Dear Ones,

Welcome to April! Can you believe it’s April already? Spring has arrived, bringing showers and pollen and a cold virus that is making the rounds.

With the new month comes a new theme, “Wholeness.” Soul Matters frames these themes as questions: “What does it mean to be a people of Wholeness?”

What does “wholeness” mean? The dictionary offers two definitions: (1) the state of forming a complete, harmonious whole; unity – and (2) the state of being unbroken or undamaged.

Our Unitarian Universalist Association has been using this term for a long time in its justice work. The Journey Toward Wholeness Transformation Committee was established in 1997 to monitor and assess our work toward being a more anti-racist, anti-oppression, multicultural faith.

It’s difficult, as progress has been made, and yet there still seems so much more to do. As I’m still thinking about Martin Buber’s words about human beings being “promise-making, promise-keeping, promise-breaking, and promise-renewing creatures;” perhaps there’s a lesson here for our attempts to become more whole. I’m not quite sure what it is yet, and I’m sure there are many more lessons to be learned on this journey.

I hope you will join us this month for services embracing both our Christian and humanist heritage, as well as the return of guest speaker Ginny Sassaman who will be in the pulpit this coming Sunday!

Blessings,
Rev. Lori Hlaban