At a campus ministry workshop a number of years ago, we were comparing the slogans we put on signs for tabling at college activities fairs. One that sticks out in my mind is – “Unitarian Universalists: we have a question for your every answer.” This quip holds a fundamental truth about us as a people who believe that the act of questioning is a spiritual practice. 

Coming up later this month we have a special tradition that speaks directly to this practice. We are holding our annual Question Box Service on Sunday, August 24, at our 10:15 am worship. It is your chance to ask me anything from the “big questions” connected to the meaning of life… to questions about our tradition of Unitarian Universalism, or about our congregation specifically… to questions like, what is the most unusual pet I have had? Or who is a spiritual leader that I admire and have learned from?

Here’s how it works: You write down a question, or a couple of questions, and place them in the Question Box in the narthex (i.e., the lobby in front of our sanctuary). Or, you can email your question(s) to QandA@firstunitarianportland.org. All questions need to be submitted by Thursday, August 21. These questions do not initially go to me. They will be picked up from the narthex by a group of volunteers, or the email goes directly to that same group of volunteers. They will go through them and select a good number of questions for me to answer (and probably combine some similar questions). The volunteers try to ensure that a variety of questions are put forth. Then, they send me the selected questions on Sunday, August 24, before the service. During the service, I will try to answer as many as possible.

We are about to begin our fourth year together in shared ministry, and this will only be my third time doing this different style of service. It was not a tradition in my home congregation, in my internship congregation, or where I served previously. So far, I have really enjoyed this opportunity to hear questions from you and to offer an initial response to them. Many of the questions, even those which don’t get answered, become fodder for columns and worship services in the year ahead. Several folks last year came up to me after the service to share how much they appreciated participating and hearing me in this different context. I do hope you’ll be able to make it.

I’ll end this column by sharing the last stanza in hymn number #354, “We Laugh, We Cry” by Shelley Denham:

“We seek elusive answers to the questions of this life.
We seek to put an end to all the waste of human strife.
We search for truth, equality, and blessed peace of mind.
And then, we come together here, to make sense of what we find.
And we believe in life, and in the strength of love,
and we have found a joy being together.
And in our search for peace, maybe we’ll finally see:
even to question, truly is an answer.”

May each one of us hone our ability to ask the right questions to guide us in life.

In faith,

Rev. Alison