From Your Minister
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By now, I have been part of too many communities to name—and I’ll bet you have too!
Though the extended community of Unitarian Universalists is a profoundly important one for me, if I had to name where I’ve learned the most about how to create deep and grounded community, it would not be church of any kind.
REsources for Living
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What communities do you belong to? Very likely there is the community of your family, and your neighborhood might or might not feel like a community, depending on whether or not you talk with your neighbors or borrow tools from one another or play in each other’s yards.
Maybe you belong to the community of a sports team or orchestra or choir—a group of people knit together in the special way of folks who depend on one another to get the job done. You might belong to a community of identity—the African American community, the LGBTQ community, the community of people with disabilities or adoptees or people who have the same chronic illness.
Reunion
Dreaming in Circles
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It is said that if a group of people sleep arranged in a circle—heads at the center and feet out like spokes—they create a dream circle. Two or more people in the group may have the same dream at the same time.
I tried this once with a group of friends, but I must confess, it didn’t really work for me. Mostly I just had a rather poor night’s sleep.
The Light of the Faith
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Imagine stepping into the sanctuary of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva, Illinois. With narrow rows of wooden pews and the bright glow of stained glass along each side of the meetinghouse, you might think you had gone back in time.
In this gathering place, it is easy to get a sense of the generations taught, married and memorialized; the countless songs, prayers and words that have rung through the air. Gathered in 1842, the presence of the Society’s “cloud of witnesses” is almost palpable, even when the sanctuary stands empty.
Clarity of Hindsight
Finding True Identity
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Filled with the holy Spirit, Jesus returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert. (Luke 4:1) He’s really not much different from us, the man who walked deep into that desert. The one we call Jesus of Nazareth. He, too, was filled with questions. Who are we? Why are we here? Does our life really matter? He, too, knew uncertainty, anxiety, fear. He, too, looked out and saw a world that was changing far too fast, a world where the old rules seemed to give way to something yet to be defined.
Possibilities and Limits
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We are on a dismounted patrol to the top of some ancient ruins. A short walk, but the ground is loose and steep. Rocks and dirt slide down as we walk up. The only way to make it up a steep hill while laden with gear is to look ahead but watch where you put your feet.
Solemn Te Deum for Peace
From Your Minister
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In the dream, I am alone in a round stone tower. I do not want to be there, but I am trapped in its dark, damp, cold, airless space. And then, almost in a whisper, comes a soft voice, “Keep looking…there is a door.…” And suddenly the door is there. I can see light, I can walk out. I am not trapped anymore.
