August 10, 2025: Opening Up to Possibility

Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray

Freeing ourselves from the limits we place on what we think is possible for ourselves and our world.

Sermon Text

Opening to Possibility

Rev. Susan Frederick-Gray

UU Church of Bloomington

August 10, 2025

READING

from A Return to Love: Reflections on the

Principles of “A Course in Miracles” by Marianne Williamson

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

“We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be?

“You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

GIFT OF MUSIC

“Everything Possible” by Fred Small, arr. Willi Zwozdesky

SERMON Opening to Possibility

[I love that song, “Everything Possible.” It is in our teal hymnal and it actually became a lullaby that I would sing to my son each night - hoping that he would feel supported in following his heart and his dreams as he grew up. It fits perfectly with our theme.

“Don't be rattled by names, by taunts, by games, but seek out spirits true. And the only measure of your words and your deeds will be the love you leave behind you when you're done.” - Thank you, Fred Small, for those beautiful words.]

All this month, we are diving into the theme of Possibility and what it means to be a community of possibility. Last spring, when I spoke about what it means to be a UU community in times like these - I said our work was threefold - to be a community of courage and resistance - defending human rights and democracy. To be a community of sanctuary - creating safety and care for each other and those at risk in our community and to be a community of possibility and imagination to keep nurturing art and music and beauty, and practices that help us imagine what could be. And, to nurture this community of love, courage, and possibility for our children.

Throughout this year, we will explore these themes and how they help us grow as a Beloved Community. For today, we start with what it means to create more possibility in our own lives - what it means to remove the internal barriers and obstacles that keep us from believing in ourselves.

Our reading for this morning from Marianne Williamson might be familiar to you. It's been quoted a lot - often wrongly attributed to Nelson Mandela.

There is value in her words - especially as she is calling people to embrace the power they have, we have - a call for each of us to let our light shine, to share our gifts, to follow our dreams - to not play small, to not diminish ourselves in insecurity - to embrace the light and power within us. As Unitarian Universalists we might say, to make manifest the dignity, the worthiness, the beauty and love within us - within every person - a birthright. Whether we understand that as given by God, or by virtue of our creation - we know there is light and compassion and power and stardust within us.

This is a powerful message - one that counteracts the messages that tell too many of us that we are not good enough, not smart enough, that we don't deserve love, respect, fair treatment, that we don't belong - perhaps you have heard some of those voices. The world too often gives us these messages.

Indeed there are a lot of voices - with power and systems and structures behind them today, telling us to play small, to hold our tongues, to hide or erase who we are and what we believe, to be afraid, to shrink back and try not to draw attention or cause trouble. Forces that seek obedience and compliance rather than liberty, creativity, beauty, expansiveness and of course possibility.

Let us remember that our playing small does not serve the world. In fact, consider the people in your own life who have encouraged you to follow your dreams, to take on new challenges, to take risks for what you value. Often it is the case that the people who inspire are the ones that are letting their power and their light shine. As Williamson writes, “As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

I welcome and hear truth in Williamson’s challenge to us. But, if I am honest, I always get stuck on the first lines. She writes, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.” I read this and think, really?? Do we really fear we are powerful beyond measure?

Personally, I hear this and I remember all the times that I fear I am

inadequate, all the times when I have imposter syndrome thinking I can't

possibly do this. This doesn't feel like I am afraid of my power.

And yet, it is exactly those times when we are challenging ourselves, when we are considering taking on leadership, responsibility, taking a risk for something better for ourselves - that our fear arises. It arises as we dream of possibilities for ourselves and we are not sure if we are up to it.

I remember first feeling the call to ministry. It pulled on my heart. It was compelling and it terrified me. I thought how could I ever presume to do that - how could I ever think I could have something to say worth listening to every week. Yet, the fear arose because I was imagining something that would challenge me, might indeed be beyond my gifts, and which held tremendous responsibility.

Maybe you felt this way contemplating becoming a parent. Maybe you still feel this way. That's natural. Or maybe in pursuing an education or a degree, or a job, a leadership position - or even getting out there and protesting for the first time. All of these are ways we use our power. And running for office - I am so encouraged by the ordinary people from all walks of life saying “yes” to run for office - to put themselves out there, to take on the responsibility to help do good for their communities, answering a tough, scary but absolutely necessary call to public service. This gives me hope. I encourage more of us to be in discernment about it.

For let's remember, the reading doesn't say we are not afraid of being inadequate. It says that there is another fear, that is deeper or greater - and that comes when we imagine following our dreams, taking risks for what we love or for some task or role or effort we feel called to and we are not sure we can do it. Fear strikes us in the moment of challenge. And in overcoming or moving through this fear and not letting it be an obstacle, we grow and challenge ourselves and create possibilities that we might not have imagined before.

There is one other reason that fear might strike us as we contemplate moving more fully into our power - and that is because power always comes with responsibility. We should tremble at this because it means we understand that power devoid of a sense of responsibility, of justice, is corrupt and often becomes oppressive and abusive.

Truly, we need leaders, parents, teachers, mentors, guides, artists who do have some hesitation about their own power. Not those who relish or lust after it - but those who have fear as Williamson describes, because it means there is humility present, and a desire to use one's gifts not just for one’s own gain, but to serve others and to serve a greater good.

A few months back, there was a great interview on National Public Radio with NASA astronaut Jonny Kim. Jonny Kim is currently on the International Space Station with two Russian cosmonauts for eight months conducting scientific experiments. They left in April and will return this fall.

Kim has a really incredible story. He is only 37 years old and he started out in the Navy, working as a combat medic and eventually becoming a Navy SEAL and a Navy Lieutenant commander. His work as a combat medic inspired him to go to medical school and he became a doctor at Mass General Hospital in Boston. Then a seed was planted about the possibility of becoming an astronaut - bringing together both his scientific and his training as a SEAL - and he went for it. He went viral as people joked about how any of his careers were impressive - let alone all three. The interviewer asked him aside from the jokes, what were some of the struggles he experienced along the way. This was the wisdom he shared:

“Having the confidence in finding your identity is a voyage that everyone has to take. I think the ability to dream is one of the most important things we need to do. I think it's important to recognize that we oftentimes are all having our own internal battles and to never, ever sell yourself short. One of the biggest things that I've learned along my journey is that there are always glass ceilings in the world. That's never going to change. But, the one glass ceiling you can never break through is the one that you set on yourself. Oftentimes, I think the lowest glass ceiling that a lot of us have is the one we set on ourselves.” [NPR Morning Edition June 11, 2025 https://www.npr.org/2025/06/04/nx-s1-5366013/navy-seal-turned-doctor-turned-astronaut-says-he-had-a-clear-motivator-serve-others]

That is powerful, the idea that the lowest glass ceiling that a lot of us have is the one we set on ourselves. With different words, both Kim and Williamson are talking about the glass ceilings, the obstacles and limitations we place on ourselves - the ways we get in the way of our own ability to dream.

So how do we move through this?

Later in the interview, Kim sees a through-line in all the career moves he's taken. He says, “Since being a young boy, I've always been really drawn to wanting to make a difference.”

Being motivated to help others, seeing a calling beyond your own life - to make a difference in your community, to be dedicated to nurturing children,

to help our children have better lives than we had, to find new discoveries in your field, to help others, to create art that will open people's understanding and compassion or create more opportunities for others - all of these impulses that bring us beyond ourselves, these are powerful motivators that can help us move through our own obstacles and glass ceilings because the importance lives beyond us.

Another path to breaking those internal glass ceilings, is giving ourselves time to dream – to imagine beyond our present moment to what could be. Kim says, “The ability to dream is one of the most important things we need to do.” To dare to dream doesn't mean we will follow every dream we have, and I am too much of a realist to think that everything we dream can come true, but allowing ourselves to dream for ourselves, to believe in our gifts, to imagine what could be - it gives us a space in our minds, in our souls beyond our critical thoughts that make us doubt ourselves to experience some freedom to imagine and help unlock our courage so it begins in our own imagination. Again, not every dream we have will we follow - and not all that we imagine or hope will actually come to pass, but giving ourselves permission to dream beyond our fears is a tool that can open up more possibility in our lives.

Alongside cultivating time for imagination, are practices of meditation and silence, of seeking to listen for the still small voice of strength and love within. The voice that speaks more quietly, but honestly, than the voice of critique and inadequacy. Leaning into our breath, listening for what is deepest and true in us - may we all feel more connected to the power and light within us.

So, let us take some time this month to give ourselves space to dream a little, to let go of the fears that hold us back from trying new things, from offering leadership. May we all dream more boldly about how our society can be and how we can help support that dream. And - as parents, elders, and adults - let us work to help our kids alight in their own dreams, finding their own identity and ways of being in the world, held in the love that reminds them of the power they have, and the gift of love they have to share.