‘Twas the week before Christmas…and I must confess to feeling a bit like one of the elves in the mythical St. Nick’s workshop as we prepare for the holidays at First Unitarian. I guess Santa would be my role in that imagination. 

We are working on all of the seasonal holiday services and the post-Christmas services as well. The winter holidays are always a busy time in the life of the church. In addition to that normal busyness, we are having to re-invent so much of how we celebrate while we are at a distance. It is a busy time. 

The differences in how we will celebrate pale in comparison to the differences in our individual and family lives. We are all cobbling this season together…as best we can. 

The festivals of light in this season all point to returning hope after the long darkness of winter. A tipping point in the turning world. This year it also feels like we are approaching some tipping point in the life of the virus and its impact. Vaccines are being injected…here in Oregon and around the world. And some tipping point in our political life as well. It is natural that our imaginations turn to the question of what the future might hold. 

This year there is perhaps an even greater need to center down and center in on what is important, on what we can trust and on what we can reasonably hope for. As we look forward, there is a casting of vision involved, a projection of ourselves into a more hopeful future, however uncertain, that continues through the New Year celebrations. 

This week I am holding images of the hopeful future I imagine. Images of the world I dream about. And finding myself drawn to pictures of that world described by those I love. And those I have lost. Perhaps some of you are also living in memory, as well as in hope, this season. 

Today, I offer this prayer written by Rev. Hope Johnson. It describes not only a religious hope but some elements of the religious practices of caring and curiosity, of forgiveness and grace that are present in abundance in the Beloved Community of my dreams. Hope Johnson embodied those gifts. She brought them into the world with her presence and her love. 

Hope died just weeks ago. I am holding her in memory and sending a prayer of love to accompany her spirit wherever her path now leads. She has become, far too soon, an ancestor, a star in the firmament that helps point our way. 

One Love 

We are one,
A diverse group
Of proudly kindred spirits
Here not by coincidence—
But because we choose to journey—together.

We are active and proactive
We care deeply
We live our love, as best we can.

We ARE one
Working, Eating, Laughing,
Playing, Singing, Storytelling, Sharing and Rejoicing.
Getting to know each other,
Taking risks
Opening up.
Questioning, Seeking, Searching…
Trying to understand…
Struggling…
Making Mistakes
Paying Attention…
Asking Questions
Listening…
Living our Answers
Learning to love our neighbors
Learning to love ourselves.

Apologizing and forgiving with humility
Being forgiven, through Grace.

Creating the Beloved Community—Together
We are ONE.

– Hope Johnson

Blessings and warm best wishes, 

May we all find what we need most in this season. 

Bill