From Jaimie: the Sue Day Legacy Library
Sue Day was one of the most positively realistic people I have ever encountered at First Congregational Church. She had a sharp wit, a beautiful smile and a firm grasp on the realities facing our world. In my conversations with her, I was always struck by the pragmatism that accompanied her hope in being able to create a better world for all.
Sue passed away last year just as COVID 19 began shutting down our community. After her passing, a fellow church member and friend who was helping to distribute her belongings called the church asking if we would like Sue’s library. I assumed we could just integrate these books into the church library. However, this legacy gift from Sue turned into a project that touched a multitude of people that had likely never even met her.
There were a considerable amount of books including history/biographies, fiction and theology books. Rather than simply integrating them into our library, the library volunteers decided to let church members, guests and building users choose items they would like for their personal libraries. I am a fan of John Grisham and took home a whole stack of his political/legal fiction books home with me. Slowly over the span of months, the books went home with guests and church members here and there.
I started to hear back from those who had taken items. An FCC staff member posted a picture of a quote from one of the books on Facebook with the caption: “Oh Sue Day, you did it again. Feeding my soul.” Folks found notes from Sue, including the dates when she read specific books and even some of her own thoughts about what she read. Pressed flowers were found in some of the volumes as well. Those who chose books often left small donations in gratitude to their offering.
One day while going through the carts of books, Pastor Nate was also perusing. Suddenly, he grabbed Matthew Fox’s Creation Spirituality and said, “This is it! This is the book we are going to do for faith formation,” as he turned and hurried back to his office. Little did we know that Sue’s gift would bring together 20-30 people from FCC and the broader community each Wednesday night this fall for faith formation and the beginning of FCC’s Wisdom School. (Think Sunday School, only for deepening personal spiritual practices with a host of practices from various faith traditions.) A little book has created a whole initiative that continues to touch the lives of so many and will for some time to come.
I have a feeling that Sue would be so pleased to see her legacy continue on in such joy and vitality. I also think Sue’s generosity of spirit and life is an example we can all follow. Living lives of generosity in solidarity with a suffering world is a revolutionary spiritual practice. It is grounded in the belief that even when all we see is want, there is hope in God’s abundance. Much of the lack that exists in the world will require large scale, systemic change. But there are also many needs that require us to look outside of the systems of this world and to get into the sweaty, dirty work of generous living as spiritual practice.
Sue, thank you so much for the gifts that you offered us both with your presence and in your absence from this world. Most of all, thank you for the example of belief and generosity we can all seek to live up to. —Jaimie Fales, Church and Building Admin