“Hope is not the absence of despair–it is the ability 
to come back to our purpose … again and again.” 
~ Alicia Garza

Dear Ones,

It’s been a challenging week for hope, and yet now is exactly the time we need to dig into whatever we can do to sustain and nourish hope, belonging, and resilience. We will need them all to come back over and over–as is and will be necessary–to who we are and the work that is ours to do. 

This Sunday, in between the worship service and lunch, we will have our bi-monthly Shared Ministries meeting. I’m hoping to take a little time to think about our congregation’s mission in the current moment, and also to engage in a bit of UUA business together.* 

One of the important ways we stay connected to our purpose is as an active member congregation of the UUA (Unitarian Universalist Association). Every year our General Assembly votes on proposed Congregational Study/Action Issues, for which the UUA will support four years of study and action in our congregations and the wider UU movement. 

In filling out our annual certification of UUA membership (which Kris & Kristin & I are working on now), we are invited to vote for, against, or abstain for each of three possible issues for 2025, which I will briefly introduce at the Shared Ministries meeting. If you want to learn more about the issues or the CSAI process, visit this link. 

I’m looking forward to being together and doing some of the important congregational business of staying connected, finding hope, and changing the world. Meanwhile, I hope you are staying warm and safe this very cold week!

Yours in hope and love,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org 

*If you have something to add to the Shared Ministries agenda, please email me.

“I know that we can be better than we are.” 
~ James Baldwin

Beloveds,

Heading toward Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, thinking ahead to the upcoming presidential inauguration, and looking forward to connecting this weekend with UUs across Tennessee organizing to support each other in social justice work, I was reminded of this passage from The Gospel according to James Baldwin, by Greg Garrett, which I’ve been reading with a group of progressive clergy colleagues in town: 

“What Baldwin believes about faith, I would argue, is that belief and action badly applied make us more dangerous, more limited, more blinkered in our vision. A bad religious understanding may breed jealousy, greed, and hatred. ... But rightly applied, faith and hope make us bigger, better human beings, capable of seeing and loving the world and all those in it, capable of living in hope rather than in fear.” 

Baldwin’s assurance that we can be better strikes me less as a judgment about our failings than as a stubborn application of faith and hope to the human condition and its infinite variations. At the same time that I hold a certain (healthy?) skepticism about the idea that we will be better, I do want to be part of the club (which might be labeled “the faithful”) that believes we always, in every situation and permutation of humanness, carry within us the possibility of being better. 

The brief sentence of encouragement from Baldwin quoted at the top also opens some interesting questions, which I will leave for you to ponder:  

-Who is “we”? 
-What kinds of “better” might we cultivate right now?

There are no right/wrong answers, just yours–or ours! And I would suggest these are good questions to entertain in preparation for our next meeting of GNUUC’s Shared Ministries Council (which, you may remember, is a meeting of the congregation) at the end of our service on Sunday, January 26. 

Yours in faith, and the hope of applying it well,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

“Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, and creativity. 
It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity.” 
- Brené Brown

Dear Ones,

If  Brené says vulnerability leads to such good things, then vulnerability is what I wish most for all of us in this new year! 

And if that sounds scary (and it may well, at least a little), I’d like to point out that one of the best gifts of a congregation like ours is repeated opportunities to practice vulnerability together–which we do every Sunday in sharing Joys & Concerns, and which last Sunday’s New Year ritual with our magic burning bowl also invited, as we released the old and invited the new in our hearts and lives. Thank you all for participating so honestly and generously. (And if you didn’t get a chance to play with us, I have a few slips of that “magic” paper left over; come see me & we can burn something together!) 

I am told that my joy in lighting things on fire showed on my face Sunday morning; in fact, I feel a much longer-burning satisfaction in creating and recreating spaces and times for us to gather and practice being human together. I am grateful to have such good company!

Yours in vulnerability and joy and courage,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org 

“A Crooked Road” 
– Darrell Scott

Beloveds,

I apparently picked up some germs about a week ago, and I’ve been hunkered down at home almost that long, recovering from COVID. Thankfully, it’s been an altogether uneventful case, and I’m glad to be out of quarantine now, though still a bit tired. 

So not much of a love note from me this week, just the song linked above. 

Oh, and a reminder that this Sunday, Rev. Diane Dowgiert from First UU and I are engaging in the old, revered congregationalist practice of pulpit exchange–meaning she will be in the pulpit at GNUUC, while I will be preaching at FUUN. I am looking forward to seeing old friends at FUUN, and I hope you will enjoy the company and wisdom of my dear colleague. 

Yours in walking the crooked road with old friends and new,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org 

P.S. Our Christmas Eve service will begin at 4:30 pm, although you are encouraged to arrive earlier to enjoy special musical offerings.

P.P.S. To my knowledge no one has yet volunteered to make reservations for dinner after the service. Let me know if you pick up this easy ( just one phone call to a business that remembers & enjoys us!) volunteer task.

“Let nothing dim the light that shines from within.” 
~ Maya Angelou

Friends,

December, with all its variety of Northern-hemisphere winter holidays like Hannukkah, the feast days of the Christian saints Lucia and Nicholas, Winter Solstice, Kwanzaa, Bodhi Day, and Christmas, along with others like the SE Asian festivals of light that come in February, typically pushes us to celebrate light in the darkest part of the calendar year. I typically push back a bit against what can seem like an overemphasis on light by relishing the restfulness and enticing mystery of darkness. 

Right now, cherishing and protecting, spreading and encouraging light seems important, perhaps even vital. So, while I definitely would encourage you to notice and engage the darkness of the next few weeks, maybe also light a candle in the early evening to remind yourself that light in the midst of darkness is particularly sweet. Or resolve to notice and enjoy both sunrise and sunset on the same day–it’s never easier to do than this time of year! Or have a listen to this fine song by our friend Lea Morris (recorded by the Indianapolis Women’s Chorus). 

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

P.S. We will, as is our custom, celebrate Christmas Eve with a service full of music and reflection and ending in candlelight. Be on the lookout for details about that service and another GNUUC custom of sharing dinner at our favorite Chinese buffet!

“The future is an infinite succession of presents,
and to live now as we think human beings should live,
in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.”
–Howard Zinn

Dear Ones,

I know tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and it is traditional to spend this week cultivating a spirit of gratitude, but I’m finding that a wee bit challenging in some ways this year. (You too? Or maybe not.) Howard Zinn’s reminder that this present moment…plus this one…plus this one and the next, offer almost infinitely renewable opportunities for resistance feels like a reasonable basis for gratitude in this particular moment.

In the sometimes bewildering mix of gratitude (for all that is my life–and it is a rich life!) and dismay (that much of what is good and needful for my life and the lives of my beloveds is increasingly under threat), a reminder to simply live right now as best I can opens up a little breathing space. I don’t generally think in terms of victory and defeat, but the idea of small acts of defiance accomplished daily seems worth exploring and even cherishing.

Yours in love and deep gratitude for the present and its possibilities,

Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

“When crisis is the context for the past and the present, 
hopeful people manage the now and imagine a future.”
–Barbara A. Holmes, 
Joy Unspeakable: Practices of the Black Church

Beloveds,

Human beings have always, everywhere, lived with both crisis and hope. I like Barbara Holmes’ observation quoted above because it notes the importance of hope in the face of crisis, but points to some concrete results of hopefulness. Rather than leaning into or encouraging a feeling of hopefulness, Holmes points out the concrete actions supported by hope: managing and imagining.  

I found a very useful definition of crisis on the website of the state of Washington’s Dept. of Social and Health Services, which notes that a crisis is a disruption or breakdown in normal or usual pattern of functioning, which cannot be resolved by customary problem-solving resources/skills. It seems to me that if some of us are not yet experiencing crisis, we likely will be soon enough. Even if we somehow escape economic, judicial, or moral challenges, climate change will impact us all in ways we are only starting to understand. 

Holmes offers a response to our times that is practical and doable; we already know how to manage and imagine, and especially practicing together, we can improve those skills and apply them to our new and ever-changing circumstances.  And those skills are applicable in all sorts of areas and at multiple levels–in any life, we have opportunities to navigate (a skill which combines both management & imagination!) situations within our selves, our families/close circles, and all sorts of different communities of which we are a part–ranging from small groups like our congregation, through the communities surrounding GNUUC locally, statewide, nationally and beyond. 

There are so many opportunities to practice good, fair, inclusive management of the present and imagine a future with more love, justice, and life-saving power. I am reminded of a recent Shared Ministries Council meeting in which we had a discussion that imagined GNUUC as a sanctuary for those in need, and I wonder how we might combine our powers of imagination and realistic management of current realities to create together something in service to our world. 

Think about it…If you have ideas about how GNUUC can live and work as a truly faithful and hopeful community in these times, please share them. 

How to share? 

-Mention long-term ideas during the next Shared Ministries meeting (Sunday, January 26 after Sunday service) and find others with whom to collaborate.

-For more immediate opportunities, share during the “What’s Next?” section of any Sunday service. (What’s Next? is a time to further our shared ministry, not just a bunch of announcements!)

-Reach out to me or other members of the congregation to brainstorm, ask questions, or work out preliminary ideas. Working together, there’s no telling what we can do! 

Yours in management and imagination,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org 

“There are trees outside that hold
memories from before I was born.”
–Katherine North

Dear Ones,

This week, I am retreating with other UU ministers from throughout the southeast. Our retreat center happens to be placed amidst an ancient and rare forest of dwarf white oak trees. And we are talking about ancestors–our individual and communal ancestors and the ancestors we aspire to be. This is all healing and necessary on so many levels, and I thank you for being a congregation that provides for your minister’s professional development and well-being. 

I look forward to seeing you on Sunday (or maybe Saturday afternoon’s Game Night), and I hope you, too, are connecting intentionally (or planning to do so) with your own sources of comfort and power.

From this hilltop amid the trees, I remain 

Yours in hope and in determination, 
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org 

“....Oof!….”
–me, at 5:57 this morning

Beloveds,

I am finding it difficult to find words today to express how I feel. 

I thought yesterday, as I fed myself mac & cheese for breakfast, that I needed a little comfort food. This morning was, ummm, less ideal. I don’t know how the potato chips and french onion dip got into the house; must have been brought home from some office thing by my partner. But they seemed like the best, easiest option at the time. (Don’t worry: I had a beautiful salad for dinner last night, and I will surely find things later today to balance this morning’s need for creamy, crunchy bites.)

How are you today? No matter how you find yourself feeling–or not feeling–I hope you will make an effort to be kind to yourself and to those around you. There was lots of work to be done last week, and there will be plenty to be done in the weeks to come. We have each other, and we know who we are and the values that guide our work. 

Yours in hope, persistence, and love, 
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org 

P.S. I will see you on Sunday, but I am curious: Would any of you appreciate a chance to gather at church in the next few days? Or would you like to talk to me one-on-one? Email me if either sounds helpful.