It’s in the Bones – Part 6 – Living One’s Values

7 February 2019
It’s in the Bones – Part 6 – Living One’s Values

“This organization really means something and so do I.”

It’s in the Bones – Wisdom at the Heart of URI Organizing

By Sally Mahé

United Religions Initiative (URI) enlivens people to create cultures of peace, justice and healing through interfaith cooperation. Boldly, both in vision and in organizational design, URI embraces transformational principles. Over the years as URI put these principles into practice, seven core actions have emerged. These core actions are life-giving and provide the DNA for URI. They call forth the best in people. URI provides the conditions where people find meaning and where humanity evolves. URI draws upon natural human capacities. These ways of being are not new knowledge for people, but wisdom already in our bones. 

This series describes seven actions at the heart of URI’s organizing. One action summary will be posted each week that includes inquiry questions. Feel free to share this information and use it to engage your community. The entire series can be found here.

Living One’s Values

Living one’s values means the commitment to live in accord with our most cherished beliefs. In URI, people are encouraged to go deeply into their own spiritual and religious traditions and experience and connect with the values and beliefs that are important to them. As people become aware of their deeper motivations, they realize they can act from this source. Motivation comes more from the inside-out rather than the other way around. URI encourages its members to deepen their own beliefs, respect the beliefs of others, and harness this wisdom for the common good. URI’s Preamble, Purpose and 21 Principles (PPPs) are the foundational values of the organization that provide grounding and commonality for URI members.

Inquiry

  • Read URI’s Preamble, Purpose and Principles (PPPs). Choose 3 sentences that resonate with your deepest values. Share in a circle group, giving everyone a chance to speak and listen.
  • What five values do you think are most important to pass along to your own children or to the second generation? Discuss with a group and explain why you chose these values.
  • When do you feel most connected to your deepest values and inspiration; to your source? What conditions in your life help you connect with your source and what conditions make connecting difficult?