Action & Reflection
April 6, 2022

“Activity and reflection should ideally complement and support each other. Action by itself is blind, reflection by itself impotent. Before investing great amounts of energy in a goal, it pays to raise the fundamental questions: Is this something I really want to do? Is it something I enjoy doing? Am I likely to enjoy it in the foreseeable future? Is the price that I— and others— will have to pay worth it? Will I be able to live with myself if I accomplish it?” (excerpt from Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Harper Perennial Modern Classics) (p. 226). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition)

As the pandemic recedes (as we all hope it does!!), this is a great time to reflect and evaluate what kind of existence we want for our future. This is time to reflect and reconsider how we will spend our life energy—both personally and institutionally. Rev Ryan in his sermon on 3/27 used the metaphor of us coming out of the desert—which we are: we’re coming out of the COVID desert. We should not yearn unthinkably for the way we used to be, the way things used to be, or strive for the way things were as we thought they were. If we are honest, the pre-COVID existence had many flaws—many of which were revealed and highlighted during our pandemic desert wanderings. Let’s not work to return to the past but discern our way into our future.

We are doing some reflection and planning our future at the Fellowship. Lay leaders are gathering soon to wrestle with what defines us as a church and what activities can sustainably continue. This is not the time for new initiatives nor brainstorming of what we “might be.” This is the time for facing our post-desert reality of exhaustion, isolation, caution, and being over-whelmed. We are all (to some extent) experiencing grief and trauma from what has happened in the last two years. We can’t try to resume the way things were—those activities are no longer sustainable.

Yet we do have hope and energy for what UUFSCC can be. To reflect on our new reality can be/will be energizing—because our future will be sustainable and possible. “Build it and they will come” is a fine model, but only if you have the tools, materials, skill, and energy to “build it.” What do we have right now to build with?

Is this a perfect storm of humongous destructive events—or a perfect opportunity to guide us into the fellowship we can be? I favor the latter because as we come out of our exile in the COVID desert, I see us regrouping to make some important decisions—not only for ourselves, but for all those who come after us. Our Unitarian ancestors did it, and that’s why Unitarians are still in Santa Cruz after 160 years. Our UUFSCC ancestors did it, and that’s why our Fellowship has been here for the last 56 years.

I invite you into a discernment of being realistic about our expectations and plans. Let’s do this together……………your in shared ministry………Rev Russ