Midweek Message February 18, 2026

Got Faith?

What does it mean to us to have faith as UUs?

One day last fall we had a rainy Sunday morning and everyone wore their raincoats and hung them up in the social hall.  When I went to get mine at the very end of the day, I found only one raincoat left.  It was a very similar raincoat to my own: it was the same brand and color, but… two sizes bigger than mine.  And frankly, it was nicer than mine. 

There was not a moment when I thought that it had been stolen - not even for a second.  I have faith in our community! It amused me to think of the person grabbing the very similar coat and wondering if maybe they had expanded some when they tried on the too tight coat.  

Every time it rained, I thought fondly of this other person running around in my coat, wondering how it had shrunk.

And then, last Sunday it rained cats and dogs.  (Please consider this figuratively and not biblically - it felt like the plagues when it was raining, but it was definitively not the worst weather we’ve had in the last month!)  

In a UU style miracle, my old coat re-appeared on Sunday on the coat rack, and was again the last coat waiting at the end of the day.  This was MONTHS after it first went home with someone else by mistake.  (No, I did not buy a new raincoat in the interim  - for two reasons: 1) I loathe spending money unnecessarily - and 2) I KNEW that coat was coming back!) 

This week the Safe(r) Congregation Panel worked on procedures for our Church community should someone need to file a grievance.  The team was so thoughtful about it, and put themselves in the theoretical shoes of both the filer and the person named.  They asked great questions such as what would they need to hear when they were hurting?  How would they be comforted?  What is the best possible way to experience a rupture and a repair within our covenant together?

As news of the world keeps rolling in new levels of nonsense, please remember that UUs can have faith in each other.  When we live into our shared values, we are not only holding each other up in tricky times, but we are also modeling for others how to be faithful. 

Keep the faith, beloved FUUN community.  We’re building something great here!