|
The First Parish Unitarian Universalist Area Church in Sherborn, Mass. welcomed Laura Randall as our ministerial intern in September, 2008.
Laura grew up in Rochester, NY and attended college at Alfred University where she graduated with a degree in English and Communication Studies. She first recognized her call to ministry while working in a long-term care facility shortly after graduation. She writes, "I chose to prepare for Unitarian Universalist ministry while working as a medical secretary in a nursing home. It was my first job after college and in many was I was completely unprepared for the challenges of long-term care and especially for the difficulties of Alzheimer's disease. During my first few months, I experienced a profound crisis of faith. I questioned everything I had previously come to believe about the importance of memory, identity, and ego. Where was God in the midst of all of this suffering? I felt very alone and powerless to help in the face of so many traumas. Gradually, as I came to know the residents and their families, my perspective began to change. In the most routine moments of our days; reading the mail, listening to Frank Sinatra songs, watching "The Price is Right;" I began to see flashes of the sacred. God was indeed there. In every gesture of kindness and human connection, God was there. Every time I held someonešs hand, listened to a favorite story, offered reassurance, I was involved in sacred work. For the first time in my life I knew that the time I spent offering comfort to the residents was time that truly mattered. I knew that I wanted to spend as much time as I could involved in this work, not just the time I could sneak away from the front desk and into the common room. I wanted to live my faith and be a representative of it in the world. I started on the path of Unitarian Universalist ministry in order to serve this goal."
Laura graduated from Harvard Divinity School in June 2008 and is now the Ministerial Intern at UUAC. She feels extremely blessed to have found an internship in such a vibrant and loving Unitarian Universalist community. Laura currently lives in Somerville, MA with her husband, Luke, and their two dogs, Lexi and Jake.
|
