Minister’s Column February 2019

Theme: TRUST

This month we explore the theme of Trust together. This Sunday, we’ll look at the possibility of trusting life, even when the old maps no longer work, when everything seems to fall apart, or the road ahead is unclear. Can we trust that life will unfold in a good way? Can we trust that “all shall be well?”

Next week, we’ll explore trusting ourselves, and the following week, trusting each other. I hope you can join us for this series on trust to explore your questions around this theme. Also, we welcome your reflections on trust on our art wall in Fellowship Hall.

Our Soul Matters collective tells us that in religious circles, “trust talk” most often revolves around having faith that life will look after us. For instance, our Christian friends sing hymns about God “watching over us” and keeping “an eye on the sparrow.” Our Jewish friends lift up the Exodus story to encourage faith that God will help us make our way even when things look bleak. Likewise, prayer practice for our Muslim friends is all about reminding oneself that you are in Allah’s safe hands. We UUs translate similar sentiments using the language of trusting “a Love that will not let us go.”

This call to trust Life’s support comes to us as a gift. After all, it’s all too easy to convince ourselves that life is a foe. So, we need our faith communities to restore our faith that life is ultimately a friend. We need the reassurance. We need to know that when we fall, we can count on being picked up.

This month, I invite us to play with trust. Explore what it would feel like to trust yourself and one another more deeply? What if you were to let go of fears, worries and struggle to trust that life is unfolding just as it should? Play with the possibility of trusting life, yourself and each other? What kind of a community could we create with a growing trust? I look forward to our deepening conversations around this theme.

In faith and trust,

Rev. Nica