Dear Ones:

As I write these words, spring is arriving. The signs are all around us. What a wonderful time of year: lengthening daylight hours, warming afternoons, the return of regular birdsong, mud, crocuses and daffodils breaking through the thawing ground, red buds beginning to dot tree branches, that aroma of petrichor after rain. Even the stray carpenter ant traipsing across the floor at UUSE is a wonderful sign of spring (though we’ll have to watch that!)

I also love the contours of our spring liturgical life at UUSE—the way spring-themed words and music make their way into our Sunday services (“Morning Has Broken,” “I thank you God for most this Amazing Day, “O Life That Maketh All Things New”). There’s a familiar, comforting rhythm to our congregational life in spring: our Easter music service, our celebration of Earth Day, Mayfair (our newest UUSE tradition), Flower Communion and Annual Meeting on the third Sunday of May, Affirmation in early June, Children and Youth Ministry Sunday in mid-June. Yes, there’s a familiar, comforting rhythm to it all. I hope it’s as meaningful to you as it is to me.

As I reflect more deeply, I notice a familiar, comforting feeling beneath the surface: joy! I notice excitement and anticipation. I notice a lightness of being that wasn’t there just a few weeks ago. I notice new reserves of energy that weren’t there in late February. Yes, joy! Maybe I associate this time of year with fond memories from childhood: the Easter Bunny will visit soon. Little league baseball will begin soon. Rehearsals for end-of-year band and orchestra concerts are underway. And of course, the lengthening, warming days would have meant opportunities to be outside in the woods with friends for hours on end, playing, exploring, imagining.

I need this joy in my life. How about you? So much of what is happening in our nation and our world is heavy, is frightening, is painful, is demoralizing. Though we can’t stop it, there are actions we can take and ways we can live that help us to stay safe, healthy, resilient and engaged. And for me, finding joy, feeling joy, expressing joy is essential. Having joy in my life helps me stay focused and clear about what I can do to make a difference in response to all that is happening. Finding joy, feeling joy, expressing joy reminds me I am human, reminds me I inhabit a body that needs care and nurture. Finding joy reminds me that whatever heavy, frightening, painful, demoralizing things happen in the wider world, they can’t rob me of my humanity. Maybe that’s why joy matters: our joy is a proclamation of our humanity. Yes, I think that’s it.

Our ministry theme for April is joy. I urge you, through the course of this month and beyond, to pursue what gives you joy. Find your joy, and let it proclaim your humanity.

With love, care, and joy,

Rev. Josh Pawelek

#AprilNewsletter