From the Minister

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

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.”

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. 

It is with sadness, joy and gratitude that I share the following announcement: our beloved Church Operations Manager Jamie Petts will soon be leaving her position at the Fellowship to take a different job. She wasn’t looking for this change, but was offered a great opportunity. I’m so happy for her! I’m very sad that she’ll be leaving us – but on the other hand, she’ll only be leaving the staff, not the Fellowship. And I am full of gratitude for our time together and her work here – her steadiness, generosity, creativity, flexibility, expertise, good humor and so much more! I hope you’ll join me in congratulating and appreciating her. We’ll celebrate with her at the end of March.

With this announcement, we are posting the position and beginning to take applications. The job now includes much of the day-to-day financial management of the Fellowship, in addition to administration. If you are interested, or have questions, please let me know at minister@uucorvallis.org.

Change. Change. Change. So much change. Once again we will gather together, help each other, and keep moving forward. It’s still just one step at a time, one day at a time. We’ve got this.

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!

To the question which is so present for us now – “What can we do?” – there will not be an easy answer.  There may not be an answer at all.  There will be, there is, the here and now, the every day.  What we do in each moment, at each juncture and opportunity, is what any answer will be made of.  There are answers, moment by moment, in how we treat people and animals and plants, in how we use energy and live on the earth, in how we rest and sing and love and dance. There are answers in the changes we may make – in what we think is important and what is not, in what we think we need or must have, in what we choose to let go of.   “Make your life a message”, said Eknath Easwaren ( a disciple of Gandhi.)  The answers will be in how we live our lives, now.  As always, that is the call of the religious life.

Black History Month is not over yet.  Have you learned something new? Has your perspective shifted?  If you are still looking for a way to learn more, I have a few suggestions.  Look for these writers on Substack:  Dante Stewart (An American Thread), Robert P. Jones (White Too Long), and Jacqui Lewis (Fierce Love – especially “Dear Nice Whyte People.)   If you have learned something this month I’d be glad to hear about it. 

The writer Anne Applebaum calls what is happening in our country “regime change.”  That it has happened before in many times and places gives context but not comfort.  The question “what can we do?” feels both feeble and strong.  Like people before us, to the extent we can, we have to now figure out how to keep the flames of love and justice and compassion alive, within us and between us.

This week our justice teams will gather to talk with one another and all who are interested in the conversations.  What work is emerging in the areas we already work in  —  for example immigration and refugee support, equity/diversity/inclusion, and climate action?  What new areas will need our support now?   What do we need to learn?  I hope you’ll be part of the conversation.

Most of our shared values as Unitarian Universalists are at stake. We are the ones who have to carry the flame.  It is our watch now.  

As Unitarian Universalists we greatly value learning and growth. Rev. John W. Brigham, quoted in our hymnal “Singing the Living Tradition” captured this value well: “Go your ways, knowing not the answers to all things, yet seeking always the answer to one more thing than you know.” Our Transcendentalist ancestors called this process of learning and growth “self-cultivation” and they saw it as an essential part of the religious life. So the question “What do you know?” has significance for us.

Using it as a frame, or a prompt, for Black History Month, the questions could include these: What do you know about “The War Before the War?” What do you know about the Harlem Renaissance? The Combahee River Collective? The women of the civil rights movement? The work of Octavia Butler, or Audre Lourde, or Bayard Rustin? What do you know about Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Case for Reparations”? What do you know about the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, or the St. Luke Penny Savings Banks, or Black Wall Street? How many massacres of African Americans in American cities in the 1900’s can you name? The list goes on and on.

The larger question – the more important for our religious lives, is this: what difference does knowing or not knowing make? Especially now?

We enter into February, a month dedicated to love and to Black History, both of which are beautiful opportunities for daily practice. We enter into this particular February, in which both love and Black History are in danger, and at stake.

For Black History month, I begin by choosing two or three books to read, and I receive a daily lesson in Black history from an online newsletter called Anti-Racism Daily. For a month dedicated to love, I begin with a framework provided by Cornel West – his phrase that “Justice is what love looks like in public,” and I review my justice –related commitments and activities, aiming to help myself be accountable to my ideals, by reviewing and renewing those commitments, or making changes. These activities are closely related. I ask myself whether or not, and how, what I learn helps me change the way I live.

The religious life is not merely an intellectual exercise, not limited to discussion of religious, theological or political ideas. It is not simply a way to be with other people in a shallow or pseudo community. It is a daily practice of turning ever-more closely to living in right relations, which requires learning more about the truths of our own minds and thoughts, more about the truths of our relatedness to all others, more about the truths of how we are part of Life. It begins again each and every day, with awareness of the gifts of life and breath. It begins again each and every day as we undertake to learn one more thing than we know, which could move us closer to peace, to compassion, to justice. It begins every morning, as sunlight unfolds and spreads. As each day is given may we choose to be present, intentional and committed to learning and growing, that our lives may be a blessing.

The expected shift has happened this week in our country, and it feels like a tidal wave is moving. Already the lives and safety of so many people are at stake and in danger. It is a time to let go of many of our wants and needs, and build more courage and more skills for showing up for the values freedom, justice, peace, compassion, inclusion, sustainability and so much more. It is a time to remove obstacles to our flexibility and equanimity. It is time to let go of many expectations and entitlements, and consider anew what is important and what is not.

There will be many opportunities to raise our voices and be present with and for others, to sign on and join in and show up. We are need of a Rapid Response team, folks who are able and willing to help prioritize the many opportunities, according to our mission and goals. If you are interested in serving as part of such a team, please let me know as soon as you can.

Meanwhile, we are navigating the many changes in Fellowship life due to the renovation work. Details and questions arise every day! Who to ask? For room use reservations, please contact Priscilla Galasso, secretary@uufc.org. For renovation project questions, contact Brian Egan at uurep@uucorvallis.org. For questions on sharing space (especially use of the Social Hall and/or Kitchen on evenings or weekends) please contact Ginny Gibson.

As always, for any and all other questions, I am happy to respond as best I can. (minister@uucorvallis.org)