You may have noticed I haven’t posted anything here in a
while. For the last six weeks or so life
was just too overwhelming and busy. As a
sanity-saving measure I did not make time to write. I didn’t even make much time for the
introspection necessary to write something interesting. Getting through one task after another without
falling apart was the big goal – anything else was gravy. I don’t think I will write about all of it,
because most of it is banal and boring to anyone not living it. You lucky readers will get just the
highlights.
One of the things taking up my attention lately was the
Pacific Northwest District Assembly, held in Anchorage last weekend. Alaska has never had the honor to host
anything UU-specific like this. Knowing
that we may not get to host it again, we pulled out all the stops. Since this was the 50th
anniversary of the PNWD, the theme was a birthday celebration. The event went
really well, but it was a lot of work.
If any of you came up for this event, thanks for coming and I hope you
had a great time.
Talking to people, the PNWD was eye-opening for many Alaskan
UUs. Due to the logistics and costs
involved, most of us don’t get to interact with other UU churches very
often. This isolation can lead to people
being fairly uninterested in the UUA and the larger movement. I hope that the interest piqued in many
Alaskans about expanding our vision beyond our own churches continues and
grows.
I have never been much of a joiner. While it might be very nice to believe that I
have such a charismatic personality that people are just dying to get to know
me, the truth is it is very easy to attend and even join a church, and stay a
stranger to most. “Oh yes, I’ve met
so-and-so” is not the same thing as a personal relationship. There is no doubt
that I over-extended myself this spring, but I am finding that the best way to
get to know people is to get involved
and do some work. This is probably not a
news flash to you, but it is progress for me. I appreciate getting to know some our local
members better. Now I just need to
figure out how to schedule increased involvement with times when my personal
life is not blowing up. Here’s to
finding a balance between staying an outsider, and biting off more than you can
chew!
