Covenant Groups in December and January
In December, Covenant Groups gathered to talk about “Living Love through the Practice of Presence.” That’s a large subject. “Living love” could fill an entire discussion session by itself, so how does “presence” figure in? If we understand it to mean more than just bodily presence but the quality of paying attention, practicing awareness, and truly experiencing the reality of another, then the implications for love become clear. How do we experience love for others, or for our environment/world, without being genuinely with them, transcending the boundaries that separate us and keep us from knowing and appreciating them? Being present to each other is the pathway to love.
We’ll begin next year by investigating the power of “Story” in our lives. The stories we learn and tell others direct our lives in countless ways. We learn about our world through story—our country’s history and current events are communicated in narratives through media of all kinds. We form our beliefs around them. More important are the stories we tell about ourselves—and are told about us. We base self-understanding on them. But are they necessarily true? Perhaps we think we’re a certain way—socially clumsy, not very smart, accident prone—because we repeat those beliefs to ourselves over and over. What stories are running in your head about who you are, and who you are not, what you are and are not capable of? Where did those stories come from and why do they persist? And most important of all, how can the ones you don’t like, that keep you from realizing your life’s goals, be changed?
If questions like these intrigue you, you might want to consider joining a covenant group. The covenant group program offers its members the opportunity to share their views and deepen their understanding of a wide range of issues while creating closer ties with other UUs. If you’re interested, please contact Nic Kaplan (education@uusic.org) for more information.
