Idiot Wind

Posted on March 2, 2021 by bobjanisdillon

Listen, he said, it’s like this.
Some idiot farmer has thrown your plans into the wind, like seeds.
God knows why.

On the highway, 18-wheelers roar continually
over several of your dreams.
Don’t worry, the birds are cleverer than those monsters,
they’ll get there, eventually, somehow.
But, buddy – you won’t.

The best of your hopes? The very cleverest ones?
Shooting up behind FastSaveMart.
You can go see ‘em now if you want to,
sunlit and lanky, proud little nothings.
Get there quick, though – tomorrow they dry up. Done.

An expectation gets lucky, sometimes,
finds a nice bit of soil, moistened by an upturned soda can,
and vigorously becomes a bolder version of itself,
so courageous amidst the cardboard and twist ties,
only the weeds are stronger.

Most mystifying of all, perhaps,
are your successes: exploding from the tilled earth
rising above our heads in glory,
like a jewelled sceptre, or a middle finger.

That’s just how it is, he said.
And how could a fool live in a world like this?
And what numbskull is taking score?

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Breathe

Posted on February 9, 2021 by bobjanisdillon

When things go wrong, and wrong again,
And disappointment sets up camp
Upon your spirit:
Breathe. Breathe in the moment’s damp
And heavy-laden wisdom, sent

From higher places to your cell,
A missive seeping to the bone.
Take it in, hear it,
Let prayer, that holds all things unknown,
Open hands and confidence expel.

When hope is lost, and rests at ease;
When meaning falls upon its sword
And you are humbled,
Breathe. Breathe out a quiet word
that speaks no lies, and grows oak trees.

The stars worked years to bring our way
A little of the very stuff
That thrives and crumbles,
So let us live with it enough
To praise, and praising, make the day.

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The 21st Century Congregant: A Profile

Posted on February 6, 2021 by bobjanisdillon

In my first few weeks as Congregational Connections Lead for the Unitarian General Assembly, I’ve had many fascinating conversations with congregational leaders about how congregations are adapting to an uncertain future. Congregations large and small (OK, medium and small – we’re not a giant movement) are thinking in innovative ways about what being a community of meaning is all about.

Even before this pandemic, the landscape of congregational life had changed massively over the last fifty years. The drop in attendance was perhaps the most obvious change – but there have been countless societal changes as well. As congregational leaders, merely adapting to where we are now makes our heads spin – and we know the future is going to be different still.

I thought one fascinating way to consider the possibilities facing our congregations, might be to give a description of the typical congregant who might be a part of our congregations in the present or near future. What follows is a generalisation of the type of person that I think is either already participating in Unitarian and Free Christian congregations, or will be interested in Unitarian and free Christian congregations in, say, the period between 2021 – 2030. (“21st century congregant” is a snappy title – I like how it sounds a bit like “the six-million-dollar man” – but I’m really mostly focussing on the next decade).

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The Morning Gets Her Skates On

Posted on January 26, 2021 by bobjanisdillon

Last night, Dawn sensed
you were having a rough one.
So she laced up her boots,
and stepped gingerly out onto the sky.
Tottering at first, on golden legs,
she breathed into the strength of her own centre,
then, after sharpening her edges on the nearest mountain ,
she rushed to you.

She crossed the sky beneath your feet as if she were
an Italian grandmother crossing herself,
a swift and unpremeditated motion, arising
from countless years’ hard-won wisdom.

There were rumblings in the antipodal clouds last night,
because of you,
as the day pounded on its determined course,
somersaulted over the upturned gaze of a terrapin,
relentless. Entire continents
gave up the early hours
to the dolorous sigh of noon,
knowing full well
you were lodged firm in her racing heart.

She arrived, at your door,
her angled blades kicking up a frost,
breathless and keen.
There she was, again,
as we both claim to be so used to by now.

Human beings fail
to show up for each other, time
and time again.
It is the same
with morning: one day her fingers
will falter, her attention will drift off
at the last eyelet,
and her boots will have made their last journey
to your side of the rink.

Do not judge the dawn too harshly:
she whose limbs are sore from their love of you,
she who could not rescue you,
no matter how hard she tried,
but sped across the night
to greet you with what warmth
she had collected along the way.

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Who is your congregation?

Posted on January 22, 2021 by bobjanisdillon

In my conversations with Unitarian and free Christian congregations, one specific bit of good news is repeated again and again: congregations are reporting new attendees to their online worship. It may just be one or two – though occasionally more – and they may, or may not, come every week. But congregations have been delighted to welcome new attendees.

Sometimes these newcomers could not ordinarily access the physical chapel, for whatever reason. Maybe they live far away from the physical chapel, but feel a connection to its ethos and culture. For some, physical mobility is limited, and being able to attend a service from home is an incredible blessing. Maybe they have some prior affinity with the congregation – friends or family of a member, or a past member themselves. Or maybe they were just curious on a Sunday morning, logged on, and discovered a community of hope and thoughtfulness.

Every congregational leader I’ve spoken to has expressed joy and gratitude that new people are finding meaning in our communities. And, looking to the future, it brings up an interesting challenge.

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Your Monday blessing: The Final Word

Posted on January 18, 2021 by bobjanisdillon

Crave not the final word.

The Grim Reaper, it’s pretty clear,
has nothing terribly important to say, after all.

Meanwhile, only a drop or two~
from your mouth today,
might fall
like seeds
onto the waiting harvest,
and be utterly obliterated into joy.

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The Divine Symposium

Posted on January 11, 2021 by bobjanisdillon

The gods and I were discussing which was better –
a Twitter account, or access to birdsong.
Apollo said something funny that I can’t repeat.

Then we got out our harps, and played until lunch:
nectar, wine, ambrosia, and what I wouldn’t give
for a little more of that tune.

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So You Want to Grow the Congregation… Two Questions of Discernment

Posted on January 8, 2021 by bobjanisdillon

So You Want to Grow the Congregation…
Two Questions of Discernment

Throughout my ministerial career – for fifteen years as a minister serving various congregations in the US and UK, and more recently serving at UK Unitarian headquarters as Congregational Connections Lead – congregational growth has proved an extremely popular topic. I have heard from dozens of committed, devoted congregational leaders who would like to see their congregations grow.

I am far from an expert on congregational growth. But I have studied the subject a bit, with the help of congregational growth workshops, retreat, seminary classes, Alban Institute books, you name it. Side by side with these wonderful committed, devoted leaders, I have tried earnestly to help congregations grow. We have achieved only limited success, honestly: some of the congregations I have served have achieved modest numerical growth, over several years. Others haven’t grown in numbers – though perhaps they have grown in other ways. Numbers don’t always tell the whole story of a congregation. But the story the numbers tell is pretty clear: congregational growth is hard. Several of our congregations are in decline; any gains in membership are hard-won and tenuous. Often leaders will ask why congregational growth is so difficult. Is it because we live in a secular culture? Yes, partly. But there are other reasons as well, which I’d like to draw attention to with this essay.

I am not an expert, but having though about and studied congregational growth for twenty years, I want to sound a caution about how difficult congregational growth can be – and also offer some hope, after stressing how challenging congregational growth work really is. Any information offered herein is not original to me – you can probably find similar wisdom in other places; I recommend particular the Alban Institute’s resources. This essay is primarily geared towards Unitarian and free Christian congregations in the UK, but I suspect much of it applies equally well to other religious congregations (and even, to some extent, non-religious organisations). So here goes.

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“Daybreak”

Posted on January 4, 2021 by bobjanisdillon

This morning, the day broke
into this house of mine again.
The past was gone.

Later, I’m sure I will change the locks –
who can bear such unrelenting thievery? –
but for now, sitting amongst the gold-strewn sky,
I give to wonder its due.

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“No poem”

Posted on December 28, 2020 by bobjanisdillon

I have no poem to offer you, my friends:
only a pale flower,
arms outstretched in joy
toward the stormy heavens.

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