The Summer 2014 issue of UU World recently arrived in my mailbox. And although I get a lot of news and commentary online, there is real comfort in leafing through color glossy pages. On the inside back cover I spot OMD youth leaders, and throughout see photos and names of familiar people and places. Yet while clutching this comfortable format, what I am reading about is change. Some is physical – the move of UUA headquarters from 25 Beacon to 24 Farnsworth; some is practical – enough interest to publish a digital edition of UU World; but most challenging was Teresa Cooley’s article on “Spiritual Innovators: Into the Beyond”. It should be required reading and the first item on the agenda of every UU congregation’s Board of Trustees meeting!

I will be the first to admit that it is a heck of a lot easier to preach flexibility, innovation and being open to change than to actually seek it out and feel “out of sorts” with new ways of being – especially in MY congregation! In the same UU World issue Peter Morales tells us that “Opportunities are always there”. You and I are challenged to discover those opportunities in the months ahead. After six years of service to the St. Lawrence District and three in Ohio Meadville, a staff reorganization has forced me to consider new options. Chris Neilson’s sudden medical leave has challenged remaining staff to imagine different ways of being in relationship. The losses are real. We feel it in our bones. Yet what a gift to be forced into the chaos where great dreams can begin and stars are born! Now is the time when all of us are being called to be co-creators in the new future. I remember the picture of a sailboat in my grandmother’s bathroom – we waste time and energy cursing the direction of the wind, when what we called to do is to adjust the sails. This summer and beyond, let us embrace the opportunities that changing winds bring us!

Karen LoBracco Until June 30, 2014, Lifespan Faith Development Consultant for the Ohio-Meadville and St. Lawrence Districts, UUA