Dear First Parishers,
I recently came across these words by Parker Palmer, from his book, Let Your Life Speak: “In the human world, abundance does not happen automatically. It is created when we have the sense to choose community, to come together to celebrate and share our common store. Whether the scarce resource is money or love or power… the true law of life is that we generate more of whatever seems scarce by trusting its supply and passing it around. Authentic abundance is not found in secured stockpiles of food or cash or influence or affection but in belonging to a community where we can give those goods to others who need them – and receive them from others when we are in need…. Community doesn’t just create abundance – community is abundance. If we could learn that equation from the world of nature, the human world might be transformed.”
We speak of “community” as the reason why we come to and why we stay at First Parish, so I appreciate Palmer’s fleshing out what community means and how it works. It is something we choose to participate in, to give to and receive from, in trust that when we do so, we create a sense of belonging that can be transformative. It pushes back against our larger culture’s emphasis on the accumulation of individual wealth and power. And it shifts us from fear to gratitude, from scarcity to abundance.
Because of all the troubles in our country and our world, our First Parish community feels especially energetic and abundant. Within and beyond our congregation, we are reaching out to create networks of care and compassion, and to deepen bonds of trust and hope. We recognize that we need authentic community now more than ever, and we are engaged in bringing that to life.
Another aspect of community is its ability to make possible things we could not accomplish on our own and in ways that we cannot fully imagine. This is particularly true for a community of faith where we live between what is and what we hope can be. We are in a literal and metaphorical season of change as we move out of what has been a tough winter and into spring. We do not know what lies ahead but as we witness life renewing itself all around us, we can help one another put our trust in community to liberate us from fear, and in love to help us rise out of despair.
The abundance of community happens because we invest in it—and because generations before us did the same. Our participation is cumulative and transformative. I am grateful for all of you and all the ways you choose to make First Parish happen abundantly!
In faith,
Rev. Ellen