by Sara Lewis
There was a poem highlighted in this month’s Soul Matters packet that many of us enjoyed: To the Fig Tree on 9th and Christian by Ross Gay. You can see the author read the poem here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aT0A28IW7E
One of the things that I really love about this poem is the delight in spontaneous community, in strangers becoming less strange. And the figs don’t start out as abundance … they start out as a mess on the sidewalk that might even be a safety hazard. But once one person perceives the abundance, others arrive to share in it, and suddenly folks are eating figs and handing each other figs and laughing.
It’s a beautiful image of Beloved Community. In your experience, what is your Fig Tree story? When have you been brought together with strangers and found community? When have you experienced sharing in abundance or collective response to a problem?
This month Covenant Circles discussed these and more questions of community, and others explored the packet on their own. If you would like to receive the theme packets each month, join the Soul Matters group in OUUC Connect.
And to close, here is another quote from this month’s packet:
In my vision of a beloved community, I see a dazzling, light-filled, breathtakingly beautiful mosaic, a gigantic, all-encompassing mosaic, where each of us can see, can really see, and deeply appreciate each piece. We know that each piece is of immeasurable value. We know that each piece is part of a larger whole, a larger whole that would not be whole, indeed would not BE, without each piece shining through, and being seen and appreciated as its unique self.
Marla Scharf, First Unitarian Church of San Jose, California.