Stone Soup
The State of the Fellowship
They say that once something has happened twice in a Unitarian context, it has become a tradition... apparently because we are always on the move, evolving, we have to claim tradition wherever we can find it. That said, I have now given two January “State of the Fellowship” sermons. This is now a tradition at the Unitarian Fellowship of Peterborough.
This year, I put the “State of the Fellowship” sermon into the frame of ‘story’. The theory is that the stories we tell, and the stories we believe...about ourselves, our communities, our nation...are self-fulfilling prophecies. We create these stories out of our experiences and what we’ve been told, but to use them to our advantage, we need to stay cognizant of the stories we tell, and be willing to re-author them when necessary.
A Letter from Jesus…
A few weeks ago, I caught a television news story advising where to send letters to Santa. It promised that, if children use this special address, their letters would be answered. It made me wonder who ‘helps’ Santa with this huge task. Who pays for all the postage? And, what does Santa reply? Certainly not with assurances that all requests will be honoured?
Letters to Santa are rather like petitionary prayers, prayers that begin with “please” and often contain promises of good behaviour. The holiday season encourages us to wish and to dream, to ‘be good’ in hopes that we will get whatever it is we need. Do we expect these prayers and letters to be answered?
Well, this week I received a letter from Jesus. It must be real because it came to my email address and clearly claimed to have come from the Lord himself. In it, Jesus was letting off steam about some things that bother him about how we do Christmas.
Let's Talk
Have you noticed the little blurb in the past two newsletters suggesting that you watch for an invitation to talk? Have you wondered, even a tiny bit, what that’s about?
For several months now, I have been talking with the Committee on Ministry (Ed Adams, Ian Attridge and Martha Comfort) about how to gain some meaningful insight about the heart of this community. It’s rather paradoxical that I spend most of my work time alone, even though I have been called to serve a congregation of people. Frankly, I need your input to more deeply understand our communal vision and longings.
So, I, along with the Committee on Ministry, would like to talk with all of you. We’ve scheduled three “Community Conversations” and are asking that each of you to come to one of them. The dates are:
Nov 10, Tuesday, 7pm, at UFP
Nov 22, Sunday, 11:45am, at UFP
Nov 27, Friday, 5:30pm, at my house (478 Albertus)
Here are the questions that we’ll be considering:
Bumping Into One Another
In seminary, I went out on a very uncomfortable limb, and took a dance class (the title of which escapes me... something about “Dancing as Spiritual Practice”). In that class, we often did free movement exercises, moving this way and that, criss-crossing the floor. When we accidently bumped into each other, we were instructed to say “thank you.” “Thank you for touching me.” “Thank you for acknowledging my presence.” “Thank you for shaking me loose.” Our natural response, usually, is to apologize or to ask for pardon. To respond with gratitude when bumping into someone seems unnatural.
How Shall We Live?
I will always remember a conversation I had when interviewing for a previous ministerial role. It was with an engaging, successful, professional woman…a woman who was seriously involved in the life of that congregation. She was grilling me with questions…I’m sure in the interest of finding out if I would be the right minister for her…then said: “I belong to this congregation because I want to be a better person, and I believe that coming here helps me to do that.”
Wow. What a tall order for a community! If this is what we expect, then it means that we all need to play a role in helping one another to be the best that we can be…always learning, always growing, always challenging ourselves to be more open, more understanding, more compassionate, more generous.
A Celebration of Stewards
Dear friend, dear friend,
Let me tell you how I feel,
You have given me such treasure,
I love you so.
As our last morning service of the season wound down, we spiral-danced ourselves into the parking lot, singing these words, celebrating all that we give to one another and to our world.
This community is made up of stewards. All of you possess an ethic of stewardship, knowing that if it is to be, it is in our hands to do it. A list of all that you do…large or small, complicated or simple, visible or unnoticed… would be impossible to create. And yet, we can be grateful. We can show our appreciation. We can be inspired by one another.
When you come to services this summer, check out the bulletin board in the fellowship hall celebrating stewards. Add someone’s name to the mosaic there. Express your gratitude to one another. And keep it up. Stewardship is who we are, and it’s a wonderful thing.
Enjoy your summer as I will mine,
Julie
Attracting the Beautiful
Rejoice in love we know and share,
in love and beauty everywhere,
rejoice in truth that makes us free
and in the good that yet shall be. (SLT #380)
New gardens at the Fellowship have been designed and planted with native plants as “butterfly gardens”...a beautiful and growing addition to our shared religious home.
I see on the internet that butterfly gardening involves planning a garden in order to attract, retain, and encourage butterfly populations. It takes some intentional thought and action to create a welcoming spot. Butterflies like to warm themselves in the sun, but they won't want to feed in an area where they are constantly fighting the wind to stay on the plants. Butterflies also need water, so it’s important to keep a moist area for them. Providing just the right welcome is crucial.
Celebrating Rev. Orfald’s Ministry
If you missed our Annual General Meeting on April 19th, you missed an historic event in our history...that is, the occasion of conferring upon Rev. Anne Orfald the title of Minister Emerita. Anne was the minister of this congregation from 1994 to 2004; it was a first ministry for both Anne and this congregation.
It's Snowing Down South
Back in the day when undergarments were to be always worn and never seen, my mother would use the euphemism “it’s snowing down south” to discreetly let me know that my white slip was hanging down below my hemline. Males might be told “your barn door is open” for a similar reason; these phrases were a ‘polite’ way to handle a delicate subject.
Who are we?
Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going?
We have sung this round together on several occasions, and can each, perhaps identify with these perennial pondering questions. Still, few of us go ever so far as to put our identity search into concrete and time-restricted action.
But this is what the Canadian Unitarian Council has set about to do. Who are we as Canadian Unitarians? Do we have an identity that can be clearly articulated? A National Identity Initiative Task Force has begun to tease out and collect our varied responses from across the nation; the Task Force will then report back to the Annual Conference and Meeting in May. I am now serving on this task force.
On Feb 16th, nine of us gathered here at UFP to have a conversation about this and to add our contribution to the national stream. Our mighty and thoughtful little group had a deep and meaningful conversation. I found myself watching the earnest faces around the table, and once again marvelling at the passion and commitment that this faith brings out in you, in me, in us.
Here are a few paraphrases from our conversation:
