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UU Church of Youngstown Ohio

1105 Elm St.
Youngstown, Ohio 44505
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330-746-3067
office@uuyo.org

UU Church of Youngstown

UU Church of Youngstown

A Joyful Community, Spiritually Engaged, Changing the World
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Sermon – Oct 21, 2018 – “Transformation”

October 21, 2018 • Mary Beth Czifra

Rev. Joseph Boyd

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UU Church of Youngstown Ohio

1105 Elm St.
Youngstown, Ohio 44505
Directions

330-746-3067
office@uuyo.org

A Few Words from Rev. Joseph

Rev. Joseph writes on September’s Theme:  Building Belonging
September’s Theme: Building Belonging “For whatever we lose (like a you or a me), It’s always our self we find in the sea.” – E. E. Cummings It’s fitting that we’re going to celebrate Water Communion on Sep. 7th, as we bless the sanctuary once more with our presence. The transformation offered in the ritual of Water Communion to my mind is different from some other rituals. In this kind of Communion, we come together not because we’ve somehow managed to become unified through some other power, but because we realize we were never separate to begin with. Water meets water, a person meets the voice of a person, hands pour out water, different and the same. Ina sense, this Communion is about loss, but a positive kind of loss. We get to lose, or at least loosen our sense of ourselves as being separate and irreconcilably different. Our differences somehow become reconciled. How does this happen? Well, there is the mystery, but I’ve seen it happen. It has been a pleasure along with Karen Lapidus, Melissa Smith, and others, to hear the stories of newcomers to our church. It’s moving to me the number of persons and families who feel that sense of belonging to this community, quite naturally, almost without effort. I was the kind of person who felt that effort was necessary to truly belong…and a loosening of that thought has been a relief to me. I felt that if I applied myself, and earned “something,” I could finally take my place in this world. Or to contradict that notion, I never “wanted to be a member of any club that would have me,” very much a rebel with absolutely 0 cause.  It’s amazing the ways I’ve tried to keep belonging at arm’s length, without even realizing it. But I’ve learned that effort and pushing away paradoxically bound me closer to all those who similarly feel that belonging takes effort, or there’s no place quite Good enough. Within even that, there was a kinship, a true belonging. So the good and bad news is: we can’t get away from truly belonging 🙂 Even our efforts not to, bring us closer, in my opinion. I hope you might be able to appreciate this as we approach the month of September, one of my favorite months of the year. See you in church…and please bring a small amount of water from someplace you love for our service on September 7th.
In Faith, Rev. Joseph

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