“...trust the people who move towards you and already feel like home... trust the people who see and hold your heart.”
I honestly didn’t think it through… dumping 50 lego figures in a pile on the chalice table during the “Time for Wonder”, and then asking a group of children to quietly set them up so the congregation could see them. But miracles occur- or maybe we encourage cooperation- and together the young people did just what I had asked, helping us all learn and think about pledging and stewardship. I was so delighted and proud of them!
If you missed Sunday, I invited us to imagine that we run the congregation on legos. I explained that if I took one lego figure from the kids’ 50 lego line-up and gave it to the church, that would be a 2% rate of lego giving, etc. I explained that some people might have 60 legos at home, some might have 100 or 1000 or 5000. Some may have inherited lego figures from an older cousin. Some may be really into legos and good at finding them. Some may have lost a bunch of their legos recently and never had many to start with. Some may have a couple of bins out that they play with and then a couple of bins in storage- and the ones in storage seem to mysteriously multiply on their own.
In our inclusive faith community, we agree not to judge each other depending on how many legos we have or don’t have, but we also agree to be thoughtful and generous in our pledging as each of us is able. If everyone habitually gives the same number of legos year after year but our overall budget goes up, even by 8% like this year, then the legos we collect won’t meet our collective obligations.
Pledge month is a profound group exercise in both trusting and being trustworthy- which happens to be the topic that the Soul Matters small groups are reflecting on this month. The Soul Matters reflection questions include these:
- What have you trusted since childhood and never lost faith in?
- Has trusting people gotten easier or harder as you’ve grown older?
- At what stage in your life were you most trustworthy? The least trustworthy?
- Do you regret ever being too scared to trust the unknown and take a leap of faith?
Many, many thanks to our “lego wranglers”- the Stewardship Team- and to all who have made or will make a pledge this month. Thanks for trusting each other- and being trustworthy in return.
In faith,
Rev. Lee
P.S. Today, March 7, 2025, is the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday when civil rights marchers were violently beaten as they tried to cross the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama, leading to broader demonstrations including many UUs, martyrdoms and the Civil Rights Voting Act of 1965. If you are interested in this story, you can read more in these two books: