Change might be exciting or nerve-wracking, but it is inevitable. According to the Buddha, impermanence is one of the three inescapable facts of existence. It is the nature of reality to change.
How do you feel about change? Does it enliven you, or scare you? Do you hope for it or dread it? What would it be like to simply accept change as inevitable?
We have been through an enormous amount of change as a community in the past few years. The pandemic has changed us as individuals and as a people. Coming back together this church year, we are learning how to be with one another again. There is so much joy and celebration in our connecting, and there is also adjusting as we learn and renew community.
Practice will help us both remember and create community. We can lean on our tools: covenant, listening, love. We can turn our attention towards hope and connection, feeding what nourishes us.
The changes will keep coming this year: we will conclude our endowment campaign; I will leave on sabbatical; you will experience excellent guest ministers in the pulpit (see the Committee on Ministry article to learn more) and an Assistant Sabbatical Minister, Rev. Jim Foti, arriving in February. Inevitably, there will be more COVID changes, life changes, and seasonal changes. But we will be together in it, holding hands, turning our faces towards the sun.
With Love,
Rev. Jennifer Nordstrom, Senior Minister