Rachel Clark's "Pledge Drive Moment"
Here is what Rachel had to say last Sunday, January 8, when Von Walden talked about our connection to the Earth and about climate change.
I (Petr) did not quite know where to put Rachel's piece on the church website, so here it is in the Web Group blog.
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UUCP Pledge Drive Moment
January 8, 2006
Offered by Rachel Clark Caudill
Etty Hillesum, a Nazi concentration camp survivor, wrote the following in her journal:
Imagine the power for positive change gathered here... right now!
Last Sunday I sat in the back row, having just read the UUCP newsletter before coming to Church. I read that we have met last years pledge drive amount, but that we are still 17% away from our goal for fair compensation. The words I read asked me to look inside myself and consider what was important to me, in terms of how I wanted to contribute of myself to this community. Could I afford to make fair compensation a priority for our staff and new minister? Or was this goal overly ambitious for me after all? Maybe a 17% increase was just too sudden for my pocketbook.
Last Sunday - enlightened by the tender, warm tones of a cello sonata - I sat in the back row and dug around in my purse for a piece of scrap paper. On it I wrote a pledge for an additional 17% of the pledge I had already made, and tucked it into the basket as it went by. For years my family lived with uncomfortable debt. Now we are lucky enough to be able to give. Now we want to repay other sorts of debts to the world.
Last Sunday I lit a candle of joy for my family - and in doing so, I also publicly embraced this community as part of my family.
Last Sunday I read words in front of this congregation from Gandhi, about how crucial it is that we give the world what it needs.
Last Sunday - as I stood in front of you as I do now - I felt in my whole body the trust, safety and love that have opened inside my heart because of this haven, this sanctuary... because of you.
Make no mistake: Last Sunday I pledged my heart in abundance and trust that the world needs our truth. My truth tells me that fair compensation is merely a shallow wisp of the meaning beneath my pledge. My pledge also symbolizes my growth into a person no longer willing to remain silent or immobilized about my needs for inclusion, fairness, equity, and justice for all of us, not just our minister and staff.
My pledge is a visible act to honor the sanctity of our connection to the web of all existence. (Something I dare say we'll here more about today!) And in the energy of that pledge, that act, my heart hammers with the gratitude and joy that come from empowerment and contribution. I yearn to make a difference in this world, and I am deeply thankful to this church for giving me such an easy, immediate, and momentous way to do so!
Last Sunday I resolved to get up today and share my joy. I now invite you to join me in that joy, and when the basket comes - as it does with every choice we make - to flood it with whatever comfortably flows from your heart.
*
I (Petr) did not quite know where to put Rachel's piece on the church website, so here it is in the Web Group blog.
________________________________
UUCP Pledge Drive Moment
January 8, 2006
Offered by Rachel Clark Caudill
Etty Hillesum, a Nazi concentration camp survivor, wrote the following in her journal:
There is nothing else for it. I shall have to solve my own problems. I always get the feeling that when I solve them for myself I shall have solved them for a thousand other(s). For that very reason I must come to grips with myself.
Imagine the power for positive change gathered here... right now!
Last Sunday I sat in the back row, having just read the UUCP newsletter before coming to Church. I read that we have met last years pledge drive amount, but that we are still 17% away from our goal for fair compensation. The words I read asked me to look inside myself and consider what was important to me, in terms of how I wanted to contribute of myself to this community. Could I afford to make fair compensation a priority for our staff and new minister? Or was this goal overly ambitious for me after all? Maybe a 17% increase was just too sudden for my pocketbook.
Last Sunday - enlightened by the tender, warm tones of a cello sonata - I sat in the back row and dug around in my purse for a piece of scrap paper. On it I wrote a pledge for an additional 17% of the pledge I had already made, and tucked it into the basket as it went by. For years my family lived with uncomfortable debt. Now we are lucky enough to be able to give. Now we want to repay other sorts of debts to the world.
Last Sunday I lit a candle of joy for my family - and in doing so, I also publicly embraced this community as part of my family.
Last Sunday I read words in front of this congregation from Gandhi, about how crucial it is that we give the world what it needs.
Last Sunday - as I stood in front of you as I do now - I felt in my whole body the trust, safety and love that have opened inside my heart because of this haven, this sanctuary... because of you.
Make no mistake: Last Sunday I pledged my heart in abundance and trust that the world needs our truth. My truth tells me that fair compensation is merely a shallow wisp of the meaning beneath my pledge. My pledge also symbolizes my growth into a person no longer willing to remain silent or immobilized about my needs for inclusion, fairness, equity, and justice for all of us, not just our minister and staff.
My pledge is a visible act to honor the sanctity of our connection to the web of all existence. (Something I dare say we'll here more about today!) And in the energy of that pledge, that act, my heart hammers with the gratitude and joy that come from empowerment and contribution. I yearn to make a difference in this world, and I am deeply thankful to this church for giving me such an easy, immediate, and momentous way to do so!
Last Sunday I resolved to get up today and share my joy. I now invite you to join me in that joy, and when the basket comes - as it does with every choice we make - to flood it with whatever comfortably flows from your heart.
*
