Author: Michael Tino

“Those that are most slow in making a promise are the most faithful in the performance of it.” -Jean-Jacques Rousseau

How do you make sure you fulfill promises you make?

“What is it
That says you have done well
That asks you to learn more
That brings you to stillness
That holds you up in hard times?

It is relationship
The beating heart of our faith.” -Monica Jacobson-Tennessen, from “The Heart of Our Faith”

What holds you up in hard times?

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.