What a month I’ve had here at UUFN! Two worship services and a whole bunch of meetings later, I’m starting to get a better sense of your community – and that community is great. Every UU congregation is different, and some ministers fit with some congregations better than others. It feels like that this is – that you are – the right place for me at this time.
As Starhawk wrote, “We are all longing to go home to someplace we have never been – a place half-remembered and half-envisioned we can only catch glimpses of from time to time. Community. Somewhere, there are people to whom we can speak with passion without having the words catch in our throats. Somewhere a circle of hands will open to receive us, eyes will light up as we enter, voices will celebrate with us whenever we come into our own power. Community means strength that joins our strength to do the work that needs to be done. Arms to hold us when we falter. A circle of healing. A circle of friends. Someplace where we can be free.”
I’ve been impressed by just how much UUFN is committed to fulfilling Starhawk’s vision of community. I’ve found you to be a wonderfully open, accepting – and at the same time – committed to living your ideals in community.
Rev. Alice Blair Wesley has been a great friend of mine for about a decade, and Claudia and I had the honor of her leading the celebration of our marriage last July in Seattle. She’s taught me a great deal about right relationships and the importance of covenant for UU congregations. She has written that, “Though our knowledge is incomplete, our truth partial and our love uneven, From our own experience and from the witness of our faith tradition, we believe that new light is ever waiting to break through individual hearts and minds to illumine the ways of humankind, that there is mutual strength in willing cooperation, and that the bonds of love keep open the gates of freedom. Therefore we pledge to walk together in the ways of truth and affection as best we know them now or may learn them in days to come That we and our children may be fulfilled And that we may speak to the world with words and actions of peace and goodwill.”
I know that you have a covenant of right relations since 2012, and I can feel its effects every time I walk into the building. But I really appreciate the way Rev. Wesley goes beyond behavior and invites us to ground our covenant in a deep appreciation of history, faith, and love.
The SoulMatters theme for October is “Belonging.” Let’s explore its depths and treasures together. One way we can begin that exploration is to meet together. I would love to spend as much time as possible with each of you, but my part-time schedule precludes that. However, I am here (nearly) every Wednesday and am also available after services on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month. Just send an email to minister@uufn.org to schedule a time to get together. You don’t need to have a problem – just come by and we’ll talk. I hope to see you soon.
Yours in the faith,
– Don