodness, etc, while also building our own unique traditions, too.
- It positions UU’ism as the way of celebrating goodness at this time of year without tying it into a belief in supernaturalism.
- It is something UU’s can celebrate without reservation.