“Wisdom begins in wonder.”
“Despite everything, it’s still you.”
“One day your life will flash before your eyes; make sure it’s worth watching.”
“As UUs we seem to be a non-conforming tradition.”
I am feeling lucky.
It was a delight to witness the Bridging service last Sunday, as three of our high school seniors prepare to launch into their next chapter. Their each shared three of their central values: Community, Self-knowledge and Kindness (Isaac), Risk, Acceptance and Solitude (A.J.), and Self-acceptance, Tradition and Non-conformity (Lea). Many thanks to all who have been involved in their time at North Parish through the years and to Bridging advisors Renee Hoekstra, Heather McNeil and Brenna Schneider. High school seniors are very busy people, and we appreciate the time found to include Bridging at North Parish as one rite of passage during a month of many such rituals! Congratulations to them and their families. We hope to keep seeing them from time to time!
It was a delight to hear that the North Andover Town Meeting passed the requested Community Preservation Act grants, including $480K for the preservation of the Meeting House. Many thanks to all those who attended the very long meeting and voted “YES” to this nearly half a million dollar grant. Many, many thanks to Stephanie Harrington for keeping her eye on the CPA grant process, meeting all the deadlines and writing the majority of the grant! Thanks to the team who supported the process with input, facts and figures, to those working with Howell Construction, and to those who are figuring out the logistics of moving forward with the contract and grant reimbursement process. Thanks to the Moose Moss fund for the initial gift of $358,000; this impressed the CPA committee and made them feel kindly towards our request. Right now, we expect the actual work to begin in early June! It will last through the summer months and most likely, into the fall.
It was also a delight to experience a brief trip abroad last week. A few NP folks invited me to join them on a whirlwind 5 day trip to Iceland, and I decided to give myself a 25th anniversary present and go! I missed my usual UU ministers’ study group meeting, but I have to say that Iceland put me into a state of near constant wonder; it is so majestic, beautiful, volcanic, stark, odd and primeval. I feel lucky to have experienced it.
Finally, it was a delight to have a half-hour long Annual Meeting last Sunday! Many thanks to all those who prepared in advance so all went smoothly. We were done by 11:52 and folks were able to go watch the sheep dogs do their eye-laser-beam thing on the Common.
We are now rounding the corner into the last month of the “congregational year” (we say this even though services go through the summer.) I will be in the pulpit until June 16th and working until June 30th but then we’ll switch to summer pastoral care coverage and Li Kynvi will arrive mid-August. If you have questions about this whole Sabbatical business, see the Sabbatical FAQs. The Board, the Sabbatical Committee and I welcome any questions, concerns or ideas you may have.
Luckily here,
Rev. Lee