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"Sacred Pause"
I was speaking with my elder progeny last week about the challenges of understanding mysterious and unpredictable body responses to food. My own history with trying to understand what foods were or were not beneficial to me is convoluted at best – a frustrating Gordian Knot at worst. My kiddo and I concluded that, in the absence of clear answers, monitoring for a while seemed best. Taking a pause to re-calibrate understanding, to observe without conclusions.
That kind of ambiguity is HARD. That inconclusive space can give rise to feelings of anxiety, danger, even despair. Yet very often, the antidote to anxiety and overwhelm is not action, but rest. It is deeply counterintuitive (ask me how I know). And yet acting from urgency, which is founded on a feeling of scarcity or lack, rarely gets us closer to the Beloved Community. Or healing, resolution, justice, or repair. Instead, choosing to observe and re-calibrate, choosing to assess without analysis, or drawing conclusions is one very important way of living by our values rather than our fears. Like good little scientists, we ask questions, then pause while the data rolls in.
We are in several kinds of in-between space at UUFS right now. The temptation to latch on to what is known can be incredibly compelling. And yet “the way we’ve always done it” doesn’t quite fit anymore, not like it used to. As a result, we are in the midst of a beautiful opportunity to gently, tenderly, lovingly…pause. To notice our anxieties, but also to notice what is actually continuing to work for our community…and by turns, to notice what is no longer serving us, our community, and our ministry to the world.
It makes me think of saguaro cacti (in my beloved Southwestern US). They thrive in desolate or isolated environments, with a deep taproot and a secondary supporting root system. To me, this sounds similar to the challenge of congregations in our complicated Southern Region. We are too frequently isolated from each other. We have the taproot of our shared UU values and a commitment to centering love in all we do, and by necessity we also have a secondary network: with our interfaith partners, with the nearer of the far-away UU congregations, with Regional Staff, and more. In this time of pause we might ask, how is our taproot? How is our secondary root network? Where might those connections be strengthened? If they’re weaker or missing, how might we begin to establish them? We won’t know the answer to any of these questions until we pause and reflect with ourselves and with each other. Discern together in quiet, goal-free wondering for a while. The system is wise, and will tell us everything we need to know, if we just pause to notice the messages.
I offer you a prayer of pause this month. Whether what you need is rest and restoration, or time to re-calibrate what you know or thought you knew, may your reflection time be rich and informative and, for now, conclusion-free.
Yours in faith and abiding love,
Rev. Samara
Samara Powers (they/none)
Unitarian Universalist Minister
UUFS Phone#: 912.208.9917 (Option 2)
"Justice is what love looks like in public." Dr. Cornel West
*Generally, if someone indicates “none” here it means to use a name instead of a pronoun for that person. For example, “Fenwick wants you to refer to Fenwick by name instead of using any pronouns when speaking about Fenwick.” If someone indicates more than one type of pronouns choice here, usually that means either way is suitable/welcomed.
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