the OUUC spark

March 20, 2025

The Spark! messages of inspiration from the Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation

Who do you trust? An invitation to spiritual practice — Rev. Mary Gear

This is certainly an interesting time to reflect on the spiritual theme of trust!

In our nation and the world, we are experiencing the erosion of trust among nations and between governments and their people. In our state we are grappling with a budget deficit and having to make hard choices about how we allocate precious resources. Who makes those decisions, and do we trust them? In our local community we are seeing increased erasure of trans students in the schools. In our congregation right now, we are welcoming many visitors and new members. In building new relationships, do we enter with trust? We are also in the middle of the annual stewardship drive when we imagine OUUC’s future and raise funds to support our dreams. Do we trust each other to contribute to those dreams and use our resources well?

Things are changing and there are many demands on our time, attention and other resources. Many demands on our willingness to trust and many invitations to mistrust.

That leads me to ask, who do you trust?

With the help of community in New Orleans, author and activist adrienne marie brown created a list of people they trust:

trust the people who move towards you and already feel like home.
trust the people to let you rest.
trust the people to do everything better than you could have imagined.
trust the people and they become trustworthy.
trust that the people are doing their work to trust themselves.
trust that each breach of trust can deepen trust or clarify boundaries.
trust the people who revel in pleasure after hard work.
trust the people who let children teach/remind us how to emote, be still, and laugh.
trust the people who see and hold your heart.
trust the people who listen to the whales.
trust the people and you will become trustworthy.
trust the people and show them your love.
trust the people.

I invite you to consider the people you trust and those you don’t. Make a list of the types of people you trust and those you don’t. What are their characteristics, their behavior, their identities, their style? I encourage you to limit your list to 5-6 things so you can home in on your core values.

As you make your lists, I invite you to consider the people you have trusted and who have broken your trust. Are they different than the people you who you mistrust for other reasons? Is there the possibility of repair? Can trust be regained, and if so, how? How does this reflection impact your lists?

Then, when you have your lists, reflect on what you notice. Are there patterns? Do your lists teach you something about yourself?

Not everyone is trustworthy, and we need people in our lives that we can trust. It is vulnerable to trust others, and we need this to survive and be human. We need each other now more than ever. Find your people and trust them, then commit to repair when trust is broken.

Welcome to faith community where we do the work of vulnerability and trust together.

Blessings on your week.

Rev. Mary

Buddhist Sangha Retreat This Saturday!

Spring Meditation Retreat with the OUUC Buddhist Sangha, Saturday, March 22nd, 1 – 4:30 pm, at Olympia Unitarian Universalist Congregation

This Saturday, March 22, 1 - 4:30 pm, in the OUUC sanctuary, our Buddhist Sangha is hosting a spring meditation retreat.

All are welcome! For more information or to let us know you’ll be coming, please contact Curt Hill.

Reminder about any Mailed Pledges

A green sprout grows out of a red heart, with roots embedded in the heart. Text surrounding this image reads, "Rooted in Love, Nurture all we love at OUUC."

We have discovered a typo in the address on the pledge cards we mailed out a few weeks ago: one digit was missing. Our apologies for the mistake.

If mailing your pledge, please be sure to use the following address:

OUUC

2306 East End St. NW

Olympia, WA 98502

Most of our pledges arrive electronically; however, if you have already mailed in your pledge card and may have used an address other than the one above, please call us or email to let us know:

Phone: 360-634-2005, Ext. 100

Email: office@ouuc.org

To err is human — to GIVE is divine. Please, PLEDGE TODAY!

Thank you,

The OUUC Stewardship Committee

P.S. — Stewardship Drive progress so far:

under the heading "as of 3/18/25," 2 progress bars indicate our stewardship drive's progress in terms of "amount pledged" (in green, currently $441,819.28 or 74.5% of Target: $593,400) and "number of pledges" (in red, currently 158 or 57.9% of Target: 273)

Tonight's Community Dinner and Activities

Community Dinner: Welcome Spring

Tonight's menu plan will be a celebration of the Spring Equinox with a welcome spring meal.

All are welcome for food and fellowship at 5:30 pm. If you can help prepare or set up for the meal, contact Rev. Sara.

After-dinner (6:30 pm) options include: All Ages Ostara (Spring Equinox) Ritual and UU Buddhist Sangha.

More info is available on some of these events in the Weekly Update.

Tiny Little News Show

In this week's Tiny Little News Show, see what congregants say nurtures them at OUUC and how they nurture OUUC, as well as upcoming events for this week:

Upcoming Events

Click the preview image below to download a flyer with a list of OUUC events for March. Great for posting on your refrigerator! Looking for more upcoming events? Go to the OUUC Calendar.