Each month, a member of the board will share a reflection on the Soul Matters monthly theme. The theme for December is Mystery. This month’s post is offered by Board Vice President, Shelley Buss. 

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The Gift of Mystery: When I started college, I was going to be a doctor. I took biology, chemistry, and a bunch of other classes, assuming that “head down, study hard” was going to keep working like it did in high school. Then came Sr. Dunstan’s first biology test. I think I bombed it because I misidentified amoeba slides. And in my 18 year old brain, I thought that was the dumbest thing in the world, so what did I do? I switched majors to something that wasn’t so black and white; that didn’t rely on memorizing all that boring esoteric stuff. I went with Philosophy. Yes- discussions and arguments and interpretations. Nothing esoteric there, right? That was the study of mystery; all the giant WHY questions. I can’t tell you how many nights I never went to bed because I was busy postulating and proselytizing with my friends and classmates. I loved it. The gift of those mysteries was thinking that we were all so darn smart with 2 decades of experience under our belts and half-baked brains.

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Each month, a member of the board will share a reflection on the Soul Matters monthly theme. The theme for November is Generosity. This month’s post is offered by Brian Zais. 

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The first thought that comes to mind when I think about the word generosity is the face-value definition: the giving of oneself or one’s resources freely without expectation of a direct payback.  But the proposed new Article II of the UUA’s Bylaws, Principles, and Purposes adds some context and expanded meaning as the word applies to us as UUs:

Generosity. We cultivate a spirit of gratitude and hope.
We covenant to freely and compassionately share our faith, presence, and resources. Our generosity connects us to one another in relationships of interdependence and mutuality.

What’s the difference?  Let me explain using a personal experience.

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Each month, a member of the board will share a reflection on the Soul Matters monthly theme. The theme for October is Heritage. This month’s post is offered by Janna Sperry Sundby. 

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For any of you who are participating in the October Soul Matter conversations, the focus is on Heritage. How is Heritage different from Ancestry?  Heritage is what we have accepted as gifts from those who came before us. Heritage is our inheritance of land, language, ecosystems, knowledge, and culture.  Yes.  Heritage includes physical objects, monuments, and sites, as well as intangible beliefs, customs, and traditions. That includes religion. Wow.

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Each month, a member of the board will share a reflection on the Soul Matters monthly theme. The theme for September is Welcome. This month’s post is offered by Brian Zais. 

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My maternal grandparents’ house in Stanley, Wisconsin, was the embodiment of welcoming at Thanksgiving.  We never quite knew until the end of the meal how many people would be there.  We had the usual family members (Mom and her 3 brothers, plus their significant others and kids) that were there most years.  My great grandmother—known to the family as “Little Grandma” due to her diminutive stature, not her personality—was there until her sudden death after one infamous Thanksgiving dinner that became a warning in our family: don’t take a third helping of squash.  (There’s a longer story there…)  That was 18 people already.

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