Minister's Column September 2022
For the past several years at First Unitarian we’ve been implementing a theme-based ministry program. Theme-based ministry means that each month the worship services are related to a specific theme or topic. This theme can then be used across other areas of congregational life, including in covenant groups and religious education. The program that we are using this year is called Touchstones. In addition to a monthly theme, there is also a yearly theme. The theme for the 2022-23 church year is Regeneration.
Thinking of regeneration, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the hit Netflix documentary of a year ago titled My Octopus Teacher. Spoiler alert! In the documentary, filmmaker Craig Foster spends a year befriending an octopus living in a kelp forest near Cape Town, South Africa. During the filming the octopus is the victim of a shark attack in which it loses one of its tentacles.
Watching along as Foster worries over the octopus, you are worried that it may die. What you may not know about octopi is that they can completely regenerate their tentacles! There are other animals that can regrow appendages, such as skinks, but none of them to the full extent that an octopus can. Eventually the octopus regrows her tentacle and returns to her full life.
During the pandemic, it felt as though an appendage had been cut off the church. Our ability to safely gather in person was core to our connection as a community. I had some worried moments when I wondered if the church would die. Maybe you had similar concerns.
Since watching The Octopus Teacher I have been thinking about other things that regrow. That stubborn honeysuckle bush growing in the alley that Will.Not.Die. The aloe branches that the cats break off my plants. The most fascinating are those vegetable scraps that regrow new plants.
A while back the internet was full of stories about how to save money by regrowing veggies. The best example was romaine lettuce. Simply cut off the root end, drop it into a shallow glass of water and watch new leaves sprout from the center. I tried it at home and it was amazing! But just as it seemed to reach real growth, the leaves withered and died. It seemed like it was only a neat magic trick. Then I did some more research. It turns out that you have to change the water in the glass everyday. And then, when new roots begin to appear, the whole thing needs to be planted in fresh dirt. It simply needed proper care and an environment in which it could thrive.
As we move further into living with the COVID endemic, the church is showing signs of regeneration. We’ve brought back favorite events and traditional celebrations. We continue to adjust our safety precautions and we welcome new visitors each week. Our task now is to make sure that the church is given the proper care and feeding, so that together we can regrow and return to our full life as a congregation.
In Love & Faith,
Rev. Kim