“Everybody has their sadness. 
And most people are scared of it.” 
–Mary Gaitskill

Dear Ones–

I’m not “supposed” to be back to work until tomorrow, but I missed you and wanted to check in and let you know how glad I’ll be to see you on Sunday! 

The quotation above caught my eye a week or so ago. It made me think about how summer was, for a long time, a season I associated with sadness (there were layers of summertime grief in my youth) and, perhaps, feared a bit–every spring, around May, I would feel agitation or dread creeping up around the edges of my life, no matter what plans or anticipations I had for the upcoming summer. For years, I didn’t even recognize this pattern, and it only stopped once I got to the point of hearing myself say (again) “I don’t like summer,” and deciding that it was time to have a new story about summer. (It took a few more years to outgrow that old story. Some things can’t be rushed.)

Being not-scared of sadness is a powerful tool for being happier, I have discovered, and I have been thinking about this in connection with the stories we tell ourselves about both our individual lives and our collective histories. I’m wondering if (well, to be honest, I’m pretty sure that) being able to experience joy and contentment requires a willingness to experience sadness, or at least not to be shut down by the fear of feeling it.  

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

“We are all falling, all the time, from 
the half-understood past to the unknowable future. 
The other name for falling without fear is flying.”
–Naomi Alderman, The Future

Beloveds–

I can’t believe June is almost over! Before we get to its end on Sunday, I want to make sure to say these things to you: 

1 - On Sunday, after our service and lunch (which will both be special this week–look for clues below, or just show up and be glad you’re there!), I will be facilitating a Listening Circle (probably around 1:15, probably in the Wiggle Room or Sanctuary). It will last about an hour, and I invite you to come if you’d like to spend some quiet, gentle time reflecting, talking, and listening in good company.

2 - The General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association concluded three days ago. You can read some useful summaries of what happened and results of important votes here (general summary) and here (UUA Bylaws Article 2 Revision). Caren and I attended General Sessions and would be happy to answer questions!

3 - I will be on vacation starting Sunday evening and continuing through the month of July. During that time, if you experience a pastoral emergency and need to talk to a minister, please call or email the church office, and Kris (our favorite administrator) will connect you with one of our wonderful affiliated ministers. 

Over the next few weeks, I will be resting and traveling to visit friends and family, but I will also be thinking of you and looking forward to seeing you in August!

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

Dear ones–

This week I am busy convening on Zoom with my UU ministerial colleagues at Ministry Days; yesterday, we had a rich conversation with Rev. Dr. Sofia Betancourt, the President of the UUA (Unitarian Universalist Association), about which I hope to tell you more later…

The General Assembly of our UU Association of Congregations starts tomorrow. Our congregation has one delegate (besides me). If you are a member and are interested, we can still designate another delegate, and votes matter this year, especially in our work with the revisions to Article 2 of the UUA Bylaws. Please let me know ASAP if you can help (or need more information to make that decision). 

Gotta run now, but I look forward to seeing many of you on Sunday–to share brunch with each other and to share the online UUA General Sunday Worship with our UU siblings  all over the world!

With love, as always,

Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

“This place could be beautiful, right? 
You could make this place beautiful.”
–Maggie Smith, “Good Bones”

Friends–

I’m having a super-busy Wednesday, but it’s also a day full of gratitude for the congregation you have built and invited me to share with you. I love the life we are building together, and I love how all of your contributions make our place and the ways we share it beautiful. 

I hope you are enjoying this mild late spring day. 

In love and gratitude,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

“This place is sanctuary, and it is for you.”
– Kathleen McTigue

Beloveds–

Our Soul Matters theme for the month of June is Renewal. I’m thinking this week about how part of GNUUC’s mission is to embody sanctuary and about how necessary access to sanctuary is in seeking renewal. Who can relax, let alone renew themselves–in body, mind, and spirit–when they don’t feel safe?

I’m also thinking about GNUUC’s history of being sanctuary, and I have lots of questions: For GNUUC, what is “this place” now? It’s surely more than just our sanctuary and garden (although that, too, I should hope!). Notably, our “this place” now includes online spaces and email and website. It could include social media, if we decided to work on that. Thinking of our physical spaces, I wonder for whom our campus might be sanctuary. We already share our spaces; who else needs safety and hospitality? Who might be part of the “you” when we say “this place is for you”? What can we do to convey better the sense of sanctuary we want to extend to others? 

Don’t know about you, but this time of year usually finds me “ready for a vacation”, for some time dedicated to personal renewal. And it might be a good time to think ahead to the new church year (which officially starts in July, but really takes off in August) and to start dreaming of how we want to spend it. 

Yours in the hunger for sanctuary and renewal and the longing to share, 

Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

“Story is our only boat for sailing on the river to time.” 
–Ursula K. Le Guin

Friends–

You may have heard it mentioned, but this year (2024) marks the 30th anniversary of GNUUC’s founding, and we’re celebrating that a bit this summer. To start things off, Caren Spencer-Smith has laid out some tables in the hallway outside our sanctuary, on which we can all add notes about the story (or stories, for there are lots of sub-plots!) of the congregation. 

Whether you’ve been around for 30 years or 30 months or 30 days, feel free to add to this year’s telling of the story of Greater Nashville by recalling an important event or moment for you and us together. (When did you first visit? Why did you return? What memory of our community do you cherish? What do you remember that might delight others?) Feel free to grab a marker & some sticky notes and add what small stories you will to the larger story that holds us together. 

Yours in remembering our stories and making new ones, 
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

“Any human being anywhere will blossom in a
hundred unexpected talents and capacities
simply by being given the opportunity to do so.” 
–Doris Lessing

Dear Ones–

I emerged from our annual congregation meeting last Sunday feeling energized and hopeful. Thanks to all who attended and to the Board for their leadership. 

If (as Doris Lessing says–and I believe she is correct) any individual can blossom in a multiplicity of unexpected ways, just imagine what all of us together–a whole congregation of human beings!–might become. 

Yours in wonder, imagination, and the will to do some things,

Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

“We are each other’s harvest; we are each other’s business;
we are each other’s magnitude and bond.”
–Gwendolyn Brooks

Beloveds–

Every spring, with the annual processes of our pledge drive and budget-setting and annual meeting, we are reminded that to a rather significant degree, we are each other’s, that our collective congregational life depends on our connections to each other, and that collectively we are magnified or diminished in proportion to the love, generosity, and trust (and trustworthiness), that flows among us.

Our Finance Team has been collecting pledges and crafting a realistic budget for the church year that will run from the beginning of July through the end of June 2025. I hope you are planning to join us for the annual (but by no means only) communal exercise in democracy–our congregational meeting–which will be held this Sunday at the end of our 11 am service. All voting members are strongly encouraged to attend either in person or via Zoom. (Others are welcome, too, to observe.)

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

“The earth laughs in flowers.” 
–Ralph Waldo Emerson

Dear Ones–

Ah, the flowers! And this thought from Toni Morrison: 

“At some point in life, the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need to photograph, paint or even remember it. It is enough.”

Yours in laughter, beauty, and enoughness,

Rev. Denise

RevDenise@gnuuc.org

P.S. Remember that this Sunday we are celebrating both Mother’s Day–with a special luncheon in memory of Barbara Belfiglio–and Flower Communion. DO NOT bring a dish to share (lunch is courtesy of Barbara’s family), and DO BRING a blossom (if you can) to add to this distinctively UU tradition of flower communion. 

P.P.S. Thank you to all who participated in the informational meeting offered last Sunday by the Board. I look forward to continuing the conversations we’ve started.