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Category: In the Meantime,

Love is our Doctrine. Service is our prayer. Justice is our calling.

In the Meantime,

When I got my initial training for interim ministry last spring I got a syllabus with lots of required reading and recommended reading, and handbooks and case studies, a small library of tools and techniques that honestly I could not begin to digest.  That made me anxious.  How could I possibly get all this done?…
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In the Meantime,

I had a great idea for this week and sure enough, the moment I sat down, I forgot what it was.  Don’t say it was a ‘senior moment’ because I have been like this my whole life.  There are so many things happening in my head that truly there is no way to keep track…
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In the Meantime,

Remember that ‘move the cheese’ thing from last week?  Well, I am about to move it again. But first, some context.  The staff meets weekly and often our conversation is about priorities.  Who does what, what comes first, and so forth.  The demands of a community are almost as many as there are members of…
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In the Meantime,

Back north, where I lived for all but four years before coming to Arizona, we know the ways of ice and snow.  For example, it is not the cold but the thaw that is dangerous. As ice and snow melt, they move.  What was solid a week ago is now liquid.  Frigid water then carries…
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In the Meantime,

I have sometimes defined Unitarian Universalism as an experiment in democratic religion.  Both of our traditions grew from earlier experiments in vesting power in the people as much as the clergy or a creed or a book.  Thus to ‘join’ a UU community is to become an owner/operator.  It is less a confession of faith…
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In the Meantime,

It has been a while since I spoke about the interim process and why it matters. While it is obvious to me, it may not be to others, and as politicians and marketers know, one has to repeat things many times for some to realize you have said something even once.  Therefore, let me say…
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In the Meantime,

Believe it or not, winter is half over.  Well, it will be, come February 1.  Folk traditions often mark the astronomical moments of the year.  Solstices and equinoxes we all know but halfway between each is also a place many ancient cultures inserted rituals.  Groundhog Day Day is a vestige of something older, hence “the…
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In the Meantime,

Did these past weeks remind you of “Waiting to Exhale?” While I never saw the 1995 movie, I understood the phrase.  It means holding your breath until you feel it is safe to let go; with that “whew” sound no doubt.  After so many uncertain weeks it seems we can let go of political worries and…
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In the Meantime,

History is a lot more fun to read than make.  This past week has been the most troubling in America since September 11, and ultimately is even more momentous.  A comic strip from long ago, written during another turbulent era, parodied the words of Commodore Perry in the Era of 1812, saying, “We have met…
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In the Meantime,

This Sunday the Transition Team and I prepared a service that would share our work and your stories about VUU as part of the pilgrimage from one settled ministry to the next.  Then the world intervened, as we all know.  “Best laid plans,” as the poet said.  Of course, we have been living in unusually uncertain times now for almost a…
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