It Felt Like Coming Home
By Dave Baker
I grew up in a small town where going to church every week was just what you were supposed
to do. But I never felt any passion or energy from it. I was just going through the motions. But
when I was in the mountains, or at the beach, or in a deep forest, I felt the life and the power
around me. I just never had a name for it.
My medical training was pretty brutal. The AIDS epidemic started in 1981 during my second
year, and at the age of 24 I had to deal with young people dying brutal deaths. That pushed me
to start looking at how to grow some spiritual roots. I tried the Unitarian Church, but it felt like a
spiritual book club. It just didn’t speak to my heart. I read about Zen Buddhism and mystic
Christianity, and these struck a chord. I never believed that god was a person or a being, and
these other spiritual traditions were more aligned with my belief that divine spirit was
Everywhere.
Then I met Ann. A good Catholic girl from Cleveland. What the heck? I knew I could never
accept Catholicism’s dogma, and nothing could make me truly believe that God was a spirit in
the heavens answering prayers, that Jesus was the only son of God, and that the communion
wine literally transformed into Christ’s blood. But, I loved Ann and would happily follow her
anywhere as long as she didn’t ask me to swear that I accepted every word of Catholic dogma.
After more than 25 years together in the Catholic church, the time came when we just had to
leave. I wasn’t sure where to go, so I did nothing. Ann started going to some place called Unity
that I had never heard of before. She kept saying I’d really like it. But after following her into the
Catholic church, I kept thinking that her track record really wasn’t all that great.
Finally, I gave in, and I came to Unity on the North Shore. After my first Sunday, I knew that I
had found the spiritual home I had been looking for 30 years earlier. There was no preaching,
no ritual, no dogma, no heaven, and no hell. Instead, I heard love, joy, uplifting music, and
teachings about how to grow spiritually and live a better, happier life. I was surprised that
meditation was a standard part of the services, which really helps me bring the messages from
my head to my heart. The lessons always give me practical guidance on how to live a happier,
more fulfilling life. As I have heard others at Unity say many times, “It felt like coming home.”
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