Message for All
The Principle Spectrum by Jesse Greist

I remember so clearly as a young child asking the question “Why aren’t there MORE songs about rainbows”.  I mean, I can hardly imagine a more perfect image of love, of diversity, of balance. Rainbows are what happens when light is stretched and bent across our vision until it cannot help but burst into color. Rainbows are the halfway point between the sunny days that fill leaves and faces with warmth and life and the rainy days which soak into roots and quench the thirst of millions.
This morning, there is a rainbow right here in this Sanctuary. Can you see it? That’s right! The banners that were carried in here by the stepping up children are the same colors as a rainbow, and that is no accident. Each of these banners represents one of the seven Unitarian Universalist principles, and together they are a rainbow. And just as a rainbow reminds us of love and diversity and balance, our principles remind us of love and diversity and balance. As UU’s we do a lot of balancing. We balance quiet personal reflection with meaningful group action. Few among us can be active all the time, and few among us can be quiet and un-moving all the time. We balance different beliefs that may guide some of us to give names like “God” to the beauty and mystery of the universe around us, while others call them simply “beauty” and “mystery” or even “science”. We balance the needs of adults with the needs of young people, we balance singing with meditation, we balance books with Youtube, and we even do our best to balance budgets, which if you ask our treasurer is about as miraculous as we come here in Unitarian Universalism.
The principles themselves are an act of balance, a true rainbow because together they are one light, one love. But as we view them through the prism of our experience, they spread out and reveal that this one light has many colors and those colors are themselves a spectrum. On this end, we have principles that guide us in how we as individuals interact with other individuals. Red is each and every person’s worth and dignity. Orange is kindness and fairness in how we treat each other. Yellow is our acceptance of one another and our encouragement of spiritual growth.
Then, on this end, we have principles that look at the world as a whole, living system. Principles that show how we are all connected. Violet is the respect we have for this interconnected web of life and our care for planet Earth. Indigo is not just this lovely young person here, but is our shared goal of living in a peaceful, free and just world. Blue is the importance of everyone’s voice and vote, both in the world and in our own congregation.
And right here in the middle, the center, the point of balance – the green banner is the search that we are on both individually and in this beloved community for truth and meaning.
So why aren’t there more songs about rainbows? Because we haven’t written them yet! Let’s write them together, shall we?