Introduction
As Unitarian Universalists, we define ourselves in many ways. Some of us
self-identify in religious terms, others in terms of spiritual journeys, others
still in a humanist framework. Some of us don't limit ourselves that much.
What brings us together is different from that. We look for truth, we look for
good, we look for things that need doing, we look for peace. We respect each
other's search, and we respect each other's questions. Along the way, many of
us have faced our internal demons. Sometimes we come to accept our own demons,
and other times we must slay them; either way, it can be an overwhelming and
lonely task.
As friends, we can share our journeys, and we can share our sources of
knowledge. As friends, we sometimes become closer than family.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a remarkable television experience that
encompassed these themes of extended family and the search for truth. One of
the deep undercurrents in the series is the nature of good and evil, and the
way that good and evil are intermixed to the point that it can be very
difficult to separate them out. Buffy's story focuses on family, community,
growth, and redemption. The characters face their own internal demons, often
through demonic metaphors. Their experiences bring us face to face with the
horrors of everyday life, and with our own inner demons. Buffy's story, and the
real beginning of her adult life, begins with these words:
In every generation
there is a Chosen One.
She alone will stand
against the vampires, the
demons, and the forces of darkness.
She is the Slayer...
What is perhaps most remarkable about Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and its
spinoff series, Angel, is that it gives its characters room to grow and
change. It understands that spiritual journeys can take months or years, and it
has the patience for these stories to unfold at their own pace. Buffy is
a story about characters, but even more, it is a story about journeys and about
our experience of our own inner darkness. Every character has that darkness;
every character reaches a point when he or she must decide what to do about it.
What to Expect
This is a spiritual journey. I will assume that all of us who are here have
spiritual needs that are unmet. To meet those needs, we must sometimes push
hard at ourselves. We will ask hard questions, and what we learn will depend on
how we approach answering those questions.
There is a Zen maxim which says, "Great Doubt: great awakening. Little Doubt:
little awakening. No Doubt: no awakening." Our doubts, and our will to face
them, are what each of us brings to this gathering. May we all find awakenings
that we did not expect.