“Hope and fear cannot occupy the same space. Invite one to stay.”
-Maya Angelou
How many times can we say that this year may be one of the most consequential years in human history? And yet, over the last 9 years of my time at UUCF, it has certainly felt that way each and every year. One of the greatest challenges to our physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being is the level of ongoing adrenaline we may feel from the constant heightened sense of how consequential each year feels. Whether exhausted or highly motivated by the events of the last number of years, part of the reason for this community of faith is to provide respite, recharging, reconnecting, and restoring for who we are and who we are called to be.
To that end, this year we are going to lean into Hope as we endeavor to live our mission, be deeply connected, hold each other in our sadness and grief, and find joy, celebration, and socializing as we look for and find hope in the beauty, wonder, mystery, and awe of our lives together.
Hope calls on us, as we celebrate the beginning of the congregational year on September 8 with our Ingathering worship service. This service serves as a beacon for those looking for a community that places love at the center.
Hope comforts us, as we gather for the many events and rituals starting in the fall and extending through the holiday season, to build and maintain a loving and deeply connected community.
Hope speaks to us, through intentional efforts to increase the family-centered programming at UUCF, in order to support the present and future of our children and youth and the village of people striving to raise them.
And Hope inspires us to do the work of justice in direct response to the need to support the values and principles we as Unitarian Universalists covenant to affirm and promote in a world struggling to do so.
As we prepare to regather as a community for the congregational year to come, the excitement of this vibrant congregation is palpable. This year truly will be consequential and that only heightens the need for UUCF to have a strong, thriving presence in our lives and in the community writ large.
Again this year, I encourage you to offer invitations to Ingathering to friends, community partners, and those who you think might benefit from the presence of UUCF in their lives.
This is going to be an exciting year, certainly with many unknowns. But this I do know: hope lives at UUCF, and together, with our mutual love and support, that hope will stream forth from this campus out into the world.
You are love, you are loved,
with love,
Rev. David Miller
Senior Minister