We are approaching election day and we are entering the month in which we offer gratitude for the blessings of our lives and remember the grief and struggles of Indigenous communities in the United States. Our spiritual theme for our congregation this month is Living Love through the Practice of Repair. When we engage with the work of repair, we are working to fix or mend something that’s been damaged or broken. With Love at the center of our liberal religious faith, our Unitarian Universalist Values of Justice, Equity, and Transformation summon us to be of service through the work of repair, healing, and growth on personal, congregational, and societal levels. Our tradition’s foundations of courage, hope, reason, and inclusive democratic process remind us never to resign ourselves to despair and to always consider the ways we can show up to support the flourishing of inclusive and diverse community and further the extension of justice and equity in our world. Of course, that is easier said than done when life is threatened all around us and overseas and we may be experiencing overwhelm, compassion fatigue, or just feeling like we’re running on empty this holiday season.
Now would be a good time to take a deep breath and be present to all that we are holding, all that our world is holding, at this juncture in time. We can better help ourselves to not be consumed by all of it through self-care plans, spiritual exercises, and by leaning into the spaces and communities where we find revitalization, inspiration, and rest. The global pandemic gave us a lot of practice in this work. What does your spiritual self-care plan look like for the next month or three months or year? What helps you to stay grounded in the midst of fear, anxiety, and the unknown? Might spiritual practices like meditation, prayer, crafting, baking, making music, or body practices like yoga help you? Where can you find play and joy in the world? Who do you know you can turn to for support whether they be a friend, therapist, or Pastoral Associate of the community? Where do you find empowerment–or where have you found it in the past–to make a difference when new challenges and opportunities present themselves?
This spiritual theme of “Repair” will inspire some of our Sunday worship services, publications, and personal reflection this month. Our friends at Soul Matters theme-based ministry provide these questions to guide and deepen our contemplation:
- Who first repaired you by not trying to fix you?
- If you could have repaired one of your parent’s wounds, which would it be?
- What loss is still waiting for you to grieve it fully?
- How would your life change if you committed to giving yourself a dose of joy once-a-week?
- Is your body telling you it is no longer interested in hiding the pain? Or the fear?
- Think back to a time when someone repaired you by reconnecting you to pleasure and/or play. If you were to thank them, what would you say?
- How might your efforts to repair a social ill or injustice be trying to repair you?
- What joyful, courageous or healing childhood memories repair you over and over again? Are any of them trying to speak to you today?
- What is your relationship with self-inflicted wounds?
- Have you been running on empty for so long that you no longer notice?
- Are some things better left broken? Does everything need to be repaired?
- Have you ever lied about or swallowed your grief because others were uncomfortable or unwilling to make room for it? What would you say or do now that you weren’t safe to say or do at that time?
- Is there anything in your life that is longing to be fixed rather than thrown away?
- Are you pretending that an old injury hasn’t left a mark on you?
- Nature repairs us. What part of the healing earth is calling you to come back?
- Are you sure it’s not ok to trust them with your pain?
Our Pastoral Care Team is available to provide a confidential and non-judgemental presence and a ministry of compassionate caring. You can request pastoral support by emailing pastoralcare@uusm.org or by calling the church office.
We welcome the sharing of joys, sorrows, and milestones with the congregation on a Sunday morning and in our weekly congregational email. If you would like to share news with the community, please email joysandsorrows@uusm.org or call the church office.
Yours in love and ministry,
Jeremiah
Rev. Jeremiah Lal Shahbaz Kalendae
Developmental Minister
