We are crossing so many thresholds. The time we are spending paused from the great race of our lives is changing us in ways both common and profound. The planet is the biggest winner in this terrible pandemic. She is resting and renewing each week in ways even our best laid plans could never achieve. Our society is changing as well; we will become much more cautious in our public dealings, which will have negative impacts for our economy but broader benefits for our souls. As we slow down and spend less money on things and outward events, I am convinced we will find a new appreciation for contemplation and learning. I believe in our congregational life we will be more centered on learning and less on events, which sometimes have entertained us rather than moved us spiritually.
We lost one of our own, Sonja Ahuja, to cancer this week. Sonja was the co-facilitator of our Eliminating Racism team. She lived her life with grace and compassion. As she died she modeled what a deeper life could mean, reminding those who knew her of the true value of love and peace. Sonja believed that racism was best dismantled with education and realization of what part we play in its continued existence. Sonja taught us that learning and acting compassionately would change hearts and minds and, over time, bring about a new world.
Change is slow, lasting change is slower still. Yet, we have been given an opportunity in this pandemic to fast-learn what Sonja taught; by learning and realization we are liberated. In the years ahead, while this pandemic changes our world, I invite you to consider how you might learn anew what the ancients once taught us: that love is stronger than hate, that awareness is the start of lasting change, and that the liberation of all the souls of sentient beings is not only possible, but probable, if we can only slow down enough to notice.
I leave you with this marvelous piece, “The Great Realisation,” which encapsulates where I believe we may be headed, in time. Enjoy, stay well and stay in touch.
Rev. John