It is good to be back. My sabbatical was just what it needed to be; that rare gift that made it possible for me to be fully present so that big transitions in life became real shifts in me.
In the service on Valentine’s Day, the children (with a lot of helpers) surprised me by unrolling a banner that read: “Welcome Home, Jim.” It didn’t just say “Welcome Back,” it said “Welcome Home.” I felt the appreciation in that moment and throughout the morning. It soaked in and made me smile again and again. It moved me from feeling a little new and unsure to feeling welcomed home and embraced; back in, as Mary Oliver says, “my place in the family of things.”
This congregation of UUFH really is what author Sharon Parks writes about in what has become one of my favorite pieces of personal scripture: “To be at home is to have a place in the scheme of life – a place where we are comfortable; know that we belong; can be who we are; and can honor, protect and create what we truly love.”
Thank you, each and every one of you, from the bottom of my wonderfully repaired heart. It also takes a while to get back into the flow. It seems I confused the themes of the pledge drive; I mixed metaphors as it were. I thought the theme was Blue Boat Home. The committee showed me their beautiful materials with the boat drawings by Susan Maybin. Their creative excitement was contagious; we could use the dory with blue gunwales from my office to put pledge cards in. I even brought in my blue kayak. I riffed on the connections with home and this congregation. Come to find out that the emphasis is on the ongoing tradition of commitment that keeps us going. We are the guardians of the legacy, the keepers of the dream. “Together we share and from this we live.”
Well, I think I may have to stick with Blue Boat Home. This ship has sailed and maybe its just going to have to become the symbol that ties the metaphors together. After all, the point will be the same: please give – something of your time and/or your money to keep this congregation sailing so that this voice and these religious traditions that are your voice and your traditions continue to flow in our community. (I do like the thought of a kayak in the service.)
Be sure to come on Sunday, March 6, to help us outfit ourselves for the next voyage out. Put your pledge in the boat. Even if you haven’t graced the doors in a while, feel good and come on. Call or email the office if you’d like someone to give you a ride or pick up your card. Don’t hesitate to be a part of the energy you help create.
The Asheville Second Line, a traditional New Orleans Jazz Band, might join us. You should too. Let’s mix up more than some metaphors. Let’s have fun with this wonderful community we sustain. Let’s celebrate as we embark!
“To be at home within one’s self, place, community, and the cosmos is to feel whole and centered in a way that yields a sense of power and participation.” —Sharon Parks
Exactly!
Jim McKinley, UUFH Minister