Dear Friends,

Relationships are one of the touch points in our lives that helps us heal and renews our hope. Intertwined with continued self-care and ongoing personal growth, relationships are often places where we experience the gifts of comfort, care, and love.

I spent last week in a hermitage on the grounds of Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center in Hiawatha, Iowa. Each day, I spent an hour with Sister Lucille in a spiritual direction session. Most of my time was spent alone walking the snow-covered trails through the woods, reading, and reflecting. I had not tried this style of retreat before and I ended up really enjoying it. I returned home refreshed in mind, body, and spirit. I also returned home renewed in my belief and affirmed in my experiences that one of the most profound places where we experience the spirit of love, compassion, and joy is through our human relationships.

Sister Lucille informed me of Tyre Nichols’ death during one of our sessions. Alone in my hermitage, it was difficult for me to hold and process this news. It was not until returning home to the relationships of my family, friends, and colleagues that I have been able to unpack my grief and anguish, to shore up my path of hope and healing. It is often through relationships that we are able to find comfort and compassion to accompany us through difficult times. It is also through relationships that we are able to share our communal heartbreak and grief, express our anger and frustrations, and work in solidarity for social change.

This past Tuesday, I sent out the first alert to our congregation’s newly formed Local Response Network inviting members of the Network to attend a vigil for Tyre Nichols the next day, the day of his funeral. Being in solidarity with our Evanstonian community is one way we heal, strengthen our hope for the future, and transform society. Rev. Jennifer Bailey, the founder and executive director of the Faith Matters Network, reminds us that “It’s in the process of doing community together that we build relationships and trust. Relationships move at the speed of trust, but social change moves at the speed of relationships.” If you would like to join our Local Response Network to get alerts about how to show up to be in solidarity with our larger community, please email me at sfrances@ucevanston.org.

Sometimes it feels like there is too much to process, too much change to make, but we can do it together. Seek out your family, friends, ministers, colleagues, or neighbors for conversation, support, and innovative ideas. In relationship, we can check up on each other to make sure we are getting the care we need and engage each other in creative ways to live our values out in the world.

Our faith community is here to help care for the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of your being. Taking care of yourself is one way to nourish the energy and creativity to live into your values. Click HERE to contact the Pastoral Care Team if you need support. Seek out beauty, joy, and rest to restore yourself. I am grateful for the privilege of being able to take a week-long retreat. I know that type of retreat and that much time off doesn’t work for everyone. I hope you will make some time to figure out what you need to feel more whole and then rely on your relationships to assist you in making time to find those ways to replenish your mind, body, and spirit.

Simultaneously with taking good care of ourselves, we must continue to work together to critically address how we talk about violence and the history of violence within our country, to examine how our current culture implicitly and explicitly creates spaces where violence can continue, and to show up to be in solidarity with those within our congregation and in our larger communities who are working toward social change.

Yours grounded in relationship and seeking transformation,

Rev. Susan