Destiny and Purpose

What is your destiny? Do you even believe in destiny? I don’t mean fate or predetermination. By destiny I mean the path your life has taken and continues to take. As my friend and teacher Dianne Collins says, “Something taps you on the shoulder and says ‘let’s go’”. And what about your purpose – your “job” in life? Some may name it their “calling”. Aren’t we UU’s all about meaning and purpose in life? I recently explored the concepts of destiny, purpose and passion in Dianne’s program – the one I mentioned in my previous blog postings. According to Dianne, you don’t always necessarily live your destiny; the path is in there, you can take the path and the opportunities will be there for action, and yet you don’t take those opportunities. You may even be avoiding it as Jean de la Fontaine said, “A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it.” In order to live your purpose, you may need to drop some things out of your life – they just aren’t appropriate for the time. We need a clear mind for this self reflection  – our respective spiritual practices serve us well to help.


In church on Sunday, 8/15, Scott had Miriam read excerpts from Spirit and Song. Each quote she read was in its own way a description of the author’s destiny or purpose: “I must create; music pursues me; I cannot help but…”. For some their destiny was obvious at a young age – and they jumped on the path and ran with it. For others, it may not be so clear – or they skirt along the edges of the path without fully embracing all that it has to offer.

How do you know what your purpose is? I’ve learned to ask these questions to help distinguish it – “What are you drawn to? What engages you? What do people come to you for, over and over?” If you think through your life, you can begin to see the patterns – the path your life has taken. When I look back – even into my childhood – I discover how I have been drawn to projects that match my passions – and also help me build my skills; many times I have led an initiative for the first time. I’m a “visual” person and must explore and create visually – whether with pencil and paper, my camera on a walk through a forest, or a chart pad and set of markers to help frame a discussion. I am also drawn to connect with others, often through leadership but just as often these days for relationship building. People say they come to me for perspective – a chance to test ideas and broaden their thinking; for a calming influence; and because I commit and get things done. These all help to distinguish my purpose and destiny.

Distinguishing my destiny – the path I’m on – and my purpose is really a work in progress; and in fact the path can change through life; it’s something to stay conscious of along the way. For now, I’ve decided it’s something like a connection between my leadership and the creation process – bringing the creativity out in others, whether it be through my photography projects or church work or other life activities. The people I engage with grow – perhaps gain new perspectives and achieve things they didn’t know they could – and I grow through the experience with them.

What about a congregation? Can a congregation have a destiny? A purpose? Are there opportunities that present themselves along the way that such a group – like ours – steps up to? Or ignores? What shows up for us over and over? What is our “must do”? How can we be crystal clear about our purpose for this time and this place and ensure that each of us holds it in our consciousness as the context for everything we do at church? What must we give up in order to fully live our purpose? This is one of the actions the Board and Executive Team have selected for this year. It’s not about rewriting our mission – although we are likely to find clarity of mission along the way. It’s about consciously living our mission – our purpose – together, in everything we do.

So – as you quiet your mind through your own personal spiritual practice, what comes up for you? In a single sentence, what do you think our congregation’s unique purpose is? How do we keep this front and center and live our purpose? What must we give up? Share your thoughts in the comments below, share it with a Board member – or your team members, and come to a discussion this year and let us hear what’s in your heart.

In Faith,

Nancy

Beginning the new church year

Thank you to all of you who have been reading my blog – and who are still here! It’s been a while since I wrote something. You can be assured, however, that the Board is hard at work over the summer. Our focus in July and August has been reviewing the bylaws with the goal of addressing changes that reflect reality for today and into the future. We will be bringing our proposed changes to the congregation for discussion in the coming months.

We held our annual leadership planning retreat with the Board and Executive Team on Friday and Saturday of this past weekend to identify key initiatives to work on over the next one to three years – along with all the usual work of the Board.  Beginning on Friday with an engaging discussion based on the book, “Serving with Grace: Lay Leadership as a Spiritual Practice” by Erik Walker Wikstrom, we entered into a very purposeful Saturday planning session.  Coming out of that meeting we will be continuing our exploration of congregational growth and the interim steps we need to take along the way as well as how we can become a more mission-focused congregation. More on that to come.

I must admit, my walks have been few and far between this summer. Alas, I am a fair weather walker. I’ve tried walking in the heat of the summer – and I have tried walking in a blizzard. Neither was really effective at helping me to still my mind. I realize if I am to stay spiritually centered, I must have more than one practice in my spiritual toolkit. And so I am “trying on” other practices to see how they fit.

I participated in a 3-month long program this summer with about 20 others via audio conference on mastery of the mind and applying the principles to accomplishing our passions. Fascinating stuff –amazing people! One of the key concluding points of the program was “You have to be in a state of calm to be able to create anything. It’s that simple.” Getting to that state of calm is what I’m doing on my walks or when I'm looking at a beautiful landscape like the almost-midnight sun I experienced while in Norway; it’s what some do through meditation and others do through writing or music – or whatever resonates. You may have noticed “UU 201” mentioned in a recent eNews.  It's an offering at our church on Sunday mornings this fall where members of our congregation will talk about how their spiritual practices connect them to their own faith as UUs. I’ve been invited to share my experience and thoughts – hope to see you there!

In faith,

Nancy