“Walking through redwoods... I wonder if they look on at our struggles, dwarfed in time and power next to theirs. Perhaps they are bemused by our battles of will, thought, desire. Perhaps they look on us as would great great grandmothers.”
A solar eclipse. Opening Day for the Red Sox. The Boston Marathon. That’s a lot of special events in an 8 day span!
Then there were our special events over last weekend: The 35th anniversary concert for Crossroads Concert series on Saturday. On Sunday, a spontaneous all-ages distribution of extra eclipse glasses at the front doors. During the service, an all-ages distribution of North Parish “sacred objects”: slices and chunks of our American Sycamore “Witness Tree” from some branches that came down over the winter. If you missed it, we plan to have some more available to take home this Sunday.
The tree segments are from the big, knobbly tree with the bark that looks like puzzle pieces that stands in our back yard near the Meeting House and the road. We believe it has been standing there since the mid-1800’s- long before a photograph of the church and tree was taken in1886. It’s offspring, a young sapling, was planted and is growing towards the back of the back yard triangle. We hope they both live for a long time, that their roots (and fungi!) mingle together, and that the children get used to visiting them.
This past Sunday also marked the passing of one of our beloved elders, Pat Edmonds, a member of this congregation for a remarkable 57 years. That means 57 years of sermons, 57 years of watching children grow up and head out into the world, 57 years of pledging, annual meetings, hymn singing, supporting good works, tradition, change and adaptation. Pat leaves a huge legacy; our North Parish community is one small but significant and big-hearted part of it.
How wonderful it is to live and grow in the shade and shelter of witnesses such as these.
With gratitude and hope,
Rev. Lee