Spirituall Speaking: Deeper Roots

Recently, driving from Salisbury to Raleigh, I got the chance to encounter a post-ice storm landscape in North Carolina. All along I-85 and up through I-40 toward Raleigh, the pine trees were down. Some trees were split right in half, but many were totally uprooted. It was a graveyard of pine trees as they flanked the highway. Tree after tree, roots up from the earth, were taken out by water and 28-degree weather.

I was curious how so many pine trees had fallen.

Turns out, the answer was simple. The ground had been saturated before the freeze, making it easier for the roots to loosen. But what’s more, the roots of pine trees aren’t as deep as other trees.

Roots matter. Knowing your roots, knowing their depth. Just looking at a tree on your property doesn’t tell you a whole lot about its roots. You have to know what kind of tree it is, how old it is, its health, and the earth in which it’s grounded.

Just as looking at the folks who sit beside us every Sunday, tells us virtually nothing about their joys, sorrows, and what grounds them in the midst of life. Do they have deep roots, or are they barely holding on against the wind—like a pine tree in saturated earth?

As an adult who was adopted as a child, I know the dangers of assuming our genealogical or genetic roots provide grounding. I’ve never known what it is to trace my lineage back generations or to see my face shape reflected in a great-aunt. This, for me, has not been a point of concern, as I know my roots hold to a spiritual lineage rather than a genetic one.

There are teachers, loved ones, and friends who literally touched my life with their presence. They gave me the great writers and sages from all ages, who form my roots.

This month, as we consider our roots, what grounds us, we invite you to reflect on “Whose are you?” In other words, “to whom do you belong in the universe and from what sources does your story spring?”

Our roots nourish us in times of great impasses, when the way is unclear or when we are struggling with living a life in right relationship with others and the earth. As we so often sing in Spirit of Life, written by Carolyn McDade, “roots hold me close, wings set me free.”

So may it be for us all as we walk this path together.

In faith, 

Rev. Robin

Spiritually Speaking: Oops, Did You Do It Again?

When Brittany Spears released her song, “Oops, I Did It Again,” she did more than make a hit. She easily captured the tag line for many of our lives. The tough thing, I’ve found, is not that I’ve made mistakes. I can make a mistake and apologize. The harder thing is when I do it again.

And though I am only in my third decade, if the next few are anything like the last few, most of my mistakes are going to feel familiar. It’s not that I am incapable of learning. Really, I know I can learn. Nor is it that I lack the desire to learn. I really hate making the same mistake.

It’s just this one thing.

Truth be told, I’ll never be perfect. And knowing my imperfections that are as familiar as a freckle, it’s likely some of these will always be with me. No matter how much I learn, those freckles are also part of me.

While forgiveness is a challenge, it is perhaps most challenging when we have to forgive ourselves for a familiar mistake. If you’ve hurt someone with the words you used, then when another careless remark leaves injury it can be much harder to say you are sorry the second time or third. It can be even harder to forgive yourself.

Yet, it is often our reaction to these repeat mistakes that keeps us from our potential and living into the lives we’ve been called to live. And let’s face it, society isn’t always that forgiving of our foibles and failures. “Burn me once, shame on you. Burn me twice, shame on me.”

Fortunately, Unitarian Universalism is a religion built upon compassion and connection. We always believed in human potential, and human fallibility. Any religion seeking the evolution of the human spirit must make room for our full humanity, light and darkness. This doesn’t mean we don’t have to work to be in right relationship when we’ve done harm, but it does hopefully open the possibility of transformation-the kind built on honest reflection coupled with gentle compassion.

Forgiveness is a layered spiritual gift that is built upon the paradox of release and embrace.

We embrace our shadow side and in the release of our guilt, shame, anger, and even pain we open our lives to the greater embrace of compassion and kindness.

I wish you this month some embrace and release. Come gather with us in the community of compassion. Mistakes welcome.

In faith and compassion,

Rev. Robin

Last month we searched for our passion.

Last month we searched for our passion.

Some of us couldn’t find it.  Some of us have fun hobbies.  I like Fordson tractors but I can’t say it is a passion.  Some of us have great ideas and we work hard to make them happen.  Others are lucky enough to really enjoy our jobs.  Then the rest of us just try our best to serve others and make the world a better place.  Many of us do that with the help and support of our Piedmont UU Church family.  Our Board members always try to keep up with all of the good things that happen at Piedmont UU Church.  They usually are able to thank those who do the work and find ways to support at least some of the great ideas.  There are times however when we on the Board do not become aware of the hours of planning, the extra pledge, or the skillful task that has been completed, often completed many times without fanfare.  That reminds me of the sign on the wall at Linney’s Mill.  It says that “Doing a good job is kinda like wetting in a dark pair of pants. . . You get a warm feeling but nobody notices."

February’s theme is forgiveness.  We on the Board hope that you will be able to forgive us for not noticing sometimes or for taking some of your work for granted.

I hope that you-all enjoy groundhogs day and that you have a fulfilling February.

In your service, 
Karl

P.S.  I think that I have finally found my passion.  It is our Piedmont UU Church family.

Spiritually Speaking: The Theme-less Days

This month and next month at the Piedmont UU Church, we are theme-less! 

Breath in peace, breathe out love.  No cause for alarm.  This is the time of year when we intentionally step back from our regular schedule, themes and leadership meetings.  In part, there are many of us with kids at home this time of year, family visiting, or even day-vacations planned for relief from the muggy weather. 

But this time from July 1st through the beginning of August is also about intentional action, reflection, and leadership development.  It’s the time of renewal for your leadership team as we consider intentions for the coming year.  As we set forth our worship calendar and lay out our themes, this is a great time of year for new ideas or creative energy.  If you have a program idea, a theme in mind, or just an affirmation of something in the life of our ministry you hope will continue, then please send an email to your leadership team.
   
Perhaps it is a good time of year for all of us to set aside a little time to turn inward, and get in touch with the still small voice.  Nature is blooming around us, the rains seem to continue and the earth is renewed by green.  It’s a time of growth and anticipation of harvest.  In the midst of the refulgence and the rain, it can also be a time of profound spiritual planning.  The growth all around us, with kids readying for a new school year and many of us finding even a moment to gaze into petal and poetry, this time of year can be the perfect time to slow down, look in the reflective waters and set forth our intentions.
   
I think often in these days of Mary Oliver’s words in her poem, The Summer Day:
  
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
   
Brilliant spiritual questions for a summer stroll.  While New Year’s is so often the time of resolutions and renewal, there is some wisdom in knowing the spiritual is present in all seasons, as surely as the invitation to be idle, to pray, and to pay attention rests in the seasons of our own lives.

In the month of July, you won’t see me in the pulpit for three Sundays.  This time away includes an exploratory trip with 11 of our Piedmont UU Church members to Guatemala, as well as time to gaze in the reflective waters and set forth some intentions.  I’d love to hear from you via email with any intentions you are considering, reflective insights for the next year, or creative ideas for spiritual growth in community.  This coming year promises to be a year of depth and vision.  We have much to celebrate and give thanks for in the midst of this refulgent summer-to quote Emerson.

Of those blessings, I count each and every one of you.  Happy strolling through the fields, see you on the unpaved paths.

With gratitude for the journey, and the companions,

Rev. Robin

Spiritually Speaking: Saving Face, Saving Lives in “The Community Redeemed”

In our theme-based ministry this month, we are considering redemption.  In most of the Christian world, redemption is linked to Jesus’ death on the cross and, more specifically, atonement theology.  Atonement theology includes a wide array of theological beliefs, among which is that all humans are born with original sin.  Thus Jesus, as the son of God, died in order to atone for all of humanity’s sin.  A common description is “the ultimate sacrifice to repay the ultimate debt.”

In case you hadn’t guessed, we Unitarian Universalists simply do not support atonement theology.  We believe each child is born with gifts and a unique spirit, which sing to the universe. Our job is to help our children cultivate these gifts.  Sure, we also know that humans can cause horrible violence and pain.  But the story of humanity is not grounded in a sinful nature, but in a gifted nature that requires cultivation, care and love.  We hold up the beautiful and believe in the restoration of what is broken.  

As for Jesus’ death, we Unitarian Universalists believe it to be a horrendous moment in the history of hurt and violence perpetuated against some of our most visionary and inspiring leaders.  We seek knowledge and inspiration from Jesus’ life rather than his death.  We believe in a resurrection of the spirit.  Simply put, that the lives of those gone before live on in our love and memory.  So we focus on how Jesus’ lived and what his life can offer us today.

So what does redemption have to do, if at all, with Unitarian Universalism?

We also believe as Unitarian Universalists that we are all connected and all worthy.  This includes the heroes like Jesus who we want to be connected with as well as those who have caused great harm.  We believe we are all worthy, even those we might like to dismiss, turn away from or pretend don’t have as much worth as we do.

And we know, as a relational faith that the only way to grow and love is within the context of community.  We learn about ourselves by being in relationship with each other.  We learn how to love being in relationships, from our families, to friends, and our families of choice. 

 

Unitarian Universalists know what it is to be redeemed by community.  In a culture so often about saving face, we strive to save lives by living up to our covenant.  As we say each Sunday, “we light our flaming chalice to illuminate the world we seek. In the search for truth, may we be just.   In the search for justice, may we be loving.  And in loving, may we find peace.”

The Unitarian Universalist minister Rev. Dr. Forest Church compared redemption in Unitarian Universalism to grocery store coupons.  In our faith, we believe we each have received these unique gifts.  It is in community that we seek to find the loving, justice-making and honest ways to use these gifts, or redeem these coupons.    It is within community that we discern how to redeem these coupons.  Just like a coupon for the grocery store, part of getting the best value (or in our case the peace we seek) is matching our gifts to their purpose.

It is our hope that this place we call our spiritual home, PUUC, helps you discover how to redeem your spiritual coupons, discovering the peace of our gifts meeting the world’s great needs.

Redemption in Unitarian Universalism: The journey of discovering the places where our gifts and the world’s needs meet.  In other words, it is a state of being saved and valued by and through the gathered community.

Peace to you on the journey.  All coupons welcome!

In faith and love,

Rev. Robin