Goddess Circle
We have many words that we live by, just in our Fellowship alone: our mission statement, our affirmation, our offeratory words, our covenant.
We often recite our covenant when we ingather new members and it is printed in our order of service each Sunday:
“We, the members of the Berrien Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, covenant to provide a caring community that nurtures and respects the worth and dignity of each person, recognizes the interdependence of all living things, supports the individual in the search for spirituality and the exploration of the mysteries of life, and extends itself into the world in which we live.” Berrien Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Covenant
We covenant to provide a caring community that nurtures and respects the worth and dignity of each person.
I know we want to. But do we? In the past few months I’ve heard several stories in which we did not nurture and respect the worth and dignity of each person.
When we scold a visitor for not vaccinating her child, are we being nurturing and respecting her worth and dignity?
When we laugh at or roll our eyes at someone’s idea or message during service, are we being nurturing?
When we cast out a volunteer with a cruel joke about his profession, are we respecting his worth and dignity?
We like to think we are a welcoming and caring community, and I think in our HEARTS we are. But in our actions, we sometimes miss that mark.
My heart is in the right place, but I am human and I make mistakes. Help me, and help each other, by gently pointing out those moments when we are not nurturing, when we are not respecting someone’s worth, when we are not seeing the dignity of each person. When we are not being our best selves. Blessed Be. May it be so.
–Lisa Marie Fuller, President. Board of Trustees (Berrien UU member since 1997)
