You built this sanctuary, this new home for your church, your people, and the people to come. Yes, it is a physical place, which some have found and more will find. It is a building highly visible from the highway, with a distinctive and modern architecture, located in the heart of the western suburbs.

But church is more than an address. Sanctuary is more than a place. Some say it is “the love between us.” How has that been true for you?

It has been true for your interim ministry team as we experience the commitment, love and care that flow within and beyond this community. How has it been true for you? How has sanctuary, as the love between, shown up and restored you?

Think back to when you first visited UUCM, when you decided to come regularly, become a member, when you said yes and gave of your time and talents. Consider those moments when you were burdened by grief or heartache, when you were stretched into new understandings, when you were filled with joy or felt most at ease. Recall those memories when you’ve been able to “come and rest” or “be filled and go” through the sanctuaries of silence, beauty, trust, acceptance, wholeness.

Whether we’re at UUCM or out in the world, may we remember that sanctuary isn’t confined to a place. It comes from the love we give, share, foster and grow. As Rumi wrote: remember, the entrance door to the sanctuary is inside you.

—Terri

Each week, the interim ministry team will share a reflection on the Soul Matters monthly theme, the state of the church, or the state of the world. Meg, Terri and Arif will alternate writing this “In the Interim” post. We encourage your comments.

This is not the column I thought I’d be greeting you with, but as I tucked in my 10 year old daughter Thursday night, after a day filled with catching bits and pieces of the Supreme Court confirmation hearings that featured testimony from Dr. Christine Blasey Ford and Brett Kavanaugh, I couldn’t imagine sending the breezy column about vision and sanctuary I’d written a few weeks ago.

After catching parts of today’s hearings, my heart is heavy, and I know many of yours are too. If you were watching or listening to today’s hearings, I suspect that like me, you were moved; perhaps to anger, perhaps to tears, perhaps to a cold fury, perhaps to a place of despair, but I suspect you were moved. And if you are a survivor of sexual assault or abuse, I cannot know what this has been like for you, though when I see all the women coming forward to express their grief and their outrage, when I hear that the national sexual assault hotline saw a 147% increase in calls on Thursday, I can’t help but think that this may be bringing up old pain and retraumatizing you.

As Unitarian Universalists, we did not see our values reflected in today’s Supreme Court hearings, or in the words and deeds of many of our national leaders.

Thankfully, after a challenging day, I got to go to church. As I sat with members of the Transition Team and as we checked in, sharing the state of our hearts and spirits, I remembered that church can be a place of sanctuary and support. I was reminded again that none of us is alone, and that when we share the burdens of our heart and spirit, it all becomes just a bit easier to carry. As we go through our days today, and tomorrow, and in the days after, let us remember that as we find sanctuary in the church, in our relationships with each other, we can also be sanctuary for others. Sanctuary for survivors of abuse and assault, sanctuary for those on whom the current political climate weighs most heavily, sanctuary for those under greatest threat of violence.

—Arif

 

Each week, the interim ministry team will share a reflection on the Soul Matters monthly theme, the state of the church, or the state of the world. Meg, Terri and Arif will alternate writing this “In the Interim” post. We encourage your comments.