What Does It Mean to Be a People of Integrity?
“Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?” Charles Bukowski
“I now know myself to be a person of weakness and strength, liability and giftedness, darkness and light. I now know that to be whole means to reject none of it but to embrace all of it.” Parker Palmer
“For nonconformity the world whips you with its displeasure.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Which is easier for you? Telling the truth to others or telling the truth to yourself?
What’s your “integrity path?” Is integrity for you about staying faithful, allowing yourself to unfold, putting the pieces back together, matching your insides with your outsides or refusing to hide?
Do you enjoy contemplating and possibly sharing your thoughts on quotes and questions such as these? If so, I’d like to invite you to try something new in 2020. These ideas came from January’s Theme Packet on Integrity. Each month I receive a new packet on a different theme. The packet includes quotes, questions, readings, exercises, links to videos and articles, suggested movies, adding up to way more material than you might care to engage. And the great thing is participation requires nothing beyond a commitment to show up once a month, for a limited number of months, to explore whatever question related to the theme captures your interest. How much time you spend with the available material is up to you. There is no homework. The goals are to enrich your own life by learning more about who you are and to create relationships of trust with people willing to be present to one another in each other’s personal search for self knowledge and authenticity. If you are intrigued by the possibilities this offers as a path toward fulfilling Unitarian Universalist Principles of encouragement to spiritual growth and a free and responsible search for truth and meaning, I encourage you to be present for the Sunday Service on January 26. I’ll share my enthusiasm for this method of going deeper in exploring our inner landscape and offer an opportunity to sign up. Group size is limited in order to enable participation from each group member.
If you know you will be unable to attend church on January 26, and are already interested in signing up, email me at revaluu@gmail.com.
May the New Year bring answers you seek in your search for joy and fulfillment.
In Love and Hope,
Rev. Alice