Minister’s Musings

Rev. Wanda Daniel
“A Story to Re-Member”: Teresa Jordan writes in a fascinating book she edits, The Stories That Shape Us: Contemporary Women Write about the West: “The idea that our well-being depended on the truth of the stories we heard fascinated me . . . how much stories shape all of our lives . . . how much we are the stories we tell about ourselves . . . measuring themselves and each other against someone who had never existed . . . sometimes the stories of one culture can heal the wounds inflicted by another . . . other times stories translate in less benevolent ways and they can travel a long way. a new millennium, the challenges that greet us seem almost overwhelming. We must live together in new ways if we are to live at all, shaped by stories of nurture and interdependence rather than conquest. When shifting paradigms, the historian Patricia Nelson Limerick has quipped, it is important to remember to put in the clutch. Stories ease our passage from one way of seeing ourselves to another.”; This season of the year is filled with many stories, from many cultures. At times a story is so universal, and so powerful, we must pause and ask if it is wise to discard it completely. Perhaps a more intelligent pathway would involve re-membering the ancient story in new ways?; The story of Jesus’ birth as told and celebrated by millions of people around the world is such a story. As we approach the winter solstice, we enter the time of birth. The days have reached their longest hours. A cycle turns, and the light begins to lengthen. A profound moment, and one worthy of celebrating with a story of birth.; In our Unitarian Universalist tradition, we have released the premise of THE son of God being born, and mostly we all agree that is a good thing. Still the story of reverent birth is an important one — for every child born, and for each of us nurturing that new life. Is it possible to re-member the story of Jesus’ birth into a story of the reverence of each child’s birth? From the darkest of nights . . . from the darkest of caves . . . emerges the blessings of a new and glorious light . . . life . . . entering our midst.; Ponder the possibilities, and/or lack of. Gather and bring them with you to our 12/13 morning celebration. What lives in this story to which so many have devoted their month of December?; If you would like to contact Wanda please give her a call at (719)-650-4560 or email her at wkayd@earthlink.net to schedule a time !