Some Ramblings

You wouldn’t believe the difficulty I have in writing this column each quarter. I get writer’s block and agonize. It’s a good thing I didn’t become a journalist, or a minister for that matter.

As you read this I will be almost halfway through my fourth and final year as President of the Florida District. Additionally, this year I am Vice President – Finance of the Fort Myers church and serve on two very active ad hoc committees. I have had leadership roles in all three churches and two fellowships of which I have been a member over the last 39 years.

Why on earth do I do it?

The primary reason is because Unitarian Universalism is something I really believe in. But, I must confess, perhaps equally important is the fact that I get so much out of it.

How do I get so much out of it?

I give a lot of my time and to a lesser extent my limited financial resources. Giving to a cause I believe in is healthy and nourishing for me and it makes me feel good.

Some happenings give me a sense of pride and self worth (e.g.- the role I played in putting on a building addition to the Unitarian Universalist Society: East in Manchester, CT, or at General Assembly in Salt Lake City being greeted with “Ed Porteus, I was hoping I would see you” by a newly fellowshipped, 40 year old minister, who knew me in the mid-fifties as her third grade, church school teacher at the North Hills U. U. Church in Pittsburgh).

There is nothing that moves me more than to see a group of well informed UUs working the democratic process the way it should be worked - listening deeply; speaking when and only when they have something to say; being respectful yet passionate; and seeking the solution and action that is best for the community. And if I feel that I have contributed to making that happen, I am doubly rewarded.

I have grown and learned so much from these experiences.

Finally, and perhaps most important, I have been highly privileged to work closely with some of the finest people I have ever known. I can’t say enough about them.

Why and how do you serve? Do you get as much out of it as I have? My experience supports the old saw that you have to give in order to receive. I have received far more than I have given. Do you want to receive more from your church membership? Could you be doing more? Think about it!

Thanks for listening.

— ED PORTEUS, PRESIDENT