IGNITE - Newsletter of Jefferson Unitarian Church

ISSUE 113

November 2025

As we explore interdependence, one of our Unitarian Universalist values, we are inviting each other to make a choice to connect. This isn’t an easy choice. (Of course, choosing to live a purposeful life rooted in values isn’t easy.) When fear abounds, as it so often does in politically-charged times, the instinct to go it alone or stay home is hard to ignore. And yet, interdependence as a value, urges us to remember that we are not, for ourselves, alone. We won’t survive alone and we certainly don’t thrive alone. Thich Nhat Hanh offered a powerful poem about why we need each other. Here is one stanza of Interrelationship:

You are me, and I am you.

Isn’t it obvious that we “inter-are”?

You cultivate the flower in yourself,

so that I will be beautiful.

I transform the garbage in myself,

so that you will not have to suffer.

The first time I read this poem, I laughed right out loud. There was something jarring about the vision I hold of this peaceful spirit-centered man using the words: “I transform the garbage in myself.” In a flash, I realized that I somehow thought he couldn’t have had any garbage. That somehow, he had escaped the human condition of the human brain being velcro for the bad (the memories of things, people, and situations we dislike or that have harmed us) and teflon for the good (all the ways we have been affirmed, experienced joy, etc). I was also surprised to recognize that I had unwittingly bought into the self-improvement project. By that I mean, the myriad times I have been determined to transform my garbage, it has felt like it was about me and my suffering. To read in these few words, that my transformation is significantly going to reduce the suffering of those around me was impactful. It deepened Richard Rohr’s teaching that pain that is not transformed is transmitted. We shape and are shaped by each other. Of course, our interdependence is not just on each other. It is on all of life. What would it be to choose to connect with plants and animals and all that is? Everett Hoagland wrote a poem called Invocation. Here are a few lines:

Help us to see ourselves in all creation, and all creation in ourselves, ourselves in one another.

Remind those of us who like connections / made with similes, metaphors, symbols

all of us are, everything is / already connected.

Remind us as the oceans go, so go we. As the air goes, so go we.

As other life forms on Earth go, so go we.

Or as Robin Wall Kimmerer put it, “All flourishing is mutual.”

So what will your practice include this month? Will you reach out to someone you haven’t seen or talked to in too long? Will you talk to a neighbor whose bumperstickers trouble you? Will you allow yourself to chat with someone you don’t know at the store or church? Will you witness the change in the seasons and reflect on the ways in which you note those changes in you? Looking forward to wrestling with questions and more as we practice choosing to connect.

Blessings and love,

Rev. Wendy

Board of Trustees Meeting Summary

The October Board meeting began with a reflection of what we learned from a moment in which we centered something larger than ourselves. Discussions ranged from updates on the many initiatives and programs that are underway to the Board's own professional development. The Board and Executive Staff will begin the Mosaic Lifespan Anti-Racism Curriculum Series in November as part of our church's ongoing commitment to the 8th Principle. Subcommittees will be working to launch community conversations as part of the Power of Our Name, partnering with the Naming Committee, as well as plan the Congregational Meeting coming up on Sunday, November 9.

Interdependence and Planned Giving

Planned giving is a deliberate practice of choosing to connect across generations and sustain our Unitarian Universalist congregation. By including JUC in your estate plans, through a bequest, beneficiary designation, gift annuity, charitable trust, endowment (EMGT), or gift of assets, you translate values into lasting support for worship, justice work, pastoral care, and religious education. Planned gifts build intergenerational ties, provide financial flexibility, and can be tailored to the ministries you care about. To begin, contact Bud Meadows or Carol Wilsey for

a confidential conversation and consult your attorney or financial advisor. You may choose recognition in our Legacy Circle, a designated fund, or remain anonymous. Make a thoughtful choice today that keeps our community flourishing tomorrow. For more information, please contact Bud & BJ Meadows or Carol Wilsey.

Learn More About Planned Giving

How on earth is it (almost) already November? Guess time flies when you’re… having fun? I hope so. I hope, beloveds, that you’re taking the time to have a good time: to connect with loved ones, to have down time, to rest and reaffirm the joy of life that is accessible to us even during these difficult times. And if you’ve managed to do joy while marching, protesting, writing letters, and partnering with others for justice, bonus points! But Jen, this month’s theme is interdependence: the practice of choosing to connect! Why are you talking about joy?

When I think of interdependence, I’m often reminded of this photo and many others like it: photos of Black people, often teenagers, dancing during protests during the civil rights era. These protests were often frightening, as they could result in police and other violence. So why dance? Wouldn’t fear and caution be more appropriate?

Alice Walker said, “Hard times require furious dancing.” She didn’t mean it metaphorically. Coming together in shared movement doesn’t just help our bodies release stress and endorphins. It also creates a shared vulnerability, a shared purpose, and a shared trust that is integral not only to our justice work, but to maintaining ourselves as humans. It is not an accident that dance therapy has become a real and studied area of psychology in recent decades. But more than that, individual memories aren’t sufficient for mental, emotional, and spiritual health. What I mean is, when I’m in the thick of doing the important, often difficult, sometimes fearful work of ministry or of justice, it’s easy to get lost in my own head. It’s easy for me to start to believe that the weight of the world is all on me, that I need to maintain strict discipline and seriousness to do the crucial work of change. And I forget that the reason we do this is so that all of us can live more fully into what it means to be human: the love, the connection with other people, and the joy. Not making time to remember and to celebrate the ties that make us human, my friends, is a recipe for burnout. Not only burnout, but mental and emotional collapse.

We cannot maintain our joy alone. We just aren’t built that way. The frog suits and inflatable costumes and line dances that are popping up in protests all over our country are ultimately an affirmation of this; dancing in an authoritarian regime which seeks ultimately to control our minds and bodies is an act of fierce resistance. We need each other in order to do the work that needs to be done in this moment. We need each other to keep each other emotionally regulated and rested and embodied and whole. We’ll need each other in order to heal when we come out the other side. And we’ll need each other to keep building the new, more equitable, more loving world we all dream about when this horrid period of our history is over, joyfully!

Megan Duncan

With tens of thousands of Coloradans showing up to protest our government on Saturday, October 18, I'm humbled, inspired, and fired up. Our community is awake, engaged, and ready to act. I hope we can use this energy during the final stretch of The Power of Our Name process. Over the last year, one piece of feedback I've heard is: "With all that's going on in the world, why are we wasting time and resources on changing our name?"

I hear that you’re wanting to focus your energy elsewhere. I get it; there is so much happening right now! So here’s my question to you: Have you shown up and participated in your community(ies) in the ways you’ve wanted and committed to? Reflecting here can help clarify where we might want to spend more energy. Here's what I've learned as a member of both the Board and the Naming Committee, and as a person interested in challenging white supremacy culture and systems of oppression: The work of naming ourselves isn't separate from our social justice work, it’s a part of it. In this moment, when so many people are searching for community, for moral grounding, and for a place to belong and to act, our name is part of how they'll find us and act as a first impression.

We've spent this year doing meaningful work together. We've reflected on the gifts of the spirit we’d share with each other, and now we’re exploring covenant and what that means and looks like. This hasn't been "busy work" or a distraction from our commitment to social justice. When we work to improve, we must start with ourselves. We build the foundation from within then out into the wider world. If we’re not aligned on the “basics” then how can we show up as a united community? Here's what I believe: When we emerge from this process with a name that truly reflects who we are and what we stand for, we'll be even more powerful in our social justice work. We'll be more visible, more accessible, more clear about our mission. We'll be a beacon for others who share our values and want to join us in building the world we believe in.

As we enter the final stage of our naming process, I'm inviting you to approach this with open minds and engaged hearts. Think about what this church means to you beyond the acronym we're accustomed to, the values we embody, the welcome we extend. Think about the community we’re building and who we’re becoming. I’m inviting you to bring the same passion and commitment to this naming process that we bring to every march, every volunteer shift, every act of solidarity with our community. We’re building the foundation on which we’ll stand next year.

Additional details about upcoming Community Conversations are forthcoming. In the meantime, please direct questions and comments to naming@jeffersonunitarian.org.

This month, our theme of Interdependence calls us to remember that we do not move through the world alone. Every act of kindness, every shared silence, every note we sing together is part of a greater web of connection that holds us all. Interdependence is more than mutual care. It is the spiritual practice of choosing, again and again, to stay connected, even when it would be easier to turn away.

Our choirs are exploring this theme through two deeply moving pieces: a setting of e. e. Cummings’ I Carry Your Heart with Me and Elaine Hagenberg’s O Love. Cummings reminds us that love quietly sustains us from within, while Hagenberg’s O Love lifts that truth into radiant sound: a reminder that the love which will not let us go is already among us, surrounding and restoring. Our new hymn this month, Soren Austenfeld’s We Will Carry Each Other, brings this theme even closer to home. Its simple, heartfelt melody invites us to promise that when the way grows heavy, we will not walk it alone. Singing it together, we practice what the hymn proclaims: a community of mutual care, where we lift one another up and allow ourselves to be carried in turn.

As we listen and sing this month, may we feel the gentle pull of connection, a reminder that our lives are intertwined, our music shared, and that in caring for one another, we touch something sacred.

It has been wonderful to see how our children and youth create such an impact on our church community. We were inspired by the Social Justice Challenge and made pictures for the Jefferson County Clerk’s “I voted” sticker contest. Follow the link for more information. The contest runs until Sunday November 30, and the stickers will be printed for the 2026 ballots.

Our high school youth and Coming of Age youth helped make our Annual Halloween party a huge success. Thank you! Another big thank you goes out to the youth who helped assemble emergency food bags for our unhoused neighbors to use during severe weather emergencies. Our Neighboring Faiths class visited Congregation Beth Evergreen and had a wonderful visit with Rabbi Jamie. All of these things, and more, with love at the center, and how we can practice focusing on something greater than ourselves.

In the month of Interdependence, we will understand the importance of the “connectedness of things,” starting with our Ancestors. Children will be asked to bring an offering to the altar and reflect on a beloved family member, friend, or pet. This is a very touching experience, and the children are so thoughtful. We will have this sacred experience on Sunday, November 2, in the chapel at 9 am and 11 am. Gratitude for all that is our life: ancestors, family, the natural world, and the relationships we have and that are yet to come. I hope to reflect upon all of this during this month. My prayer for you, Dear Families, are these words by Aly Halpert:

Loosen, loosen, baby

You don't have to carry

The weight of the world in your muscles and bones

Let go, let go, let go

Holy breath, and holy name

Will you ease, will you ease this pain

I know that we are entering a time of great busy-ness in the world. Please remember that you do not have to carry it all on your own. So much love to you!