They were one of the first “super- groups” in the history of music. Their names were a “who’s who” of talented musicians: Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Ric Grech. They made only one album which debuted in August 1969, and the band disbanded within a year of its creation. Its name was Blind Faith and their music still haunts me to this day.
I wanted to write this blog on the topic of “faith” and I immediately thought of this group and their album, featuring songs like Presence of the Lord, Can’t Find My Way Home, Had to Cry Today, and Sea of Joy. As the story goes, their manager, Robert Stigwood, believed that by bringing together these four famous musicians, they would reap millions of dollars and be worshipped by throngs of youth across Europe and North America. Two of the band members, Baker and Grech, bought into this image. Eric Clapton, ever the perfectionist, was dubious, and named the band, “Blind Faith”, presumably as a way of cajoling his mates for believing that their presence alone, without commitment and hard work, would be enough to achieve success.
Congregations across our district are looking to the future with great anticipation and excitement. There is a lot to do. Finding new and more creative ways to get visitors in our doors; looking for better ways of governing and developing current and future leaders; deepening our faith and assisting members of the congregation in better identifying and understanding their Unitarian Universalist identities; engaging in greater social justice and social action activities in order to create a more just and peaceful world.
Some say that it will take a great deal of faith to accomplish all this and more. The question is whether it will be blind faith. Will we expect that success will happen just because we say it will, or will we make a commitment to give of our time and our ideas and to work together to put our faith into action? Eric Clapton knew that the only way to reap true rewards from the collaboration with his fellow band members was to work hard and to perform well. It is the same with we Unitarian Universalists. We cannot expect to become great as a faith within and outside our congregations without the willingness to be great in order to make it happen.
The faith that we need as we look to the future is the faith that deepens our Unitarian Universalist identity, both individually and as a community. The faith that we need is one that strengthens our belief in and commitment to each other. The faith that we need is one strong enough to overcome conflict; brave enough to take risks; and clear enough so that we never lose confidence in who we are as a religion and what we can become.
The band ‘Blind Faith” made one album and disappeared in less than seven months. The music we make together today and tomorrow will reverberate in our hearts and in our minds for years and years to come. I have faith.
Mark Bernstein
CERG Shared Growth Consultant
Tags: Growth, Unitarian Universalism