This week’s Note From Rev. Nancy
Feb. 16, 2024
In a beautiful reflection titled “Our Pathway to Equity and Justice,” which Worship Associate JoAnn Weiss will offer in UUCG’s worship service this Sunday, February 18, she has a line I especially love:
“Together we are all part of a larger, more powerful whole.”
Yes, we are! Let’s just pause and take that in for a moment……………
What a relief, right? Rushing to meet the complicated demands of our daily lives, we can lose that sense of personal—and sometimes even congregational—connection to a larger, more powerful whole. We Unitarian Universalists know that this interconnectedness is true of all parts of our lives, but it sure can be hard to feel connected—instead of out there floating alone in the universe—when times are tough on a personal, relational, communal, or societal level.
That’s why I love JoAnn’s reminder that, especially when we are working for Justice and Equity, we are always playing our part—whether it’s super small or super large—in movements that are bigger and more powerful than we can be on our own. There’s so much hope, strength, and joy in this knowledge—and there’s so much truth!
As I get to know more about this congregation’s history, I can see that the desire and the will to create a true beloved community runs deep in UUCG’s DNA. What is a “true Beloved Community”? I love this description from the 2008 UUA Leadership Council: Beloved Community is “where all souls are welcomed as blessings and the human family lives whole and reconciled.”
Like all human communities, UUCG has experienced heartbreak and loss when we have fallen short of that vision. (I believe that all of us newcomers, once we commit, get to call ourselves part of the “we” that is UUCG!) Not always but more often than not, when you longer-term congregants have faced a disappointment, an obstacle, or a conflict over your capacity to welcome, include, and embrace, you have set to work to learn, grow, and repair, moving toward a more just and equitable way of being with each other.
This Sunday we celebrate what you have done and imagine the ways we can all play our part in building true Beloved Community as we live into UUCG’s bright future. Please do join us!
With Love at the center,
Rev. Nancy