An illustration of a traditional Christian conception of Heaven

Last Sunday, in my post “An Agnostic Grace,” I described a possible pattern for a mealtime blessing appropriate for agnostics who lean toward non-supernaturalism, but have some Christian background themselves or are aware that some Christians are also present for the meal. In this post, I want to modify that ritual to make it appropriate for opening a  religious gathering sensitive to the presence of agnostics, such as Unitarian Universalist Sunday services, or a small group meeting of Unitarian Universalists. But I want to stress that this invocation could work well in any religious gathering where the intent was to  make agnostics feel welcome. The theological background for this agnostic invocation is discussed in “An Agnostic Grace,” and in my post “Teleotheism and the Purpose of Life.”

From the beginning:

May this gathering uplift our hearts, enlighten our minds, and inspire our endeavors to bring us closer to, and glorify, the God or Gods Who May Be.

This is then followed by extemporaneous expressions of one or more of the following:

• Gratitude: (We are thankful …)
• Hopes: (We hope …)
• Concerns (We are concerned …)
• Worries (We are worried about …)
• Thoughts (We are thinking of …)
• Additional wishes (May …)
• etc., in no particular order

The final words are:

And may we understand more fully the mystery of the humanity we all share, and act as one family to bring this Earth nearer to Heaven. Amen.