Dear Beacon:

Do you ever feel like you should have all of the answers?

“We’re not called to have all of the answers,” a colleague recently said to me (Rev. Emilie) over Zoom, “We’re called to do the next right thing.” What an act of faithful commitment!

Have you ever wrestled with a decision, trying to predict all of the possible outcomes, trying to discern the least amount of risk but riddled with what if, what if, what if? 

This is where Shel Silverstein’s poem, Whatif, comes to mind: “Last night, while I lay thinking here,/some Whatifs crawled inside my ear/ and pranced and partied all night long/ and sang their same old Whatif song.” His whatifs get pretty ridiculous (what if green hair grows on my chest?) which taught me, as a child, not to give the Whatifs too much power. Even the seriously scary Whatifs (what if my parents get divorced?) were out of my control. All I could do was take the next right step and greet both success and failures with some semblance of grace. 

What decisions are you facing, beloved? What practices will help you take the next right step? 

To this day, when the Whatifs begin to colonize my thoughts, I recite Silverstein’s poem. Often out loud. It makes me laugh at myself. That’s important. It gives me a sliver of distance from the anxiety that the Whatifs stir up. 

Then, I count my blessings. I write down gratitude for the decisions, from the most impactful to the least significant, that led me to this moment. It helps me see the bigger picture and teaches me to trust that there is grace even in the missteps and setbacks (though that doesn’t make them less painful in the moment). At any rate, I survived them! 

These practices lead me to the next right thing. 

In June, as we lean into the theme of commitment, our community closes on the American Red Cross property and plans for an August 1st re-opening of in-person services. With our mission as our guide, let us live into all of the practices that lead us to do the next right thing. May we greet our success and failures with grace.

With a faith known as Love,

Dr. Tuli Patel and Reverends Emilie & Robin