Last week, I went on a retreat with my team at work. We went to my boss’s farm in Maryland, past Frederick, near Pennsylvania. We pet the horses, visited with the chickens and admired the mountain views, which hadn’t quite started to turn colors yet. While we spent time together, we talked about our team’s strengths – not just the things that we, collectively, feel we’re good at, but something called “CliftonStrengths.” CliftonStrengths is an assessment, somewhat like Myers-Briggs, that focuses on what you do well and what your talents are, and then encourages you to develop them. I take personality assessments with a grain of salt, but this is definitely my favorite one.
Our team had a fairly wide variety of strengths (mine are Consistency, Connectedness, Relator, Intellection and Input, if you’re curious) that help us in our work, and it reminded me of how we show up at UUCF and in our ministries. None of us is good at everything. All of us need one another’s skills and talents to collaborate with our own.
Last week, in several UUCF meetings or gatherings, I said a number of things that were later re-framed by others. Instead of feeling a pang of embarrassment that I had said something wrong, I felt relief – someone could take what I started with and use it as a building block for something better. Or, I could benefit from the wisdom of the people around me. I didn’t have to show up perfectly. I could just show up. What I have to offer can be valued, and I can value what others bring.
This concept is also at play in our social justice work at UUCF. Each of us has a passion, strength or perspective we bring to this work. One may be drawn to ending climate change, others will strive to make this congregation and the world anti-racist. Others will work to end homelessness or honor our commitments to LGBTQIA+ or immigration justice. Some are able to take action through resistance or direct action, while others’ strengths lead them to make a difference through advocacy. We don’t all have to do the same things or act on the same causes to make a difference. It all comes together to drive our mission forward – transforming ourselves, our community and the world through acts of love and justice.
All of this makes me think of one of my favorite quotations (which seems to be something of a mashup between the book of Micah and the Talmud): “Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief. Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.” None of us is obligated to complete the work of ministry – we can’t. We can only bring our own gifts to the table and share them with one another.
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