Dear Friends,  

Jury duty called, and this past Monday I was summoned to appear at the Daley Center. After regularly taking the Red Line to the Daley Center during the 16 years I practiced law, I haven’t been on any of the CTA trains in 14 months. So instead of just hopping on the Red Line, I took time to think about it. When I thought about getting on the train, how did that make me feel? What was I anxious about? I was anxious about someone, whose vaccination status I don’t know, not wearing a mask in the confined train car. So, I made a plan about how I would handle that situation, which made me feel less anxious, and I decided to take the Red Line downtown. At the Daley Center, I sat through voir dire (the jury selection process), was not selected to be a juror, and was sent home mid-afternoon. I love going over the Chicago River on the train, so heading home, I took the Brown Line and switched to the Red Line north of the river.  

My trip for jury duty turned out to be uneventful, but it crystallized a few things for me about emerging from the isolation of the pandemic. First, for each new encounter, I need to take time to determine if any unknowns are making me anxious and make a plan for how to deal with those unknowns. Second, that largely I can trust that people are following the posted signs and instructions for how to be in any given place, and that when they aren’t, I know what my comfort level is and what my plan is to maintain it. And finally, that the anxiety is real and makes me really tired at the end of the day. 

The bonus of my uneventful jury duty trip was that it made me feel ready to try another in-person experience. So, the next day, my wife and I went to the ice cream shop and ate our ice cream cones on their outdoor patio. It was our first restaurant experience in over 14 months.  

Emerging from the pandemic isolation will take time. We will need to be gentle and honest with ourselves about what we are feeling, what our anxieties are, and how we can take care of ourselves. We will need to be patient and considerate of others as each of us emerges in our own time and in our own way. When making plans with friends and family, we will need to check-in with each other to talk about what our plans are, how those plans make us feel, and what we can do to alleviate each other’s anxieties. When encountering each other in-person at events, it will be a dance, and dancing involves trust and constant motion. The constant motion being that we may feel different at each event, in each setting, and during each encounter. Again, we will have to check-in with each other to talk about things such as if we want to hug or bump elbows or how close we want to sit next to each other while we eat. I believe, if we can continue to communicate openly and honestly, with patience and consideration for each other, that the next few months will be a joyful dance as, together, we emerge out of our isolation and back into the world of in-person gatherings. 

The Faith Formation Force has scheduled some in-person events at UCE this summer and we hope to see you there as our faith community eases back into gathering together in-person. You will definitely want to set aside some of these Wednesday evenings to join us at the building. 

• June 30th, Rev. Eileen will lead a UCE History Tour of the building as part of the Deepening UU Identity series. The tour is a standalone event, so you don’t have to be registered for the entire series to participate. New Members, families, and history buffs are especially encouraged to attend. Click here to register, although you may attend without registering. 
• July 7th, the Faith Formation Force will host our first Wednesday on the Lawn, providing rhythmic instruments for a sing-along with a drum circle led by Alicia Hempfling and singing led by Kristin Lems and members of the Worship Arts Committee.
• July 14th, Wednesday on the Lawn continues with the Curiosity Garden – look closely at plants and sow some seeds for your garden.  
• July 21st, I will be creating a chalk labyrinth in the parking lot and the Faith Formation Force has additional activities planned. Come walk the labyrinth!
• July 28th will be our final fun-filled Wednesday on the Lawn with storytellers from Northwestern University.  

Be gentle with yourself. Emerge at your own pace. And know that we are looking forward to seeing you in-person when it’s right for you. 

In faith,  

Rev. Susan