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Stones on the Road – Dear Beloveds…

1/31/2019

 
“We have to have a manner of embodying that to which we would point.”
~ Guy Newland, in sermon “Something on the Way” 3/25/18
“If memory had a voice, it wouldn’t sing
“Remember me.”
It would call out,
“Don’t forget who you are.”

~ Soul Matters Sharing Circle
If I have achieved nothing else here, my hope is that I have managed to embody in some portion that to which I have pointed. I found the above quote as I was preparing for my final sermon reflection this past Sunday – Guy’s message is well worth revisiting – you can find it in our website sermon archive.

I open this missive with thoughts of embodiment because I find myself in this moment so completely bereft of my ability to convey with words my love and gratitude to you all. So, I will put aside the internal pressure I feel to compose something artful for the ages, and simply provide you a brief list of closing thoughts:
​
  • Thank you so very much for the wonderful farewell celebration bash on Sunday – please know that I was so very overwhelmed by the expressions of your love and generosity that my brain was barely functioning…I offer this in explanation for my obvious inability to respond well to the whole “Questions for Dawn” segment of the party. The old synapses just weren’t firing properly.

  • While I haven’t as yet worked my way through the “Messages in a Bottle” gift – I did notice that many of the scrolled messages appear to be written on paper with the image of a map on the reverse side. Remember my final story I shared in service on Sunday…about the boy who pieced back together a map of the world? I can’t express how happy that little piece of confluence makes me!

  • “Stones on the Road” has been a theme that I have returned to again and again throughout my work here at UUFCM – one regret I have is that I didn’t do a better job of keeping up with the periodic written ministerial missives (titled, of course, “Stones on the Road”) that I had planned to provide you in addition to my weekly sermon reflections. You’ll see on the website the pitiful number of offerings I’ve managed. I’m thinking now that possibly that intention will come to fruition in the form of a blog somewhere down the road…

  • Speaking of stones – I don’t believe I’ve ever told you this – the stones that we use each week as part of our joys and sorrows ritual…those originally were my stones, stones I have gathered on my travels through the years. Years ago, when we transitioned from candle lighting to using stones and water for our ritual, I brought in my stones for us to use. Those stones are part of the community now. They are my gift to you.
There is a song that has been circling through me over the last several months here – I’d never heard this song before stumbling on it in the course of doing my weekly worship prep research. It seems to have crossed my path just so I may offer it to you now as benediction to my time here with you. Recorded at the 2012 Last Night Brattleboro (VT) event, please listen to “Here Is My Home” by Si Kahn.
Good friends, from whom we now must part
   Where are we bound?
Your hands and voices lift my heart
   Here is my home

CHORUS:
Come darkness, come night
   Where are we bound?
Come morning, come light
   Here is my home

For those who work in harmony
   Where are we bound?
Can learn to live in unity
   Here is my home

If we can join ourselves in song
   Where are we bound?
Our hearts will live when we are gone
   Here is my home

The spirit that finds music here
   Where are we bound?
Will sing forever in the air
   Here is my home

Ministry…and “this being human” 

12/7/2016

 
- a missive from your minister
 
Let me state it plain: sometimes I screw up, have a bad day, and fail miserably despite my best intentions. The most common nexus for my feelings (and sometime reality) of falling short in my ministerial efforts is with the communication of the weekly message – aka “the sermon;” also known to those closest to me as “the bane of her existence” as a minister. Most of us have an Achilles’ heel in our professional life, save for those annoying error-free sorts we’d rather not associate with…but unfortunately mine is considered a centerpiece requirement or focal point of ministry…and a most public one. And while my track record is improving with growth and practice, this past Sunday’s effort was sub-par and lacked the coherence I intended (I will spare you my internal dialogue at the time). I want you to know that the suffering and self-flagellation that I usually inflict on myself following each less-than-optimal effort gets shorter each time – I am becoming much more forgiving of myself and I learn much from each attempt.
 
I share this with you now because I wish I’d had the presence of mind and courage of heart to have shared it with you in real time on Sunday…to stop for a moment, take a breath and acknowledge the very human struggle I was experiencing; to be fully present in my vulnerability. I believe I owe you not only my leadership and skills, but also my authenticity. I missed an opportunity for real connection – and that is what I regret the most. I intend to do better.
 
And as my intended message on Sunday was a bit muddled – please do take a moment out of the busyness of this season and read this brief essay by Karen Hering titled “Waiting.”
 
With love, Dawn 

Ministry Matters – On Stewardship

3/4/2015

 
Where your treasure is…there is your heart.

In case you’ve missed the signs, this is the time of year when we as a fellowship reflect deeply on our existence as a community of faith – we look at the process of our work together over the past year(s) and consider our dreams for the future. We ask ourselves again important questions about what the UUFCM means in our lives – as individuals, in the lives of our children, and as a vital presence in our community. But we don’t stop there – we’re also asked to reflect on our support of this congregation with our time, talent and treasure, consider our level of giving, and re-commit our support of the UUFCM for the coming year. If you’ve been in worship any of the Sundays in the past three weeks, you’ve had the opportunity to hear from several of our members their very thoughtful personal reflections on what stewardship of this church means in their lives. If you missed any of these, please visit the homepage of our website to read each of these wonderful reflections. May their stories inspire you.

Within the next week, all members and friends of the UUFCM will be receiving the annual stewardship “packet” in the mail. As your minister, I ask each of you to remember that much loving concern and effort went into the creation of this year’s articulation of our needs. We are a young church still learning how best to do all of this…and the lay leaders who generously give of their blood, sweat and tears on behalf of us all in the annual stewardship drive deserve our most tender embrace. This is hard, challenging work…and I’m guessing we all know why. That “M” word: Money. So let’s all take a deep breath as we go through this together. And to those of us who habitually twitch (and sometimes snarl) when the topic of money comes up in church – you take extra big breaths and hold the hand of someone near. Know that we’ll be exploring aspects of stewardship in worship throughout the month of March and that I and members of the UUFCM board are most willing to speak with you if you have questions or concerns. And also know that I am in this with you – I have decided to remain a pledging member of this congregation as I serve as your minister. The only privilege I will forfeit as a member is my vote in congregational matters. My personal goal this year is to pledge 5% of my income to the UUFCM. I believe in and value the vision and mission of this faith community. 
What does this sacred place mean to you?

“I have found everything I could need or ask for
is right here in flawed abundance.”

~ Mark Nepo

The Kinship of Gratitude

11/26/2014

 
A Message from the Minister
As I have been reflecting this past week on all that I am grateful for in this life, I 
stumbled upon this meditation by poet Mark Nepo that I want to share with all of you, 
this congregation I am deeply grateful to serve. 
I wish you all a most blessed Thanksgiving. 
     In peace and love, 
     Dawn

The Kinship of Gratitude
- from The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo


The goal of all experience is to remove whatever might keep us from being whole. The things we learn through love and pain reduce our walls and bring our inner and outer life together, and all the while the friction of being alive erodes whatever impediments remain.

But the simplest and deepest way to make who we are at one with the world is through the kinship of gratitude. Nothing brings the worlds of spirit and earth together more quickly. 

To be grateful means giving thanks for more than just the things we want, but also for the things that surmount our pride and stubbornness. Sometimes the things I’ve wanted and worked for, if I actually received them, would have crushed me. 

Sometimes just giving thanks for the mystery of it all brings everything and everyone closer, the way suction pulls streams of water together. So take a chance and openly give thanks, even if you’re not sure what for, and feel the plenitude of all that is living brush up against your heart.

    Stones
    ​on the Road

        by Dawn Daniels,
        UUFCM Minister

    Yet I turn, I turn,
    exulting somewhat, 
    with my will intact to go,
    wherever I need to go,
    and every stone on the road
    precious to me.

    ~ Stanley Kunitz,
        from poem “The Layers”


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