Dennis Manion
Dennis Manion
This year, our family celebrates 20 years as members of this community. Patrick was 5 and Erin was 2 when we became members. Today, Patrick is a Math and Science teacher, and Erin is starting her career as a professional musician. Along the way, we’ve seen a lot of change – in ourselves, our family, our country, our planet, and Beacon. The first service we attended was in a high school gym in New Providence. Our name was the Unitarian Church in Summit – yet there we were in New Providence, sitting under a basketball hoop.
So much has changed, including our name and the sacred space where we worship. And yet, so much more has not changed. As our family has gone through all of the joys and sorrows that come along with life, our Beacon experience has provided us with a constant point of grace – a grace at the core of our being – a grace that is changeless.
And what is grace? I’ve learned, by listening to countless sermons - and affirmed through my own lived experience – as part of the Chaplain team – as well as just living in the world - that grace is a gift of unconditional love. I am not perfect. Nor is anyone of course, but I can be a channel of that grace if I open myself to someone’s pain or imperfection, and simply be there to provide some refuge or to acknowledge our shared humanity. Equally, I can choose to receive this grace, but I have to be willing, and for me, that willingness often comes only when my ego is dissolved enough by pain to surrender.
When my dad passed away, I felt lost, confused, inadequate to meet that moment of profound grief. With our Beacon pastor and other friends in this congregation, I found a love that is not only compassionate, but patient, and infinitely forgiving. And, I found something else – a point of vulnerability in me that at first felt like a wound – a quiet sorrow that I did not want to reveal to anyone. Something prodded me to open up and let somebody else in. I began to feel a warmth deep inside - it’s what healing feels like. What was it that prodded me to reveal my vulnerability? Grace.
When I was asked in 2016 to co-lead our name change project, I hesitated because I just knew it was going to be somewhat contentious, and I tend to run from conflict. But I was just plain loved by the leadership team, my team members, and the congregation to face those fears, and play to my strengths, ensuring that we bent over backwards to get everyone’s opinion not just heard – but considered with deep respect.
There was a lot of debate and some inevitable pain that comes with change. So why did we agree to our new name, Beacon Unitarian Universalist Congregation In Summit? I went back to my notes:
By utilizing Beacon, we affirm our congregation’s commitment to radical inclusion, feeding the spirit and healing the world.
When we say Beacon we lift up a congregation that:
Cultivates courage
Provides refuge
Shines a light into a weary world
Illuminates the mind
Kindles the passion for justice and the compassion for one another
Guides our children and youth in the discovery of their path.
In other words, we aspire to live into the realization of unconditional love. Grace.