First UU Newsoctober We Gather in Community to Nourish Souls, Transform Lives, and Do Justice What If You Were Really Loved? by Rev

January 2013 First UU NewsOctober We gather in community to nourish souls, transform lives, and do justice What if you were really loved? by Rev. Meg Barnhouse I haven’t yet made a New Year’s resolution this winter. For the past 10 years or so, my resolutions have been very short, and they have come to mind, one by one, in late December. Th e fi rst one was “Tell the truth.” I never thought I didn’t tell the truth, but as I tried to keep the resolution on a moment-to-moment basis, I realized how much a small lie lubricates social interactions. I found a way around those and counted down the Th is year no resolution came to mind. I’ve been work- months till I could indulge in them once again. ing on a question, though: “What would it be like if you About some things, you just have to lie. Clogging, for felt really loved?” example. I had someone ask me once how I liked clog- Maybe the resolution is to wonder about this ques- ging. (We used to live in the Appalachian region, and tion. When I feel loved, my mind breathes better. My there was a good bit of it going on at fairs and festivals.) body relaxes. My behavior steadies. Something in my I answered that clog dancing held a special place in my spirit opens like a rose. I want to feel it if I can, from the heart. It does: the place where I imagine hell, if there people around me or from the Spirit of Love that fl ows were one, and what it would like an ancient river through be like. For me it would be “There is a vitality, a life force, the universe. fi lling out paperwork while an energy, a quickening that On my fi rst CD, I printed a quotation from a letter a fl atbed truck full of white is translated through you into people clogged in the back- Martha Graham sent to Agnes ground to a speeded-up track action, and because there is only de Mille. According to Agnes of “Give Me Th at Old-Time one of you in all of time, this de Mille: “I was bewildered Rock and Roll.” and worried that my entire Telling the truth was what expression is unique ...” scale of values was untrust- I paid attention to that whole worthy ... I confessed that I year, discovering that my untruths mainly consisted of had a burning desire to be excellent, but no faith that I lies I told to myself. could be. Martha said to me, very quietly, “Be quiet” was the next year’s resolution. It fl oated ‘Th ere is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening into my head during prayer and meditation. I did an that is translated through you into action, and because inner double take. “What? I make my living speaking. there is only one of you in all of time, this expression is How can I be quiet?” Th e Universe responded with— unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through well, with quiet. I had to fi gure it out. It turned out that any other medium and it will be lost. Th e world will not I needed to pay attention to being quiet inside, to not have it. It is not your business to determine how good having to have an answer for every question I was asked, it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other to being content to let others dominate a group discus- expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly sion, to not voicing every opinion that was in my head. and directly, to keep the channel open.’ ” Over the years there have been some easy resolu- When I feel loved, it’s easy to keep the channel open, tions and some hard ones. Who could have known that and that’s really what I want. the year I resolved to “enjoy life” would turn into one Maybe I could get really good at loving the world just big challenge? Th ere you go. Th e Universe/God/Spirit/ every other day. Maybe on that day I could love myself Wisdom is like that sometimes. continued on page 2 First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin January 2013 What if you were really PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS loved? continued from page 1 as well. Just every other day, How big are we? Why does let go of self-improvement and challenging other it matter? ... conclusion people’s mistakes. I invite by Susan Thomson you to think about doing this, too. Every other day, Several months ago I began using this newsletter space maybe we could let go of to share with you my thoughts about growth at First wondering if we are good enough, of wondering if UU. These are based on a book by Loren Mead, “More we are doing it right. Every Than Numbers: The Way Churches Grow.” other day rest, if we can, in forming lives, witnessing to justice and the warm animal pleasures Mead describes four aspects of church of wind, water, food, earth, growth, the most obvious being numer- providing intentional hospitality. Our friends, love and beauty. ical growth. The others include: mission and our ends were discerned by Every other day put in • Organic growth-building the the board from input from the congrega- abeyance the drive to feel organizational structures and infrastruc- tion provided during a series of sessions that we are smart enough, ture and developing the practices and called “Bridge to Our Future” in 2010. thin enough, cool enough, processes that result in a dependable, I believe implicit if not explicit in our doing enough. stable network of human relationships mission and our ends is a desire to grow. The reason I wonder and systems in which we can grow and Certainly we don’t want to limit nourish- about doing it every other from which we can make a difference ing souls and transforming lives to the day is that, having read • Maturational growth-the ability of lucky ones of us who have already found Kant, I have to ask what the a congregation to encourage all mem- our church. We don’t want to limit our world would be like if all bers to grow in the maturity of their hospitality to just ourselves, do we? And of us did this every day. I’m faith and deepen their spiritual roots as more of us witness to justice by taking not sure how well it would and religious imagination our values and our UU faith out beyond work. Maybe we would • Incarnational the walls of our church, melt into self-satisfied goo. growth-the ability I believe implicit more people will learn On the other hand, the to take the meanings if not explicit in our about and want to join world would be sour and and values of our mission and our ends our community. clammy if we didn’t do it UU faith and make Organic growth, the at all. So, on alternate days them real in the world is a desire to grow. other aspect of church we can all agree that this is beyond our walls, our growth, presents the New Age pap, and we can efforts to make the world a better place. greatest challenge to us now. This has to sharpen our intellectual Too often churches focus on numeri- do with infrastructure, including space claws in ourselves and one cal growth and to some extent organic and facility issues. Rev. Meg has held another with edgy glee. It’s January. I’m growing growth to the detriment of maturation- three town hall meetings to discuss our aware that I do have a reso- al and incarnational growth. Most of us future and space concerns. I attended lution for the year: I get to would agree that our church should be all three meetings to listen to what you wonder about love. Maybe about maturational and incarnational had to say. There seemed to be general being grounded in love growth. In fact, I was struck in think- agreement that our facilities are not makes change easier, rather ing about Mead’s aspects of church adequate to meet the needs of our cur- than lulling us into staying growth how much our church’s mission rent congregation, much less the size we the same. Maybe if we felt reflects a desire for maturational and might become. A variety of opinions were safer we would grow more incarnational growth. “We gather in expressed about solutions, both short and freely. What if we felt really community to nourish souls, transform long term, but we are very early in the loved? This year, I mean to lives and do justice.” We also have three process of making any kind of decisions. find out. May you feel it as sets of ends, or goals, that expand upon Here is what I believe. Unless we well. our mission: nourishing souls, trans- choose not to live our continued on page 3 2 January 2013 First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin MEMBER PROFILE Brooks Lewis ... feet on the earth, head in the sky “Earth-centered religions have been a part of Brooks Lewis’ spiritual life since the 1960s. Lewis, the new leader of the First UU Yew Grove group, started out as a Buddhist more than 40 years ago. Around that same time, he had several friends who followed the Druid Path, which he also explored.

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