“I will light candles…”
–Howard Thurman

Friends,

I woke up this morning needing to take a nap. I’ll bet you have days like this sometimes, too. I was overbusy yesterday, stayed busy until late in the evening, and didn’t sleep enough. It doesn’t help that today is a dark, drizzly day, so I’m lighting a candle to keep me company as I do a few things that must get done, and then …

I am going to take a nap. In the middle of the day.  

Because I’ll be busy again this evening, and I’ll be much more use to everyone else in my life rested than I would be if I pushed through a pile of tasks on caffeine.

Because I am fortunate enough in this season of my life to have significant control over how I spend my time.

Because “Rest is Resistance” to capitalism and white supremacy culture and other dehumanizing forces in our world. (Have you heard of Tricia Hersey’s Nap Ministry?  You’re welcome.)

I hope you are not overbusy this season, but if or, more realistically, when you are, maybe just stop for a bit and rest however and wherever you can. Even just a few moments of silence and stillness can shift your day and change the world. 

Yours in candlelight and napping (but not at the same time!),

Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

P.S. I do hope you are planning to join us on Christmas Eve at 3:30 p.m. (in the sanctuary or on Zoom) for a celebration of light, with music and readings and candles for all!

“Ooooo, I wonder…”
MaMuse

Dear Ones,

This week is unseasonably warm, but dark, rainy, and, well, very Nashville-in-winter-y. I’m not quite feeling the up side of the winter holidays right this moment, but I am thinking about our Soul Matters monthly theme of Wonder. This is good weather for wondering–will we be able to see the full moon this evening? Will I be able to get my errand done before it starts raining again? Which jacket is just the right weight for this strange weather? 

Beyond my tiny, daily wonderings, this last month of the calendar year is a good season for wondering all sorts of things:

-I wonder if our Christmas Eve service will be as special this year as it was last year (when we were still brand new to being out in public during pandemic season). And I wonder if the traditional dinner to follow at a local restaurant will be as fun as I hear it has always been!

-I wonder how our nation will fare under the newly-elected Congress.

-I wonder what’s ahead for Greater Nashville UU: What will we learn together in the new year? What new projects will we start? Who will we serve? What adventures will we share? 

-I wonder how you are: How is it with your spirit? Your body? Your heart? I wonder if you know how honored I feel when you share your life, thoughts, feelings with me and how grateful I am that you share with and support each other. 

-I wonder what we, individually and collectively, most need and want in the coming months and how we can help each other to recognize, ask for, and experience what we yearn for and whatever we need most to thrive. 

As the duo MaMuse sings, “Ooooooo, I am filled with wonder!”  

If you are too, or if perhaps you’re looking for space to encounter or reflect on wonder in your own life, please see the announcements below and consider joining our affiliate minister Rev. Dr. Michelle Pederson in the new year for an adult religious education series exploring a variety of spiritual practices. 

Yours in the dark or the light, but always in wonder,

Rev. Denise

Rev. Denise Gyauch
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

“There must be always remaining in every life, 
some place for the singing of angels, 
some place for that which in itself 
is breathless and beautiful.”

–Howard Thurman

Beloveds–

We have officially entered the winter holiday season! That can mean so many different things and elicit so many different experiences, expressions, and emotions. Wherever and however you experience this season, I hope you will treat yourselves and those around you with compassion and gentleness as often as you can. It’s been an extraordinary past couple of years, and we’re all out of practice in many ways and not sure where we are right now. 

And yet, there can be luxury in the long darkness and sparks of joy and light in our celebrations. In this season, more perhaps than in others, it is good to be human together, and I want to make sure you know you are invited into the following opportunities to celebrate this holiday season with Greater Nashville UU or to reflect deeply on the collective community we are (always, but especially this year) envisioning with our Unitarian Universalist siblings far & wide: 

1. This Saturday, December 3, starting at 5:30 pm, we will “hang the greens” (i.e., decorate) at church, and share dinner and entertain each other–see details below.

2. Our Christmas Eve service will start at 3:30 pm (on December 24, of course). Watch for more details about the service and festivities following it. For now, if you have a song (or a voice to add to the choir) or a reading or another offering to share during the service–especially on the theme of Light–please be in touch with me. (You don’t have to volunteer to participate in the service; good ideas alone are welcome!) 

3. The UUA (Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations, of which we are a member congregation) is in the process of rewriting its statement of purpose and guiding values, contained in Article II of the UUA Bylaws. The Article II Study Commission is inviting your reflection and feedback. You can read about the commission's work here and study the current draft here. A revised draft is in progress, and a feedback process will be available in December. I will do my best to keep you posted, and Nathanel R. is heading up an Article II Task Force to guide our local conversations. Please let me or Nathanael know if you have questions!

Yours in hope and light and dark, as well as general holiday merriment,

Rev. Denise

Rev. Denise Gyauch
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

“...all life is a gift…”

–Bruce Findlow, For All This Is Our Life (#128)

Happy Almost-Holidays, Dear Ones!

I am still buzzing slightly from the good time we had on Sunday, celebrating our first-ever (but definitely not last, I hope) Homecoming Sunday. The sanctuary was full, the tables in the Social Area were crowded, and the food was tasty and plentiful. Can’t wait for next year.

Today, I imagine most of us are looking forward to tomorrow and the remainder of the holiday weekend: planning, provisioning (whether for tomorrow’s feast or the winter holidays and gift exchanges to come), and (I hope) pausing just to be, to notice whatever is arising within us in this busy season. 

I bet you were expecting me to write about gratitude right here. Me, too! But I suspect none of us needs another “assignment” right now. Just being and noticing is enough. Earlier this week, I was surprised by the joy that rose up in response to a Costco run. So many people, so many opportunities to avoid collisions and practice patience and chit chat with strangers! Three years ago, I would not have been delighted to shop at a store so busy that customers had to scour the parking lot to find a cart, so my feelings on the drive home were quite unexpected, but quite lovely. What is arising in your emotional field these days? Even if it isn’t lovely (and it won’t all be lovely, for any of us), can you notice and accept it? I’m pretty sure gratitude will follow eventually, and you won’t even have to make it a project. 

Yours in faith and all the feels and, yes, also in gratitude,

Rev. Denise

Rev. Denise Gyauch
Minister, Greater Nashville UU Congregation
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

 Nov. 9, 2022

“Let’s go to church and be with our people.”

–suggested talking point for parents, from a handout 
prepared by a  UU congregation in the aftermath of 9/11/2001

Beloveds,

As I write this (early on Tuesday evening), I am wearing an “I voted” sticker, but I have not yet checked in with any election-day news coverage. That will happen later this evening, and tomorrow, and likely the next day as well, but just for the moment, I am resting in the near certainty that, come Sunday, I will indeed be able to go to church and be with you–the people whose company will be what I need most.

By the time you read this, you will likely have heard some good news, some bad news, and perhaps some downright devastating news. Wherever we all are by Sunday morning, I hope we will remember that one of the best ways to practice resilience in the face of what life and elections bring is simply to be together. I look forward to seeing you then.

Yours in love and faith and devotion to the practice of democracy,

Rev. Denise

Rev. Denise Gyauch
Minister, Greater Nashville UU Congregation
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

Oct 26, 2022

Make your heart a bowl
that is large enough to hold it all.
Imagine that you are the potter.
Stretch the clay. Cherish the turning wheel.
Accept that the bowl
is never going to be done.

–Lynn Ungar

Beloveds,

Everything about life these days seems to be packed full of just so much, well, everything. An hour or two ago (I am writing late Tuesday afternoon), it was pouring rain and got so dark that the streetlights here at church turned on. Now, the sun is shining, a gentle breeze is blowing through the trees, and the small birds who live nearby are hopping on & off the windowsill outside my office window. For the first time today, I see large patches of blue sky between briskly-moving remnants of storm clouds: a meteorological version of scanning headlines and the urgent messages in my inbox.

What is is a lot to take in. (Never mind, please, about managing it!). So I’ve been sitting since last weekend with this beautiful fragment (above) from Lynn Ungar’s poem, “A Letter in Return.” To make my heart larger–gently, patiently but persistently, like a potter shaping a bowl–seems a reasonably doable initial response to the too-muchness of life that keeps presenting itself. No matter if I can’t hold it all yet; I hope the intention of holding it all, the faithfulness to the task of stretching, honors or witnesses or blesses whatever and whomever needs to be honored or witnessed or blessed, if only imperfectly. When the opportunity to stretch what needs stretching in the world around me presents itself, I suspect the skill will be transferable. 

Yours in the imperfect loveliness and audacity of our lives and our work,

Rev. Denise

P.S. I will be out of town the next few days (through Sunday, Oct. 30) for some training, so you might notice a slower response if you message me via email or Slack. If you experience a pastoral emergency, please text me at 615-838-9611.

Rev. Denise Gyauch
Minister, Greater Nashville UU Congregation
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

Dear ones,

I’m still reveling in the joy of blessing/rededicating our space together last Sunday. Even though we got a little bit wet, the rain didn’t get in our way, and we had quite a good crowd (including guests and visitors!) assembled to celebrate how happy we are to have once again full use of all the spaces on our campus and to speak blessings for all the beings who use our facilities and grounds. 

Our service this coming Sunday will consider some of the reasons the commitment to create a church home based on covenantal community can require courage, but while I’m still basking in the home-blessing glow, here are a couple musical offerings I’ve been enjoying because they express some of my hopes for GNUUC: 

“Pool of Love” by Alexa Sunshine Rose: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfYm8qLaOKs

“Crowded Table” by The Highwomen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPfI8zBWub4

Still yours in joy and in gratitude, 

Rev. Denise

Rev. Denise Gyauch
Minister, Greater Nashville UU Congregation
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

Much of ministry is a benediction—
A speaking well of each other and the world—
A speaking well of what we value:

honesty
love
forgiveness
trust

A speaking well of our efforts—
A speaking well of our dreams.
This is how we celebrate life:
Through speaking well of it,
Living the benediction,
and becoming as a word 
well-spoken. 

(by Susan Manker-Seale) 

Beloveds,

This Sunday, we are going to speak some good words together! Wear your walking shoes because we will gather in our breezeway at 11:00 am and then move around our campus (indoors and out), blessing all the spaces of our church home, rededicating some of them after last year's damage and renovations. 

Although we will not have a fully hybrid service, we will establish a Zoom connection between those walking around the campus and anyone who would prefer to join us on Zoom from a comfy chair at church or at home. Religious Education participants will participate in blessing our outdoor spaces and the Religious Education building, and then split off for their own programming. 

Yours in gratitude for the space that holds us as a community, 

Rev. Denise

P.S. Still wondering: Where on our church campus do you feel most at home? And why? What is special, comforting, awe-inspiring or whatever about your favorite GNUUC space? Please send a quick email to let me know!

Rev. Denise Gyauch
Minister, Greater Nashville UU Congregation
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

 “The less I seek my source for some definitive, the closer I am to fine.”

~The Indigo Girls

Beloveds,

I heard an old song recently, and the line above has been on replay in my head. It speaks to something in me that periodically (or maybe almost-constantly) tries its best to convince me that arranging things just right, knowing the absolute, factual truth, and choosing the very best “right” course of action is a matter of survival. I believe neuroscience might (informally) label this my “lizard brain”, and when I’m not too stressed, I can also access the mammalian & human centers of my brain, which remind me that connection and relationship and love are crucial for my own individual well-being and for our collective flourishing. No matter how well I study up on the workings of my brain, however, I still find myself sometimes back in my reptilian brain and needing to be reminded to use the full complement of my mental and emotional tools and not just the most basic and quickly engaged reactions (which I do honor for their tenacity at the important job of keeping me alive!). Personally, I tend to find, over and over again, that everything I need to know comes to me set to music! Insert here a moment of gratitude for the Indigo Girls and other favorite artists. 

If you, too, find yourself caught up in the pressure to do, think, feel, or be something “right”, consider this a random invitation (from me to you) to take a deep breath, pause in the sometimes unrelenting pursuit of “rightness” and just feel fine. (The song quoted above is entitled “Closer to Fine” if you want to see if listening helps.) Recall our covenant with each other, and know that together we will seek truth and love and the life of the spirit, and as long as we have each other, our survival doesn’t depend on each of us being perfectly correct at every moment. 

Yours in all the fineness available to us, 

Rev. Denise

P.S. I am still wondering: Where on our church campus do you feel most at home? And why? What is special, comforting, awe-inspiring or whatever about your favorite GNUUC space? Please send a quick email to let me know!

Rev. Denise Gyauch
Minister, Greater Nashville UU Congregation
RevDenise@gnuuc.org