This second week of Chalica, we lift up our shared value of TRANSFORMATION, which calls us to adapt to the changing world.  We covenant to collectively transform and grow spiritually and ethically. Openness to change is fundamental to our Unitarian and Universalist heritages, never complete and never perfect, reflected in our consistent commitment to accept one another and encourage one another to spiritual growth.

Chalice Lighting

By Maureen Killoran
Love is the aspiration, the spirit that moves and inspires this faith we share.
Rightly understood, love can nurture our spirits and transform the world.
May the flame of this chalice honor and embody the power and the blessing of the love we need, the love we give, the love we are challenged always to remember and to share.

Reading/Song

from Kimberlee Anne Tomczak Carlson
The words “witness butterfly metamorphosis at home” leapt off the educational catalog into my imagination in April. We had begun homeschooling, and I impulsively decided we should get a butterfly garden. It was the end of a long winter; our house felt small as three of us occupied the space twenty-four hours a day.
My partner was not thrilled about adding caterpillars to our household: “You want to raise insects?” I replied that it would be educational, and there would be butterflies.
I wanted to watch something grow, become something new, and then be joyfully released. I needed a reminder of predictable life cycles. I was convinced my child needed this too. One of the great joys of having children in your life is witnessing them explore their intention of becoming. The world is wide open to them and everything is possible. As we get older, our unfolding is not always visible or recognized. Perhaps becoming is just more internal during adulthood.
Anyway, how hard could it be to raise butterflies?
Each night we would place the butterfly garden, angled just so in the window, to catch the morning light. It turned out that becoming a butterfly required sunlight. We did get to “witness metamorphosis at home.” Sometimes it was really gross: chrysalis can be gooey. Once it was almost tragic, as the cat’s fascination took flight and the chrysalis got knocked around. The experience was filled with unexpected drama and fear of failure—yet ultimately, magical and absolutely worth it. The daily shared experience of observing the transformation was salve for our nature-loving souls. Each chrysalis that hatched felt like a miracle.
Emergence, becoming, is inherent in each of us. Often, we forget how miraculous we are. The sheer improbability of our existence escapes us, and we need butterfly garden-shaped reminders. Thank goodness there are small miracles surrounding us.
Listen to Rev. Kimberlee Anne Tomczak Carlson read her reflection. https://s3.amazonaws.com/uuaorg/2021-12/Emergence-Braver-Wiser-KTC.mp3

Mindfulness and Action

• Change isn’t always easy! Can you think of a time in your life when you changed in a significant way?
• When you are driving through town can you notice things that have transformed? Empty buildings into busy workplaces; busy playground equipment into snow-covered creatures; etc.
• Do you know someone who is working hard to learn something new? How can you encourage them or support them?
• Have a scavenger hunt for things in your house that show people who visit that you are Unitarian Universalists.

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