“Thank you Notes”
Jimmy Fallon is famous for among other comic shticks his twisted thank you notes. This bit involves not traditional notes of gratitude, but thank you notes for weird daily life lessons. If you watch the show, you have likely seen him dramatically draw his pen up from the desk and with an exaggerated physical gesture of literally diving into his card like a 2nd grader. As the baby-faced host begins to enthusiastically write the audience both sees the words he is writing and hears his voice. I invite you to imagine me performing my own theatrical version of Jimmy’s act. However, in my case they are earnestly felt.
Here goes…The first few are reflective of my early years here.
“Thank you, Mike and Bruce. Thank you, for without drama, joking your way to improving our facility. The insults may fly, the guy talk may be relentless, but the place was managed well under their care, since I arrived.
Thank you, Gaby. Thank you for not loving baby Brielle and now Emma enough to resist coming back both when I first arrived, and now in my last months. Wait that didn’t sound right! What I mean to say is thanks for hanging in there with your easy but neglectful partner in church.
Thank you, Betty Paieda for editing my sermons. I frequently get them to you a bit too late for Pacific Unitarian’s own benefit, but your recent post-sermon edits of my sermons are a gift to all those in the future who would otherwise be punished by my un-edited word’s.
And “Thank you,” Thank you, thank you, Food Ministry for offering the “bleeping” best coffee hour any church offers. Despite any variations in the quality of my sermons in the first 2/3rds of my ministry, you kept attendance up by make coming to church always worthwhile. Thank you.
Thank you, Pacific Unitarian parents; you were infinitely patient when I spray your offspring with ice and water, tease them for running too slow, and playfully- albeit convincingly- threaten to “throw them in the canyon.”
And more reluctantly, thank you, …Donald Trump for if nothing else, providing enough fear of what the world could look like to draw an unknown number of passive tolerant liberal stragglers into UU churches across the country during your presidency. You are a reminder that sometimes all a person can do is to be a powerful motivating example of how not to be and act. Now shut up, and stop trying to undermine our democracy.
Turning back to more earnest thanks. To our respective photographer Stephen Schlegel and new bookkeeper/newcomer, Alison Ikler for making sure we all got appropriately baked…cookies that is so frequently at the Thursday Pizza lunch.
To the tiara wearing queens of the auction, Jen Hocutt, Linda Jenson, Pam Harris, Barbara Paulson, Kellie Kinsman, for dressing up and soliciting money. Wait that sounded wrong. I mean, you know, for the auction.
For Severin’s rounding up harried and reluctant choir members and inspiring them to enthusiastically serenade us inside our glass halls. Thanks.
To Kellie, who has been the best weird blend of friend, movie editor, personal assistant, project initiator, and litmus test to where my level of compassion sits. You have been the biggest addition to the last two years of my life here.
Anyone who thinks that the weird boundaries she has with this place, or me, is more confusing than godsend is invited to spend the day on campus and try to keep up, and fill in.
To Naresh. Thanks. You are so smart and so sensitive for leaving me your homemade soups in the fridge.
“Thank you Tara for bringing your nearly manic energy to Pacific Unitarian. You have been an irreplaceable fount of enthusiasm for marketing this church of ours. You regularly work hard enough to have nearly embarrassed me into being more interested in “Infoodle,” and replacing the quick Pacific Unitarian with Pacific Unitarian.
And to Vivien, who although no longer with us, thanks for establishing the absolute standard for how productive, proactive, challenging and polarizing can come together in a single parishioner. Although I can’t say you didn’t drive me crazy sometimes, nobody ever better called me on what part of my role I don’t do well than you.
To Lee Ann, and Gary, our most important church couple. Thanks. You are rocks. The remaining times Lee Ann will step forward to fix my stole just before church will kill me.
To that broad sweep of “broads” sorry couldn’t resist, between 60 and 90 who mostly run our church from all our Barbara’s and Mellissa’s both the one l’s and the two ll’s, and from Andrea to Donna to Barbara Marriot, Marlene to Gail Goulet, from Karen Merickel to Melissa Garcia, and Lynn Taylor thanks for who you are, and what you do. We need your steady hand, and prudence.
Ok, now I’m in Starbucks holding back the tears.
To our list of Treasurers and finance people. From Randy Ripley, to John Einhorn, to Trish Botsko, to Tara, to Greg Garcia, to Craig Lee, to Margo to now Alison Ikler, thanks! Every year, I have been here always feared that we would never be able to survive to the next, and thank the heavens I was wrong. Thank you. I wouldn’t trade all I have to do, for what you have done for free. Much Props.
A round of applause for all our finance and HR folks who have run up the hill to sign checks, figured out how to get people retirement benefits, and chased decimal points around. Oh, my God “Thank you. When nobody would admit to knowing how to keep a checkbook, all of you have stepped up and persevered! Seriously, way beyond the call of duty.
To all the people, and I am thinking first here of the Kissner’s, but they are hardly the only ones, who just take on a project, like Andy has the path, or like Janet and he have coordinated our annual trip to camp. Thanks.
If any of you want to contribute to this church, the path is simple but not easy, find some unique thing that you can competently do for our community, and without a lot of drama just do it until people stop worrying about who handles that.
My prayer for you, and all the “you’s” not mentioned here, is that your next full time minister thinks about you with the love and respect that I hold for you all.
We have a beautiful building, but it is not about the building, or the view. And although I think of myself as a pretty good lay sociologist and why this place isn’t full all the time is beyond my capacity to understand. And obviously beyond my capacity to change. That saddens and sobers me.
I am proud of myself for, if not always working as smart as I could, or really quite frankly working to improve the weaker parts of how I do in this role, I can truly say that for my too short five years here I worked hard. The deep, deep appreciation I feel for being accepted for letting me bring my whole self, to my “ministry” if that is even the best word for it has been huge.
And there are more. To all, or most of you really, a big swooping thanks to all the regular unpaid Pacific Unitarian leaders who just so often do something practical to sustain this pretty glass ship of ours that sits precipitously on the edge of our canyon. I see most of what you do, jumping into teach RE classes, rushing to put hymnals on chairs, donating to every good cause that we choose to worry about. You all simply show up to make this community function and begin to thrive.
Being at Pacific Unitarian, sorry Tara, I meant to remember to say Pacific Unitarian, was nearly always fun, because of all of you
You all deserve a private letter, but I am simply running out of time, and I have three days, and my well lived in office, still reeks of too much Steve, and too many unshipped boxes, for Chloe to arrive so I can’t.
Thanks, Irrev. Steve
