Let us imagine ourselves into a new way of being.

This is a good time of year, before the restful summer lull sets in, to assess how we did this year at UUCL. And by “we” I mean YOU—each of you as individuals. The usual questions of “what went well” and “where can I improve” are useful. But let us expand on those questions, engage our imaginations, and ask ourselves—what if everything I did at UUCL was a spiritual practice that benefited me, filled me up rather than burned me out, and added to the cocreation of this church community?

Scott Alexander, author of Everyday Spiritual Practice, asserts that the purpose of spiritual practice is to “examine, shape, and care for your life—and the life around you—to achieve more wholeness, satisfaction, depth, and meaning.” UU minister Erik Walker Wikstrom, in his book Serving with Grace: Lay Leadership as a Spiritual Practice, expands on this idea and asks that we stretch ourselves in new directions. “This practice calls you to live out your Principles [Shared UU Values] in a community that shares them. It calls you to develop and strengthen spiritual virtues that will carry forward into the rest of your life. Learning to see the holy in the troublesome committee member who objects to everything may lead you to regard your neighbor, your co-worker, or your children in a new light. Learning enough about yourself to decide which church tasks to take on and which to decline may mean truly appreciating all your strengths and weaknesses for the first time.”

Engage your imagination. Think back to what went well and filled you up and determine exactly what it was that made this a spiritual moment. Think back to what didn’t go so well, to what drained your energy, and re-imagine those moments: what could you have done (you and not the other people in the room, because you can only control your behavior) to turn that moment into a spiritually fulfilling experience? How would you engage your own personal spiritual practice of love and grace, of generosity and interdepence, of discovering the sacred and connecting in those moments. How could that have transformed you and UUCL?

The practice of imagination begins with how we imagine ourselves in the world. How can we learn, grow, and expand spiritually? How can we practice this together?

LOVE + CONNECTION = TRANSFORMATION