Freedom and happiness are found in the flexibility and ease with which we move through change. ~

Gautama Buddha 

Flexibility has become an absolute necessity thanks to the pandemic, and yet flexibility has also become one of the most challenging tasks of our lives! I want to thank the UUCD leadership, and all of you, for your flexibility over the past month or more as together we have gone from an in-person and online service on Sunday, to strictly online. It may very well be that sometime this month we will be able gather in person and flexibility will be called upon once again as we consider appropriate protocols, shift our service scripts, and prepare our Fellowship Hall. Change and flexibility go hand-in-hand. I agree with the Buddha when he said that freedom and happiness are found in the flexibility and ease with which we move through change. He didn’t say it would be easy, and it usually isn’t. But that flexibility frees us up to a fuller life experience and opportunities we might otherwise not see. 
 

Being flexible with our expectations of each other is something else that is challenging in this time of uncertainty. It requires understanding, patience, and forgiveness; recognizing that the values we share are more significant than any disagreement or disappointment. As the famous Unitarian Francis Davìd said, “We need not think alike to love alike”. It is healthy to have differing opinions and important to share from our personal perspectives. Flexibility beckons when those opinions and perspectives differ from our own and we need to take a breath, step back, and listen without formulating a response or reacting. In beloved community we seek to be in right relationship with one another by listening, by letting others know when we’ve been hurt, by apologizing, and by working together with flexibility at our core. It’s tough business but it is where freedom and happiness are found and flourish.

Let’s commit ourselves to bend and not break; being flexible with ourselves and each other as we dive into the last half of our congregational year together. We have much to look forward to in 2022! You can count on me to walk with you as I’m honored to be your minister, proud of your flexibility, and ready to face the challenges ahead with you.

Grateful for the strength of flexibility,

Rev. Kathleen