50 Bloomfield Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105 Tel: (860) 233-9897 / FAX 233-1333 Email: firstunitarian@ushartford.com Reverend Barbara Jamestone, PhD

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Homily The Rev. Dr. Terasa Cooley Pledge Sunday April 11, 2005         One of my favorite quotes is this one from Frederick Buechner:  “Listen to your life.  See it for the fathomless mystery that it is.  In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”          It occurs to me that you could say the same thing about listening to a congregation.  I’ve been listening to this congregation for almost five years now, and what I’ve heard is a great deal that is holy and full of grace -- from the day-to-day work of the church, to the moments of celebration, to the sharings of great griefs together.           What made me fall in love with this congregation in the very beginning was this very glimpse of grace.  What I saw first through the wonderful search committee, and then as I grew to know the rest of you, was a deep desire for spiritual connection, understood and manifest in many different ways and at different levels, but nonetheless almost universally present. I saw it in the response to the themes and stories of my sermons. I saw it in your enthusiastic embrace of and participation in small group ministry and other adult programs. I saw it in your desire to connect with the community around you through more focused efforts in social justice. I saw it in your willingness to hire another minister to deepen the spiritual experience of our children. I saw it in your desire to serve one another through the Caring Network and so many other community activities. I saw it in your overwhelming affirmation of your desire to become a Welcoming congregation to gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual people. At the heart of all of this and so much more it has seemed to me that all these efforts grow out of a desire to grow yourselves, to listen to yourselves, to feel connected to something more than yourself.  What seems to be awakening in so many of you is the realization that to grow inwardly, means to extend ourselves outwardly through giving to others.  The leadership has listened to the congregation alongside me these years and they have heard this desire become manifest first in the mission / vision process, then the strategic planning process, and then in the building of a new governance structure.  All these efforts were aimed at making this a congregation where this desire to grow inwardly and outwardly can be supported and encouraged and nurtured, and we are succeeding in this goal. It warms my heart to see how so many of you find growth and sustenance here.  It also grieves me to leave you, but I know that you will find someone best suited to help you move to the next level of meeting your evolving needs.  All you need to do is to trust yourselves, and listen to yourselves. Listen to and trust your deepest desires for this religious community Listen to and trust your own depths of skill and ability and capacity for change Listen to and trust your own generosity that is growing within you as a part of your own spiritual growth. “Listen to your life.  See it for the fathomless mystery that it is.  In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.”

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