On Campus Soulful Sundown

From The Campus, Bishop's University student newspaper

BY MEGAN PHILLIPS
 The first time I heard about Soulful Sundown was at club day. I was both shocked and intrigued by the fact that Bishop's had a Unitar­ian Universalist group. 'Coming from Boston, I was surrounded by a strong UU community but most people haven't even heard of Unitarianism. (A brief and somewhat inadequate descrip­tion for those who have never heard of it: a free and responsi­ble search for truth and mean­ing, the inherent worth and dignity of every person, and re­spect for the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part.)
I went to my first Soulful Sundown, accompanied by a friend just in case I felt com­pletely out of place, and was immediately greeted and wel­comed in by Keith Baxter and the Reverend Carole Marti­gnacco, the two mentors/guides who run Soul­ful Sundown, as if I had already met them but never face to face. When they began by asking me how my spirit was doing, I did­n't know whether or not to laugh or go with it... I decided to go with it.
I found deep compassion and understanding with all of
my thoughts and feelings that erupted out of my mind. Be­tween the kind and thoughtful words, that offered guidance and an understanding hand to hold rather than merely advice, and the lovely music provided by Keith, his acoustic guitar, and his quintessential folk­song voice, I felt like I had found people who would not judge or belittle me.
In this superficially guided world we co-inhabit, I thought it was extremely rare, if not im­possible, to find people filled with such openness. I still be­lieve this to be a rare and ex­traordinary occurrence, but now I find I no longer doubt its possibility. I have found a place with people who want to listen and care, regardless of accumu­lated baggage. There is inher­ent worth and dignity in every person.
If you want a little bit of sun to shine on your soul, then my suggestion, or at least the one I have found fulfilling, is to at least come to one Soulful Sun­down gathering. Bring a friend if you want, and,if you get up and want to leave two minutes, one minute, or even thirty sec­onds after you get there, Keith and Carole will fully under­stand and will be happy they met you nonetheless.
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