Board Buzz: September

Aug 31, 2017 | News

By Uzma Butte

I hope we are all getting a chance to relax and enjoy some time off from work this summer! I try to stay local as much as possible from June through September to enjoy the great weather we have in the Puget Sound area. This time of the year is also a great way for me to renew and rejuvenate my spirit by connecting with friends and family, such getting together for a barbecue or helping them with a project such as repairing a deck or painting some walls.

It is such a nice way to spend time having pleasant interactions, when working or socializing with people you care about. When we hunger for connection with friends and family members, how often do we try to get the skills to communicate in a way that is mutually respectful? Conflict is a fact of life and to avoid conflict or to give in and later act out in passive-aggressive ways, are not conducive ways to building healthy relationships.

How do we grow to be caring so we can be in a relationship? A relationship is different than an arrangement, where there is no need to accept another person as a human being, but rather as a role that one plays.

One of the reasons I joined East Shore is because it gave me a venue to where I could try to make a difference in the world around me, with the help of like-minded people. I want to see our membership grow, by attracting people who want to contribute in a positive way and then to find ways to maintain our membership by ensuring that our congregation find their participation satisfying. When our members feel that they are in an energizing relationship with ESUC and other members here, they will work hard to get their friends to join too.

Lucky for us, the Board has been informed there is a Right Relations Team in the process of forming, to explore various approaches to building a loving, trusting and healthy congregation. A lot of information is going to be available in the following months, and I am going to work hard to support our team in their mission. I ask each and every member of our East Shore community to do the same.

Just like the way healthy soil is a life-giving entity, made up of inanimate things like pieces of rock, sand, clay etc and biological organisms and decaying plant and animal matter, so can a congregation come together to participate in creating a joyful community that can make a difference in a sustainable way.