Covenant / is a promise
between the people / of this faith,
but it is also / a promise / between our self
and our faith, and sometimes, nothing
takes more faith / than staying. -Frances Koziar (CLF), from her poem “When Covenant Breaks”
When have you challenged yourself to have the faith to stay in the face of broken promises?
“A jeweler’s touchstone will last hundreds of years—even longer. Good spiritual touchstones also have an enduring quality to them—but touchstones can be misused, they can wear out, and like anything made of rock, they can sometimes used to harm rather than heal the world….
“The spiritual touchstones I trust are found in community. Sometimes we mine them together out of the hardness of our lives. Or they may be old touchstones we give new meanings after we understand how they sometimes fail to work.
“I know from my experiences as a UU that the best touchstones are alive. The best touchstones live and breathe as the people of a beloved community. In return, we know we are becoming beloved community when, together, we become living touchstones for each other. Let our lives be like those rocks and hold nothing false and empty. Let all our living be the rock on which each of us finds our greatest treasures and our deepest loves.” -Joel Miller, from “Living Touchstones”
When have you served as a living touchstone to help someone else refine their values? When has someone else done that for you?
recognize the good you’ve done
and know love radiates
revel in the person you’re becoming
and know you are remarkable
remember your past
and know growth is rebirth
realize there will be setbacks
and know to trust your resilience
reflect on your mistakes
and know insight is rewarding
review your bad habits
and know they bend to your resolve
reveal your good habits
and know there’s joy in rhythm
revitalize your love of community
and know it’s rational to rejoice
reflect on your still, small voice
and know you are renewed
-Timothy (a CLF member incarcerated in New York)
Know that you are remarkable today.
“One of the things I love about this tradition is that our faith is covenantal and not confessional—meaning that to some degree, our tradition cares little about what you stand up and say you believe. The evidence of your Unitarian Universalism is embodied in the depth of your relationships: how do you live in relationship to self and other?” -Takiyah Nur Amin
How do you live in relationship to self and others? How does that reflect what you say you believe?
“We yearn. We yearn for renewal because sometimes we feel like a piece of dried cardboard. We need renewal: a renewal of faith, a renewal of hope, a renewal of joy. I’ll tell you that lately I’ve been right there—dried cardboard, ready to be blown away.” -Matthew Johnson, from “A Renewal of Faith”
How do you find renewal?
