By Susan Veronica Rak, UURMaPA Board President
December, 2024
Greetings, friends!
Years ago, I came across a cartoon—might have been a New Yorker gem—that pictured a sporting goods store with a sign in the window: “Now Is the Winter of Our Discount Tents.” Not sure why this stuck with me—maybe because it’s such a sly Shakespeare pun.
As I write, we in the States are, in one way or another, reckoning with the changing landscape of this country’s essence and being. But this is not another hand-wringing essay of worry and fear (although those things dance at the margins), even as we feel a winter of discontent approaching.
Now we need to find those havens of comfort or support and encouragement that will carry us through. Because this is also the season of gratitude. The lingering darkness is a thing of beauty when holiday lights shine. There are, amidst the sadness and concern, whether it’s personal or political, shining shards of hope and support and, dare I say it, joy.
We’re on the brink of the winter holidays and perhaps you aren’t feeling very festive. Understandable. But we still need to find joy and grace and festivity in the midst of the gloom. UURMaPA continues to be one of those places where we can find hope and joy, even when we only gather occasionally. The threads of support are there, nonetheless.
Most of the time when I talk about UURMaPA, I’m given to earnestly touting the good that we do as an organization and the ways we connect within this small community. Maybe it’s an idealized version of who we are. But it is who we aspire to be as a community of retired Unitarian Universalists, ministers and partners or spouses. Do we always get it right? Is it always seamless and effortless to make these connections? No. But maybe that kind of perfection isn’t the point.
The heart of the matter is that we carry on. We pivot and adjust as circumstances require. And we keep trying. Differing groups of people have kept this organization alive and thriving in various ways for almost 40 years.
In these coming days and months, we will keep on in these endeavors, amidst changes and uncertainties. Please stay in touch and involved in whatever ways that work for you, so that the connections we make here in UURMaPA remain vital. We are here. And I, for one, am so grateful to have YOU in my community!
Warmly, Susan