“You may do this, I tell you, it is permitted.
Begin again the story of your life.”
–Jane Hirschfield, “Da Capo”

Beloveds,

I puzzle over these (not infrequently quoted) lines of poetry every time I see them. Or rather, I puzzle over my reaction to them. As a historian, I know our efforts to ignore the past are futile at best and harmful at worst. And yet, I just saw my first daffodil blooms of the season on my way to church Sunday morning, and I watch every year for redbuds budding, knowing that spring begins again the unfolding of our landscape and the story of life every year. And spring always and only begins from roots and seeds and bulbs grown in earlier seasons. So these lines evoke, for me, both a lovely sense of freedom and permission to begin again and a certain tension between the starting again and what has gone before.

I find myself wondering, in this 30th anniversary year of the founding of our congregation, how we might lean into the permission to begin our story again, knowing that doing so, in the natural order of things, never means severing our connections with all the seasons behind us.

Yours in rootedness and new bloomings,

Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

“Remember you are dust, and to dust you will return..”
–Roman Catholic liturgy for Ash Wednesday

“We are stardust.”
–Joni Mitchell, Back to the Garden

Dear ones,

Today is both Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent in many Christian calendars, celebrated in Catholic congregations by the imposition of ashes on the foreheads of the faithful to the words above) and Valentine’s Day. Maybe listen to Joni Mitchell or your favorite love songs, remember that we come from dust and will return to it, and be sure to love on all the beings you love in all the ways you know how. (Maybe not all in one day!)

Yours in love, ashes, and all the sparkly dust,

Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

“Sometimes the way we behave acts as an invitation for others to do the same. 
Let your actions be an invitation to others to be themselves in all of their glory.”

–Susie Wise, “Design for Belonging”

Friends,

The service we shared last Sunday introduced our theme for February, which is the twin-but-not-identical values of Justice and Equity. We engaged in an exercise which invited us to reflect on and share with each other some of our identities and to consider the impact of intersectionality on our experiences and shared life. Intersectionality as a concept acknowledges that each of us is different and may have very different experiences of oppression, discrimination, and privilege and varying needs, depending on the various identities (race, gender, sexuality, social, etc.) we are assigned, claim, or inhabit.

It was lovely to see how many different identities are represented in our small congregation, and indeed, within each one of us. Sunday’s service (created by Kristin Reveal, whose gifts in religious education and worship design we call on every month to introduce our Soul Matters themes, and to whom I am very grateful) was an invitation to each of us to be ourselves in all our glory. I left our gathering feeling grateful for the glory that is each of you and for the glory that we are together. 

Yours in the justice & equity that will bloom as we make space for all to be themselves,

Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

Jan 31, 2024

“Connection is why we’re here.
We are hardwired to connect with others,
it’s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives,
and without it there is suffering.”
–Brené Brown, “Daring Greatly”

Beloveds,

In case you have lost track of the pagan calendar, this evening is the eve of Imbolc, the halfway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Traditionally, it celebrates light, as sunlight steadily increases, and new beginnings, as in the first signs of spring. You might choose to mark it by lighting candles or a fire, baking, thinking about seeds (try this Carrie Newcomer song) or starting them, learning about Brigid–either the pagan goddess or the christian saint, or re/committing to the work of justice and equity (our Soul Matters theme for February).

Yours in the justice and equity undergirding true connection,

Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

“I sing beautiful in the winter woods, and the trees agree.”
–Peter Mayer, “Winter Woods”

Dear Ones,

To understand my week, you have to know a few things about me:

I like snow, especially when it accumulates in inches (and very especially when those inches are not mixed with ice!). I spent most of my childhood years in places with more (some significantly more) snow than we get here in the mid-South, so when we have enough snow in Nashville to pile up combined with enough cold to let it stick around for a few days, I’m not upset.

I live quite near the middle of Nashville. From our house, at certain times of year, we can see vehicles on one of the major interstate exchanges just outside downtown, and we can almost always hear them. (One of the best things about a good snow is the silence!) And due to the hilliness of Nashville’s terrain, we have a surprisingly large-ish, steeply-sloped backyard, full of a variety of very tall trees.

I love trees: all kinds, everywhere I go. Always have.

So this week I’ve been looking out the back window of my house & singing to the trees in my backyard, which are stunning with snow weighing down evergreen branches and outlining dark deciduous trunks and branches. Beautiful.

I know winter weather is a mixed blessing (I see windshield scraping in my near future), but I hope you remember to look for beauty in your winter days, and I hope you find it in whatever forms delight you most.

Yours in faith and beauty,

Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

P.S. First UU Nashville has invited us once again to the annual Palmer Lecture this coming Saturday (details below), featuring Nashville Councilwoman Olivia Hill, who is also our Bellevue neighbor and will be our guest speaker on Sunday, April 14. I hope some of us will attend the lecture in anticipation of our conversations with her!

Friends,

Even I have to admit that the holidays are over now. However, I want to encourage you to follow the rhythms of the winter season and protect a little time for rest and introspection. They are good for your soul, and what’s good for your soul is good for GNUUC and all the other communities of which you are a part!

Here’s a little musical inspiration from Carrie Newcomer: I Meant to Do My Work Today.

In faith and love,

Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

P.S. It is winter, and the weather here in middle TN is notably unpredictable. Remember that you can always find the latest news about Sunday services on our website. No matter what we decide about opening the church building, be sure to keep yourself safe and join us by Zoom if needed.

Dear Ones,

It was lovely to see so many of you at our recent holiday celebrations!

To bring us the new year, I have some very old words from the 14th-century Persian poet, Hafiz (excerpted from “Now is the Time”):

Now is the time to know
That all you do is sacred.

Now is the time for the world to know
That every thought and action is sacred.

This is the time
For you to deeply compute the impossibility
That there is anything
But Grace.

Now is the season to know
That everything you do
Is sacred.

Yours in deep computation and the grace beyond computing,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

Beloveds,

This in-between week, I’m mostly spending time with my family and with myself. Here are a couple of offerings from other writers, the first a recent call to action from one of the most powerful faith-based justice leaders active in the U.S. these days, and the second a beloved blessing from an Irish poet/theologian/philosopher.

The gift we need to give the world this year is a moral consciousness that says, “some things we can never get used to.” We can't accept indiscriminate killing. We can't accept poverty. We just can't get used to it. Right now, the greatest gift the world needs is a serious moral conscience.

If we look at the Christmas story, it's a story about poor folks forced to travel across the desert because of poverty. It's a story about not having health care, about human beings being treated as animals. It's a story about a ruler crazed with his own power killing babies to try to stop people from being liberated. We need to reflect deeply that Christmas isn't just a time for us to be materialistic. It's a time for us to be deeply moral. How do we bring good will and peace to all human beings? That's what Christmas is about. It’s not about twinkly lights and how much money you can spend. It’s about the light of compassion, mercy and being better human beings.

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II

Blessing to Come Home to Yourself

May all that is unforgiven in you
Be released.

May your fears yield
Their deepest tranquilities.

May all that is unloved in you
Blossom into a future
Graced with love.

John O'Donohue

Yours in both the unrest and the peace of the season, and yours (as always) in love,

Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

"The stars pierce our hearts, peace envelops us, we are blessed.
We give thanks for the mystery and miracle of wonder.”
~[I have no idea, not credited where I saw it]

Beloveds,

Tomorrow and Friday are the shortest days of the year, and tomorrow night, the longest night. I’m hoping for the weather forecast to hold, with cold, clear skies and a good view of the moon and stars. Maybe take a pause to notice them and feel a little peace, a little wonder and mystery.

Ponder all that for a few days, then come to church on Sunday afternoon (not morning!) and mark the Christmas holiday our 19th-century Unitarian and Universalist ancestors loved so much by lighting candles in the dark.

Yours in the dark and the light,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org