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Growing With Branches
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Mike Arents |
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Our busy lives often leave little time for thinking about the big issues: why we live, what is the role of death in our lives, how we can make our journey through it all more fulfilling and rewarding.
That's why the All Souls Branches experience is so important to me. While I appreciate the Sunday service for celebrating what is great about life and reminding me ways I can contribute to those less fortunate, it's my Branches experiences that I find most intimate, memorable and rewarding.
Each month our Branches group gathers, having pored over a reading that is reflective of the spirit of the Unitarian Universalist tradition. Often the conversation starts with an idea from William Ellory Channing or some other great thinker whose ideas are transcendent, but then the unique chemistry of the group takes over and we find ourselves wrestling with issues of family, work, even politics.
Through it all, in the spirit of dignity and respect we "walk together in relationship to one another." Sometimes, I try to stay quiet and listen to the opinion of someone who thinks differently than I, giving them the chance to finish their thought without my jumping in as if life were one big debate. Other times, I find myself able to speak in more than just sound bites. I am able to try, to stumble, and struggle to articulate my own views to an audience I know will listen, respectfully, even when I know they don't always agree with me.
Religious freedom rules!
Branches Groups are a chance to study UU readings for one year, following completion of the four-week Roots classes. For more information, ask at the Welcome Table on Sunday. |
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