like a light in the darkness...

I am constantly amazed at how inspiring I find it to be surrounded by people of the same faith as I identify with. While I am here at our annual meeting for my district as a district board member, I walk away refreshed and with a new sense of a spiritual home. There is just so much to process and I am absolutely exhausted.

However, the last few days have been filled with frustration to the max. The deepest frustration being the point in which I was sitting in a meeting and listening to someone say that the reason that young adults and youth should not and do not participate in visioning about the future of our religious movement is because they are not asking the kinds of questions we are looking for answers to.

What?

Let me take a step back and say the the questions being referred to in this statement are along the lines of "What do we want our spiritual home to be working towards? What kind of difference do we want to make? What does that look like?" And I totally disagree with this persons opinion. Not only do I disagree but I am trying really hard not to to get all indignant and pissed off. Young adults have been struggling for years with trying to integrate their desires and ideas surrounding those very issues into congregations and UU communities while encountering a total lack of something to identify with there.

My other frustration? The fact that my days have been at least 12 hours long, usually full of engagements in which it is totally inappropriate for me to check out and space off.

BUT! There have been really amazing parts as well. Every board meeting I go to feels more productive than the last. And I feel more and more like it is somewhere I want to be. And I love that. I have had some truly inspiring conversation that have re-inspired my connection to my faith and that makes me happy. It has been slightly crazy-making the last few months, what with all the doubt in whether it still feels like home in the UU community for me.

I attended some really great workshops. I learned more about the Faith Without Borders program, which brought up some really great points about where we focus our social justice work. I was led in Big Mind Meditation. And went to a wonderful workshop about bringing ritual home. I had a really great conversation with some friends/colleagues about the state of young adult ministry. I had touching conversations about parent that made me laugh and cry and want to squeeze and cuddle my child.

I have so much to say about all of this. The problem being right now that I am so beyond exhausted that I can't make all the words come out coherently. More later I suppose?