By Connie Goodbread

How does your congregation deal with fears when they arise?

How often do we admit we are afraid? How often do we react out of fear? How often does someone else’s fear make us so uncomfortable that we rush in and try to make people feel better, quick? How often do we repeat patterns around our fears?

The only thing to fear is fear itself. President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Every generation is raised by the joys and fears of the previous generation. To be self-aware enough to offer our wisdom, without also handing others the claim check to our emotional baggage, is an art.  For those of us who were not fortunate enough to be born Unitarian Universalist we must be very careful that we don’t roadblock the spiritual development of others with our fears. “Why are we teaching the Bible?��? “I don’t want my child indoctrinated the way I was.��? “I am offended by the word God, holy, prayer, heaven, sin, salvation, etc.��? Have you heard any of these?

Why would Unitarian Universalists need to be teachers of the Bible? Why would we need to understand and be able to talk intelligently about it? What other faith tradition will teach the Bible from a Unitarian Universalist point of view if we don’t? Is it important to pass on our values? Is it important that we education ourselves with a deep understanding of all words?

How often are our budgets born out of our fears about money, rather than out of our shear joy for the great adventure and the grand vision?

Fears around money are different in every individual. Most of what we think and feel about money comes from our experiences with it and/or the lack of it. We can be fearful around the topic of money and we can be foolish. Fears are part of the emotional field we bring into all of our relationships and also into our roles as leaders. What would happen if we could admit our fears? They are real for us. They make sense to us. What would happen if we spoke them out loud? Could we learn from them? How do they drive our behavior? Are there more important things to take into consideration? Do they keep us from what is more important? Is the topic we are discussing a moral topic? Is it a justice issue? Are our fears keeping us from the great adventure?

A ship is safe in the harbor but that is not what ships are built for. -Unknown

To the extent that we know, face and understand our fears will be the extent that we can make sure that they do not always rule our lives.

What would our congregations look like if we built upon a foundation of shared values, a sense of adventure and covenant.