Minister’s Column

This week I found comfort and meaning in the words I’m sharing below. They come from Rev. Jake Morrill, a Unitarian Universalist minister who leads the UU Christian Fellowship. Their tagline is “freely following Jesus.” Christianity is not my primary faith source, and I don’t identify as a Christian. I did grow up as a Christian, however, so Christianity is my faith of origin.
 
Just as there are Unitarian Universalist Buddhists, and Unitarian Universalist Pagans, and Unitarian Universalist Atheists, there are surely Unitarian Universalist Christians. Here are the words of Rev. Jake. If you want to get their emails like I do, contact them at admin@uuchristian.org.
 
As we read in Psalm 34:17-18, “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit.” 
 
I’m relying on words like these this week, through these unsteady days. Not because I believe, with wishful thinking, that God will erase the pandemic all at once; or that the economy will bob up from its depths, and trundle on, unaffected. I’m leaning on God’s power and peace this week because, in it, I find that source of ever-present and holy love, which companions the broken-hearted, binds up the wounds, and weeps with those who weep. This week, I’m leaning on God’s power and peace because, in the storm of the headlines and the storm of my own anxiety, in God’s love, I find shelter.
 
Ever-present and holy love. That’s what I believe in, and where I find common faith with this UU Christian. I believe there is love within me, between you and me, and beyond me in mystery.
 
What do you have that sustains you in difficult times? Do you believe in a God like the one found in the Bible verse above, who “is near to the brokenhearted”? Do you have faith in humanity, the goodness within us that calls us to help one another in a crisis? Do you have faith in nature--the unfolding of life and death, stars, planets, grass, flowers, rivers—is that where you go to feel grounded and at peace?
 
May you find what sustains you in hope. May you hold onto that during this crisis and know that you are not alone.
 
Prayer:
God, Spirit of Jesus, Mother Nature, Merciful Allah, Great Spirit, hear this prayer.
 
May we be held by hope and faith. May we find comfort and meaning in the Bible, in poetry, in sacred texts, in words and images we find on the internet. May we maintain and strengthen our ties with loved ones—those we are sheltering in place with, and those who are far away.
 
May we be reminded that all of humanity is one. We are one in love, we are one in sharing this fragile, fleeting precious life on this beautiful spinning blue-green planet.
 
Blessed be.
 
Andrew Frantz