“It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one’s life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than 'try to be a little kinder.'”As the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville looks back over 2012 and ahead to 2013, we -- who have been, as a faith community, concerned with the human problem -- go forward in our commitment to try to be a little kinder.
Somehow, through no obvious connection, this then reminded me of a story a friend of mine, David Rynick, told. David lives up in Massachusetts now, and he is something of an artist. His medium is clay. When he was new to the work, back in the 70s, he took a week-long clay workshop led by a former Benedictine monk named Bruno.
“In the middle of the week I got stuck with some of the pieces I was working on. The pieces were nearing completion, but I had no idea how to finish and resolve them. I was discouraged and saw no way forward. I went to Bruno to ask for his help in my dilemma and to report my doubts about my capacity to be creative. Bruno listened patiently to my expression of angst. When I had finished, he laughed and said, 'Don't worry, it gets worse.'” (David Rynick, This Truth Never Fails.)
David found Bruno's words – as I do in recalling his story -- shocking yet reassuring. Liberating, really. When we let go of the idea that all things should go smoothly, it frees us to be OK with what’s actually there -- and move forward. There are going to be doubts. There are going to be mistakes. There are going to be bumps in the road. There will be reactivity -- in yourself and in others. There will be blame, and judgment, and hurt.
And as we grow more deeply into an activity -- whether it's sculpting clay, playing a musical instrument, playing on a ball team, or volunteering with a generally fulfilling nonprofit organization -- well.... Don’t worry. It gets worse. Once we know that and expect it, we don’t mind it so much. That’s how the worse gets better. So I have to tell you, as our congregation looks back on the year past and forward to the year ahead: it also gets better.
2012 was a year of changes for our congregation. We have a new Director of Religious Education, a new Director of Music, a new pianist. They’re all great. At the same time I do miss Leah, and Ruth, and Mark. Those auld acquaintance are not forgot.
In 2012 we had divergent viewpoints among us, and it was of such nature that it triggered more reactivity than appreciation of the gift of conflict. We saw a lot of reactivity in our congregation – as we did in our country in this election year. We’re working on ways to cope with it more effectively: not to bury it, or deny it, or solve it, but to honor it, cope with it, put the energy to good use as we strive to grow together.
In 2012, this congregation continued to be a beacon in north central Florida. As the year was beginning, last January, we were out in numbers for the Martin Luther King Day parade. And we were out again in large numbers in our yellow shirts, standing on the side of love, in the LGBT pride parade in September. We have provided housing in our fellowship rooms to homeless families through the Interfaith Hospitality Network.
We have been lifted up with wonderful music both in the first half of the year and in the second half. Some of the sermons maybe weren't too bad. We have been a community, where our children can spiritually grow and learn and have fun. We have comforted each other in times of loss, and sickness.
We have been Gainesville's only place of liberal religious community, where Christians and Buddhists, and pagans, and naturalist-humanists can all come together sharing the faith that life is good, justice is attainable, and love is right here among us. We have supported each other in lives of integrity, challenged each other to deeper growth, and shared with each other life’s celebrations.
Religion is that which binds a group together, that connects them each to all and all to each (the "lig" in re-lig-ion is the same "lig" that's in "ligament" -- it's the connective tissue). Shared belief is a substantial part of the connective tissue in some religions. Not for us. For us who practice liberal religion, it isn’t belief that does the job. For us, religion is about (a) the ethics and values that guide your life, (b) the community you choose to make your own (and with whom you share in rituals that affirm that community connection), and (c) moments of experiencing transcending wonder. For us, religion is about bringing those three things together in such a way that each one reinforces the other two.
UUFG is the primary beacon in North Central Florida for that approach to religion. In 2013, with your help, we will regain our stride, offering to our members and our community the gift of free religious community, showing the world that peace and justice are more important than whatever it is we think is worth fighting and oppressing others to get. We are the change we want to see, and we are becoming it -- slowly and unsteadily, but more and more.
It takes all of us to do that, and your promises, which last week you wrote on the yellow stars that now adorn our sanctuary, are the promise of 2013. Your promises promise a vibrant, nourishing faith community in which we are transformed and through which we transform the world. It takes the resources of time and talent, and also the resources of treasure to bring this Fellowship into its flower.
Don’t worry. It gets better.
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