Dear Ones,

“Finding the stories.” This is the interim task for February. This month I am inviting you to share the stories of how UCE “nurtured your spirit” and encouraged you to express your best intention to make a positive difference in the world around you or beyond.

If this seems like a difficult assignment, let me give you some prompts to help you get started.

In the car or in the shower or when you need a break from a tedious task, focus your attention on a time when you experienced something at UCE that you carried into the day or the week. Examples MIGHT be:

• A phrase from a reading
• A sudden flash of meaning from the Covenant
• Recalling or reading the UU Principles or Sources
• A line from a hymn or an anthem
• A phrase from an anthem
• A message for all ages
• An idea from a sermon
• An announcement of a community event
• An interaction or observation of an interaction between an adult and a child
• A sharing at a meeting, group or activity
• Involvement in an action project

Consider how you felt.

Consider any immediate or lingering way that experience might have impacted your voices or your actions.

Consider a time when your relationship with UCE called you to your “better self” and to a more hopeful future for everyone?

Are there seeds of a story here?

 

EXAMPLE:

I had been feeling stressed and crabby as the whole world seemed to gearing up for the Christmas season. There was so much to do. Presents to buy and wrap. Out of town family arriving in days. Cleaning; meal planning; grocery shopping; decorating. I was not feeling any of the “Christmas spirit”. It was Sunday and I almost decided to skip church. Mostly out of habit, we got the family ready and into the car.

I hardly noticed the warm greetings at the door around the noisy voice making lists in my head. On the way into the sanctuary I came to the table that was set up for the Mitten Tree. There was a crowd so I stopped and picked up one of the mittens. “cotton underwear, child’s size 6; Spiderman Color book and markers; warm sox and knit hat (red if possible); Hershey’s kisses.”

A different reality came into sharp focus. The stress and anxiousness that had taken over my life fell away in a moment of heartbreak for a child whose needs and wants were so close to the same.

 I took another mitten and at home over lunch we talked as a family about our privilege and about our obligation to express our gratitude and our generosity and all of the ways that might happen. “

 

If you have an idea and want help forming a story, please consider participating in one of the story circles after the Sunday service on February 16; at 7:00 PM on Monday, Feb. 17; at 10:00 on  Tuesday, February 18.

I  also can be available to attend a covenant group or other gathering that fits in my schedule or to meet with you individually or in some ad hoc story groups between February 14 and 21.

I can be reached best by e-mail at kgustafson@ucevanston.org.

Your lived stories are the heart and essence of the larger story and mission of UCE and the larger Unitarian Universalist community. Help to celebrate what you are creating together.

In love and gratitude,

Karen