Joy and woe are woven fine by William Blake


“Joy and woe are woven fine …” This is the first line of a William Blake poem that I discovered as I was preparing last December for a memorial service I led for someone from the wider community. It was my first UU memorial service. I was struggling to find words to share in the service that would be meaningful to the loved ones who were both grieving a painful loss and celebrating a remarkable woman whose life had touched so many. These words by Blake resonated with me and have taken up residence deep within me. Like the threads of a garment, joy and woe are finely woven together into the fabric of our lives. Love is woven into grief; happiness into sorrow; beginnings into endings.
I am in a place this week of being keenly aware of this paradox of life. This coming Sunday, our annual Animal Blessing service, will be my last at UUCF after over a year of ministry. It began last summer as I served as summer director of religious exploration, then 10 months as ministerial intern, and finally five weeks as summer minister. It has been a year where joy and woe have been woven fine.

I remember with such fondness the Together Times with the children in worship last summer at Oakton Elementary when Summer Minister Eve Steven’s series about the history of UUCF inspired an interactive UU family tree and a march with protest signs through the auditorium. I find myself smiling and chuckling at the memory of the Ingathering service last September, as Rev. Jennifer Brooks, Rev. Laura Horton-Ludwig, John Monroe, Pawel Jura, Linnea Nelson and I simulated rivers, lakes and oceans with billowing blue fabric, told a story with fish puppets and a huge stuffed bear and read from little fish sticky notes the gifts that each person at UUCF brings to this congregation. We have laughed and danced (remember that worship service?) and celebrated this past year!
Oh but we have also known the heavy weight of grief this past year. We have lost dearly beloved members of our congregation and many have experienced the loss of friends and family members. One of the most painful losses this past year for many of us was the suicide of our Director of Music and Arts Pawel Jura – someone we had grown to really admire and care about. I don’t think any of us knew how deeply woven pain was into the fabric of Pawel’s life. And with his death, I feel as if I have been left with a little wound within me that contains a mixture of grief for all of us who loved and miss him, gratitude for his life, sadness for his pain and a sweet tenderness for the special memories that I will always carry with me. “Joy and woe are woven fine.”
And now, as I come to the end of this full, challenging, beautiful year, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for all the ways you have supported and encouraged me to learn and grow both as a minister and as a human being. I now head off into a new adventure and won’t be able to be in touch with folks at UUCF for the next year but I want you to know that you will be with me in my heart the whole way. I am really excited and looking forward to the work ahead for me – chaplaincy at the Hebrew Home in Rockville, MD, and studying for my credentialing interview in 2016. I am really excited for you too and all that is ahead for UUCF this coming year of new beginnings. I will miss you and I look forward to next year when I can come back and reconnect, sharing the stories of joy and woe that have shaped and deepened our spirits over the previous year.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tughlaq By Girish Karnad

Image
 Plot: ‘Tughlaq’ is Karnad’s second play written in 1964 ; the play was originally written in Kannada and then translated in Kannada by Karnad himself. It is all about the life of Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq who has ruled in India in 14 th  century. There is a lot of controversy among the historians about the character of Tughlaq but Karnad has presented this man as a man of opposites. The central theme of the play is the complexity in the character of Sultan Tughlaq, who has both the elements good as well as evil. He is a visionary man as well as man of action. Other characters also present Tughlaq’s dual personality; his close associates Barani and the scholarly historian Najib are practical politician like him.                 From the very first scene we come to know about the complex personality of Tughlaq, he can be considered as a learnt and an intelligent man. He has abilities to learn and curiosity to know and he is master in playing chess, he has the knowledge
Read more

The Old Woman- Joseph Campbell

Image
As a white candle In a holy place,  So is the beauty Of an aged face. As the spent radience Of the winter sun,  So is a woman With her travail done. Her brood gone from her, And her thoughts as still  As the waters Under a ruined mill.                   The poem 'The Old Woman' is written by Joseph Campbell. The poem is divided into 3 stanza. The meaning of the  poem is deeper than any romantic poem. The poem is very simple, realistic poem. The poet has given  the description  of old lady by different comparisons . It s very natural to see beauty in young women , but t is very understanding to describe the beauty of old woman.  It requires great imaginative power to see beauty in old age.                 In  the first stanza , the poet compares the old lady with the white candle . As the white candle in the holy place gives light and guided  the person who comes there. It is the symbol  of holy figure. Likewise the old lady's face  compared with the white c
Read more

The Hunt by Mahashweta Devi

Image
‘The Hunt’ forms part of a collection published as  Imaginary Maps: Three Stories by Mahasweta Devi in 1995. The other two stories in the collection are namely ‘ Douloti the Bountiful’ and ‘Pterodactyl, Puran Sahay, and Pirtha. ’ All three stories describe a fictional rendition of situations that are very real in the lives of the tribal people. While ‘The Hunt’   is about a half tribal girl’s bold attempt to put a violent end to her personal exploitation as well as to the threat of ecological devastation, ‘Douloti ’  deals with the problem of bonded labour, particularly the women who are exploited endlessly and mercilessly through the system. The heart wrenching image at the end of the story with Douloti’s rotting and bleeding body covering the map of India raises many disturbing questions and speaks volumes for what independent India has failed to do for one sixth of its population. In Devi’s words “Decolonization has not reached the poor. That is why these things happen. Wo
Read more