Teresa’s Note: October 25, 2024

Dear friends and members of University UMC: The poet Andrea Gibson has been known to say that “fine” is one of the worst words because it never tells the truth. “How are you?”, someone asks. “Oh, fine”, we respond. Perhaps we say we’re fine because it’s quicker than trying to tell the whole truth. Perhaps we say we’re fine because we wonder if the person asking really wants to hear the whole truth of how we’re actually doing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - we are living in tender and tenuous times. I don’t know anyone who is truly, 100% fine each moment of every day. But many of these same people I know also delight in moments of genuine joy throughout the week. I know people who plan birthday parties while also doom-scrolling. I know people who worry about their children's and grandchildren’s futures and then blissfully lose themselves in fun times spent with those same children. I know people who look to the presidential election and fear the worst-case scenario while also experiencing a deep sense of meaning and purpose in the living of their lives. Father Richard Rohr teaches us about the importance of “both/and” thinking as opposed to “either/or.” Indeed our days are filled with the “both/and-ness” of life. Joy and sorrow. Hope and fear. Through it all God is with us and we have the gift of one another.  This Sunday I begin a new sermon series on grief and loss. We begin this series as we look to the upcoming election, All Saints Sunday, and the holiday season that is rapidly approaching. No matter what we’re experiencing and no matter what the future holds, “both/and” thinking can help us navigate these days. In these next few weeks, as I read and prepare for Sunday sermons, I’ll also be sharing various quotes, books, and other resources that I’ve found helpful here in my Friday Note. I hope you take the time to look below and see what might spark your interest. The video on empathy and sympathy by Brené Brown is one of my favorites. You’ll also find a video from a worship service this summer when a few families came together to sing the song “Meditation on Breathing” It has such a great message for us as we live these days: “When I breathe in I breathe in peace. When I breathe out I breathe out love.” May it be so! What a joy to be your pastor! Teresa What’s the difference between Empathy and Sympathy? Brené Brown shares in this video. It is brief and powerful, delightful and poignant. Watch the Video Anderson Cooper’s Podcast on Grief - “All There Is” If you aren’t already familiar with this podcast, I encourage you to take a listen. Cooper lost his father at the young age of 10. He later lost his brother to suicide and in more recent years lost his mother Gloria Vanderbilt. In each episode he explores the universal human experience of grief. As listeners, we are invited into his own personal journey and we overhear meaningful conversations with guests to his show. One guest was Steven Colbert who says: “We think we can win against grief. We think we can fix it, but we can’t. We can only experience it. And to fully experience it you have to accept that it’s real. That the loss is real. Grief is not a bad thing. Grief is a reaction to a bad thing.” Listen to the Podcast “Meditation on Breathing” This song by Sarah Dan Jones was shared in worship earlier this year. Take a listen. Enjoy and maybe even sing along! These are good words to hum along as you go about your busy day. Stolen Lives Art Display at UUMC UUMC is currently working with Texas Impact on a state-wide installation campaign called “Vidas Robadas” or “Stolen Lives.” Every year lives are lost to gun violence through homicide and suicide. Vidas Robadas seeks to raise awareness by representing the names of those lost on a shirt that will be displayed here at the church. To learn more about this initiative and the work Texas Impact is doing visit their website LIBERATION THEOLOGIAN GUSTAVO GUTIÉRREZ Earlier this week Gustavo Gutiérrez died in Limu, Peru. He was a Catholic priest and will forever be known as the father of liberation theology. His dream for the world is that no person would be indifferent when faced with the drama of poverty and exclusion. He preached saying, “If there is no friendship with the poor and no sharing of the life of the poor, then there is no authentic commitment to liberation, because love exists only among equals (from his book A Theology of Liberation). I am grateful for his life and legacy. Grief Astronomer by Andrea Gibson A difficult life is not less worth living than a gentle one. Joy is simply easier to carry than sorrow. And your heart could lift a city from how long you’ve spent holding what’s been nearly impossible to hold. This world needs those who know how to do that. Those who could find a tunnel that has no light at the end of it, and hold it up like a telescope to know the darkness also contains truths that could bring the light to its knees. Grief astronomer, adjust the lens, look close, tell us what you see. Interview with Texas Freedom Network Finally, I had the joy of visiting with Texas Freedom Network recently. "Members of our Just Texas community, like Rev. Welborn, consistently show us that the religious right does not speak for all faith communities." Check out the interview 2409 Guadalupe Street Austin, Texas 78705 512-478-9387 Want to change how you receive emails from us? Click here to update your preferences or unsubscribe or unsubscribe from this list