February 2025
by Rev. Bill Gupton
In times like these, I am sustained in hope and encouraged in the fight by music, by poetry, by the inspiration of others, and by those things that I believe to be timeless – love, the Spirit, even the unquenchable force that brings a seed to life and drives a seedling to burst through rock-hard concrete and flower toward the sun.
It has been a bitter cold, bitterly disheartening winter. There has been snow on the ground throughout the entire month of January. (Hey, I didn’t sign up for this; I moved to southern Ohio, not northern Ohio!). I have been indoors, and online, and disconnected from most people, for far too long. Yet I know this rose will open, to quote the refrain from one of my favorite ministerial mentors’ favorite Unitarian Universalist hymns. I know the spring will come. I know that cruelty and oppression – currently on the rise – will subside. I know, in the words of U2’s Bono (and the Bible), that “kingdoms rise, and kingdoms fall.”
I know, as well, that the best antidote to despair is community. It is giving and receiving love and compassion. It is sharing our joys and sorrows with others, and sharing a common goal. Which is why I encourage you – I implore you – to bundle up in some warm clothes, scrape the frost off the windshield, and make your way to Heritage Church for a good, old-fashioned dose of warm winter community. In this month of February Sundays, you can
(1) be part of an important conversation about the future of the congregation, on Feb. 2;
(2) break bread together in our monthly potluck lunch on Feb. 9;
(3) think about where each of us comes from, and what that means, on Feb. 16; and
(4) experience the healing power of love, forgiveness, and our Heritage holy water on Feb. 23.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg (apologies for the chilly metaphor!).
Read this newsletter. Read it. You’ll find so much more going on at HUUC than you ever imagined. And wouldn’t it feel good to reconnect with other humans – other loving, justice-seeking, open-hearted humans – right about now?
I often end these musings by saying “see you at church.” Well, I will soon be retired, and there are only four more months that I will see you at church – so don’t waste a week! Let’s create and sustain community – now.
Blessings,
Rev. Bill