May 12, 2021: Holding Space for Stories

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

This week, we will honor our graduating Seniors, Xander and Zoe. Each of them will have time to say a few words about their plans and you will have the opportunity to donate to the traditional Cash Jar Fund for our senior grads. I hope you will make time to attend and show these two amazing young people how much we love them and support their next steps.

We will continue with the theme of story. What’s your story about the time you graduated high school? Did your plans change? Looking back, how do you feel about your story? Are there things that you’d change? Regrets? Things you’d still like to accomplish, or experience?

I will be sharing some stories and ideas with you from a teacher and author who was a member of my UU congregation in KY at one time. She was raised in the Netherlands, but is Afro-Surinamese by heritage, and has lived and studied in the US. Her new book, Holding Space, is about how we tell and how we hear one another’s stories.

I think you will enjoy “meeting” her! She has been a true light on my journey. Here’s a story.

Aminata, a single mother of three sons, had been attending the Lexington church for a while with her two younger sons, Essien and Nasim, when Seth came to live with us. We weren’t prepared for the first Christmas when he suddenly joined us a few days before, but she dropped off a big trash bag of wrapped toys that had been given to Nasim through community donations. “He doesn’t need all that,” she said. There was a bounty of toys. Such generosity from someone who had so little.

Her sons have grown up to be very successful. Nasim was just offered a full scholarship to the Air Force Academy. She is a Professor and lives in the Hague, visiting the US regularly. As soon as her book is in print, I plan to buy several copies.

Another story: several times, she took part in or led a service at our UU Congregation. She is also a dancer, and shared some of her knowledge of indigenous dance with us. While she was at our congregation, we also had an exchange student from Germany living at our home; her name was Anke. Aminata offered some African dance classes at the YMCA, and Marjorie, Anke, and I all attended. We had so much fun, and it was a small miracle to see Anke, who had known few people of color, learn from a woman of the African diaspora. I cherish the opportunities I have had to make friends and share stories across time and space.

Hope to see you Sunday!

Love, Cynthia