How does repair work in your life? What does it mean to repair?

When I think of repairs in my UU world many things pop up. As sexton this means finding a way to restore hot water in my church, or putting the wheel back on my vacuum. Repair on a building that is so old is a constant process. Just as one thing is made whole, a light bulb pops, and paint chips somewhere else. Repair of the building is a constant action. Cleaning, and making small repairs, resets the church each week to welcome the people on Sunday. Repair allows the building and the congregation to continue their journey. 

Repair is a mind set on doing better. Living in a beta test, where mistakes are acknowledged, breathed over for a minute and action begins to restore what has gone wrong. In RE and for families and children, I think repair begins in the “oops and ouch”. Listening to each other. Opening up communication so that when a hurt happens, and someone feels misunderstood they can have the courage to say so. Repair means not just the child is capable of making mistakes, but the grown ups know when it is the time to say “I’m sorry”. Listening leads to repair.

Fixing past wrongs and ouches, or finding a way to restore hot water in the church, take a moment every day to contemplate what in your life needs repair. Then take a deep breath, get fixin.

Erin