Good morning, I am Sue Joyner Guillaud and you are my church community. As a child, I may have been standing right about here when I turned over a shovel of soil at the ground-breaking ceremony for this building. I was standing right about here nearly 32 years ago to say my wedding vows right after Gene Koehler had played the wedding march on that piano.
You get the idea: I am one of this church's legacies. I cannot tell you how I ran here and found religious liberty until finally I knew I was free from the old ghosts of my former faith. I did not make the same religious journey as many of you.
I have no former haunting church—lest it be this one!
I will tell you what I do have sometimes—recipe envy. My religious journey has always been free, but it hasn't always been easy. Wouldn't it have been nice for someone to have told me all the rules and doctrine so that I could just know how to proceed with my spiritual life? Of course I know deep down that it wouldn't have worked for me—I have always been a bit contrary—but it sometimes looks nice from outside looking in.
It is like David LeBlanc once said to me when studying the fourth principle, "We are responsible for our own search for truth and meaning? And that is supposed to be the GOOD NEWS?"
I would like to submit that our freedom and responsibility is what we believe in so strongly that we need the actual good news of the third principle: Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations. Because though I have been here forever in a way—there were 17 years that I spent in France and in North Carolina without you. When we tried to start a Unitarian Universalist Fellowship in our living room, the neighbor girl came over and asked, "Do you all worship candles or something?"
Believe me, I have gratitude for this community—for the ability to stand up here and be genuine.
Another thing that I have is disappointment. One cannot spend over forty years in the same community without having made a mistake with someone else's needs nor without having ones own feelings hurt.
The fifth principle that we covenant to affirm and promote is: The right to conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large. So let us be careful with our legacies. Let us recognize the inherent dignity and worth of every person—even ourselves. If you are hurt or disappointed, please don't become withdrawn. Don't leave us because we are human. Help us to become better—that is what church communities do.
Lilly Tomlin, with her characteristic comedic irony said, "Forgiveness is giving up all hope of having a better past." We can't improve upon our past (and it hasn't been all that bad, all in all). We can commit to honoring each other.
Sometimes I don't want to add church to my busy weekend, but I remember those days when you weren't with me. Imagine Muncie without this community. Imagine me being ecstatic because three people answered our ad in the North Carolina paper for religious liberals who were interested in a community. I happen to know that was a desert. So, many times I come to church anyway—and I end up ministering to a friend who is grieving, or I receive words of encouragement that last all week—if not longer.
We need each other, when you come to church, when you invest in this community with your hands, your heart, your mind and your money—you never know how you will serve nor be served, yet you will experience both if you invest.
[Delivered Sunday, February 20, 2011.]
