The concept of the title quote of this blog has been attributed to many different voices. It makes me curious about the idea of multiple discovery or collective consciousness. Is it a miracle, a coincidence or something else when many people around the globe realize the same thing? Perhaps it is as unfortunate and simple as a not-at-all-mystical case of lazy attribution, plagiarism or misattribution that has become so common with the rise of the Internet.
I first encountered the quotation while staying for a few days of quiet retreat at the Sufi- owned and operated Farm of Peace in Warfordsburg, PA. It was written across the top of the walls of a round prayer room. The original color of the ink had faded enough to show some age. I sat alone in the room for a long while with the words – a phrase at a time. This poetic reflection came out of those initial moments:
“Forgiveness is …” I inhale slowly.
“Letting go …” I exhale and listen to my own breath.
“Letting go of all …” I take a breath.
“Letting go of all hope …” My breath catches in my chest. I stay and feel my heart drop.
“Hope for a better …” I stay and feel my heart beating.
“Letting go of all hope for a better past.” I exhale slowly.
“Forgiveness …” I smile and breathe.
Holding History is the monthly Soul Matters theme for November that informs many of our ministries at UUCF. As we review our histories – both personal and collective – we might consider what is holding us back from a better present and future. What clarity is needed so that we might live better lives more free from guilt, shame, resentment or regret?
(For a deeper dive on Holding History, see the recent discovery of the history of the poem “Invitation to Brave Space” attributed to Mickey Scottbey Jones. Beth Strano, the original unnamed author of a poem that was adapted by Jones, came forward in June 2021 on social media and has since entered truly Brave Space with Jones about future use of this piece. As is the nature of Brave Space, this story is developing largely outside of the public eye.)
Here at UUCF, the members and ministers have decided to embark on a Land Acknowledgement Project (LAP) to learn more about the history of the UUCF property, its ownership and inhabitants in the past, including enslaved Africans and Indigenous Americans. The LAP Team (currently in formation) hopes to eventually create a statement that can be used as a starting point for our increased awareness and subsequent transformation as a congregation. We are sitting with important questions: How can we hold the full history of the land where we gather to grow, connect and serve each other and the world? How are we called to release all hope for a better past AND rise to the occasion of transformation in the present and future?
I look to the final words of that previously untitled poem that inhabits brave space today:
“It will be our space together,
and we will work on it side by side.”
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