My New Things by Rev. Tom Schade

I am happily on the road to over-commitment right now. It happens every fall, part of the recurring cycles of life: like leaves turning, the days shortening, the candidates calling on the phone, the Red Sox disappointing, football season starting. Add to that list of autumnal harbingers, starting up new commitments.

I started a weekly yoga class at the gym. Very interesting. Apparently, I have not taken a proper step ever in my life. I always thought of my feet as being a solid object at the bottom of my legs. God put them there to keep my legs from getting frayed on the end. I am now informed that they are highly flexible objects that move in many different ways. It is possible to distinguish between the inside and the outside of the heel, to press the ground with both, and to put my weight on the outside of the foot, and to lift my arches while spreading my toes. Interesting thought, isn't it? If I knew I was going to be so close to my toes, I would have brought my nail clipper to class. But I like Yoga.

I have started the Worcester Police Department's Clergy Academy: a 9 week program for local clergy in which we get to see the city through the eyes of the police. The men and women we have met so far have been very dedicated, proud and anxious for others to understand their work. And I like the police.

I have started singing with an organized group for the first time in my life: Jim Scott's Community Chorus. We meet in the Bancroft Room on Tuesday nights. Jim Scott, perhaps one of the most renowned musician in Unitarian Universalism, leads the group and we sing songs of peace, justice and the earth. I have always been a free-range singer, moving lightly from note to note and part to part as the free spirit leads me, coming in and going out as I chose, and keeping time to the beat of a different drummer. So, it is taking some effort to accept being herded and shepherded toward what the rest of the group is doing. But I like this singing. By the way the group is looking for more members and is, obviously, open to all.

I am starting up again with my personal trainer at the gym, after some time off, while I fattened up for the fall. My trainer is not some muscled up jock, which would trigger traumatic memories from my high school locker room, but a female dancer. She advises me while I lift weights, sweat and try to remember to breathe. Apparently, I have not taken a proper breath in my life. It's a miracle I'm still here. We also talk about "So You Think You Can Dance." But I even like the gym now.

It's fall; time to start something new. The church is full of new energy now, too. Shake loose the doldrums, the depression and the ennui and start something new, something that you haven't done before, something that will stretch into a new shape. There will be plenty of time later for feeling over-committed and tired. You can prune back then.