OPEN

I preached today at the Unitarian Universalist Church ofLexington. I have known their pastor for a number of years and when she called to ask me to fill in, I was delighted. I had not been to a Sunday morning service there---just a funeral and a meeting in their Fellowship Hall. I wasn’t sure what to expect.

My clergy friend asked me to speak about my faith journey. I’m not even sure she knew how much my faith journey and my extraordinary life journey are so entwined. I think she just wanted another female clergy person to share her experience with the congregation.

The first perception I had was during the preparation conversations with the folks who would be leading worship. To every one of my questions are suggestions, their answer was “We’re open to that.” It was refreshing. There was an openness to doing things differently, to experiencing someone else’s faith tradition, to welcoming the visitor.

I used Robert W. Fuller’s book, Somebodies and Nobodies for the Opening and Closing Readings. They were open to that. I used a couple of paragraphs from my own unpublished memoir for the Reading that led into the Mediation. They were open to that. And I shared as much about my life journey as I did about my faith journey because in my mind the two cannot be separated. They were open to that.

I give thanks today for my friends in the UU tradition who are on the journey!