UU-First Encounter

This morning, I had my very first Universal Unitarian experience. I tuned into Facebook Live at 1100 hours to hear a service on autism by Linda Tatsapaugh of the Swannanoa Valley Universal Unitarian Congregation. This was of interest to me. While my knowledge of the UU church is fairly limited, I had heard interesting enough things about it. But not only that, Linda herself is the owner of Talisman Programs, the summer camp/outdoor school that I attended for seven years straight. Linda is a very interesting individual-not only is she a huge advocate for autism ("quirky kids" as she calls them) but she's also an Appalachian Trail thru-hiker, which is no question on my bucket list!
As I said, I can't pretend to be an expert on the UU Church. As I said, this morning was my first "true" encounter with it! But from what I see now upon looking it up, it's an interesting organization. It's a religion...and it's not a religion if it makes sense. I always thought that the UU Church was a non-denominational organization made up of individuals from a wide variety of religious and spiritual backgrounds. From what I hear now, this may or may not be more or less the form of "Christianity" that Jesus himself truly had in mind-acceptance and tolerance for all, while acknowledging that everyone is "divine" in their own way. Could this "Universal Unitarian" stuff be more or less a very close thing to "true" Christianity? I was also interested in discovering that many inspirational individuals that I am a big fan of belonged to this belief system-John Quincy Adams, Dorothea Dix, Louisa May Alcott, and Ralph Waldo Emerson among them. 
I was particularly interested in the "chalice" symbol. While I don't have one of my own, I did light my (battery powered) candle on my "Odin table" to add to the vibes!