Hello religious education family and friends,
Another bridging worship has come and go, and we are transitioning into our Summer schedule. Please read through the info provided here, and come and join us this summer for some fun workshops!
In this post:
- South Church Retreat on STAR ISLAND- You want to come, It’s Wonderful!
- Summer Sundays at South Church
- Fall RE program changes-forum Sunday, June 12th at 11:15-12:30
- Reflection on this months worship theme: Awakening
The Road to Find- (revised from)Bridging worship 2016
Anaïs Nin wrote that: “We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another, unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made of layers, cells, constellations.”
This month, our congregation begins an exploration of awakening. It seems fitting to begin that discussion with our Bridging ceremony. Certainly, the move from our childhood home out into the larger world involves new awareness, perspective, and understanding, and so is a time ripe for potential awakening. I believe we experience many moments of awakening in our lives, sudden accelerated bursts of clarity, that explode like a firework inside of us, touching many corners.
These moments are connective; these experiences that clarify for us our relationship with humanity as a whole. In the 1930’s, Langston Hughes wrote a poem:
I believe I am here, in this church, because I share with Hughes that same urgency to hurry, and I think our congregation offers us a way to do just that. In as much as it is possible, to hurry toward awakening, to hurry toward breaking down the walls; The road to find.
Unitarian Universalism calls on us to nurture spiritual growth, and to search for truth and meaning. What is this mandate if not a prescription for facilitating awakening. If we are dutifully navigating our lives with a practice of picking up stones and looking beneath them- of asking questions, and seeking clarity, then we are maximizing our opportunities for new understanding, and in this way we are perhaps able to hurry our awakenings.
I like that Hughes eludes to the relationship between his mind, his eyes, and his hands. That he must first awaken. That he can then Look at the world. And finally, he comes to understand that he has the power to change what’s wrong.
And also, that he needs help, comrades. The road to find.
Bridging at South Church is a day of celebrating. Particularly celebrating these young adults, almost all of whom have been coming in and out of this building for the better part of the past 17 years. But it is also a day to remind ourselves, that we have a job to do in this world, that we all share. Our job is to seek change. Start with yourself, and work your way out. Over and over again.
southchurch-uu-re.org 