When a child joins a family through birth or adoption, not only is that family forever changed, but also the community in which that family lives is widened and enriched. Because baptism is conceived of as a sacrament that washes away the stain of original sin, and Unitarian Universalists affirm the inherent worth of every person rather than their innate sinfulness, we do not baptize children (or adults).
It was three and a half years ago when Unitarian Universalists changed my life.
But it’s also true that the world is always full of absolutely amazing things as well. Flowers fill the air with their scent and sea otters play in kelp beds and people write songs and create families and bake pies. There’s no end to the list of wonderful things that happen every day, too.
The idea of negotiating a period of “grace” sounds rather absurd. So does limiting the number of grace periods we’re allowed in our lifetimes. Grace is no longer something to be bartered for, nor is it something to be handed out with expectations attached to it. Grace is a gift freely given. It is never earned and it’s often undeserved. As the bumper sticker explains, “Grace Happens.”
Have you ever been homesick? Maybe you were away at camp, or maybe your family moved to a new place that didn’t feel like home. Maybe you were at someone else’s house, where all the food tasted different, and the smells were different, and you couldn’t quite make sense of the rules for behavior. Whatever was going on, you wanted only to go home!
Then two years ago I was matched with Alex, who is in prison in Texas. Alex is extremely verbal, very bright, and almost a poster child for how to raise a career criminal. It is possible to look up a prisoner’s conviction record, but I never felt it was relevant to do so. I wanted to be free to relate to a person, not an “offender.”
Many years ago I learned this poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay: “The courage that my mother had/ Went with her, and is with her still: Rock from New England quarried;/ Now granite in a granite hill…
Isabel, who is ten years old, gave us permission to share this essay that she wrote on courage, the theme of this month’s Quest.
Friends, we may not be political analysts or economic experts, but I think this focus on and worry about limits is dominating our own attention and energy, too. And frankly I don’t see us handling it all that well. Or rather, I should say, I don’t see anyone helping us understand what we are caught up in.
From The Lessons of Loss by Carol Galginaitis Pre-schoolers (ages 3-5) often believe the following: *Death is temporary and reversible. *When someone dies, he or she is merely living under different circumstances (e.g., underground, up in heaven); the person still eats, sleeps, thinks, and feels. *It is possible to visit with, talk to, and maintain […]
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Quest for Meaning is a program of the Church of the Larger Fellowship (CLF).
As a Unitarian Universalist congregation with no geographical boundary, the CLF creates global spiritual community, rooted in profound love, which cultivates wonder, imagination, and the courage to act.