“Sabbath keeps time by keeping the beat...Without Sabbath, the weeks get weird.”
Summer has officially arrived. We welcomed the Summer Solstice last Sunday and the sun responded by cranking up the heat. Maybe we sang too loudly.
For some, especially those with children or youth, the rhythms have changed. Breaking the school routines often reduces stress but can add it in other ways. Figuring out ways to keep the kids occupied all summer long, going on family vacations, adjusting to youth work schedules or young adults coming back into the house… these are not stress-free activities!
Some of us also shift our weekly habits of coming to services in the Meeting House. Some continue attending weekly and are rewarded by creative services in a more casual and intimate setting that naturally leads to learning more about each other. Some folks come occasionally. Others drop the church-attending habit entirely until September. My hope for all is that you will still carve out time- one way or another- to set aside the noise of the world and reset. Maybe you have or will create a summer ritual- daily coffee in a garden, a walk in early morning, a weekly family swim at sunset, a weekly Sunday morning outdoor playdate with other North Parish families. We need and deserve such times to disconnect from society and reconnect to the earth, ourselves, each other, beauty, peace, the holy, and all that is good in the world.
As always at this time of year, I’ll remind you of our collective ritual: the “water communion” service in September. If you do spend time in a beautiful or sacred place and there is water there, collect a bit of it to keep and bring back to North Parish. This is how we collect our UU “holy water” which we use in blessings of various kinds throughout the year. Also, remember to hydrate this summer- but ideally not with your water communion water (unless it comes from a sink or water fountain.) I once had to hydrate with some ancient glacial runoff water I’d collected for water communion and it wasn’t the best. Too much grit. And it tasted, well, old!
Wishing you summer happification,
Rev. Lee
P.S. Many thanks to Helen Cymbala and Aering for leading last Sunday’s service, and to Aaron Pawelek and Kristin Leary for leading this Sunday. I will be taking vacation time for the first few weeks of July; see the “From the Office” section at the bottom of the Enews for the name and contact information for the UU minister on call in case of pastoral emergency.