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Dear First U Friends,
Our congregational theme for October is “courage.”
For those who don’t know, these themes arise for us each month by way of Soul Matters, a resource sharing circle curated by UU churches from all across the continent. The monthly themes are shared at the start of the church year, and each month we receive access to all sorts of resources for Worship, RE, and Small Groups. In case you are curious, here is the complete list of Soul Matters themes for the year ahead:
September: Belonging
October: Courage
November: Change
December: Wonder
January: Finding Our Center
February: Love
March: Vulnerability
April: Resistance
May: Creativity
June: Delight
If any of these themes call to you (they are pretty broad this year, eh?) and perhaps compel you to write or lead something for an upcoming service - yes! Let’s make it so! Our community loves hearing from each other.
Each month, the Soul Matters resources that tend to be the most productive for me are the ones compiled for Small Groups. These resources offer spiritual practices, readings, and, my favorite, a long list of big theme-related questions. Here are a few from this month’s packet on Courage:
● What was your earliest memory of being scared?
● What has life taught you about “true courage”?
● Who is the most courageous person you’ve met?
● Has courage gotten easier or harder as you’ve grown older?
● Can you tell me a story about bravely facing one of your demons?
● What seems more dangerous these days? Pessimism or optimism?
● In what way do you wish your generation was more courageous?
A couple Sundays ago, during a service on our September theme of “belonging, I talked about how important storytelling is in creating and sustaining spaces of belonging. These courage questions are such good storytelling prompts, aren’t they? What stories come to mind about your childhood fears, about the courageous people you know, about your demons, about your understanding of “true courage?” Ponder these questions with me this month, will you? And tell me, tell us, tell someone - a story or two that arises for you as you turn them over in your mind.
Yours in perpetual sympathy with the Cowardly Lion,
Rev. Hillary
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