Since Hurricane Helene, Rev. Claudia, congregational leaders and I have had many conversations about how our plans for the year have changed. This is, of course, only my second year here with you all as your Lead Minister. Last year was an “ok, so how do we do things here together?” year. We certainly all had high hopes, I think, that this year would feel like a “taking off” kind of year – we had had a chance to make plans, we weren’t starting everything from scratch.
Except we were, we just didn’t know it. That’s really the way life is. What’s the old saw? “Humans plan and God laughs.” While that’s not a theology I subscribe to, the point is taken.
So here we are, living in this reality – the one in which old Biff clearly stole the deLorean, or maybe George Bailey was never born. So ok. We’re doing this. Now what does this world ask of us?
From a ministry perspective, it asks two basic things. One is that we focus the majority of our institutional energy on taking care of each other. That does mean practical things, like we need a building to provide sanctuary to each other and all those whom we love and want to bring into our ever-widening circle. But from those conversations together with ministers, ministerial interns, staff and leaders, it means: we focus on pastoral care this year. We take care of each other. The second thing is, we nurture each other into action – we fill each other’s cups with love and courage so each of us can do something to make the world a little better.
Stick with me for a few more minutes. I want to offer some advice (!) for both things.
I’ve been asked by more than one person what I recommend for developing a daily spiritual practice from scratch. So assuming you’ve already considered the big ones: personal prayer, meditation, time in nature, gratitude practice, reading & studying various forms of scripture, perhaps using lectio divina. You can certainly consider the valuable advice in one of my favorite UU books on the subject, Everyday Spiritual Practice. But if you’re asking me personally, beyond these suggestions, I gently offer the following ideas:
- A morning or evening practice of reading a few pages from a spiritual author you love. For my spirit, Anne Lamott is my go-to. Funny, vulnerable as hell, deeply spiritually wise and an amazing writer, she helps me stay in the world when it gets really tough. Right now I am reading Help, Thanks, Wow and Hallelujah Anyway. But ask your friends and neighbors for their suggestions, too.
- “Morning Pages.” This practice, from The Artist’s Way, is a tried and true way to flush the crud out from your mind and spirit. You just start the day, preferably before you do anything else, by writing three full pages of…whatever. It could just start with “I don’t have anything to say, I don’t know what to write, why the heck am I doing this…” but you stick with writing WHATever comes to mind for three pages, and it tends to work. It shifts the landscape, both mental and emotional. Frees you for better, more creative thinking. I’m geek enough that I could tell you the neurobiology of why it works, but just – trust me and the millions for whom it has.
- Love on something. A person. A pet. A kid. A friend, near or far. Send some love to a politician or leader who did something you appreciate. Send some to a politician or leader that’s driving you nuts. “I would love for you to experience love in such a way that it stops you from being such a <insert preferred colorful expression.>” That’s fair. It’s still wishing for more love in this old world.
- Last but not least, try some somatic practices. I have a big variety here on my changecrafting.org website page.
I know this is long, but the other thing we really all have to do is TAKE SOME DANG ACTION. The world is on fire, so we need all hands on deck. Just briefly, here are some things I highly recommend.
- One, you can join me and other UUs for my On Freedom classes in Feb & March
- Sign up for https://5calls.org/ They will keep you informed on the most critical things and make it easy to make calls or contact your reps about things that matter. WE REALLY NEED TO DO THIS.
- Consider joining the women of Good Trouble NC
- Join us at UU Avl for any of our work, including our work with Interfaith Action Network – email Rev. Claudia for more information
And remember: you are not alone. You are loved. Keep coming back. Bring a friend. We have overflow room at UU Avl.
See you in church –
Love,
Rev. Audette