08/22/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains*

(*if you can see them) We have had to endure the terrible air quality conditions this week in the Seattle area. Smoke from fires north and east and down south in Oregon and California have totally obscured the mountains, the Sound and Seattle itself from here in West Seattle. No one is physically immune from the effects of the smoke. It’s also disconcerting to not see the mountains because they are such an emotional anchor for so many here. I’ve had many times when I might be in a grumpy mood, but I’ll look up at Mt. Rainier or the

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08/06/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains (and Plains) 8.6.18

What a summer it’s been. Heatwaves everywhere, tragic fires in Greece, Siberia, California and many more locations. Climatologists say that we are in a radically unstable and changing time for weather and climate. That’s an example of liminality. Thanks to your generosity with my professional expenses this year, I am able to take a number of classes by the highly regarded Rev. Susan Beaumont. I’m taking one at the end of August on staffing and supervision. However, I want to mention the one I attended last week called, “Leading in a Liminal Season” at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

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05/30/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – Word Meanings Matter

One of my favorite lines from the Chinese wisdom book The Tao te Ching (ca. 3rd century before common era) by Lao Tzu is “The journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” (verse 64). It’s very familiar to many people here in the Western world. The words seem straightforward. The journey began with a first step. I don’t know about anyone else, but that suggests to me that whatever journey I am thinking about started some time ago “back when.” Here’s an example. Westside’s journey began many years ago in 1959 when a group of people began to meet here

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05/02/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musing Among the Mountains – Week of May 4

“What’s the hardest part of being an interim Minister?” The above question was one of those questions from last summer’s “Stump the Minister” service. I’d planned to respond to the unanswered questions over the course of this church year. Events caught up with us and I had to delay the responses until now. So, what is the hardest part of being an interim minister? The main challenge is moving every year or two (or occasionally 3 years as here). Everything in a temporary home has to be sold, given away, or packed up to move to a new location. Books

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04/18/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – Week of April 18

“Are We Having a Church Fight?” Someone asked me that question recently. I had to pause for a moment to think about the implications of what they were asking. After all, we all *know* that church fights are bad… I forget what I said exactly in response, but I wouldn’t call any of the conversations at Westside to be in the category of church fight. I’d suggest instead that what’s going on is a spirited conversation. More on that below. The image of a classic church fight is not a pretty one. One cartoon I saw years ago imagined a

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04/04/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – Week of April 6

“White What….?” Language is powerful. The spoken and written word carries great symbolism and it can be skillful or harmful depending on its use and interpretation. Take the current national conversation about white supremacy in America. When I began to hear the term white supremacy earlier in my life, images of the KKK, police beatings in the ‘60s South, and survivalist groups came to mind. Ok, let’s do some labels. I’m white. I’m in my late 60s. I’m male and heterosexual in my gender and sexual identification. How on earth could I also be a white supremacist?  The very word

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03/28/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – Glimmers of Light

There’s been a lot of worry and pessimism on Facebook and other social media in the last year or so. People worry about the state of the world, climate change, race relations, and much more. It’s probably tempting to take a break from information and emotion overload. When I was a young child and thought I heard strange noises from under the bed, my solution was to pull the covers over my head. It obviously worked because the noises went away, and I would awaken the next morning ready to face a new day. One of the windows in my

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02/28/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – Rev. Alex Holt Week of March 2

“May you live in interesting times.” I wonder if people remember this phrase above? ‘May you live in interesting times’ is an oft-spoken term that is alleged to be a proverb from ancient China. It certainly sounds wise and appropriately cryptic. It can be meant in many ways and often said as a warning of trouble and danger ahead. Unfortunately, it is neither Asian or ancient. The history of the term takes it no further back than about 1939. Robert Kennedy used a version of the expression when he gave a speech in 1966: “There is a Chinese curse which

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02/07/2018 by Shannon Day

To be Called: What does #MeToo mean to us? Margo Rinehart, Ministerial Intern

This coming Sunday Reverend Alex Holt and I will be sharing the pulpit, preaching about #MeToo.     In preparation for sermon writing, I interviewed many men and women on this topic.   I also put aside four hours to sit and surf the web for responses to #MeToo.    What started as a concern for women, children and men who have experienced sexual harassment and sexual assault, quickly became a macabre tour into the Twilight Zone of why is it so difficult for our society to wrap their minds around this. What is at the heart of almost all of the #MeToo stories

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01/31/2018 by Shannon Day

Minister’s Musings Among the Mountains – The Nine Contemplations

Greetings, good people of Westside UU and beyond I was in Tampa, Florida last week for a UUMA conference held every three years. Generally, it was great. The clergy worship services were energetic and entirely not what I am used to. They made my stout New Englander heart a bit less armored, but they were very new to me. They were very powerful. They (along with our normal services) are part of the future. The worship presenters knew this and talked about how important our traditional and known expectations services were as well. In other news, people complained how cold

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