by WUUC | Dec 17, 2015 | Minister Blog
Between two words choose the quieter one.
Between word and silence choose listening.
Between two books choose the dustier one.
Between the earth and the sky choose a bird.
Between two animals choose the one who needs you more.
Between two children choose both. Between the lesser and the bigger evil choose neither.
Between hope and despair choose hope: it will be harder to bear.
These are difficult times. Unpredictable times. Distressing times. Hate-filled times. Fearful times. Tipping point times. Times full of decisions: for our selves, our loved ones, all life on earth, for the future. Many of these decisions seem to be between the “lesser and bigger evil.” What does it mean to choose neither of them? And are we able to bear choosing hope?
Now, in these times that weight our every breath and threaten to break our spirits, is the time for decisions. For things like “hope” or “faith” or “love” are often just that: decisions. So now is the time to make these kinds of choices. To commit to them with tenacity. And to live into them.
It is easy by comparison, to choose despair. For it becomes all enveloping, creating a rabbit hole that one can sink into ever deeper. Despair paralyzes. Despair, if inhabited too regularly, is a way of giving up. Of not choosing life.
Hope in these times is nonsensical and irrational. Well hope always is, isn’t it? For some it is a denial of reality. For others it is a non-acceptance of what is that causes further despair.
In these times, hope is a decision, love is a decision. If I have to choose what to give myself over to, the choice will be hope even if it will be harder to bear. It will demand things of me, of those who choose it. Hope requires our creativity and imagination to find a way out, a way forward.
In this season of darkness with its Mystery and gifts, in this season of day overcoming the nighttime hours, in this season of expectation, choose. Choose hope. And when you cannot hold it, let others of us carry it for you for a while.
Peace be with you,
Rev. Lo
by WUUC | Nov 30, 2015 | Minister Blog
‘Tis the season of expectation. Though all of the winter holidays are wrapped around the theme of light, they have become about hopes and expectations about what lies wrapped in present boxes. Pagans, Jews and Christians now exchange gifts as part of Solstice, Hanukkah, and Christmas. So much so that “the reason for the season-” the celebration of and return of light- has been obscured.
Now I love the trees, the greens, the lights, the candles, the hot drinks, the special foods associated with this time. As someone who is trying to have material possessions go out of my house rather than come in, I am less about the presents. For children of friends, children, grandchildren, the great nieces and nephews, presents of course. But for me, this is a season of hunkering down and in. I want time to slow and still, to rest and hibernate. I want to light the menorah each night to remember the miracle of light. I want to walk the Solstice labyrinth to be taken on an inward journey of light returning. I want to sit and watch the tree lights light the darkness quietly. To ponder the mysteries of the stars, of the miracle of birth, of the birth of hope, peace, and light.
This is a time of waiting and expectation…
Rev.Lo
by WUUC | Nov 11, 2015 | Minister Blog
Yesterday we had some folks from a Seattle area LDS church come to WUUC to attend services. Lifelong Mormons, they found themselves unable to accept the LDS’ latest proclamation that children of same sex parents “cannot become members of the LDS Church unless they are of legal age, are no longer living with their parents, and have disavowed the practice of same-sex relationships.” The folks who came to us yesterday had been ostracized in their churches and received messages of hate for their vocal opposition to the ruling. For them, attending WUUC was an experience of being awash in love.
We need to be aware of just how brave these folks were who showed up. They love their tradition and as with many religious traditions, it is more than just a religion; it is a way of life, an entire culture, and worldview. And now they feel betrayed by that tradition. It is an incredibly painful place to be .We may not be able to fill of all their religious and spiritual needs. We may never understand their love for their tradition or why just leaving that church is not really a solution.
They may never come back. If they do, however, I hope that we can lead with compassion and embrace them. We may only be a stop over on their religious journey. What a gift they have offered us: to be a place of understanding, affirmation, and healing.
Peace, Shalom, Salaam,
Rev.Lo
by WUUC | May 27, 2015 | Minister Blog
Transitions. That stage where everything that was is being let go of and what is to happen or be next has not yet happened. Moving from what is known or familiar into a new way of being or doing. An interstitial time.
Transition means change and change can but does not have to mean conflict. But it can mean some discomfort, confusion, and chaos for a certain period of time. Times when we forget to breathe. Or as Mark Hopkins shared with us from his Buddhist group, “Don’t just do something- sit there!” Sit there and be with all that is happening and comes up for you when in the midst of transition and change.
When I first picked the theme of “transition” for WUUC, I was thinking of the fact that June is the month when we celebrate the transitions that our children and youth make: the children moving up a class and the senior youth bridging from youth into young adulthood. I had no idea that we would be having such massive staff transitions. We have hired a new Member Coordinator (Karen Hyams) and are working on how to get the work of the Director of Lifelong Learning done. We were not successful in finding a candidate for the position. And we will be looking for an accompanist.
On top of that, we are shifting our governance structure to try and increase member involvement while not overburdening or burning folks out. Right now there are more questions than answers when it comes to the governance transitions. There maybe confusion and some chaos for a while as we figure it all out. But I am excited about moving away from committees to teams that are task oriented. We are looking at the “work” of church as “ministry.” Congregational consultant, Dan Hotchkiss says that “Governance is about mission, the strategy for getting there, and protecting people and property from harm. This is the work of committees. Everything else at church is ministry and that is the work of teams.”
So, transitions are us here at WUUC for some months. Buckle your seat belts and hang on for the ride…
Rev. Lo
by WUUC | Apr 29, 2015 | Minister Blog
Click for May’s theme, JOY
I whined to Carrie, “Who picked the theme of ‘joy’ for this month?” Yes, it was none other than myself. I have no idea what I was thinking at the time I chose it. And I should know better because “joy” is not a word I throw around lightly. For me, it is not a constant but rather something experienced in a moment and is then gone. I do not chase after it. I do not mourn its loss. But for me, it is something that does not come often. Not because I am a depressive sort of person but because “joy” has a sacredness to it that I do not take lightly. That does not mean that I feel joy only in a religious context. Far from it. More than anything else in my life, dogs bring me to joy in nanoseconds. My spouse likes to say that they light up a certain part of my brain. I have to agree. We all have things that light up our brains in joy.
Kahlil Gibran and Rumi talk about joy and sorrow existing right alongside one another. Gibran wrote, “Together they come, and when one sits alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.” And Rumi wrote, “Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter.” I find that I absolutely concur and disagree. For me, joy can just spontaneously arise from the heart or spirit. It does not need preparing for. Being nearly overwhelmed or awed by it is part of joy.
And yet, I know what Gibran writes of. When my friend’s brother suddenly died, the morning and afternoon were nothing but raw, unadulterated grief. But in the late afternoon, butterflies began to alight upon the lavender and Jacob’s Beard in bloom in her garden. We were mesmerized. The butterfly is a symbol of rebirth. Was this her brother reborn to her? We were all swept up within the beauty we were observing. It was a more tender beauty because of the death. So I understand Gibran’s words.
But I not think that sorrow lurks asleep on our beds while we sit at the table sharing a meal. Nor do I think that it is the opposite of joy. The opposite of joy for me is indifference, an inability to be internally moved by what is before us or what we experience. Joy and sorrow can inhabit the same space but they can exist independent of the other. Sorrow we cannot avoid in our lives. But joy… I am going to work on cultivating it.
Rev. Lo
by WUUC | Apr 15, 2015 | Minister Blog
Look for these T-shirts at General Assembly
A colleague talked about an experience they had had when doing their Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). All UU clergy have to do CPE in some form of supervised ministry setting whether it be a hospital or a community setting such as a jail or hospice. The point is to have candidates for ministry face their own issues while in training rather than while in a settled ministry. I used to think of it as a “make or break you” kind of thing.
Part of the training involves numerous group sessions with a supervisor to talk about interactions with patients or clients being served. When this colleague shared a particular interaction, the supervisor called this colleague’s theology, “S**t happens.” It is often to be a UU in a multi-faith context because many religious traditions offer “answers” or a rationale for the events of our lives. Even when there are none.
I understand people wanting a faith tradition that provides answers or provides a framework to live through difficult events in our lives. I would love that kind of comfort. But for me and so many of our colleagues, S**t just happens. There is no “why” for it. It just is. There is no rhyme nor reason to it, no possible explanation. How we deal with the S**t is what defines our “theologies” or values or understandings of ultimate meaning in life. It is in the “how” of the living through these kinds of events that who we are, what we believe and value are discovered and shaped.
I remember when I visited the home of a family whose son had just died of HIV/AIDS. He was laid out in a room for visitors to say their good-byes. I was fairly new to being with those who had experienced a death. And so I was pretty tearful. When the father yelled at me, “Look at that!” pointing to his son, “Tell me why that happened!” I had no explanations for him. All I could whisper was, “I have no idea.” “Good,” he replied, “I don’t want to be Goddamned lied to.”
So I am a great believer in S**t happens theology. I don’t want to be lied to in my times of crisis. I would never presume to explain to a grieving parent why a child has died. All I can do is weep with them in their grief. I still have no clue about why the suffering that happens minute by minute in this world happens. S**t happens. And ministers often come behind sweeping up after it. It is actually a privilege of this profession.
I want to acknowledge that there are those who find great comfort in the belief that things happen for a reason. This is the gift of their faith. I do not belittle them or their faith. But neither should my colleague’s or my S**t Happens theology be belittled or viewed as somehow less than. Perhaps more revelation will be revealed to me about all of this sometime. But for right now, I’m sticking with the theology that works for me: S**t Happens.
Rev. Lo
