The Hidden Treasure In Change Rev. Cynthia Westby, Director of Religious Exploration Transition shakes up most of us. Change messes with the order of things we’ve gotten used to, feel comfortable with, and prefer to see remain the same. Change is often not pleasant or agreeable. There is, however, hidden treasure
Continue readingDifficult situations are gifts. Gifts we often resist and usually don’t appreciate. They teach us about our blind spots. . . if we stop and listen to what is happening inside us. You may want to return these gifts, but resist! Sticking with the feelings and experience pays off. When
Continue readingI’ve been finding grief catching me unawares lately. Any transition triggers feelings but usually it is bewildering and surprising when I realize I’m in the midst of a grief response to transition. Especially when the transition is happy. For me, there is the strange grief coming after my ordination. This
Continue readingGood morning, Westside UU and the Racial Justice Change Team will be launching Beloved Conversations in January. Beloved Conversations uses a small group ministry format to explore the role of race/ethnicity in individual and congregational lives. It was developed at Meadville Lombard Seminary by the Fahs Collaborative and has been
Continue reading“What’s Up with Changes in Worship at Westside” I’ve heard there’s some distress about all the changes in Sunday worship in the last years. I wanted to address it here and my reasons why we are in an experimental year of worship planning and performance. First, it’s natural to want
Continue readingAs we transition into fall, with this glorious weather, watching the leaves drift down into colorful piles on the ground, I am looking forward to a deepening richness in my position as DRE. I am excited to be ordained and it gives me great joy to be a minister! I
Continue reading“Boys will be boys” I heard that comment above quite a bit in the last two weeks and especially after the Senate hearing last week with Dr. Ford and Judge Kavanaugh. I also remember hearing those words when I was growing up. Sometimes it was directed at me. My room
Continue readingHappy Belated Fall Equinox, Westside! As much as I am disappointed by the briefness of summer, I do feel ready for fall. It’s my favorite season, and it does suit the Scorpionic and Halloween loving tendencies of many Seattleites well. Bring on the saffron colored leaves and ancestor honoring ceremonies
Continue readingI was ordained as an Interfaith Minister on Saturday, September 15th by the Chaplaincy Institute Interfaith Community in Berkeley, California. The beautiful, powerful two-hour long ceremony was held in the early evening at Christ Church in Berkeley. It was an emotional, deeply moving ceremony and I am thrilled to now
Continue reading“So, what’s up with Worship Council?” Several Westsiders have asked me that question in recent days. I had mentioned some changes in my August 19th sermon called “Living in a Liminal Season.” I talked about being in a time of radical and unpredictable change which we all are now. This
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