Dear Friends,
In my office at the church is a thick, rectangular day calendar a friend gave to me. On one side of each page is an image of some great work of art. On the opposite page is the date followed by a quote by a noted author, philosopher, or artist. Recently the image of the day was of a painting by the French Impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Curiously, the quote of the day was also by Renoir. It read, “Why shouldn’t art be pretty? There are enough unpleasant things in the world.” Renoir’s words may have been a response to the critics of his day who found his style and subjects too frivolous to be taken seriously as art.
As a minister and person of faith, I empathize with Renoir, for the world in which we live today often views religion with similar disdain, dismissing it as fantasy or wishful thinking with little value or relevance in the, “real world.”
I can’t help but wonder though, why shouldn’t religion be, at least in part, fantasy or wishful thinking, by which I mean willing to stretch beyond the bounds of the familiar or status quo? Doesn’t fantasy and wishful thinking require us to engage our imagination? Don’t fantasy and wishful thinking inspire reflection on our greatest fears and deepest hopes? At one time things like abolition, women’s suffrage, and same-sex marriage were derided as wishful thinking if not threatening, subversive fantasies. And yet today, thanks to people, including many people of faith, who dared imagine a different world, what had once been viewed as a naive wish or worse, has been transformed into reality.
Renoir pursued his art despite the power and influence held by the stodgy academy of his day. He did not want to contribute more of what he considered, “unpleasant things”, to the world. As a religious community, SUUS is called, in part, to avoid contributing unpleasant things to the world, to avoid perpetuating the injustices that diminish life and instead use our imagination to wonder, seek, and yes fantasize about a new way of living. Only then can we discern how we might move towards that vision and live into it. This is the work of ministry, of personal and societal transformation, that countless people of faith and good will have engaged in for centuries despite the scorn of the cynics and naysayers of their age.
I’m excited to begin our second year of ministry together at SUUS where we not only dream the dreams many dare not dream, but we pursue them in faith, hope and love, in community.
Please note, in observance of Labor Day weekend there’s no worship service on September 1st but please enjoy the reflection The Labor of Our Days by Jennifer Willet.
I look forward to seeing all of you at church on September 8th at 10:30am for our Annual Multigenerational Regathering Service and don’t forget to bring some water for water communion!*
Peace and blessings,
Rev. Craig
*All are invited to bring a small quantity of water from a place near or far special to you to our worship service on September 8th.