Florida in June

The General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association gathered in Fort Lauderdale towards the end of June, giving me yet another chance to celebrate my birthday in an exotic location without my family anywhere around. It's generally worth it, as it was this time in ways that I am still sorting out in my head, producing an untidy flood of documents that I am still sorting out on my desk. But going to South Florida in June left me with one very clear impression: people should not be living in such numbers on this hot, fragile, wet, beautiful, sandy shore.

So there we were, gathered into a neat, security-checked corner of this place, one that could be made to appear much like any other convention center, air conditioned into not having to go outside, offered food much like any other convention food, so we could pretend that humans were in fact supposed to be here. For the Haitian cab drivers, it seemed like home. And for us, too, it seemed like home, the home we re-create every year so we can celebrate our milestones, have our conversations about theology and practice, argue about how to do the social justice we want to do, and just generally get into our way of being together -- worship of words and songs and music and artistic ambiance, shopping and schmoozing in the exhibit hall, listening in the plenary sessions, participating in workshops. We might as well be on another planet, and our Planet Convention is in South Florida this year.

I find it difficult to do General Assembly, so this sense that people ought not to live here, ought not to visit here, this sense of wrongness fit right in with my mood. But by limiting the amount I did, by focusing on reconnecting with colleagues, I was actually able to enjoy the time I spent on Planet Convention. I met new friends at the International Council of Unitarian Universalists' booth and related activities. I met old friends at the Andover Newton Theological School event. I hung out with the women of E-Meetinghouse, people with whom I share an electronic fellowship but do not see, especially in groups, unless I come here. My workshop on "Eight Spiritual Practices to Save The World" went well, and I made new friends around that.

I found one friend who also has a General Assembly birthday and had dinner with him. I discovered another friend has a General Assembly birthday, so I had dinner with her the next night. I came away with tasks to do to follow up on new and old connections, and with a sense that I actually look forward to General Assembly next year.

Maybe now that I have conquered the thought that people ought not go to places like that, I can persuade members of the congregation I serve that they, too, should visit Planet Convention, wherever it happens, to make new friends, learn new ways, and celebrate with thousands of others like us.