Daily Compass

For many years, Unitarian Universalists have noted that while it is the most often sung word in our hymnal, love was not present in the principles of our faith. Now we are being asked to imagine a faith that holds love at the center. We are being asked to imagine a faith that has, at the beginning of its covenant, this phrase: “Love is the power that holds us together and is at the center of our shared values. We are accountable to one another for doing the work of living our shared values through the spiritual discipline of Love.” Join us this month at the Church of the Larger Fellowship as we explore what it means to hold love at the center of our faith.

What does it mean to you to have love at the center of your faith practice?

As we move into a new year, we look back on the year ending. What are the stories of this year that will stay with you? What are the stories yet to be written in 2024?

Blessings for the new year, beloved.

“And the best news of all: this taking what we need and leaving the rest behind isn’t only a one time thing. We can do it anytime. Looking back over our lives, we can hear the stories anew, choosing where to focus our attention and where to widen our view. We can let go of old ways of understanding that no longer serve us and we can wiggle our way free, becoming the meaning makers and the storytellers of our own lives. We get to choose what we need in a given moment. And what we need gets to change.” -Jen Crow

How can you leave behind a story that is no longer serving you?

“I’m writing my story so that others might see fragments of themselves.” – Lena Waithe

When have you experienced a fragment of yourself reflected in a story?

“In all sacred literature, the hearts of the storytellers are revealed in the stories, their breath is felt in the words on the page, and we may be touched or moved or stirred by their ancient art. And maybe we can glimpse a truth that they saw, if we read closely and reflect on what we have read. And we can get a glimpse of what later interpreters saw, if we serve up their symbols as a separate dish rather than baking them into the story. We need a chance to savor each perspective.” -Paul Beedle

How have you found new perspectives in sacred stories?”