My Journey
My spiritual/religious journey began shortly after I was born, when I was brought to the Unitarian Society of Northampton and Florence for the first time. Many of my earliest memories are from Sunday mornings and Sunday afternoons at the church, especially those times when I had free run of the place. I became fast friends with Meg McDonald, whose mom was the R.E. Director, and we would delight on Sunday afternoons in playing hide-and-go-seek, playing hide-from-our-parents, and generally causing mischief and the occasional mayhem.
I made it through all the usual phases of UU life. I studied the world religions and I learned about famous Unitarians and famous Universalists. One of my R.E. classes even made a replica of our church using sugar cubes during a unit on our local church history. I sailed through Coming of Age, delivered my credo to the congregation, and immediately found a job for myself serving as one of the co-teachers of the pre-school class on Sunday mornings during all four years of high school. I was one good little UU child. I got good grades in school, I went and helped out with social justice projects at church, and I took regular lessons as I learned to play the flute.
Perhaps unfortunately, perhaps not, I was also a fairly typical UU youth, in that when I left to go to college I disappeared from the UU scene. My parents even found a UU congregation within walking distance of campus during orientation, which they brought me to of course… and it was the last time I ever set foot there. Fortunately, for me at least, I never could stop being a UU, and pursued my search for meaning and understanding through philosophy and my eventual Major in East Asian Studies, with my senior thesis titled "The Role of Emotion in the Moral Decision-Making Process." A move to Philadelphia post-graduation found me reconnecting with Unitarian Universalism at the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia. As I became increasingly involved with the church, from time to time people would ask me, “hey, have you ever thought of being a minister?” I wasn't too sure to start, but over time, it became increasingly clear that there wasn’t a job to which I was better suited.
You've read a lot already about my next few years - attending seminary, completing my internship, serving as a chaplain resident, and then finally entering into settled ministry. My curiosity has not abated along the way, especially in terms of my engagement with Taoism and Buddhism. With Buddhism, I have a deep appreciation for the attention paid to our experience of life and specific paths and practices we might engage in to help us on the journey. Taoism tends more to inform my big picture understanding, with the concept of the "Tao" paralleling in many ways my understanding of how Love/divinity exists in the world.
For the past twelve years I have also shared my spiritual and religious journey with my spouse, Elka, who is also a Unitarian Universalist minister. As you might imagine, we have some pretty serious theological conversations on occasion! Our own gaggle of Sunday afternoon hide-and-go-seekers has joined us on our journey of religious exploration: our oldest, Mira, is ten, Theo is eight, Elias is a rambunctious six, and our youngest, Phoebe is about to turn four. Needless to say, my family brings immense joy and blessings to my life. They are my treasure - and they certainly encourage me to spiritual growth and development!
I made it through all the usual phases of UU life. I studied the world religions and I learned about famous Unitarians and famous Universalists. One of my R.E. classes even made a replica of our church using sugar cubes during a unit on our local church history. I sailed through Coming of Age, delivered my credo to the congregation, and immediately found a job for myself serving as one of the co-teachers of the pre-school class on Sunday mornings during all four years of high school. I was one good little UU child. I got good grades in school, I went and helped out with social justice projects at church, and I took regular lessons as I learned to play the flute.
Perhaps unfortunately, perhaps not, I was also a fairly typical UU youth, in that when I left to go to college I disappeared from the UU scene. My parents even found a UU congregation within walking distance of campus during orientation, which they brought me to of course… and it was the last time I ever set foot there. Fortunately, for me at least, I never could stop being a UU, and pursued my search for meaning and understanding through philosophy and my eventual Major in East Asian Studies, with my senior thesis titled "The Role of Emotion in the Moral Decision-Making Process." A move to Philadelphia post-graduation found me reconnecting with Unitarian Universalism at the First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia. As I became increasingly involved with the church, from time to time people would ask me, “hey, have you ever thought of being a minister?” I wasn't too sure to start, but over time, it became increasingly clear that there wasn’t a job to which I was better suited.
You've read a lot already about my next few years - attending seminary, completing my internship, serving as a chaplain resident, and then finally entering into settled ministry. My curiosity has not abated along the way, especially in terms of my engagement with Taoism and Buddhism. With Buddhism, I have a deep appreciation for the attention paid to our experience of life and specific paths and practices we might engage in to help us on the journey. Taoism tends more to inform my big picture understanding, with the concept of the "Tao" paralleling in many ways my understanding of how Love/divinity exists in the world.
For the past twelve years I have also shared my spiritual and religious journey with my spouse, Elka, who is also a Unitarian Universalist minister. As you might imagine, we have some pretty serious theological conversations on occasion! Our own gaggle of Sunday afternoon hide-and-go-seekers has joined us on our journey of religious exploration: our oldest, Mira, is ten, Theo is eight, Elias is a rambunctious six, and our youngest, Phoebe is about to turn four. Needless to say, my family brings immense joy and blessings to my life. They are my treasure - and they certainly encourage me to spiritual growth and development!
“Seth’s intellectual curiosity and his constant quest to understand himself and the world around him offer a model of the ‘collective search for meaning’ that is fundamental to the UU experience. As a university professor, I know that my own intellectual excitement and willingness to share both my insights and my unresolved questions inspires students to embark on their own path of learning.
I see Seth as a person who is intellectually open, engaged, constantly seeking, and continuously striving to improve himself and his relations with others. Not only does he engage authentically and deeply with questions small and large, but he is willing to share his own path of discovery, including the bumps along the way, with others. He serves as a model not just of the active search for meaning, but of doing so with grace and humility and an acknowledgement that the engagement one brings to the process is just as important as finding answers.”
- Ellen Foley, member at First Unitarian Church of Worcester, MA