Tuesday Greetings,

We hope this finds you well, wherever you are reading this from. And we know that not everyone is doing well. Things have been hard for a long time. Nothing is the same as it was and there is no ‘normal’ to go back to. Please reach out to us, to a friend in the congregation, a therapist if you need some support right now.

Thank you to all those who participated in Sunday’s conversation with the Board, and to those who gathered for a conversation in January. Listening is an important part of the purpose of religious community-listening for God, listening to the still small voice within, listening to one’s intuition, listening even when someone expresses something that is different from your own experience, listening for assumptions, listening for learning, listening to hearts speaking…

And, everything happens for a purpose, right? Or, does it? While some would say that is true, it doesn’t fit with your co-ministers’ experience. Not everything happens for a reason. Certainly, everything that happens has a cause. If a cat knocks over a glass, and the glass falls and breaks, then the cat and gravity, and the fragility of the glass and the hardness of the floor are all part of why it breaks.

And, the broken glass is not necessarily a sign of something bigger. We know that sometimes bad things happen to people who are kind and generous. Children get hurt. People become ill. There are accidents, and violence, and natural disasters that cause harm. There is no purpose to tragedy, even as we may find purpose in choosing how we respond to it.

How are you finding and creating purpose in these challenging and complex times that are also full of possibility? We’d love to hear from you.

In faith,

Rev. Lynn & Rev. Wendy