Feb. 25, 2026
“The ultimate form of preparation is not planning for a specific scenario,
but a mindset that can handle uncertainty.”
~James Clear
Dear Ones,
I am ambivalent about uncertainty: surprises can be nice (especially when they are yummy) but it can take me a moment to recalibrate if I was expecting something else to happen in the immediate future. Sometimes it takes a loooong moment…
I am a planner, a system-builder by nature, and I appreciate structure, especially if I have the feeling that it is or can be controlled (not necessarily by me). In other words, rolling with uncertainty is perhaps not my strongest personality trait.
And yet, our resilience and survival depend on some degree of tolerance of and skill with uncertainty. You know what they say about death and taxes being the only sure things in life, right? As a planner and system-builder, I would rather believe that good planning could keep me and those I love safer, but that would require that I ignore a good deal of evidence to the contrary, I’m afraid.
So as we wrap up our monthly theme of embodying resilience, I’m wondering if March’s theme of paying attention might be just what we need right now, as the world seems to be changing faster and in more frightening ways. Putting my fingers in my ears and singing “la, la, la, I can’t hear you!” may not in fact make us particularly resilient or happy in the face of life as it is. And life–however it is–is what I want us to share.
Yours in the embodied resilience and love of community,
Rev. Denise
