by Melissa McKeon, President, UUCW Board of Management

If I had to choose one – just one – of Unitarianism’s principles, I’d choose the last. The “interconnected web of existence,” resonates even more than the others for me. 

I love the metaphor: the web of a spider, the web of existence.

I love that the tiniest whisper of a touch to the web of a spider brings it running (often to prepare its prey for dinner, admittedly, but everyone’s got to eat, right?). That signal can tell them they are about to preyed upon as well. 

I love that an immense web can be formed overnight across the space between one of my potted plants and the screen door on the back porch. The amount of work it takes fills me with wonder. 

I love that the spider’s body can spin out many kinds of silk to build their webs, all of them incredibly strong for such a tiny thread.

I love that the web is built by a spider’s own body; it weaves its own home, its own grocery cart, its own alarm system.

In the end, I suppose, we all do just that: use our own resources to make the place we need. I’d like to think that our congregation, with all its missions, has built all those things and more:

• Our connections team builds a web to connect our newcomers to our congregation and all it can offer. This summer, our services drew in many newcomers, enjoying everything from tie-dyed shirts to garden tours to canine play.
• Our congregation, and its minister, religious ed director and musician, build a web of sharing and a space to stop and breathe on Sundays, with our service and post-service coffee hour. In that web I have, on countless occasions,  learned what’s really been on my mind and discovered new music and new authors and new thoughts. In the web of coffee hour, I have made new friends and found, in a friend, a dear new cousin.
• Our Garden On team builds a part of the web of existence that encourages many literal webs! That our gardens form part of Worcester’s own “necklace” of native plants, a stop on a pollinator’s journey, a haven for birds and all the other creatures, is a source of delight to me, giving me faith that building little bits of the web can someday connect to others and heal the world. 

As we begin the new church year, I consider the web that is our congregation’s work, often behind the scenes: the people on boards and committees and working groups and teams, working together to keep snacks on the table in fellowship hall, to share our service with those who cannot attend in person, to spruce up the building, to treat our employees like the professionals they are, to balance the books and find the money and to “connect” with newcomers who need to know that, if they’re looking for a peaceful welcoming place in the world, we’re here.