Notes from Rev. Denise

Tomorrow belongs to those of us who conceive of it as 
belonging to everyone, who lend the best of ourselves to it, and with joy.

~Audre Lorde

Friends,

All I have to say today is that joy is easier to bring to the work on some days than on others.

And (ha! Did you really think that was all I had to say?): Here's a challenge for us as faithful Unitarian Universalists right now: How are we called to move forward? How can we include everyone, bring our full selves, and protect each other’s joy?

I have some ideas; you?

Yours in joy and dedication to the tomorrow that belongs to everyone, 
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

P.S. Our Worship Team will be expanding their November & December meetings (we meet on the 2nd Sunday of each month at 1 pm) from our usual one hour to two hours, so that we have time to “retreat” from the usual business of brainstorming and scheduling to spend time reflecting deeply and planning creatively. As with any of our meetings, if you are interested in seeing behind the scenes of Sunday mornings at GNUUC, we welcome you to join us in the sanctuary from 1-3 pm on Sunday, Nov. 8 and Sunday, Dec. 13.

“What if joy is not only entangled with pain, or suffering, or sorrow, 
but is also what emerges from how we care for each other through those things? 
What if joy, instead of refuge or relief from heartbreak, is what 
effloresces from us as we help each other carry our heartbreaks? 
~Ross Gay

Beloveds,

If you’ve been around UU congregations for a bit, you may already know that election season tends to bring our people–even the ones who don’t know themselves that way (yet!)--to church. This is a challenging time to be committed to democracy, and many of us find it comforting to be together right now. The being together does not change the larger picture of our struggles for justice or whisk away disappointment or dread, but it can bolster hope, remind us that we care and are cared for, and perhaps set the stage for a sort of blossoming and growth that just might be joy.

Yours in the joy of caring for each other through what comes, 
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

P.S. Early voting in Davidson County ends tomorrow. Location & hours of early-voting polls here 

If you can’t vote early, please have Nov. 3 marked on your calendar, know where your assigned polling place is, and make a plan to get there. 

Warren Buffet’s “Noah Rule”:
Predicting rain doesn’t count–building arks does.

Friends,

During the month of October, we’re focused on “living the questions,” and I find myself wanting to turn from the (overwhelming, seemingly countless, and terribly disheartening) reports of impending doom toward questions more related to the building of arks than worrying about the weather forecast. Questions like “Who needs an ark?” and “How can I/we build an ark or two?”

To be honest, I’m not sure where to start on those questions or how to choose among my many concerns. But I do plan on sitting with these questions, which could turn into living them. How are you doing? With life? With the questions? What kind of ark might you envision building? (I’d really like to know! Email me!)

Yours in hope and love,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

P.S. One of the ways individuals contribute to building arks in a democracy is to be thoughtful voters. Have you voted yet? We UUs are devoted to the practice of democracy, so if you haven’t voted yet, I invite you to live into this question: What is your plan for casting your vote–either before early voting ends next week or on November 3? 

What goes too long unchanged destroys itself. 
The forest is forever because it dies and so lives. 
~Ursula K. LeGuin

Dear Ones,

We live in a time of great change: climate change (how can it possibly be this hot in mid-October?), political change (hoped-for and not-wanted, both), cultural change, ecosystem change, geopolitical change, personal change (almost always!) and so much more on both small and large scales. 

Change can be hard for our somewhat limited brains to process. It helps me to remember that change is always part of life and that life requires constant change. (I survive physically by digesting my food, after all!) 

When we are fearful because we can’t see what’s coming and when violent, unwanted change threatens our beloveds and our sense of security and justice, I think it’s time to get curious about change–to watch for it, to consider engaging it intentionally, and to be curious about how life at so many different levels continues, responds, and reshapes itself in response to change. 

Together, how do we support ourselves and each other in meeting change with creativity and new life? What does it look like for a faith community to “keep the faith,” to hold its values steadily as the world and the powers that be tilt toward the threat of destruction? Maybe we can learn to be more like a forest.

Yours in hope and love,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

P.S. Early voting in TN started this morning! Please make a plan to vote in this important election, and look around to see if others need encouragement or assistance to participate in the work of democracy. (Note about being a pro-democracy faith community: I will never tell you how to vote, but I will remind you, frequently, that the exercise of democracy aligns with our core values!)

When my eyes fill with wonder and my heart with love or joy,
I do not betray my concerns for the world–I nourish my capacity to attend to them.
~Kristi Nelson

Friends,

Most days, opening my inbox or scanning notifications on my phone feels like an urgent invitation to submerge myself in worry–which tends not to be very productive for me or for anyone else. Perhaps you can identify?

What if it’s true that experiences of wonder and love and joy are crucial to our work and not distractions from it? Why not give it a try? Where is wonder and joy showing up for you right now?

I am looking up from my writing to watch tree branches waving in the breeze and knowing that the sunshine, after a much too long season of being overbearing, feels friendly today. Every now and then a smallish yellow butterfly (or moth?) flies through the leaves, which are slowly turning to a similar shade before dropping to the ground. If I watch long enough, I’d probably see a bird or a squirrel, but for now, I’m refreshed and ready to return to my keyboard, to you.

Maybe today you can take a few moments to step out of the pressing worries of our world, or your work, or whatever is yours to worry about, and see if your eyes or your heart can behold something that feeds your soul and stretches your capacity to respond to the world with love.

Yours in wonder and joy and ever-expanding capacity,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

In a time of destruction, create something.
A poem. A parade. A community. A school.
A vow. A moral principle.One peaceful moment.
~ Maxine Hong Kingston, The Fifth Book of Peace

Beloveds,

I’m still smiling, thinking about the celebration we created last weekend!

While it’s always a joy to be with you in person and remotely, to reflect on the ministry we have created together, and to think about the shared ministry ahead of us, it was a special treat to officially celebrate your call and my settlement with a party to which we invited some of our favorite people.

The flowers, the guests, the new stoles, the piles of stuffed animals (if you were there, you know), singing together, and enjoying the reception afterwards (and for days of yummy leftovers)--surely all this does a small bit toward counter-balancing the destructive forces of our time. And I hope our continued ministry together remains productive and creative, a force for love and growth and justice that starts in our little corner of the world and ripples outward.

Yours in the work and joy of creation,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

“We all feel scared sometimes, but courage is when 
you feel scared but you still help others.” 
~Elmo, at Climate Week

Dear Ones,

I was in Memphis last weekend for the TUUCAN Solidarity Summit sponsored by UU the Vote. (TUUCAN = TN UU Community Action Network, of which GNUUC is a founding member.) Several of us from GNUUC enjoyed time with UU siblings from all across the state: we learned from Memphis partners in justice work, practiced new skills, enjoyed each other’s company, worshiped together, solved problems as they arose, and did a thing (which included Justin Pearson!) that got coverage on the local evening news. I had a good time and came home energized and equipped with new tools. 

You may or may not know that public protest does not come naturally to me. I almost always would prefer to be somewhere other than in a crowd, and not having a firm plan for whatever I’m doing in that crowd is not my favorite setup for an afternoon. However, this TUUCAN weekend was energizing and empowering as well as informative. We learned together, solved problems as they emerged, enjoyed each other’s company, and gathered ideas and energy to bring home to our congregations. And oh, what a joy it was to spend not just an hour on Zoom, but a few days in person with UU siblings and colleagues from around the state! It was so worth pushing through my reluctance and the anxiety of packing. 

Yours in the happy outcome of balancing a little fear with a little courage,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

P.S. I’m happily anticipating seeing y’all twice this weekend: on Saturday at 2 p.m. for my Installation as your settled minister, and on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. for worship!

“Libraries are for everyone.”
~Nashville Public Library

Friends,

I recently participated in a citywide customer experience survey being conducted by our public library system (of which I am a fan, I mean, they have books! Old books, new books, and things that aren’t books that I can borrow for free!). Their slogan for this campaign is “Libraries are for everyone” and they seem to be open to hearing new ideas about how they could be serving us. If you live in Davidson County, I encourage you to participate in the survey (find a link in my P.S.), and I’ll bet you learn about services the library has available that you didn’t know about! And if you have ideas, you can share them. 

Over the last many months, the library I typically use has been closed for renovations, so I’ve been visiting other libraries around town to pick up my hold requests and check out their new books. (I always check the new book shelves; our librarians are ordering books I am so happy to see in the world and to hold in my own hands!) I have noticed that some of the library branches in certain neighborhoods seem to me to be more in need of loving attention than my “home” branch (which happens to be located in a preponderantly wealthier area). So when the survey asked what else NPL could do to serve the community, I suggested that maybe we could spend more resources on smaller and less comfortable (but still very busy) branches throughout the city. 

You may or may not care as much as I do about books and/or libraries, but this survey has me wondering this: What else is, or should be, for everyone? (maybe: clean air, peaceful living spaces, general safety, respect, healthy food, opportunities to learn, grow, and thrive–you’ll have more ideas, I’m sure!) Where are we missing the mark of sharing widely? How could we do better? 

Yours in all the questions and all the possibilities,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

P.S. The Nashville Public Library survey is open through September 30, if you’re inclined to participate. Find it here.

“If the path before you is clear,
you’re probably on someone else’s.”
~Krista Tippett

Dear Ones,

My path through the next few weeks is pretty clear: I’ll be going to Memphis with a few of you to participate in TUUCAN’s Solidarity Summit (TUUCAN = Tennessee UU Community Action Network, and its members are the UU congregations across the state) and preparing for my formal installation as your called and settled minister later this month. Both are very exciting and leaving me little time to think about what comes after September…

AND at the back of my mind, I’m holding the expectation that October will bring opportunities for various GNUUC groups (the Board, the Worship Team, the Shared Ministries Council, and more) to reflect on the year behind us and plan for the current church year (which officially started in July). More importantly, the task for each group is to wonder what our congregation’s path could be through the coming months, to look for where we are called to do the work we chose and affirm in our covenant: to be a welcoming congregation. 

Over the last five years, I have noticed that we are continuously reassessing, reaffirming, redesigning, and re-envisioning the ways in which we practice welcome and embody love, sanctuary, and justice. The path in front of us is only sometimes clear–for example, come spring we will most likely have a balanced budget for the next church year as usual, but how we manage to do that isn’t precisely the same every year–but that path is always our own. I am looking forward to seeing how we wind our way through the coming seasons. 

Yours in love and possibility,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

We create transformative, resilient realities 
by becoming transformed, resilient people.
~Krista Tippett

Friends,

As you may have noticed, this is the time of year when my thoughts about ministry turn toward the new church year (which doesn’t follow the official calendar, but more closely follows the typical western school calendar). I am wondering how we will shape our shared ministry this year: What will we choose to learn, to notice, to address, to cultivate, or to do, in both our individual and collective lives? What new tools, projects, and relationships could we decide to embrace? How will we envision living out the commitments we make to each other and the world around us every Sunday when we recite our congregational covenant? 

Every new year (or month, or day, or moment, for that matter!) is an opportunity to do our best to see clearly the worlds within and around us and to nourish the conditions for change and a sturdy, persistent commitment to growth. Both we and the world around us are always in need of transformation and resilience. I am grateful to Tippett for the reminder that we need not–and in fact, should not–think of the inner work and the outer work as separate. 

In our current environment, it is distressingly easy to be aware of the need for the transformation of social, economic, political, environmental, legal, and diplomatic realities. The call to pull our energies in closer to home–to our selves and our smaller human groupings–seems helpful in these overwhelming times. I do not know how tomorrow’s news will affect me or my neighbors, loved ones, and wider networks of relations, but I am curious about, invested in, and excited to discover how our own beloved community of faith will choose to nurture resilience and transformation this year.

Yours in change and love,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

I keep hoping I will finally get it right
and become the ideal specimen of a
spiritually awakened human, calm & kind, 
both self-actualized and selfless.

But the only flawless butterfly 
is a dead butterfly, pinned and mounted.
I choose life–an ever-unfolding adventure involving 
multiple meltdowns and glorious reshapings.

~Mirabai Starr, 
Ordinary Mysticism: Your LIfe as Sacred Ground

Beloveds,

Individually or collectively, we’re never quite done becoming human, are we? 

Some seasons in life, some periods of history, even everyday awkward transitions from here to there–all remind us that living beings and living communities are never finished and certainly never flawless. It is a choice, perhaps even a spiritual discipline, to appreciate the adventure and the hidden glory in the goo of change. 

This time of year is always interesting to me, as we transition from summer to fall, from Summer Song Sundays to the main body of our church year, from last year’s Board, committees, and working groups to the configurations of congregants who will serve the many needs of this year’s version of our vibrant faith community. These transitions are not always immediately glorious, but I am, every year, intensely curious about what new reshapings of people and visions and commitments will guide our way and serve our communities through the coming year. Every year I am reminded that our shared life, despite its decades-long history and stable traditions and practices, is still unfolding. 

As we settle into the 2026-27 church year, I wonder what adventures will unfold, and I am grateful for good company and the love that surrounds us all.

Yours in the adventures of meltdown and reshaping,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

P.S. This is the last week to register for the Solidarity Summit being hosted by TUUCAN and UU the Vote in Memphis on Sept. 18-20. If the chance to gather with UUs from across the state and beyond for fellowship, training, witnessing, and an appearance by Justin Pearson is calling you, please go here to begin the registration process, or ask me or Caren S-S for more information.

Solvitur ambulando./It is solved by walking.|
~somebody a long time ago
(often attributed to Diogenes the Cynic 
or Augustine of Hippo)

“I learn by going where I have to go.”
~Theodore Roethke, “The Waking”

“We are going…and we will get there…”
~#1020 Woyaya, Osibisa

Dear Ones,

I hesitate to articulate this (because I don’t want to get stuck in it, or resigned to it, or discouraged by it), but I think overwhelm is in many different ways a distinct feature of the world and the times in which we find ourselves–for some time now and, it seems likely, for some time to come. 

I feel encouraged by these ancient and modern writers who suggest that deliberate forward motion (which need not be literal walking) leads us to what we need. Sometimes, I feel overwhelmed by all the things already on my to-do lists (plural!), as well as by all the things that I feel/think I should be adding to those lists. Planning ahead is all well and good and often very necessary, but sometimes, maybe what is most needed, instead of checking things off the to-do list, is to keep moving with curiosity, attention, and willingness to learn. I suspect this (as with most true things) applies to both individuals and communities. Where and how are you moving, and what are you learning? Where are we moving? What might we learn?

Yours in faith and going,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

P.S. If you’ve ever wanted to know more about creating worship for Unitarian Universalists, please consider participating in Worship Well, a new online (Zoom) program created by the UUA, designed to equip lay leaders with a variety of skills for leadership in worship. (More information here.) If you are interested, please let me know by noon tomorrow (Thur. 8/20), as we hope to assemble a team who will participate together.

“Your life is the poem.”
~ Naomi Shihab Nye

Beloveds,

One of our congregation’s cherished practices is “Summer Song”-- the practice of filling our Sunday pulpit with volunteers from the congregation willing to share their thoughts, expertise, personal experiences, and wisdom during the months of July and August. 

Every year, I am (almost) sad to take vacation during July, because I will miss so much. And every year in August, I am glad not to have missed all the goodness of Summer Song. Every summer, we are gifted with a wide variety of topics presented by people we know and love, and every year we remember and reflect throughout the year on what we’ve learned together. The poet says that your life (singular) is the poem, but my experience of Summer Song is that our lives–collectively and in conversation with each other–are a magnificent poem. 

I am grateful for the speakers who volunteer their thoughts, preparation time, and presence, and I am in awe of this congregation which gathers over and over again to listen, support, affirm, and be challenged by each other. 

Yours in the poetry of community,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

P.S. If you’ve ever wanted to know more about creating worship for Unitarian Universalists, please consider participating in Worship Well, a new online (Zoom) program created by the UUA, designed to equip lay leaders with a variety of skills for leadership in worship. Look for the announcement below, and click through to read more and get detailed information. If you are interested (no experience necessary!), please let me know by next Wednesday (8/19/26), as we hope to assemble a team who will participate together. 

“What lies ahead. Reimagining the world. Only that.” 
~Arundhati Roy

Dear Ones,

It’s August! Yes, it’s hot, but it’s also the glorious height of summer: the time to notice that the nestlings and hatchlings are growing, that trees damaged by our icy, tumultuous  winter have grown leaves and new branches and are feeding themselves and many other creatures in preparation for the seasons to come. 

For faith communities, too, this late summer season is a time to take stock of the year behind us and to enjoy the results of our collective labors, so that we can consider the year ahead and imagine who and how we will collectively decide to be in the coming seasons. I can’t wait to see how we reimagine our world. 

Yours in love and imagination,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

Jul 1, 2026

“I teach my sighs to lengthen into songs,
Yet, like a tree endure the shift of things.” 
~Theodore Roethke (The Renewal)

Dear Ones,

It’s July, a month I have usually reserved for vacation from my work as a minister. Most years, I find it very helpful to have some time away, but this year is a little different. Because we as a congregation have some exciting things coming up early in the fall (the UU the Vote Solidarity Summit in Memphis, Sept. 18-20, and my installation as settled minister at GNUUC on Sept. 26), I am going to continue working on these special projects through July, but on a limited basis. I will be trying to give myself space to allow a few sighs to lengthen into songs and to enjoy time with my family. 

What this means for you: you may not see me on Sundays or at meetings, and I will not be checking email regularly or responding to most church-related Slack messages, phonecalls, or texts. However, if you find yourself in urgent need of pastoral care, please be in touch with the church office (see below).

This summer, may our sighs lengthen into songs of surprising beauty and perhaps joy, and may we all find a sense of graceful endurance among the shift of things. 

Yours, with sighs and songs and (as always) the trees,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

P.S. During the month of July, if you find yourself in urgent need of pastoral care, please email gnuuc@gnuuc.org or leave a message on the phone at church requesting pastoral care. Be sure to state that you are asking for pastoral care and leave your name and contact information.

P.P.S. If you are (like many of us) feeling some feelings about certain so-called justice decisions that came down yesterday, I commend to you today’s blog post from the Rev. Kimberly Debus: Unalienable Rights. She has challenging and hopeful words just for us Unitarian Universalists.

what is my gender to a night sky?
my pronouns to an ocean who opens for me? 
~Isa Borgeson,  

Beloveds,

The lines above are the last two of Borgeson’s poem entitled “[last summer I folded my dresses into storage]”. Please do not read them as dismissing or minimizing the importance of gender and pronouns or the deeply human work of self-discovery and self-naming. (You can read the whole poem here, along with a note about it from the author.) What I read in this invocation of sky and sea is an assurance that we–however we identify ourselves–are above all part of a whole that is generously wide and welcoming. I hope we each feel a bit of that now and then; I think both we and the world depend on that.

Yours in all the pride and all the pronouns,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

P.S. This evening TUUCAN* is sponsoring what looks like a good warmup for Sunday’s Pride Service: 
The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee is heading up a "comment campaign to oppose the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) rule that would strip safety protections from federally funded shelters for transgender, nonbinary, two-spirit, and intersex people. The main action page can be found at www.UUSC.org/Pride-In-Action. TUUCAN is hosting an action hour on June 24th (tonight!) at 8 pm on Zoom. The action hour is a space for people to come together and find out about the comment process and then send in their response. (You can follow the UUSC link above to submit a comment on your own.) 

Here is the registration link for the TUUCAN action hour. Please share!
*TN UU Community Action Network, of which GNUUC is a founding member

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: 
it is the courage to continue that counts.” 
~Winston Churchill

Friends,

In honor of General Assembly (the annual Unitarian Universalist exercise in self-government, group discernment, and fellowship that is going on this week), I thought about offering you Churchill's famous (albeit somewhat snarky) comment about democracy being imperfect but better than everything else that’s been tried. 

Instead: his reminder that success and failure are impermanent and that courage in the task of keeping on with the work in front of us is a more important focus seems a good answer to much of this week’s discouraging news as well as a good companion in my work this week, of joining with ministerial colleagues and UUs from far and wide, to conduct the business of our association (the UUA). 

Heading back to Zoom now, but looking forward to seeing you on Sunday,

Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

P.S. Reminder: Instead of our usual Sunday service, we will be joining the service being live-streamed on Sunday morning from the General Assembly of our Unitarian Universalist Association. You also have the option to arrive before the service for a sing-along on Zoom! Please join us in our sanctuary or on Zoom; see below for the times. See below for the time: these events are earlier than our usual Sunday meeting time!

“We can save our insects, our birds, and nature itself. 
But we have to change the way we landscape to do it.” 
~Doug Tallamy 

Beloveds,

A few of us (administrator Kris T., Building & Grounds chair Lisa G., and member Gina A., and me) spent time yesterday afternoon with Tennessee Certified Naturalist candidate Brenda Huff. We discussed the possibility of Brenda completing certification requirements by donating time and expertise to our congregation. Then we toured our memorial garden with Brenda, who has some wonderful ideas for tending and improving our sacred space, making it more sustainable and welcoming. All agreed that this could be a mutually beneficial arrangement.

In the course of our conversations, Brenda introduced me to the idea of certified bird sanctuaries, as encouraged by The Habitat Connection, a local organization whose “goal is to empower Middle Tennesseans to regenerate native habitat on their properties in order to improve ecosystem health and connectivity for birds and other life forms, including us.” The quotation above is from their website. As I read it, I had a moment of synchronicity: remembering our service on Sunday, which introduced our monthly theme of Flourishing Together, while entering into partnership with someone who is glad of an opportunity to provide us with skilled services and advice and imagining how many creatures (humans old & young, birds and insects, and plants) will benefit from Brenda’s work and our continuing stewardship of the garden and hillside. I look forward to the fruits of this collaboration!

Yours in the pursuit and joy of flourishing for all,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

Tomorrow belongs to those of us who conceive of it as belonging to everyone, 
who lend the best of ourselves to it, and with joy.
~Audre Lorde

Dear Ones,

Here in Middle Tennessee, it’s one of those charming early-summer days that makes hope and joy easier: the sky is clear blue, the temperature started out pleasantly cool, leaves are swaying in a gentle breeze. It’s not hard this morning to imagine (with joy, even) that all of this belongs to all of us. It’s not hard, watching the plants and squirrels and birds, chatting with neighbors, friends, and strangers encountered on errands, to extend belonging and best wishes for well-being to everything around me. 

What’s harder, in anxious and fearful times, is remembering to use such moments of peace and just-rightness to anchor ourselves in choosing to flourish together while casting an ever-expanding circle of togetherness. This is the project to which our UU values commit us; it is the project that might bring us into a tomorrow of which we still dare to dream.

Yours in the grace of the easy moments and the joy of mutual flourishing,

Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

Find the thing that stirs your heart and make room for it. 
Life is about the development of self to the point of unbridled joy.
~Joan Chittister

Friends,

Joan Chittister is a Catholic theologian who has spent her life (now entering a tenth decade!) as a Benedictine nun and abbess. I tell you this because I am quite certain that her idea of self-development toward joy does not emerge from a commitment to individuality, but is deeply rooted in a communal understanding of human personhood and growth and commitment to mutual service and flourishing. 

Chittister’s words move me to curiosity in several directions: 

-What makes my/your/our heart/s stir and reach for joy?
-How do we make room in our lives for what moves us? Is this a strenuous project, or more of an opening & allowing shift in attitude?
-Do we pay enough attention to our hearts? Enough of the right kind of attention? Can curiosity help?
-What would it look like to prioritize “unbridled joy” as the pinnacle of human development? (Oh my!)

No answers right now; just lots of questions–but they are questions that make me happy even in their framing…

Yours in curiosity and joy,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org

May 20, 2026

“Have compassion for everyone you meet.
You do not know what wars are going on 
down there where the spirit meets the bone.”
~Miller Williams

Dear Ones,

I returned late yesterday from a trip that included both mourning and celebration, along with generous doses of both stress and comfort in togetherness. I am one of four siblings who have been thrown into all of this together and have had ample opportunity over the last few weeks to practice curiosity and compassion regarding the unknown struggles we and those around us are experiencing. Returning today to our monthly theme of awakening curiosity, I am struck by the possibility that gentle curiosity about others–the openness of it as a starting point, without expectations of having that curiosity satisfied–can orient us toward offering compassion in our daily encounters. 

Yours in curiosity and love,
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org