Jason, I can see why the UU appeals to you. I also think it's wise of you to recognize that the congregation can be "liberal and well-educated to a fault." Sounds like a good balance for where you're at right now—one that will keep you growing and exploring as well as questioning and challenging.

Kristin, it's good to hear from you! This whole idea of the church being a "bounded set" or "centered set" is fascinating. The metaphor of "moving towards and ever deepening center" definitely speaks to me. As Jason and I were talking about some of these ideas a few days ago, he mentioned Maslow's hierarchy of needs as an interesting analogy, which I think relates to what you are saying. We can't tackle everything at once. Sometimes we need to take a step and feel secure in that before we're willing and able to go deeper. Parents need to know their children have daily food in their bellies, for instance, before they can really worry about if they're spending enough time reading books. I think grasping and accepting faith can be like that.

And to everyone, as I was writing this post, late last night, I knew some red flags were embedded in what I was saying. I decided to get the conversation going and clarify more along the way. But this seems like a good moment to say that when it comes to faith, I do believe in certain absolute truths that are ultimately critical. At the same time, there are other commonly accepted "truths" that I'm not so sure about, or I'm not so sure they're as critical as we make them out to be. 

I think there are different ways to interpret the potluck analogy, but my analogy was meant to point toward an idea of all God has to offer being spread out on a table. Rather than being forced to eat it all in one sitting, we are invited to taste what we're willing and able to put on our plates in this moment, and to keep coming back for more. My role is to help people feel more welcomed and comfortable with that setup.