Board Buzz: June 2018

May 31, 2018 | News

by Uzma Butte

As June approaches, I look back over the last year and witnessed all the different ways our congregation came together to celebrate various occasions through out the different seasons.

I became a new member on the Board of Trustees last June, and I was warmly welcomed by the members of the congregation and the Board. I volunteered to work with them at special occasions such as the Salmon Bake in September, the Auction in November, the Operations Fund Drive Celebration Brunch in April etc. Their camaradarie and support encouraged me to get even more involved in church activities, as a result of which I was asked to be Vice-president in November. It seemed like a daunting task but Jack, and the rest of the board, reassured me and showed great enthusiasm for the idea, and I accepted.

Well you know what, East Shore, you are an awesome bunch of folks to be with. There have been some challenging times in the past that you had to deal with and there will be challenging times in the future. But that’s life. We are stronger and bigger than any hurt or injury that may have been inflicted upon us. Our foundations may be shaken, but we still standing.

As long as we resolve to be positive, hold each other kindly, and come together to make things happen, we will be ok. I came to East Shore for no other reason but to find community. And I found it. I didn’t care then who the minister was and I don’t worry now about who it will be; all I knew is that I am with a bunch of highly intelligent people who are interested in expressing their spiritual values in altruism and other acts that are also beneficial to our natural word.

It’s not easy to live a life where you do the best you can to adhere to a moral standard that you have set up for your self.  Each one of us walks a unique path and yet is seeking some kind of connection to other human beings. We may at times not see eye to eye on some things, but neither do siblings raised in the same home by the same parents.

As long as we understand that there is only so much that others can do for us, we can create a happy place in our psyche, where we thank those who help and forgive those who don’t or won’t.

Even though it is hard to make time, if we choose to invest time in creating connections so that we can understand and know each other, then we can build community. I hear that memberships at churches are dwindling all over the US, but in order to build up our church we need to offer community. And we need community so we can be guided, motivated, confronted gently, reassured, comforted, energized and then to celebrate with.

And we have much to celebrate at East Shore.