Desert Notes January 9, 2025

Both of our Christmas Eve services were special this year, and included a photo booth which Jamila Miqbel and Damian Pulliam’s family have shared with us on occasion. This year the family service featured the “No-Rehearsal” pageant, which allowed people of all ages to join in creating a tableau of the Christmas story, narrated by yours truly. It was fun and meaningful, and kiddos went home with stuffed animals donated to VUU. The evening service included music organized and led by Lynn DeMuth and an ensemble of singers. I shared a poetic meditation on Joseph.  

Since then, I have been enjoying my family and especially a visit from my daughter, Ally, who has been living in Costa Rica as a Peace Corps volunteer. She gave a presentation about her service here at VUU the first Saturday in January, and it was wonderful to hear her talk about her service and learning. All of us have enjoyed getting out to museums and outdoor activities, favorite restaurants and movies. In particular, we saw “Bonhoeffer” and had a lively discussion about ethics, theology, WWII, and current politics. If you haven’t seen it, it should be streaming by now.  

I returned to VUU this Sunday as a “visitor” and enjoyed helping prepare a soup luncheon to support the Coming of Age fundraising effort for this year’s crew, which includes my own HS student. Next Sunday we will celebrate the gifts we’ve received through the music ministry of Katie Seiferth and engage in the spiritual practice of “the good goodbye.” If you missed my letter about her departure, it can be found here .  

Many of you have heard me talk about interim and/or developmental work. This important work is what organizations do when they experience major staff transitions or other events that call the organization to re-evaluate their core mission and vision and to review, revise and re-imagine the programs and services that bring these to life. It’s a time that many find uncomfortable because it involves many layers of change and a sense of uncertainty as shifts in strategy and resources take place. Often organizations get caught in their own anxiety and avoid important questions and experiments. This can get in the way of important growth and insight. I invite all of us to consider the benefits of this work even as we may struggle with parts that make us uncomfortable. A change that is unwelcome for some may be very welcome for others, and it’s important that we understand why before we decide what to do next.  A book I recommend about this is called “In the Interim.”  

—Rev. Sarah