Welcome Chief Smith

UU's in the Military would like to welcome a new member, CW2 Edward Smith... here is his introductory email!

Hi! I'm CW2 Edward Smith. I found your website searching for potential congregations to join when I get out of the army in the coming months. I was raised Unitarian between the Eastside congregation of Pittsburgh, PA and the Orlando, FL congregation.There have been two main benefits of the military on my spiritual life. The first (and most obvious) is that in the military, especially with current circumstances, I have faced very difficult decisions and stressful situations. During those times, I felt that life was pulling me around by the nose. I was barely keeping up with things as they happened, with little time for forethought, there was no time for reflection. After these short, intense events though, I was able to reflect and learn some life lessons. I can't say that I have them organized enough to put down in a few short sentences though. The second (and more interesting) is that in the military I have been forced to work, live and socialize with people to whom I would not normally gravitate. I took the opportunity to learn a lot about the Mormon faith. I have engaged in lengthy conversations with a southern baptist who was running around camp informing everyone else that they were condemned. Normally, the evangelical nature of these faiths have caused me to avoid forming relationships with the people of that faith. But, through military service I was able to (forced to?) learn about the people, their faiths, and still get a lot of work done together. I'm leaving the Army shortly and hope to move to an area with an active UU fellowship. Unitarianism hasn't made its presence felt yet here in southeast Alabama. I look forward to reading some more of the older and upcoming posts on this site.

Edward