Cup of Joe for March 21, 2025
“We are hope despite the times.”
That line is from the chorus of a song that has been on repeat in my ear for quite a while, now, and it’s been a source of comfort and resilience for me.
To be saying goodbye to the congregation during a time when lots of the rest of the world is in a state of disruption and chaos… it is really unfortunate timing. I know that the congregation and perhaps especially the Sunday morning worship services at UU Saratoga have been a source of comfort and reassurance, a still point in turbulent times. And now UU Saratoga is entering a time of transition, and I think we all might be experiencing this as especially challenging.
I hope that your response to all of this unsettling is to recommit to gathering together.
My college experience was particularly well-timed to experience all the glory of the rock band phenomenon known as R.E.M. They were remarkable and I really liked their songs even though I never could understand what any of their songs were about. But they felt good, and maybe part of that was because it was a passion I was sharing as part of groups of people. Every college party, there would be the music of R.E.M. and all of us singing along. Connecting. Looking back on it, the meaningfulness of it was the being together as much as it was the music.
Over and over, lately I’ve been singing the chorus to a song called “These Days.” Its lyrics are as opaque as any other r.e.m. song. And yet the chorus feels reassuring to me. It’s sort of just a series of phrases:
Connecting all those pieces together, this is the story my brain tells:
“All the people gather,” It is so important to simply gather together. And being together is a commitment. It takes work and effort. And when we gather, we “fly to carry each [their] burden.” We can create community if each of us can commit to doing their part, whatever that part is. Everyone has a different part to play. And when we’re able to be together in such mutual commitment, that feels rejuvenating to me. Community like that feeds my spirit. Gathered together in mutual support, “we are young despite the years.” We are caring for one another and supporting one another. “We are concern.” Just gathering together like this, we create an alternative to the chaos and violence and injustice that we encounter. In other words, “We are hope despite the times.” Gathering together in mutual commitment, listening to one another in love, honoring each other’s inherent worthiness, as we do that something amazing emerges. Something wonderful. Something that fills my heart and inspires me to respond with reverence and humility. And, “all of a sudden, these days” have changed. These days. Right now. We are young despite the years. We are concern. We are hope despite the times. And through gathering in this mutually loving way, why wouldn’t we experience ourselves as a “happy throng”? At our deepest interdependent selves, living our deepest interdependent selves, we are happy throngs. And from this gathering, we can and are charged to “take this joy wherever you go.”
We have felt such joy together, this congregation and its minister have! Knowing you has been and will continue to be a source of joy for me. I know that you all have been part of creating joy for one another, and you will continue to be. As you go on your way, on your way to Louden Road and beyond, I hope you will remember and reconnect to that joy, and take that joy wherever you go.
The joy of my life that you have been, I will take that joy and share that joy wherever I go.
You are hope despite the times. And you will continue to be so.
We have one more week to give one another good goodbyes. If scheduling online works for you, you can find a time when we can connect here.
Love,
Rev Joe