The question is not so much ‘”What do I learn from stories?” as “What stories do I want to live?”
–David Loy
Happy New Year! Admittedly, it may feel difficult for many to feel happy at this moment in history when so much is at stake. The rising authoritarianism and ascendent illiberalism threaten lives and the liberal religious values we affirm and promote in the world. I can’t help but be reminded of the transformative power of cultivating joy even when the circumstances of life seem so bleak. It is an act of resistance to the gloomy worldviews and hardened hearts of despots and tyrants. It is spiritual empowerment in the face of oppression when the struggle demands even more of us. We have to find and claim the joys of our living, celebrate the pleasures of life, and refuse to be reduced to fractions of ourselves or confined to the terms and conditions of life sold by those threatened by our flourishing.
Our congregational theme of Living Love Through Story this month asks us to consider if we are the dreamers of our own destinies or simply the victims of our circumstances. Liberal religious community can remind us of our agency and our communion with a holy and bold movement of prophets and dreamers, activists and artists, lovers and beloveds. It is in our imperfect beloved community that we can cultivate the joy that sustains, the inspiration that liberates, and the love that emboldens. In this new year we will write another chapter together with the stories we choose to live. I hope you’ll join us, and invite your family and friends, as our stories of liberal religious witness and resistance are needed now more than ever.
The Soul Matters theme-based ministry collective offers these questions to our spiritual imagination this month. We may explore these questions to deepen our spiritual reflection in Sunday morning worship, in congregational publications, and in our time for reflecting together in our committee and group meetings this month:
- In your family of origin, what story was told about you? Were you the funny one? The talented one? The troublemaker? The quiet one? The clumsy one? The rebel? The leader? The smart one? The difficult one? The “good” one? How has that story about you lived on, either by supporting your growth and relationships or by hindering them?
- What’s your fondest memory of being read to as a child?
- If you had to put the current stage of your life into a genre right now, what genre would it be? Mystery? Romance? Thriller? Fantasy? Young adult? Fiction? Non-fiction? Satire? Self-help? Travel?
- If you were to put the story of your childhood into a genre, what would it be? And what moment pivoted your life from that genre to another?
- What story told by or about your ancestors has shaped or supported you the most?
- Twenty years from now, when we tell the story of our current political situation, how do you think that story will differ from the way you are telling it today?
- Is it time to forgive your story for having a life of its own?
- What do you leave out of the telling of your life story that wants to be let back in?
- When it comes to the story of your life right now, which best describes you: A character in it? The author of it? The editor of it? The bookseller/promoter of it?
- Authors go to great pains to write “in their own voice.” So far, have you written your life story in your own voice?
- Have you ever been healed or saved by a story?
- Is it possible that your story of facing headwinds is blinding you to the many winds at your back?
- What stories of survival, hope and connection are carried in the scars, aches and shape of your body? What might it mean to thank your body for the stories it has carried?
- As your child’s identity started to bloom, what story did you tell yourself about how their life would unfold? Were you close?
- What is one story you hope will be told at your funeral?
Our Pastoral Associates are trained and available to provide confidential support on a short-term basis to our members who would like a non-judgmental spiritual companion. Pastoral Associates provide a ministry of presence and loving attention to assist you in good and difficult times and can help identify resources that may be helpful to you on your journey. Please email pastoralcare@uusm.org or call the church office to request support.
We love to share news from our many members and friends with the congregation on a Sunday morning and in our congregation’s weekly announcements. If you have a joy, sorrow, or milestone to mark, please contact us at joysandsorrows@uusm.org or call the church office to share the news.
Wishing you all good things in this New Year!
With joy, faith, and love,
Jeremiah
Rev. Jeremiah Lal Shahbaz Kalendae
Developmental Minister
