“We are such stuff as dreams are made on.” ~ William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”

As I am writing this, my first attempt at a president’s message, it is a gorgeous spring day, the world is growing green again, the sunlight is warm and radiant, and birds seem to be everywhere, bright communities in song, telling us all the good news.

We each have our expectations of what the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Poconos can bring us. Upon becoming members, we have agreed to covenant with each other, in right relationship, to hold dear our Seven Principles, and to put theses principles into action.

In our services, we use words such as, faith, giving, spirit, justice, compassion, love commitment, seeking…They are all powerful words and the more we chose to employ them the more they can become a apart of who we truly are.

We question one another. We do, as the old bumper sticker said, “Question Authority”. We challenge each other’s beliefs, not out of disrespect, but as an open attempt to get at the truth…We light candles for one another. We give to this community our time and our energy. We sometimes bristle at one another. We share so much laughter. We are like that community of birds at dawn; We are busy. We move. We sing!

Many times over the years, we have discussed our dreams for this Fellowship, dreams of serving our community, dreams of our congregation growing its presence in our community, dreams of owning our own building. I can think of many faces of dear friends, here and gone, who worked long hours for fund raisers, preparing for Sunday services, and giving of themselves, without recognition, in the hope that some day these dreams would come true.

Which brings me to the point of this message, and that is, as we need to dream of a brighter future, we need to give, generously, of ourselves to that future.

As we grow through our formative years as a Fellowship, there is no greater gift we can give ourselves, or our greater community, than that singular commitment, to make this thing work, and to make it work with those great measures of compassion, joy, and love.

This ‘thing,’ is of course, liberal religion. It is this faith, of Unitarian Universalism, we have chosen not to follow, or recite, but to live. We may sometimes ask, “What am I getting out of it?” Fair question, we are only human, we tire, but to my mind there must come a time in living one’s faith, where we ask, the more important question, and that is, “What am I putting into it? What am I giving to this faith community, beyond what my needs are?’ As surely as we give today, or chose not to, the future of this Fellowship will be shaped not by our words, or promises, but what we do, and what we give, today.

Thanks to all, for this great opportunity I have been given, as your president. I will do my best to live up to your good faith, and look forward to working each of you, the membership of this wonderful community we call, the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Poconos.