Shining a light that scatters the darkness of loneliness and fear. Making people feel spiritually comfortable and welcome. Blending cultures to bring the strength of one to the other. This may seem like a tall order until you meet Reverend Sonya Milton.
Maybe because she has wandered from one tradition of worship to another she knows what others in search of a spiritual home need. When Reverend Sonya Milton said to me, with the most engaging and unassuming laugh, on our first meeting, ”Oh, don’t say ‘Reverend’, just call me Sonya,” I knew how effective a soul she was. Sometimes the magic is in the blend.
Sonya Milton was aware of how in love with people she was at a very young age. Love abounded in her Jewish family. She was always devoted to the idea of seeing the essence of a person. So, the long and winding road to being a San Francisco Unity minister brought her to where she can do what she set out to do; to let people know how magnificent they are.
Sonya wants people to know that SF Unity is not new age but new thought, that is. having control of your experience by the way you think about it. Sonya is very clear with her congregation that she is a Jewish woman, and she brings to her work the warmth and wisdom of Jewish life. Sunday morning service is the main event of the week, but there is much more. Her Friday evening Shabbes Tisch (Yiddish for Sabbath Table) is, in her words, a time to sing, learn, meditate and release the week to mindfully enter a day of spiritual rest and renewal where loving celebrations take place with song, silence, challah, wine and celebration. There are movie nights and classes on issues that are both intriguing and of historic importance, for example, Jesus: Myth or Truth.
People come to Unity from all walks of life, and, yes, the magic is in the blend, a complex blend of traditions, of people, of needs and of programs offered. To hear Sonya’s story in her own voice is a real joy.
It is clear to me that her real power is leadership through love, compassion, enthusiasm for what life can offer, and a real gift for seeing the best in people. As far as her love letter, would individual love letters to her congregants who have been through difficulties be too much to ask. Not for Sonya.
From me to you with love in the air,
Janet
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