As I reflect on my first 8 months with you, there is still a part of me that feels like I’m just now beginning. I often refer to this as “beginner’s mind” – operating from a place of possibility, openness, enthusiasm – not limitation. I also sense within myself a “beginner’s heart” – operating from a place of expanse and endurance. Some of you have come to see me in my office where I am trying to create a pastoral space for us to be together.
Seeing a limited number of you in person at UUCF yesterday made my heart swell and overflow with joy and hope. My heart has fractured and broken open as I’ve spoken to those who are grieving, ill and suffering. I have felt gentle rays of light stream into those broken places as laughter emerged from the tears. I am grateful for the complexity of relationships that allows our hearts to connect and resonate with one another.
As I reflect on my own Heartspace, my hope is that the programs offered by UUCF this congregational year will be coming from our Heartspace!
What does this mean? This year, we hope to curate an array of programs that center around Healing, Engagement, Artistic Exploration, Revolutionary Love and Transformative Justice. We at UUCF seek to align program offerings with our mission and vision: to transform ourselves, our community and the world through acts of love and justice. As Unitarian Universalists, we seek to align program offerings with our Sources and Principles that guide us on our many diverse life journeys.
Participating in the Heartspace with us might look like leadership. You might have a great idea for a program or represent a program that you believe should continue. We want to hear from leaders, organizers, teachers, facilitators, dreamers!
Participating in the Heartspace might also look like fun! We endeavor to curate spaces for each and all to feel included, encouraged and welcomed.
Soul Matters Covenant Groups will be forming soon after our Launch & Retreat on Sat., Sep. 18, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. We have pathways for newcomers and longtime UUs alike to learn about our roots, sources, history and theology. Perhaps you’d like to dive deeper into Spiritual Practice or you’re trying to develop your own elevator speech about what you believe.
I created this Heartspace Covenant form with the help of staff and lay leadership to help ensure that our programming this year centers around the H.E.A.R.T. – Healing, Engagement, Artistic Exploration, Revolutionary Love and Transformative Justice. I am certain that a number of existing/ongoing UUCF programs engage in many aspects of this model, and I hope the covenant form helps articulate some of that. I would be happy to speak with anyone who has questions or concerns about the form.
With a beginner’s heart, I invite you to dream big, breathe into possibility and embrace the Heartspace at UUCF 2021-22!