As someone who’s spirituality is earth-centered, I often think of life in cycles. I’m asking myself now, where in the cycle are we? More specifically, where in the cycle is our UUCL community? What sort of cycle am I referring to, anyway?

Perhaps, for the sake of this short pondering, I am referring to the cycle of focusing inward (to nourish ourselves) or outward (to nourish others), with periods of balance in between. When COVID-19 hit 18 months ago, our community was ready– we had a strong, growing community with the energy to hit the ground running. We went virtual with worship and programming. We very quickly got on board with the It Takes a Village food pantry, sharing our energy with those in the Polk County community that needed our care. We were able to sustain ourselves and help others.

But the food pantry was only meant to be temporary. It was meant to help those that couldn’t get out to get food and other essentials. When it was set up, I think we imagined there would be an end to this pandemic and so we would close the pantry once people were able to “get back to normal”. Yet, here we are a year and a half later, and it’s worse than ever. We are tired. Our brains are overwhelmed by the constant onslaught of bad news from around the world. And, we closed the food pantry because it just couldn’t be sustained by the work and energy of only a few people, people whose lives have also changed during this pandemic.

Perhaps it feels right now like we’re losing that balance which provides spiritual nourishment inward and outward. Maybe it feels a little disconnected and confusing. Maybe that causes a little anxiety as we wonder what we are supposed to do next.

And that’s all really ok.

Let us remember that we are in this together. As a community, our purpose is to process the mystery of life together. Our purpose is to move through the cycles of life together. Our purpose is to come together through all of this and discern how we can once again, as a community, find that balance that nourishes our souls and cares for others.

So, maybe we’ve entered an inward looking part of this cycle. This probably feels bad given that the world is burning (literally and figuratively) around us. We want to help so how can we possibly take time to look inward? I would argue that if we don’t, the effect we have on the world around us won’t have much impact.

Here’s what I want you to do (the first step): take a quiet moment (or take a few), and think about what you really want/need to feel fulfilled right now. Write it down, whatever it is, even if it seems impossible. Whatever comes to mind– one thing, many things, write it all down. Just focus on you for a few moments. As I set up new programming options, I will create a time and space for us to share this. We can process this and figure out the best way to move through the cycles of life, together.