[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]There’s something about the car that (still) puts my middle-school-age children in bad moods. It’s why I start every car ride asking them what song we should play. Or, if things are really bad, I choose one that is irresistibly feel-good… our current go-to: Lizzo’s Good As Hell!
Music has that effect–it can move us from one emotional state to another, sometimes without us even realizing it. And music can help us name feelings we don’t even know we’re having, and hold these feelings with less judgment and less anxiety.
If we were all getting in the car right now, I might be putting on David Bowie’s Changes. Because this week’s email marks an official shift in the communications realm.
As of this issue, this email becomes the “Weekly.” The name Communicator will transfer to our new bimonthly paper newsleter that will feature literal church news and hit physical mail boxes at the end of this month–if you want to subscribe, click here. (If you don’t subscribe, you will still get access to the PDF version.)
In the last couple of months, we’ve already made some shifts in this weekly email. But as we make this change more official, I want to take a moment to let you know what we’re thinking.
It starts with our realization. A realization that that there are 168 hours in a week. And yet, if we’re lucky, we see most of you for one of those hours. Sure, about 40 of you, we’ll see in a potluck or choir rehearsal or team meeting or small group during the week. And, ok, about 10 of you we see nearly everyday! But the vast majority of you are connecting in community one or two hours every month. It’s just a reality of life today.
And yet, what we also know is that the sort of impact we want to have, the impact our congregational vision asks of us–the impact where courageous love is not just some nice-sounding words on a mission statement but a way of living in the everyday–requires engagement and connection not just on Sundays for an hour, but in the everyday.
Which is why this email is an invitation and reminder to take what we offered on Sunday and bring it out into the other 167 hours in a given week.
Our Weekly will include the texts and music from the service, as well as follow up resources, and a reminder of the core message. And, it’ll offer info about upcoming programs that help you deepen in community, service, spirituality or giving–the catalysts of our Unitarian Universalist path. And, because we are a community built on the promise of walking together, we’ll share any news about your fellow members as they travel the journey of life. (If you have something you’d like to share, be sure to go to foothillsuu.org/caring.)
This email is your encouragement to take the courageous love we embody together on Sundays and to live it out, everyday. And it is your invitation to return again next Sunday where we will strengthen each other, grow together, learn in new and surprising ways, and give in ways that make more of a difference than we could ever manage on our own.
The journey is not the same without you. Which is why we hope to see you this Sunday at 8:30, 10, or 11:30 when Rev. Sean will be leading a service on naming and claiming the full range of our emotions–from the anger evoked by certain pieces from Beethoven, to the grief conveyed from a song from Toy Story. And everything in between.
Hope to see you there.
In partnership,
Rev. Gretchen[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Notes from The Feels: Week 1 – Inside Us
TextÂ
adrienne maree brown’s “how to feel a feeling”
Victoria Safford’s “Call to Worship”
Mentioned in the Service
“My Feelings Are Not My Enemies” by Miguel Clark Mallet
The amazing Atlas of Emotions
“The Self-Hatred Within Us” by Sharon Salzberg
MusicÂ
We sang our new theme song India.Arie’s Break the ShellÂ
At the 11:30 we sang All That I AmÂ
RememberÂ
Despite messages culturally and religiously that emotions are to be avoided, contained, rushed through or hidden, our feelings offer us a window into truth that is made just for us.
Rather than choosing between rationality or emotionality, we can embrace both as legitimate sources of truth and wisdom.
What are your feelings trying to teach you and tell you today? [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]