by the Rev. Barbara Threet

Each year, the UUA’s Skinner House Books publishes at least one meditation manual. Some are written by UU clergy, some by lay members, and some are anthologies. I use them a lot for meditation, as sparks of inspiration, and as readings for services. One particular poem has stuck in my heart recently. It’s from How We Are Called: a Meditation Anthology, published in 2003, and it’s called One Wish, written by Lisa Friedman.

If you had but one wish,
what would it be?

Take your time thinking about it.
So much is at stake –
an end to all suffering,
a stop to all violence,
a solution to poverty and all of its ills.

Would you wish for love?
For forgiveness or for healing?
Would you wish the world joy?
Or the wisdom to change?
Would you wish to understand everything?
Or to know less than you do?

Take your time thinking about it.
So much is at stake,
for a wish is a thought,
and a thought is an idea.
An idea leads to commitment,
and a commitment cries out for action.

A wish can be a dangerous thing,
something daring.
And it need not be witnessed by the stars
to come true.

Let us be glad that we’re not given just one wish in our lives
but many.

Let us be grateful not for wishful thinking,
but for the discipline of the thoughtful wishing
that can lead to change.

What would your wish be?

So for us here at the UUCGF, especially as we prepare for our Annual Meeting and the next church year, what would your wish be? For you, for us as a congregation, and for our world? I’m struck by the phrase ‘the discipline of thoughtful wishing’: what would you thoughtfully wish for?

Shalom and Salaam,
Rev. Barbara