We’re continuing our ongoing exploration of what it means to be a Unitarian Universalist, this month asking, “What does it mean to be a people of presence?” Not surprising, perhaps, the word “presence” has a few different meanings. Interestingly, two of them appear to be contradictions!
You can speak about a person’s presence – their demeanor, the way they carry themselves. A person with presence might seem dignified, imposing, or simply comfortably self-assured.
Presence can also refer to the fact of being present — “the state or fact of being present, as with others or in a place.” More specifically, this could point toward being somewhere by invitation – as in, “your presence is requested” – or being in the vicinity of a person of importance – as in, “being in her Majesty’s presence.”
Interestingly, though, presence can also mean, essentially, the opposite. Ghosts, for instance, are often described as being a mere presence – not really there, not fully … present.
Do all of these meanings have something to teach us about what it means to say that we Unitarian Universalists are “a people of presence?” Something for us to consider, don’t you think? Elsewhere in the Bulletin you’ll find questions for your consideration. These are generated by the people who developed the Thematic Ministry model we’re using, along with over 200 other Unitarian Universalist congregations.
I’m going to lift up one of these meanings in this column – being a people of presence means being a people who are present. As a predominantly white congregation many of us are working to learn what it means to be white in our society, and how our (often unconscious) participation in the systems and institutions of our white supremacist culture is something we must become conscious of and actively work to unlearn. We must do this personal and collective work if we’re going to have any chance at all of being effective in dismantling these systems. This is a large part of our work for racial justice.
Another part is showing up. Being present. Putting ourselves in the often uncomfortable position of aligning ourselves with those our culture deems “other.” There are, of course, a lot of “others” who cry out for solidarity: people of color; women; immigrants; LGBTI people; the poor; people who are physically, emotionally, or psychologically “atypical” … the list could go on almost ad infinitum. Being a people of presence means – at least one of its meanings is – that we show up in the places where the dominant culture tells us “good people” don’t go.
One of my spiritual heroes is the Christian saint, Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, nicknamed by his father, Francesco, and known by us as St. Francis. When Francis realized that his calling was to work with the poor and dispossessed, he did not go out to help and then return to his comfortable home. Nor did he try to bring those to whom his heart and spirit called him into the city. He went out to them, so that he could truly be present to and with them.
Not all of us are able to take such a huge step. I know that I couldn’t. Yet each of us can find ways to be present in places where “people like us” are not supposed to go. Doing so will be uncomfortable for us, to be sure. It could well be scary, and it will almost certainly bring on us the judgement of those who’ve tried to separate “us” from “them.” People, even people we know and care about, may not understand the choices we make, may disagree with or disapprove of our actions, may dismiss us as kooks or fools. Hard as it will be to experience such opprobrium from others, there are those who’d say that the harsher the criticism the greater the affirmation that you’re in the right place.
One way of understanding what it means to say that we Unitarian Universalists are a people of presence is to say that our Unitarian Universalist faith calls on us to be present, to show up, to feel and express solidarity with “the other.”
What does that mean to you?
Pax tecum,
RevWik