Reflection: BEGINNINGS

As our congregation begins its new liturgical year this month, we once again ask ourselves:

What does it mean to be a people of BEGINNINGS?

The start of a new year is always a beginning, a time to start over. Most of the world observes the sun-based Gregorian calendar, which in 1582, established January 1 as the beginning of each new year. However, many older civilizations and religious traditions based their calendars on the cycles of the moon.

One of those older religions is Judaism, which celebrates the beginning of each new year in the autumn. Because Judaism's calendar operates on the cycles of the moon, the beginning of the new year falls differently each year relative to the Gregorian calendar. This year, Rosh Hashonah – the Jewish New Year – starts at sundown on September 11th, and Yom Kippur – the Day of Atonement, starts on September 20th.

For observant Jews, the Days of Awe are characterized by three acts:

• Teshuvah: Recognizing error and repenting / returning

• Tefilah: Prayer and reflection

• Tzedakah: Charitable giving and good works

Although teshuvah is usually translated to mean "repentance," its root word is shuv, which means to turn back, or return. Rather than the harsh guilt often associated with repentance, we are instead being asked to examine the ways in which we may have strayed from our true path during the year just ending, and then return to who we are meant to be, to the home of our souls, to begin again...with love at the center.

This idea of returning is captured in Rabbi Sholomo Carlebach's hauntingly beautiful song of the Jewish renewal movement, "Return Again" (Hymn #1011 in our teal hymnal):

Return again, return again

Return to the home of your soul.

Return again, return again

Return to the home of your soul.

Return to who you are,

Return to what you are,

Return to where you are,

Born and reborn again.

The process of examining our hearts and beginning again each year is also beautifully expressed in Rev. Robert Eller-Isaacs' "We Begin Again in Love" (Hymn #1037 in our teal hymnal). A narrator suggests we consider some of the many ways we may have strayed from keeping love at the center over the past year:

• For remaining silent when a single voice would have made a difference…

• For each time that our fears have made us rigid and inaccessible…

• For each time we have struck out in anger without just cause…

• For each time that our greed has blinded us to the needs of others…

• For the selfishness that sets us apart and alone…

• For falling short of the admonitions of the spirit…

• For losing sight of our unity…

• For those and for so many acts both evident and subtle which have fueled the illusion of separateness…

And after each of these, we sing in response:

• We forgive ourselves and each other. We begin again, in love.

Beginnings are not limited, of course, to the spiritual practices inherent to Judaism's Days of Awe. In this month's Ministry Packet, our friends at the Soul Matters Sharing Circle offer us many opportunities to explore what it means to be a people of beginnings. For example, consider these wise words:

"We are never as alone in our beginnings as it might seem at the time. A beginning is ultimately an invitation to open towards the gifts and growth that are stored up for us." -- John O'Donohue

"You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."

-- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr.

"The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you're not going to stay where you are." -- John Pierpoint "J.P." Morgan

Or, ponder these interesting questions:

What "really good thing" in your life began with a small, uncertain step?

Are you somebody who wants everything to be just right before you begin something new, or somebody who is fine with "jumping in" and figuring things out as you go?

How is aging asking you to see it as a series of beginnings?

Or, consider engaging with one of this month's Spiritual Exercises, which reminds us that "all journeys begin in covenant" and suggests we expand our covenantal work this month to include not just people but also process. Taking inspiration from the Spiritual Design Lab, we can frame the spiritual life with three processes and accompanying questions:

Belonging – To whom or what do I belong?

Becoming – Who am I becoming?

Beyond – What is beyond me (and therefore transcendent)?

This spiritual exercise asks: What single commitment do you want to make for this coming year with each of these processes? As you make your way along your spiritual path during the year just beginning, you may want to revisit your sacred promises every few months, making revisions if they are needed.

As we begin again as a spiritual community this month, renewing our commitment to keep love at the center, we will explore what it means to be a people of BEGINNINGS. How will each of us begin again in love? How can we support each other's beginnings? And what will our collective beginnings look like?

Seeking a deeper dive into what it means to be a people of BEGINNINGS?

• Check out the one-page BEGINNINGS Overview.

• The complete BEGINNINGS ministry packet is available to UUSM members and friends; to obtain the link, contact Sheila Sandow.