by Rev. Dave Dunn
As I write this, I am finishing up my ninth year as UUMAN’s 4th called minister. Nine years!? You can’t be serious!
For me, it has been nine wonderful years. The congregation is vibrant and healthy.
Yet even amongst this vibrancy and amongst all that we are doing (and trying to do), we can sometimes still feel powerless. We can sometimes feel trapped by this political hurricane we are currently trying our best to weather.
In my sabbatical last year, I came across the following passage by yoga instructor Deborah Adele (she also has master’s degrees in liberal theology and religious studies). She writes, “I have found three ways of thinking that shift me out of a feeling of powerlessness: practicing gratitude, trust in the moment and thinking about others.”
How might you be intentional about practicing deep gratitude (way #1)? I say deep gratitude rather than a shallower gratitude. A shallower gratitude usually ends up being a long list of everything from ice cream to kittens (and everything in between). There are several ways one could do practice deep gratitude. Maybe spend five full minutes a day reflecting about one thing in your life for which you are grateful. Look at that single object of your gratitude from several directions and perspectives. Might it take on new significance in your life?
To me, deeply practicing gratitude helps me to then think about others (way #3). Often, there is a person or persons or an entity (e.g. the natural world, etc.) that has been the source of my object of gratitude. Thinking about the others who have given me a gift inspires me to then be the source of a gift I can then pass on to someone else.
Trusting in the moment (way #2) is perhaps the most difficult of the ways of thinking that can shift us out of feelings of powerlessness. Trust is faith. Trust involves uncertainty, but it is also a weapon against nihilism. I believe that even in desperate circumstances, trusting in the moment, having faith in the moment inspires us to stay in the game, inspires us to do our part to bend the arc towards justice; transforming that desperation into celebration.
It is my wish that you all feel powerful – powerful enough to build the world we dream about. Start with gratitude, thinking of others and trusting in the moment.
Nurture our spirit. Strive for Justice. Transform the world.
