Dec. 3, 2025

Dec. 3, 2025

“Real change begins with the simple act of people 
talking about what they care about.”
~Margaret J. Wheatley

Dear Ones,

Our congregational mission statement begins with the assertion that “The transforming power of love is our core belief.” We believe that love brings change, and thus our values are deeply entwined with hope. Now, I’m a person for whom ideas and conversations are sparkly (or intensely interesting, if you want to use serious words), so I appreciate Margaret Wheatley’s assertion that change begins with meaningful conversation. 

Love can be an intimidating goal at times, but the practices of caring about what we care about and being in conversation with each other are perhaps simply basic forms of connection and love. It makes sense to me that without them there is no change, and ultimately, no hope. 

Hope can also be an intimidating goal at times. That is, as long as we are thinking not of hope for things over which we have no control, as in “I hope the sun shines tomorrow,” but of hope as in an abiding trust that the world can be a place of more love and more joy for all of us. That hope and the will to work for it are hard to sustain without the nourishment of community. 

I hope that this month finds us talking about the yearnings of our hearts and the needs of our world and where they intersect. Because there, I suspect, we may find the courage and the wherewithal* to embrace hope and create change.

Yours in the hope and the sparkle of the season, 
Rev. Denise
RevDenise@gnuuc.org  

*Isn’t “wherewithal” a lovely word?