​Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Michigan
Minister’s Column
 
The small group packet on Invitation this month contains this quotation from John O’Donohue:

I find the ideas here to be very challenging. I am used to the idea of accepting what happens in life—that I should accept the bad with the good. Here, however, O’Donohue goes beyond that. He asks us to welcome in the negative things. He says that we will be enriched by them.
 
The obvious example in my life is the death of my mother earlier this year, and the decline of my father’s health as he is now in nursing home care. How am I to welcome the grief, sadness, fear and anger that come with these things? O’Donohue says that these negative things are an “invitation to an art of compassion.” As I ponder that, what it means to me is that it’s an invitation to be compassionate to myself. Negative things happen in my life, and when I acknowledge them—beyond that, when I welcome them and keep myself open to the gifts and growth that they bring—that is when hard times lead to wisdom and maturity.
 
What a challenging spiritual practice this is. Not just with big things like death and dying, but with the daily negative things that part of life, what if we could ask ourselves: What is the life lesson here for me? How can I be compassionate to myself and others in this moment? Again, the self-compassion feels like a key part of this. To be compassionate with ourselves in the face of negative life events means saying to ourselves: “We’ve got this. It’s going to be OK. This is hard, but it is part of life and we will grow from this in ways we can’t necessarily see right away.” May it be so.
 
I enjoy the small group packets that are published and shared monthly around broad themes: “Invitation” for September; “Deep Listening” for October. The packet contains suggestions for spiritual practices, questions to ponder, quotations songs and videos related to the topic. I enjoy delving into the packet myself and I enjoy hearing how others have engaged with it as well. The small group meets on the fourth Thursday of the month for anyone who is interested.
 
PRAYER:
God of grief and sadness, be with me now.
God of disappointments and failures and shame: place your loving embrace around me, that I may know I am safe; that I may have space to grow into the life lessons here for me.
May all who are suffering know the compassion of the Divine and the compassion of the Self.
May we all find wisdom and healing as we deal with the hard things in life.
Blessed be.
 
Rev. Drew Frantz
September 24, 2024

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Michigan
Minister’s Column
 
As I write, I am getting ready to view the full moon and partial lunar eclipse tonight (Tuesday). This full moon is called the harvest moon and it is a super moon. It is a harvest moon because of the time of year we are in, with the autumnal equinox occurring this weekend. A super moon is when the moon is a little bit closer to Earth in its orbit and therefore appears a little bit larger in the sky.
 
The coming of a special event for viewing in the night sky reminds me of a memorable sky-watching moment I had last month. It was August and my wife and I were both about to return to work after summer vacation. On the spur of the moment we decided to take an overnight trip to Empire, Michigan, on the Lake Michigan coast just south of Sleeping Bear Dunes. She knew that there was a chance of seeing the northern lights, and suggested that we go to Empire Beach after dark.
 
Stepping out of the car in the parking lot, the first thing I noticed was the Milky Way Galaxy visible across the sky overhead. The night was clear and perfect for viewing. Soon after getting to the beach, we saw the northern lights, far brighter than I had ever seen. A few months earlier I had seen the northern lights just a little, and experienced the odd phenomenon that they are better viewed through the filter of a cell phone than through the naked eye…which tends to take a lot of the enjoyment out of it. On this night in Empire, however, the northern lights were quite visible to the naked eye—and they changed color and shape during the hour or two that we spent there. Third, the moon was setting to the west, disappearing into Lake Michigan. Fourth, we saw quite a few shooting stars that night thanks to the Perseid meteor shower. This is an experience I have had several times in my life, including on a back porch in Wisconsin when I was a kid. I find that the trick to seeing shooting stars is to watch without looking: to keep an open awareness to what might happen and to allow the field of vision to be as wide as possible.
 
Perhaps this is true in our lives more broadly. The wise path is to keep our vision open and our expectations fluid. Something amazing is going to happen in our lives as they unfold—like a lunar eclipse on a super moon or a meteor streaking across the sky—but we don’t always know where or when, if the viewing conditions will be right, if we are ready to experience the special moments in our lives when they are given to us. May we be open to those moments, and to beauty both expected and unexpected.
 
PRAYER:
May beautiful sunsets, glorious full moons, and majestic starry skies bless every nation and every family, every tribe and every city, every gathering of people and every person alone.
 
May we be present enough to make time for beauty in our lives, wherever and however it may appear.
 
In the name of all that is Holy, Amen.
 
Rev. Drew Frantz
September 17, 2024

​Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Michigan
Minister’s Column
 
These words of wisdom come from the ancient Chinese text Tao te Ching by Lao Tzu, translated into English by Stephen Mitchell:

One area where I need the wisdom of the Tao te Ching these days is the presidential election. As I reflected recently in my “election stress and self-care” sermon, I am seeking a balance in accepting things the way they are versus acting to change things. This ancient text reminds me to be who I am, grounded. This brings a sense of calm and belonging. When I read the last three lines of this excerpt, I understand it to mean that I accept and celebrate all of life (“the wonder of the Tao”)—and this gives me the calmness to accept whatever is happening. The ultimate acceptance, of course, is knowing that I am going to die. I don’t know when. I’m sure of the outcome but unsure of the timing. If I can strive for such a state of equanimity that I am not troubled by my own death, then surely the outcome of a presidential election is also something I can take in stride.
 
Easier said than done, but I am working on it.
 
I also like this verse because it has such direct and concrete advice about how to be in the world. “Kindhearted as a grandmother / dignified as a king” is a great aspiration. It suggests a groundedness and humility coexisting with a sense of being in my power. Finally, the beginning of the verse names the importance of seeing the source, the core of things—rather than being caught up in the surface, the every day. This is the essence of spiritual practice for me: seeing a deeper truth; connecting to a deeper place where there is more wisdom and calmness. That place is always within me, and a poem or a sacred text can help me be in touch with it.
 
PRAYER:
Blessed be the words of the Tao te Ching, whose wisdom has touched people around the world for centuries.
May each of us find our tools for being calm and grounded – in the face of dire political events; in the face of our own mortality.
May we connect to the infinite source of wisdom and love; may we be reminded that we are not alone.
Amen.
 
Rev. Drew Frantz
September 10, 2024

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Central Michigan
Minister’s Column
 
This week I had some long overdue repairs done in my house. I knew there was a rotten board just under the siding by the porch. As they pulled back more of the siding, more and more rotten wood was revealed: water had been getting behind the siding for years evidently and damaging layers of the wall. A one-day project turned into two and a half days: it felt like they were tearing off and replacing a whole corner of the house. Luckily the work is done now, and should be sturdier and drier than before.
 
In my role as minister to this Fellowship, I regularly encounter people who need help, and many of them are outside of the congregation. In my five years working here I have helped people dealing with mental illness, addiction, physical health problems, financial problems, homelessness and legal trouble. I have practiced this helping ministry in psychiatric wards, county jails, and cheap motels. Sometimes I have had to learn to say no and to set boundaries. While it is heartbreaking, sometimes I can’t help any more than listening to a person’s troubles and offering compassion and affirmation. Other times I can help more materially, with the available resources of my time and the money in the Minister’s Discretionary Fund. This fund is money set aside in the UUFCM budget for those in financial crisis, and is replenished when congregants make a donation especially for that purpose. The generosity of the congregation is astounding, and has allowed me to help quite a few people—including in the past few weeks.
 
When I find myself in the role of helper to someone who is in a crisis and has very few resources, I am in touch with my compassion and with a perspective of gratitude. A person experiencing homelessness or mental illness is not a worse person than me: they are having a worse experience; and they might have a life history that contributed to this moment. On the other hand, I have a life history of privilege with a comfortable upbringing, a college and grad school education, and financial security.
 
Which brings me back to the house repairs. Yes, it was alarming to see pieces of my house ripped off and strewn about the yard, exposing inner walls. Yes, the cost of this unexpected repair will put a dent in my household budget. And—I have a safe home. I have a good job. I have good mental and physical health. I am privileged to have enough and more than enough for myself, and to be able to share something with others.
 
PRAYER:
For the ones who are out of doors tonight: may they be safe and well until the morning.
For the ones who are struggling to pay the rent: may they find the resources they need within themselves and outside of themselves, to keep progressing forward.
For the ones who are distraught and overwhelmed: may they know that they are loved and OK just the way they are.
May peace and healing, safety and rest come to all of God’s children.
May it be so.
 
Rev. Drew Frantz
September 3, 2024