December 2008

As I write this, the first snowy blanket of the winter has arrived in Rochester, and the morning ride to church was so bright and lovely. I cannot help but feel happy when I see the fresh white cold cover arrive, even though I know that its presence signals the end to warm weather for a while. This change is part of the mix of things I enjoy about living in western New York. I love the seasons’ changes; I love the way the distinct shifts in climate, four times each year, invite me into seeing another type of pattern in my life. It is almost as if we get to start over, begin anew, with each shift and flow of season. A gift, truly.

And much else has been shifting and changing in our church community. This past fall has seen us with so many exciting events, worship services, lots of visitors, potlucks and guest speakers, old friends ans new ones coming into our Sanctuary. The Sunday visit of Rev. Dr. Mark Morrison-Reed, former co-minister with his wife, Donna, was one such highlight. What a legacy they have bequeathed this congregation. The impact of their ministry here is still strong, 20 years later.

It is my belief that each of us has the potential for such impact upon this community. Despite the challenges of change, we commit ourselves over and over again to start anew. Despite how we are challenged in our quest to create the beloved community, we keep our promise to stay in the discussion, to speak our truth with love and compassion. We must find ways to ‘disagree without being disagreeable,’ as my supervisor once said to us, her team, as we struggled mightily with how to work creatively with one another in our struggling community health care center.

And so it is here, in our church community. Let us promise to stay in the game, to stay on course, to use what two authors (Rendle, Mann – Alban Institute) call ‘holy conversation’; a “people’s understanding of their identity as a faith community, their sense of purpose and their relationship to God” to find out what we mean to on another and to the world. Let us find our way to one another in these exciting and uncertain times.

As the season of seasons comes upon us, and we find ourselves stressed and over-scheduled, stretched financially and emotionally, may we remember to find times to enjoy the peace and quiet of a new winter’s day; find small ways to celebrate with and listen to our loved ones; pay attention to all the ways we are blessed in this world; and continue to create moments where the abundance of hope and joy can hold court in our lives, speaking truth into life.

For each moment is sacred. Each moment is unique. Each moment is a gift.

See you on Sunday.

November 2008

Dear Ones,

As I ponder what it is I want to write to you this month, I am thinking about how much you have taught me already. In just a short time, I have learned so much about this community and how much you love this congregation. It shows in all the ways you step forward to care for one another, and in the depth of passion which each of you brings to the beloved community.

I have found in you models for how to care for the world, for what it takes to step out, over and over again, in courage and in hope, to be good stewards of this faith we love.

The times in which we live are not for the faint of heart. There is so much going on that threatens to disturb all the foundations we took for granted in the past. Not the least among these is the upheaval we have seen in our country’s financial status.

I hear on the radio and on the TV the warnings to stay calm, to stay the course, to not panic, to avoid rash decisions, and all this makes sense to me. At the same time, I wonder about how those among and around us will make do with less, how people will learn to stretch further and further the meager dollars they have to get through the month. It takes courage to step forward, into the unknown, over and over again.

I take comfort in the knowledge that we are survivors of all sorts. Those of us from the northeast, particularly upstate and western New York, have already had too many years of being smart about making dollars stretch. I think we could be the people who write books about this for others to read in detail, so good are we at this, instead of the ones reading and listening to the pundits telling us what to do.

But then I wonder: What else can we learn?

Perhaps the question should be: What else is it that we have to teach?

I think there is still much to be hopeful about and much to celebrate. This congregation has stood through many years of hard times, within a community that has withstood hard times, and yet you still meet and sing with joy and heart every Sunday morning.

You still gather here in this building on the corner of Clinton and Court and work with RAIHN or organize and plan your ministries. You teach your children, or one another; you know every square inch of this building, top to bottom, and you love its peculiarities, even as you struggle with its challenging and aging design. And you write notes of care and concern, make visits and phone calls, check in with one another, always looking to the future, while relishing the present moment.

I look forward to our time together whenever we meet; I know I still have so much to find out about who you are.

In the coming season, as we anticipate ramping up for visitors, special celebrations and times that have, in the past, called for spending extra money, when we can expect to feel swept along with the holiday hype, let us take some time instead to listen to one another, plan in some quiet reflection time, take walks in the brisk fresh air sweeping in off the lake, make tea or cookies and invite the elderly neighbor to come and visit. Find and create new ways to recall what it is that has named us into being in the first place, and practice one of the most important of the ‘holy manners’: that of listening for the voice within that calls us into full interaction with life.

May First Universalist continue to stand proudly here and remain a symbol for the future. May we continue to grow in our knowing of one another and the world, and may we continue to find ways to fill our mission to “Nurture the Spirit and Serve the Community.”

In love and faith,

October 2008

“I wonder if the fall has rheumatism?  Do the limbs of the full grown, aging trees have aches like the one in my right shoulder?  The tree, like me, is a perennial.  It too may get weary and crotchety after too many cycles of seasons.  The annuals demonstrate life’s most efficient wisdom, to have one spring and one summer, and have done with it.  Let all things seed through the cruel winters.  If life can be born again in the spring, it does not get involved in hibernation and releafings. “ From Reverend Kenneth Patton, Unitarian Universalist minister, in his book All Blessedness: a Book of Psalms.

As I am writing this, I have a dull pain in my right shoulder that comes when I do too much leaning over a keyboard in just the wrong way.  I have to pay attention to how I sit and make sure I get up and move around every once in a while.  Not altogether a bad thing at all.  I never used to have such strange body aches and pains.   But I am no longer the youngster I once was, when I could get little sleep and work and play long hours with no physical consequences.  Now intentional daily stretching is part of my morning routine.  If I forget, watch out!

And so it is with our congregation.  Paying close attention to where we show our age, where we might be stuck in a pattern of activity that no longer serves us, is good work for any religious community.  We must stay nimble and flexible if we want to be part of the changing landscape in which we worship and gather, stay fresh and alert.

But I am happy to report that I like being a perennial, having the chance to hibernate a bit in the winter, become more reflective, take time to enjoy the short days and long nights.  For the moment, however, I am even happier being part of the change from summer to fall, from temperatures in the mid-eighties to the fifties in twenty-four hours. I think these swift shifts in weather makes us resilient and attentive beings.

With that resilience and flexibility in mind, I have been attending as many committee meetings as I can this past month, just to get to know who you are and find out how you do things, how you meet and greet one another, how you share your ideas and dreams with one another.  I hope to be helpful to you, as a new-comer here, and share feedback and perceptions with you as we learn one another and grow together in our ministry.   We have much to offer the world and one another, and it is good to know the world needs our gifts as much as we need to share them!

See you in church!

September 2008

Things are really starting to Rev Up (no pun intended) at First Universalist. I can feel the excitement in the air as we begin to meet with one another, plan for the upcoming church year, share stories of summer adventures and challenges and describe our hopes and dreams for this beloved community.

In my initial conversations and meetings with you, I continue to be inspired by you. Your enthusiasm and energy not only for your faith community, but also for Unitarian Universalism; our message of hope and salvation for all of us in the here and now keeps me smiling and lifts my heart.

Amidst all the news of tragedy and demise spread across our daily newspapers, all that arrives in our email accounts and what we read on blogs and websites, we are challenged to find ways to hold out hope for our world and for one another.

The particular tragedy that struck our UU Knoxville Tennessee congregation a couple weeks ago, which took the lives of two and seriously injured seven congregants, struck too close to home for many of us.

To take all this into our hearts and minds, to find our way among and amidst this, we must open up fully to what it is we can stay faithful to, what it is that calls us together Sunday after Sunday, to commit to raise our children in our tradition with the stories of UU leaders who have made a difference in the world. We can give them assurance that we build upon generations of those who have come before us who have not been afraid to speak for justice, or to intervene in ways to keep us safe, even when it has been unpopular and risky.

Our work is to find new ways to companion one another on this path to a new type of fidelity.

The coming autumn season brings images of going back to school, starting over again, making new friends, cracking open new textbooks and contemplating closing the season of open, relaxed schedules that allowed more daydreaming than date books.

This September, my date book is quickly filling up with appointments and committee meetings, and I hope, conversations that help me know who you are. Please call me or email me or, better yet, stop by the newly refurbished Minister’s Office – it is beautiful! – to say hello.

I look forward to time spent with each of you as we get to know one another, continue to dream of the possible, building this community as we go.

See you in Church!