Jill McAllister

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Last Sunday I mentioned the need to “practice practicing practices” – which means to cultivate small rituals to help keep ourselves steady amidst the daily tumult of our lives, our times.  Three years ago, at just this time of year, I was also pondering the need for steadiness, as part of the Daily Practice ritual we shared.  Here is what I wrote: 

Good morning friends – A month of days comes to an end – an arbitrary designation like all the rest – yet a way to mark what we call time, part of our constant need to understand.  (So often, by giving something a name, we think we understand what it is).  Everything moves – breath, wind, cells, clouds, sun, moon, water, thoughts, everything is in motion.  Perhaps this daily practice – this being present to breath as it releases and returns – is a small way to momentarily exist beyond names, beyond descriptions – many of which are more imagination than approximation.  

I look again at the candle flickering beside me, and feel my breath again.  My mother is ailing – first news of the day. My granddaughter was up early, in full conversation with the morning light.  Spring continues to unfold.  War continues to pound and destroy.  All women – across a huge continuum of bodies – have in common the dangers of patriarchy. What we call March has been full of these constantly moving and intertwining currents and truths and moments. 

I return again to the candle, and let myself feel the calming breath. I have been carrying a question from yesterday, or it has been carrying me? It asked me “how much joy am I allowed?”  Today I have a sense that though it appeared as a question, it was more of a reminder, for joy is essential.  It is not the same as pleasure – for pleasure can come at the expense of others.  It is not the same as happiness.  It is not found in denial or aversion or in trying to forget. Maybe it comes mostly in gratitude, or perhaps always in the presence of gratitude.  Likely, joy is always present, beyond naming and expectations. Not to be achieved or attained by certain ways of living, but the living itself.  

This candle is still beside me.  In its light I pause again and let myself be breathed. A day, a month of days, a moment, joy and gratitude – Life, moving.    And I’m sending love to you all —  Jill

Can We Still Laugh? 3/30/25

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Laughter is very important, perhaps even necessary, for human well-being, for the health of relationships and communities.  When times are hard it can be hard to laugh. And, laughter can have an edge – it can be used in ways which demean and hurt people.   In times like these, how can we laugh well?  If by chance you have a good joke to share, please bring it!

With Rev. Jill McAllister

All are invited to stay for the final pre-stewardship pledge drive gathering after the service in the Sanctuary, if you have not already attended one.

Here and Now

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I am more and more at a loss for what to say about where things are in our country.  The age-old needs for power and control, for creating enemies, the greed – these have been standard human activities forever.  A colleague related a story this week: in their congregation at joys and sorrows someone shared that it was “a good thing in the long run that the British Empire declined, but it is extremely hard to be living through the decline of THIS empire.”  We live among people for whom these are glory days – and that is extremely difficult. 

I try to stay focused on the Fellowship, on our togetherness, our mission and goals, what we mean to each other and need from each other.  At the very least, we can, maybe for the first time, take our ideals and values very seriously, instead of as topics for casual conversation.  These ideals are worth keeping alive – that’s our work now.  Love and respect, inclusion and generosity, compassion and peace – there is more than enough to be dedicated to.  Do we know how to be dedicated?  

Here’s a way.  Last week I noted this about our Stewardship events, which are happening now.  I’m sharing it again, because I’m afraid some folks missed it. “ I imagine a big, beautiful, wide and deep conversation – with several hundred people taking part!  (There are more than several hundred of us, you know.)  Will you enter in?  Will you be part of the wealth of resources we share?  Will you offer you time and perspectives, and your presence?  Here is the only thing you need to know in order to take part:  You are needed and you are invited.”

“From the Pandemic to Here, and Beyond…”   3/23/25

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We have only begun to articulate what changed for us during the pandemic.  To begin to tell those stories is important, even as or perhaps especially because we are in the midst of more and more every day.  It has been like this before, and yet for us the world this way, right now, is new and hard.  Join us to consider: what did we lose, what did we gain, what did we learn, how are we different and what might that all mean for us now? 

A note: the UUFC parking lot is under reconstruction now, as part of bringing new water lines into the building to support fire sprinklers.  Parking is a challenge!  Most of us will need to park on the streets this week.  Let’s leave the available spaces for those with the highest needs to be close. 

And, for all who might still plan to join us – a Stewardship event will happen after the service, in the Sanctuary.  We’ll connect around our shared covenant, and what the Fellowship is called to be, now.  The Fellowship is all of us. You are needed, and you are invited.  

Will you enter in?

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I can’t imagine a better time to be part of the UU Fellowship of Corvallis.  It is a time of immense change, which means it is also a time of great potential and possibility. It is a generational shift in the midst of a political shift in the context of changes on the earth – and more! I often think of a song we sing on Sundays:  “What we need is here.” It reminds me that between us we have the courage, experience, skills, curiosity, expertise, creativity and faith we need to nurture and sustain this religious community into new ways of being– as did those who came before us. 

This month there are opportunities for everyone to join into conversations about these changes, with and for each other.  Five events are planned as part of the annual Stewardship pledge drive – you can find the schedule and registration link in these weekly announcements. I imagine a big, beautiful, wide and deep conversation – with several hundred people taking part!  (There are more than several hundred of us, you know.)  Will you enter in?  Will you be part of the wealth of resources we share?  Will you offer your time and perspectives, and your presence?  Here is the only thing you need to know in order to take part:  You are needed and you are invited. 

“You Are Invited” 3/16/25

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Where do we come from?  Among other things, from a long line of people who constituted, nurtured, and maintained a liberal religious community, from generation to generation.  “Community” is what so many people mention first when talking about the Fellowship.  Real community – real connections, trust and respect between real persons – does not happen automatically, and cannot merely be provided.  Real community is built and maintained one relationship at a time, day by day, year by year.  You can only find it if you are able and willing to enter in.  So we begin again every week with this:  You are invited!

With Rev. Jill McAllister

“Keeping the Flame Alive” 3/9/25

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Every week we light a chalice as a symbol of our liberal religious heritage and a reminder of our values and ideals – freedom, justice, peace and love. People before us have nurtured and maintained communities around these goals for generations, often in times of struggle, like these times.  In generations to come, we will be the ancestors who took up the struggle, who maintained the community, who kept the flame of the chalice alive.  How do we become those ancestors? 

With Rev. Jill McAllister

Outreach Offerings For March

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Our monthly outreach offerings in March will support the work of the Interfaith Movement for Immigrant Justice, a state-wide collaboration of faith groups, which the Fellowship has partnered with for several years. IMIrJ’s mission is to accompany and equip communities and people of faith in Oregon to advance immigrant justice through the direct accompaniment of immigrants facing detention and deportation, policy advocacy at local, state, and national levels, and purposeful organizing. Through networks of relationships, we create a more just world for immigrants, migrants, and asylum seekers by taking immediate humanitarian action and long-term collective, intentional action. 

Today

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February 28, 2025: “Today marked one of the grimmest days in the history of American diplomacy.” (Tom Nichols, author of “Our Own Worst Enemy”.)

I am no political pundit.  I don’t have a ready opinion about everything.  Often, I don’t know what to say.  Today is one of those days.  I can only begin to describe the sickening feeling, the sinking in of the brutishness, the mocking betrayal of an ally – who is probably the most heroic person of our times.  The deepening grief over the deaths of so many and the coming deaths of so many more.  

If at any point in the history of the UU Fellowship of Corvallis it was imagined that the values we uphold, that we work and sometimes live for, were casual, or quaint, or of little importance, that time is not now.  If we have not yet grown into an adult sense of responsibility for these values – the time for that growth is now.  Lives depend on it. Our lives, other lives, the life of the Earth.   The freedom to live and thrive. The embrace of diversity.  The primacy of justice and compassion.

When we gather on Sunday – this week and going forward – it will be for the strengthening and encouragement of each other, to let go of what is no longer necessary and lean in to what is asked of us.  I hope to see you there!

Sunday Services This Month

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Mar. 2  “The Long Legacy of Liberal Religion: What’s It Worth Now?” Rev. Jill McAllister

Mar. 9  “Keeping the Flame Alive”  Rev. Jill McAllister

Mar. 16  “You are Invited”  Rev. Jill McAllister

Mar. 23  “What Was Lost?”  Rev. Jill McAllister

Mar. 30  “Can We Still Laugh?”  Rev. Jill McAllister