Over the summer, I am inviting clergy members connected to our Westwood UMC congregation to serve as guest writers of our Pastoral Notes. This week, we are pleased to share words from Rev. Patricia Farris. I am grateful that she is a part of our community! – Pastor Molly Vetter
Dear Westwood,
Hello everyone. My name is Yuko Uesugi, an ordained elder of Cal-Pac Annual Conference and a recently retired director of the Department of Spiritual Care at UCLA Health.
I would like to thank Pastor Molly for inviting me to share my pastoral reflection with you occasionally.
Since we do not know each other well, I want to share a little bit about myself. I was born and raised in Japan. I came to the U.S. in order to pursue seminary education in my late twenties. While completing my seminary education, I began to serve as a chaplain intern at UCLA Medical Center in Westwood. I continued to serve in the spiritual care department of UCLA Health for the next 25 years until I retired this spring. Upon retirement, I moved to Washington State.
One of the things I am always thankful for is a new beginning – a new experience and a new relationship. It can be with a new person, a new group, a new place, or (for a more introverted person like me) a new book, a new music composer or even a new subject matter.
Of course, moving from California to Washington presents a series of “new” every day. These new experiences show me how big, wide and deep the world is. There is always something new to discover and experience.
Also, even with someone who or something that feels familiar (family members, friends, communities, schools, work, etc.), we have to remind ourselves that they are different people from yesterday.
When we raise a young (for example, a child, a pet, or a plant), we naturally expect them to grow and change. However, how often do we see ourselves as still changing and growing?
During the COVID pandemic I began to bake bread. I decided not to buy a bread machine since I enjoy kneading the bread dough by hand. The repetitive movement becomes a sort of meditation and as I continue to knead, the dough begins to feel different. It feels softer and more elastic. After the pandemic, I continue to bake the bread occasionally, and I continue to appreciate the process of bread baking and to discover that each bread turns out differently although it is based on the same recipe and same method. Even with the same hands.
When I attended a retreat, I was very surprised by one of my friends when she shared her understanding of a scripture passage. Her understanding was quite different from mine and helped me to see the passage in a refreshing way. The words of the passage did not change at all from a moment ago, but now it feels very different. The new information from my friend changed how I live based on the passage.
We often take it for granted that we are constantly changing. That our body, mind, and spirit are being transformed by our life experiences. Yet, we often act as if everything is static. The Spirit invites us to take off our stale perspectives and dare to view the world as if it is newly created each moment. Then we will not fall into the rut of static beliefs and habits. As we welcome summer, let us enjoy this season to the fullest.
Rev. Yuko Uesugi
Rev. Yuko Uesugi is a former Director of Spiritual Care Department at UCLA Health. She is an ordained elder of the Cal-Pac Annual Conference and a certified ACPE Educator. She holds a Bachelor degree from Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, Japan and a Master in Divinity degree from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California. She has experience providing chaplaincy care to Medical Intensive Care, Transplant, Trauma, Oncology Psychiatric Patients and their families, as well as teaching and training chaplain interns and residents. She served in the Spiritual Care Department for 25 years and retired recently. After her retirement, she resides in Washington state with her husband Keith and a parrot named Jinan.
